I Have Come Down to Bring Them Up

 Exodus 3:7-8 - And the LORD said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey...”

There are many people in the Bible who are types of Christ. Moses was one of them. Egypt is considered a type of the world. Israel was held captive in Egypt.  If you recall Moses led the people of Israel out of Egyptian captivity. God wanted them in a land He would provide for them, a better place. 

Their captivity at that time was as slaves. But did you know that we are slaves also in our world? God desires for us to be out of this world and secure in a better place He has for us. And this is why He sent Jesus! He came down from heaven. He will deliver us up to heaven one day.

He came down to deliver US out of the snares of this world and bring us into a special place He has for us. What snares? All the things that keep us from looking to Him, things that DISTRACT. Anything that is put in the forefront of our lives that take God out of our lives is a snare. What most consumes us? Some things we are meant to be busy doing but others are not. We’re all guilty. When I was working I was a workaholic. Some people, if they have the means, travel frequently. Others shop! For some it’s their children or hobbies or activities, for some it’s self! There are so many things that consume our time. 

For a true believer in Jesus Christ, the Bible tells us in various ways that this earth is not our home, but that heaven is (Philippians 3:20). We are strangers here on earth (1Chronicles 29:15). We are to have a loose grip on the things of this world (Matthew 6:19-20). Don’t let those things consume. But...we are to focus on sharing the truth of Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, the one who gives us eternal life...no one else can do that. We are told that even our idle words (which are many) will be judged. 

When we die our body is gone, but our spirit lives on. And that spirit has one of two permanent resting places...heaven or hell. And they are real. It’s why He came....that we may have eternal life in Him, in heaven...that resting place that God has chosen for us. Why would Jesus come to save us if we all were going to go to heaven?

Jesus came and died that we could have that more abundant life. We are told to think on the things above not the things here on earth. We are told to store up riches in heaven that will not be consumed as opposed to things of earth which will spoil, rust, wither away.

I heard a talk recently and this was a very good statement: to realize that self-preservation of my own life will cost me in being fearful, in being in compliance with what they (government) want me to do; but if I’m willing to lose my life, I can stand in the face of this no matter what they say. This is what the truth of the Bible tells us and this is why we need to understand.

Moses! He led Israel out of captivity. Jesus! He does too. The Word of God is so FULL of examples like this. I hope to share more. 

John‬ ‭10:10‬ ‭- The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Life or Death

1John 5:11-13 - And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

The Bible is the Word of God. God cannot lie. It is truth. The Bible is God’s word for us, that we would know Him, and believe in Him, learn what His promises are for those who do believe in Him, to learn how to trust Him, and I think in these days the most important thing is that we know what is said about the return of Christ. There are prophecies that have come true. There are still more to come to pass. This is why it is important to have some understanding of this Book.

While we see an unsettling world suddenly stopped dead in its tracks by a coronavirus and now unrest via protests and riots, we know it’s all political. As a friend (maybe even more than one) has said repeatedly, nothing that happens in life doesn’t first go through God’s hands. God not only owns the cattle on a thousand hills (meaning everything belongs to Him), but He has knit us together in our mothers’ wombs, knows the number of hairs on our heads and even the number of our days. So, He is in complete control whether it be good or bad. Why? He wants us to totally trust in He who can accomplish all He has set out to do.

He created this world and all that is in it. He continues to bring the sun up in the morning, cause it to set at night and the same with the moon. The seasons come and go by His power. The birds come and go also! All nature is ruled by God. 

Animals and people are born, live and die, at His will. He allows disease. He allows storms and destruction. Why does He allow bad? Because of Adam and Eve’s disobedience in the Garden, which I’ve said many times. We can pray against such things but it is ultimately His will that prevails.

All God has ever wanted is for mankind to believe, trust and give their lives to Him. Might sound like a puppet master but He is not. Because He is God, Creator, Sustainer of all things, He knows what we need. He offers us nothing but the best, spiritually, in this life and the one to come for each of His believers. Our souls live on after we die. For some the outcome is eternal life. For many others it is eternal death. Make no mistake, we will experience one or the other depending on how our hearts have changed toward Him. It is not simply acknowledging in one’s head, repeating a prayer, but being changed in one’s heart. You know when this happens!! You are changed.

Eternal death is just that. It comes because one chooses to reject God. Rejecting is not taking Him seriously. One can believe in God and still not receive Him, which is rejection. It’s never having that heart change. The life "hereafter" for these is one that one so wishes would end but never will. The description in God’s Word is not pretty with words like fire and gnashing of teeth. Here’s a good description. While it refers to a rich man it can be anyone; however, sometimes when one does not sense a need for God because life is good, he could be described as rich (in the world):

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2016%3A19-31&version=ESV

There are prophecies in the Bible that have come true. The greatest are all the words describing Jesus hundreds of years before He was born. Those words in Isaiah 53 describe His whole life, birth to death, and that occurred. Other words came true. There are still more that speak of the end of the world and the return of Christ. They should not be scoffed. We are nearer today to His return than ever before. The Bible describes the days we are living in. Hearts need to change. Hearts need to be warned. These words can be ignored but some day the truth will be known. Eternal life or eternal death? Jesus is the only way.

John 14:6 - Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Crucified Life, Resurrected Life

Luke 9:23, John 11:25-26 - Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

I listened to a Resurrection Sunday sermon last night. While this is not a recap of the message, I was taken by a thought that was clearly evident within that sermon.

A crucified life becomes a resurrected life, or death becomes life. It’s a hard word. Look at this picture Jesus gave us: Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. (John 12:24-25)

When we receive Christ we are called to die to ourselves and live in Christ. If we have received Christ and are born again, it is by His Spirit coming into us. This Spirit of God will then direct our new paths, open blind eyes, bring understanding where there was once foolishness. This is how we know He lives in us. And it’s all God’s doing. We do nothing but respond to something that urges us to commit our lives to Him.

This death to life can only occur now—while we are still alive. If we die before this we may have lost our chance at eternal life. Eternal life does not come upon our death, unless we have committed ourselves to Christ. Dying to self means we now can be ...hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—” (2Corinthians 4:8-9)

But God...paid the price, so we wouldn’t have to. He defeated death so we wouldn’t have to (spiritually) face it. He died that we might live; He died that despite the difficulties in this world, we can have the assurance that eternally we will now live and that the troubles of life are only temporary and nothing to the one who has the hope that Jesus brings.

We cannot rely on our good works or our church or religion. We have to rely only on Jesus, who paid the price and said on the cross, It is finished. We are called by God to seriously come to Him and receive His gift of eternal life. This is done by admitting we are sinners (and the Bible says we all are apart from God) and realizing His death alone paid the price that we would be reconciled to God. His life, death and resurrection alone.

Jesus holds the keys to life and death. No one else does; we cannot. We don’t have the final say in our life, God does. - Pastor J.D. Farag  That works both ways—without Christ we experience eternal damnation. With Christ we experience eternal life. But it’s not just knowing the Lord in our minds; He must be in our hearts as mentioned above. We must totally trust Him. Our only hope is not in a job, money, things, self, it is only in Christ.

Life in the world is led by satan. Life in the Spirit is led by Christ. You are in one place or the other. No in between. Hard word. You don’t get to be led by Christ by your own will or resolve. You enter by submission to Christ.

This is why the name of Jesus causes trepidation, and might I say, offense. When saying or hearing His name is difficult, that is trepidation. We have the chance to choose today life or death and God s willing to receive anyone willing to do this...today, now. God doesn’t send us to hell; we send ourselves by our own choice, by not believing or having faith or trusting in Jesus. Again, not by our own will to be a “good” person, but by Jesus’ death and victory over sin and death.

All this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ—it’s good news. Christ has a free gift for each of us, this eternal life in Christ. But we must reach out to receive it. If you reject it, it’s your choice. If you receive it, your best life can begin. Some day God will ask you whether you have received it or rejected it...though He will already have known. The answer given determines where we will spend eternity.

Christ died and rose again that we might die to self and be resurrected with Him on the last day. Will you be counted in that number?

1Corinthians 15:57 - ...thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Prepare for the Worst, Hope for the Best

Mark 8:36 - For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?

The statement to prepare for the worst, hope for the best, has been used a lot these past couple of weeks with all the intense weather that has occurred. 

Other statements recently heard:

•Once the storm comes it's too late to take action, so do what you need to do before it comes. 

•You can replace the material things, but lives cannot be replaced. 

•Err on the side of caution.

•Evacuate or die. (Yikes)

These are all true statements for life situations. It is also true when it relates to the salvation of our souls. Many believe God is not important in ones life...it's okay to believe in God, in their own way, or whatever god they desire, but there is only one true God who can provide the hope in our salvation and His name is Jesus. 

He requires an intimate relationship with Him, like a father to a child or husband to wife. He requires a repentant heart, not sacrifices or head knowledge of Him. Denomination means nothing to Him. He wants your heart. He wants your commitment. He doesn't just want you on Sundays but everyday. He wants you in your home, at work, at play. He wants your complete focus and devotion. 

Salvation is real and important. It's serious business. Those who have experienced it know! They know the changes that have taken place. They know the voice of the Lord. They know His power. They are gaining wisdom and revelation of who this God is. 

There will always be controversy about this subject. Remember, even Jesus encountered scoffers and persecution. Why would He have gone through all this if His Gospel message of salvation wasn't true? We are to seek Him while He may still be found, not wait, because we don't know when our last day will come...we must be certain today. I understand some think this thing about salvation through Jesus might be a myth. Then this: If what I believe is wrong, then I have nothing to lose. But if I’m right, then those who think contrary have everything to lose. Reread the opening scripture.

So, when the storms of life come, whether natural disasters or personal ones, who do you turn to? Doctors, science, government or anything of man can do just so much and I'm not saying we shouldn't seek their help when necessary. But when the chips are down and we consider where we will be when we die, do we have peace and hope in what Jesus did and what He tells us we have to look forward to? Our physical lives, once done on earth, cannot be replaced... People are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment. (Hebrews 9:27)... unless we have received Christ as our Savior. There's nothing wrong with erring on the side of caution. Have we been evacuated from our worldly lives leading to death or have we sought the One who has died that we might live? Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1John 2:15)

Straight from Jesus: 

He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. (John 12:25)

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (John 3:17)  

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27) 

Hope comes only from Jesus. Spiritual life only comes through Jesus.  He came that we may have eternal (spiritual) life. He came to give us hope and peace. We will still encounter storms of life, but we can know our hope is secure, even if we die. How about others? How fearful might they be? Consider the list of statements above and consider Jesus, the one who saves.

Jeremiah 17:5-7 - Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord. For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord.

All One Needs

Isaiah 61:1-3 - “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, 

Because the LORD has anointed Me 

To preach good tidings to the poor; 

He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, 

To proclaim liberty to the captives, 

And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 

To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, 

And the day of vengeance of our God; 

To comfort all who mourn, 

To console those who mourn in Zion, 

To give them beauty for ashes, 

The oil of joy for mourning, 

The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; 

That they may be called trees of righteousness, 

The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified."

Who is Me in the above prophetic word? A prophetic word about Himself that Jesus

repeated to the anger and offense of some men when He preached them in a synagogue as His ministry first began. He did all the things listed. Go over them one by one. He did them all.

Our God, high and lifted up, watches from His throne of righteousness as men go their own way, do their own thing, apart from Him. He watches as they destroy life as it was intended to be. He knows His judgment must come to them. Yet He hopes they will turn and regard Him once again as Creator, Redeemer, Provider...their God. He desires their affection over the temporal things of this world. He desires they seek wisdom over folly. He desires obedience over sacrifice and humility over pride.

Why do some go against the things of God? How do they not see their Creator, the name above all names, in all that surrounds them? How do they take all of life into their own hands? How do they not see that they contribute to evil, which can be blatant or no more than turning God aside? How do they not see what is true, pure and just? How is pride of life so much greater than the things God has given us? Pride comes before the fall, we are told. (Proverbs 16:18)

Only God offers life abundantly. Only He gives eternal life. Man, in general, seeks only the things they find satisfy them in the here and now. When what today isn't enough, what about tomorrow? What will they seek then? What more will satisfy? 

Even the Church has sought their own ways seeking entertainment and soft words that leave one unprepared for tomorrow. They find no value in the simplicity, comforting and sometimes hard words of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Word is not enough. Their senses have to be heightened. You know who does that? For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)  His name does not need to be spoken. 

This is what is in the world. All about me, my feelings, my dreams, my desires...apart from God. Life in Christ is all one needs. Search for all the riches in the world but they won't preserve a life. Seek prominence in the world; when all is said and done that prominence, after death, will eventually be forgotten. All things come to an end...unless one knows Christ. He brings eternal life. 

What good is having it all in this life when one does not first have the Lord? What does one cling to when all else is taken away, when sickness invades? When riches diminish, when life gets dicey, when evil surrounds and destroys? What hope does one cling to then? Life in Christ is all one needs. He supplies all riches in glory. But one must know Him to receive the glorious things He has for all.

But there is an evil one who has blinded the eyes of many. They cannot see the cliff they are headed for. They do not see the wisdom in Christ. They do not believe the promises of God. They do not see. They are blind. Like the song says, I once was blind but now I see... Like Jesus when He healed the blind man: One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see. (John 9:25) 

I was blind more than half my life. I was born that way. We all are. Oh, we see in the natural, but we do not see spiritually until Jesus opens our eyes to the miraculous things of God. Nothing looks the same. The evils of the world become visible and disheartening. The things of God become clearer and comforting. We see that the Lord has more for us than the world. 

It's hard living in this world when others don't "see" like you. When there's opposition to all good things and you see God, His name, His truths, His Word denied. And the days are growing darker. Blindness enlarges while truth fades. I'm so thankful, despite "seeing" all this happen in the world, that I know the Lord. I'm so thankful that I can say the same as the blind man, "One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see." I did nothing on my own to receive my sight. There is a darkness that has been pervading our world. It is rapidly taking over. The blind will not be able to have the chance to see some day. God is turning them over to their own lustful desires (Romans 1:24).

While there is still a glimmer of light, I pray many will take advantage of it. That they will seek Jesus, seek the truth and allow their blind eyes to be opened. There is still time individually and corporately. But the days are dwindling. The light in this world is fading. Evil is taking over. But there is One who still holds out for the last few, to open their eyes.

John 9:3-5 - Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of 

Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

Up or Down?

John 6:34-40

Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always." And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."


It doesn't get much better than this. Remember the words Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman? "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."

These people were still just wanting the bread but not understanding that it was He. We also look to the natural things in life to sustain us when it is only He who gives real life.

Does it amaze you like it does me that the idea of "up" is always good and "down" tends to refer to not so good? Jesus told the Samaritan woman and these people that we will be raised up, as He was, if we eat of the bread He gives and drink of His living water, which springs up and brings everlasting life. There's always a condition. No way around it, ever.

We see evidence of Jesus daily that we cannot deny His existence. He was with the Father in the beginning at creation. So He was part of creating what we see today. He came in human form that people might see Him and believe. Many saw and did believe and passed their encounters on down through the ages. Testimonies of Jesus. Yet many saw and did not believe. I guess there will always be skepticism or unbelief.

Jesus came down from heaven. That act resulted in His death. But it also resulted in life. Just as He came down and was raised up, so we can be. We are born down here on earth and the end result is death. This death is permanent. We do not come back, as some might believe (reincarnation). After death, however, there is more, one of two directions we take...by God's design. Which "more" do we choose? If we choose Christ, we have eternal life. If we do not choose Him we have eternal death. Up or down? The condition, the result.

We can be raised up like He was. He said that the will of His Father was that He give His life, that we might see and believe and be raised up. Who would want to pass this up? Jesus even bluntly told these people that they saw but still did not believe. I know it's difficult sometimes to imagine what we have not seen. But our childlike faith, which Jesus asks we have, has to believe that He was raised up and that all He says is true and if that IS true, we also will be raised up...if we take hold of salvation through Jesus alone. Lose our life to Christ to have life.

I think if anyone then followed Jesus repeatedly they might have finally understood what He was saying. It's like that for us when we read His Word. Staying in the Word helps us to understand, opens up our understanding. Brings aha moments.

A fountain of water springing up into everlasting life, bread that never causes hunger...that everyone who believes in Him may have everlasting life and will be raised up at the last day. We all know that heaven is up, so where does that place hell? We give in to Jesus and all He has to give or remain content believing we are good to go on our own. It's a choice we make.

Matthew 16:25-26 - For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?