JESUS SPEAKING

                “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.  And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.  Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin?  And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  Do not fear therefore; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Mathew 10: 29-31.)

INSPIRED THOUGHTS

                The command of Jesus Christ is clear; preach the gospel and do not fear anyone who threatens you, or attempts to silence you, even with death.  There are two kinds of death; bodily death, and eternal death.  Jesus makes this life and the next adversaries.  Wanting to keep this life and the one to come are incompatible.  He tells the people in this scripture not to worry, because they are worth more than many sparrows who die every day.  If something so invaluable is remembered by God, how much more is God going to care for the lives of his human children.  The images and comparisons Jesus uses here are used to bring his listeners out of fear.  They, like most people, were afraid of dying.  They had forgotten that God was in control of their lives, and they began to live as though the bodily life was all there was.  Those who stood for God during this time period were constantly being tested.  Israel was subject to whichever conqueror decided to invade them next.  And every conqueror, whether it be the Greeks, or the Romans, or the Egyptians, often made laws and decrees that made practicing the Jewish faith a very dangerous thing.  At one point, any mother who chose to circumcise her son would be crucified along with that son.  During another period, if one chose to not make a sacrifice to a pagan Idol they would be immediately killed.  Yet God allowed these things to occur.  Jesus is clear that these deaths were not outside of God’s control.  So many of these Jews had become like their conquerors because they feared the conquerors rather than God.  Jesus reminds them to not fear death, because the life that really matters is the internal one that lives within each human beings heart.  The body may die, but the soul shall live.

                If we look at all of the apostles, we see a wonderful example of how God controls the death of every human being; and we are reminded of the commitment we are making when we choose to live for God.  According to the church historians, Peter was crucified upside down in Rome.  Andrew was crucified in Greece.  James was beheaded by King Herod.  Philip was crucified and then stoned to death.  Bartholomew was flayed alive (skin cut from the body) and then crucified.  Thomas was stabbed to death by four soldiers with spears.  Mathew was axed to death.  James the less was apparently clubbed to death.  Thaddeus was crucified.  It is believed that Simon was crucified in Persia.  Matthias, the one chosen to take the place of Judas Iscariot, was burned to death.  John was nearly burned in oil.  What I’m about to say is what makes the deaths of these men more beautiful than a sunset on a warm summer night.  None of these men are dead.  Peter, Andrew, James, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Mathew, James the less, Thaddeus, Simon, Matthias, and John never died.  They are with the Lord, as is every human being who has ever made Jesus Christ their’ everything.  Jesus said, “Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it” (Luke 17: 33.)

                The 12 Disciples couldn’t be made to shut up, but today His followers need to be reminded to speak up.  Why?  Do we have a different message today than they had?  How many of us profess Christ in our daily lives to those who know nothing about Him?  Today missionaries across the globe are putting themselves in harm’s way to bring the message in to Muslims countries, but we it seems difficult to convince a churchgoer in the United States to lean over in a coffee shop and ask the person next to them if they know Jesus Christ.  Today, if we are afraid of anything but not doing the work of spreading the gospel in love, then we may not be on the side we think we are on.  This week let’s get moving.  Let’s look for opportunities to insert in to our conversations with other the truth of the Gospel, without fear, no matter what may come.

                “Heavenly Father, remove from us the fear of death and the fear of other people, and give Your message to give to others.  Father, make Your message like a burning in our hearts that we just can’t bear to keep hidden from others.  Father, help us to remember that we share eternal life with all those who died for their faith in You and in Your son.  Give us opportunities to give away the eternal life we have been so freely given.  Amen.”  God bless all of you.

JESUS SPEAKING

            Jesus shared his crucifixion with two other men; both of them were criminals.  Below is the account of their interaction with him.

            ‘Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed him, saying, “If you are the Christ, save yourself and us.”  But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?  And we justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”  Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when you come in to your kingdom.”

            And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23: 39-44.)

INSPIRED THOUGHTS           

           The religious leaders who were standing at the foot of the cross were taunting Jesus and teasing him; telling him to come down from the cross as a show of his power.  The first criminal joined in on this taunting.  Mockingly he added in the request that Jesus save he and the other criminal from death as well.  The second criminal made the decision to chastise the criminal for teasing Jesus.  He recognized his own guilt, and the guilt of the other man, and professed the righteousness of Jesus Christ.  He understood that he was paying for a life of sin, and that Jesus did not deserve to die. The second criminal asked for salvation, but a different kind of salvation.  He knew he was going to die on that cross, but he believed that Jesus was able to save his soul.  He was focused on the eternal, unlike the first criminal who was thinking only of his bodily life.  Jesus granted him eternal life, not because of any work that he did, or because he lived a good life, but because he believed in the one and only son of God.  He acknowledged his sin and recognized the purity of Jesus, and in humility, asked to receive eternal life.  The purpose for the crucifixion, and for the life of Jesus Christ is revealed in this scripture, and it applies today.  He divides people.  Some choose to deny him and make him a myth.  Others choose to recognize him as the ‘Son of God,’ capable of granting them eternal life in a kingdom that will have no end.  Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth.  I did not come to bring peace but a sword.  For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’” (Mathew 10: 34-35.)  There are only two categories in to which every person must fall; those who believe in Jesus Christ and join him, and those who deny him and make themselves the friends of those who ridicule him and blaspheme him. 

            There was man named Polycarp who lived from 65 A.D. to 155 A.D.  He was an early Christian who headed the church in Smyrna.  The Romans required that everyone in the City burn incense to their Gods.  Polycarp refused to engage in this activity.  The Romans gave him an ultimatum, roughly stating that if he did not burn the incense, he himself would be burned at the stake.  Polycarp’s reply was, “Eighty and six years I have served him.  How then can I blaspheme my King and Savior? Bring forth what thou wilt.”  The Romans did just that.  Apparently he requested that they not tie his hands down to the stake, indicating that he would not attempt to flee from the flames.  Legend has it that he did not burn, and that the flames simply swirled around him.  A Roman soldier was then commanded to run him through with the sword.  The flames were put out by the blood that poured from his body.  Polycarp today is in paradise with his king, in his kingdom.  He chose to stand for Christ rather than to lay down with the world.

          Today, everyone is still offered the choice to call Jesus Christ their king.  We can stand for him, or we can stand against him.  We can trust him, call him our king, and receive eternal life, or we can join the world as they deny him and tease him; as they call him a myth and a legend.  Those who are lost believe he was just a man.  They don’t believe he has the power to give eternal life because they believe he is dead.  But those who know him, know differently.  Today, do you believe that he is able to grant you eternal life in paradise?  Is it possible that just on the other side of death lays a life of overflowing goodness?  Are you willing to stand with him now?  The answer to this question is very important.

“Lord Heavenly Father, we ask and pray that You will give us eternal life.  Help us to stand for You and to be courageous in professing our faith in You and in Your Son.  Father, give us more faith that we might do Your will in this world, and continue that work in your kingdom to come.  We love You Father, we praise You, and we thank You, and we ask and pray all of these things, in Jesus Christ’s name.  Amen.”  God bless all of you.

JESUS SPEAKING

            “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of  mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.  But everyone who hears these sayings of mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rains descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell.  And great was it’s fall” (Mathew 7: 24-27.)

 INSPIRED THOUGHTS

            Jesus is identifying one group of people here: all those who hear his words.  He further divides this group in to two distinct groups.  The division is based upon the response to what the hearers have heard.  One group puts in to practice what they have heard from Jesus, and the other group does not.  Those who take action are wise, and those who do not are foolish.

Both groups are likened to builders, who undertake the construction of a house.  One builds on solid rock (unmovable, sturdy, and permanent), another group builds on sand (movable, shifting, and impermanent.)  Every human being is a building, and their actions and behaviors are the result of following a blueprint.  Some blueprints are horrible, some are wonderful, but only one blueprint is eternal.  The wind, and the rains, and the floods that Jesus is talking about are the forces in life that attempt to break us down, cause us to fail, and give up hope.  Everyone suffers set-backs; everyone suffers trials, and those who don’t practice the teachings of the Lord crumble when those trials arise.  When a person acts and behaves in a manner that is pleasing to God, they are laying their lives down upon an eternal foundation.  They are building a life for themselves in a place that will last forever; even when this world fades away and dies, those who have lived for Christ will remain forever.

Along the coast in southern California many people have built huge mansions on the cliffs that overlook the ocean.  Every so often mudslides and sink holes bring down huge portions of the cliffs upon which these houses stand.  In the newspaper you might see a picture of a half a house standing on a cliff with the other half of the house laying on the beach below, buried with the cliff that gave way.  Sometimes a house built on a solid enough foundation will hang over the cliff, fully intact with nothing supporting the half that’s hanging over.  The same thing happens with anyone who builds a life in this world based on the teachings and sayings of Jesus Christ.  This world will eventually perish, and it will undergo it’s destruction; yet whatever was built in this life according to God’s design has also been built in the life that is to come. Anything that has its foundation in the eternal God will not perish like those things that will perish.

Today, each and every one of us is a carpenter, just like the Lord.  We are builders, and we are following a blueprint.  One life, a life that takes shape because we follow the directions outlined for us by the eternal God, will never end.  The other life, the one that is built following any other example other than that given by Jesus Christ, will be destroyed, and that destruction will last for however long God determines.  Eternal life is not obtained solely by what we have heard but by what we have done as a result of what we have heard.  Obedience to God is how we build our lives upon the eternal foundation.  How can you start doing the things he is teaching?  First, pick out a scripture and then do what it is saying.  Bend your life to his truth, and don’t seek to bend his truths to meet your life.  Do you pray for those who mistreat you?  Are you generous?  Do you give to everyone who asks you?  Do you give him the credit for the good things you do for others?  These are just a few examples of actions God rewards.  God has written a book, and reading it is how you know what his blueprint for your life truly is.  Read his word, and do his word, and when this world passes away, you will not pass away with it, but rather, you will spend an eternity with him in paradise.

“Heavenly Father we come before You and we ask that You empower us to do what we have heard from Your Son.  Open up more opportunities to implement your directions for living; give us a deep pleasure and satisfaction in completing the tasks You given us to do.  Father help us to strive to please You, and to be a blessing to all those around us.  Give us the strength of Your Holy Spirit, and guide us in all that we do.  We love You Father, we praise You, and we thank You, and we ask and pray all of these things in Jesus Christ’s name.  Amen.”  God bless all of you.