If You Believe - Matthew 21:21-22

Matthew 21:21-22 NIV 

Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

What does Jesus mean by " this mountain "?  It is the same thing you get when you knock and the door is opened, and you find when you seek. Ask and it will be given to you. 

If you believe in Jesus, your prayer is heard by the Father. You enter the presence of The Lord and He will give you the desire of your heart. 

You Will Receive - Matthew 21:21-22

Matthew 21:21-22 NIV 

Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

What does Jesus mean by " this mountain "?  It is the same thing you get when you knock and the door is opened, and you find what you seek. Ask and it will be given to you. 

If you believe in Jesus, your prayer is heard by the Father. You enter the presence of The Lord and He will give you the desire of your heart. 

The Same Way - Acts 1:9-11

Acts 1:9-11 NASB 

 And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “ Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”

How did Jesus go into heaven?  The traditional answer is up into the clouds. 

There is another aspect of His ascending into heaven that is not commonly pointed out. Jesus rose as the first new man of those who would follow. He had assumed our humanity and gave us a path to become a new and complete man, a new creature begotten of God. 

We sit with Him on His throne because He became one of us so that we might become one of Him. He brought the divine with Him and lifted us into the sublime. 

Eve - Genesis 3:20

Genesis 3:20 NASB 

Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.

Why does Adam rename Eve? Why did he he give her that name of living when death entered the Garden through her?

Perhaps renaming her was due to now being cursed to be under the rule of Adam. Her status has changed as a result of disobedience. We would see something similar to this happen again when Israel disobeyed God and lost her favored status with Him. 

She did give birth to living men, but they shared the life of all living creatures. But through her descendants would come the one that would bring the true life of God to mankind. 

Christ will give us a new name that will reflect our restoration to new life.  

Religeous

Who is the most religious you know?

This might be considered a good thing until you realize that Jesus was anti religious.  He was not interested in rules and form, but in a heart given to God and following Him.

Forget religion  and seek God. 

The Dust - Genesis 3:14

Genesis 3:14 ESV 

The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,

cursed are you above all livestock

and above all beasts of the field;

on your belly you shall go,

and dust you shall eat

all the days of your life.

The serpent is cursed to live in the dust of the earth for deceiving Eve. The creature will be unable to stand before The Lord. Dust can represent the realm of the dead. Man returns to dust when he breathes his last. Death is the curse of the disobedient and those who entice them into the darkness of the pit.

While life will come to those who eat the bread of heaven, the fare of the serpent will consist of the fruit of rebellion. 

They Will Trample - Revelation 11:1-3

Revelation 11:1-3

 Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty- two months. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”

At some point the full number to be gathered will come to pass. The church and Israel will both give witness to the truth of God. During this time the nations will "trample the holy city", and so it is even now. The final week of years before Christ comes will be the the most intense, the great tribulation. The first half of that week the witnesses will speak the final words of prophesy before the bowls are poured out on the earth. 

The nations are dividing Jerusalem in the guise of peace, but there is no hope for peace until the return of the Prince of Peace.  Until then, the Devil will be busy. 

My Soul Finds Rest - Psalms 62:1-2

Psalms 62:1-2 NIV 

For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David.

 Truly my soul finds rest in God;

my salvation comes from him.

 Truly he is my rock and my salvation;

he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

Our Sabbath is our rest in God. This is the only place that we can find true rest for the soul. Sabbath is not confined to a particular time, but is a life given by God and lived in His presence. It is living and abiding in the body of Christ. 

We rest upon this rock that will never be shaken. 

 

Blessed Is The Nation - Psalm 33:12

Psalms 33:12

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,

the people he chose for his inheritance.

There is one hope for our nation. If we choose to return to God as a nation, who knows but God could relent and change His judgement on America. 

Those that believe in His name will receive His inheritance. Those that deny The Lord will reap the consequences of that decision.  

By The Spirit - 1Corinthians 2:12-13

1 Corinthians 2:12-13 ESV 

Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.

It is through the Spirit we are raised into the life given by God. It is not the words that transform us into creatures of light, but the infusion of those words with the Spirit who is from God. 

His Spirit combines with our spirit and we become one. We leave father and mother as we cleave to The Father.  What the Father has joined let no man trouble or attempt to separate.  

Will Keep You - Psalms 121:7-8

Psalms 121:7-8 ESV 

The Lord will keep you from all evil;

he will keep your life.

 The Lord will keep

your going out and your coming in

from this time forth and forevermore.

The Lord is ever with us. As the world spins downward, He draws us upward into the light. We are His and His salvation is ours.