Serving a Jesus without Cross!
Thou art the Christ!
You don't want to constantly be sitting on the sideline studying him either. You want to at some point get in the game and get the ball in the hoop. True success is getting the spiritual ball(Jesus) in the hoop (heart) when you never get the ball in the hoop then what is the point of playing in the first place. This is a time in our Christian culture when the true Jesus Christ is not being preached. If faith in Jesus Christ is our goal then why don't we minister Jesus Christ and him crucified. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:2 For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
We have been taught a false Jesus. A Jesus that didn't endure the cross. A Jesus with no nails in his hands and a Jesus with no crown of thorns pressed into his brow. What happens when you preach a Jesus that didn't have to go to the cross to get resurrected? You end up with a people whose faith is in a false god. A people who have in their hearts faith in a god who hasn't been through rejection, ridicule, pain, or suffering. We all have been guilty of worshiping this god who is supposed to revolve around our plans of so-called prosperity. Due to these man-made images, and doctrine teaching, we also have a rampant wave of false prophets persecuting the true followers of Christ, even to the point of rebuking and reproving those who oppose their false doctrine. They say the gospel is to a poor (no money)man: he doesn't have to be poor no more the gospel to a sick(dying slowly overweight or dying fast cancer) man is that he doesn't have to be sick no more. They disguise their motive as a love for filthy lucre(money) and call this the prosperity message. You can lie to yourself and say you want to be rich to help others all you want but God knows the true reason why you want to be rich. You can say to yourself I want to be healthy so I can better take care of other people. But God knows the real reason why you want to be fit and trim. This is a great deception because you can gain better health for yourself and become more prosperous financially and materially but you can be becoming less spiritually prosperous. The true gospel is that Jesus Christ made us and we fell short of the glory to receive Him on our own. He made a way for us to receive Him through His death on the cross. He gave us access to Him. This access then relieves us of the bend that we had toward hell! Our fathers sinned and we became children of sin. Jesus Christ gives us a heart like His and adopts us into the family of faith that overcomes the bend we had toward sin. We then can become children of God. Receive eternal life. We can have God as our inheritance instead of being slaves to ourselves. Just like the children of Israel had a desire for certain foods and materials they tested God and used him for the things he could do for them instead of desiring a greater relationship with God and to better understand his plan and heart.
Psalm 106:15
Mark 8:27-38
27 And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am?
28 And they answered, John the Baptist; but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets.
29 And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ.
Here Peter acknowledges Jesus as the Christ but still the crucified one wasn't in his heart yet. Read on.
30 And he charged them that they should tell no man of him.
31 And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
32 And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him and began to rebuke him.
33 But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.
34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.
36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
38 Whosoever, therefore, shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
Even though Peter was a disciple and a close follower he still didn't have an understanding of this those who get rebuked are the ones who"don't have enough faith" to get a job, house, and a spouse! It truly is like putting the cart before the horse it tells people that they can live the resurrected life in Christ. With no need of death to self. Our spiritual goal is to be death to self so that Christ can resurrect in us.
Read here in this section of scripture that Matthew's account of this conversation:
15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
20 Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.
21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
22 Then Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
28 Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.
These are the sufferings of Christ and how he gave us a living, breathing example of how we as his followers should live.
If you have any spiritual discernment you are aware of the increasingly apparent rise of the spirit of the Anti-Christ. As a result, Believers in the body of Christ including myself have been
pained with an intense hunger. The hunger and cravings are not for natural food and drink as you would image. Open up your bible with me to the book of Amos. He tells us what type of famine we as believers are all feeling famished of.
Amos 8:11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.
I don't know about you but It is a struggle to get in your word on a daily basis consistently. I realize I need to hear the words Jesus spoke more often.
One of the reason why I have become so interested in Jesus Christ himself is because there is so much to learn and know about Him.
I want to know as much about Jesus Christ and how he lived in relationship to this world as I possibly can. One of the reasons why I have become so interested in Jesus Christ himself is because he seems to become less and less of the main character of interest in the church today. We have heard more sermons taught about Abraham, Peter, Paul, Joseph, David, and others. These were great men of God. It is not that these people are unimportant, each one of these great men of God lives are influential and has been directly or indirectly impacted by Jesus Christ. My main point is that in my personal walk with God, I have asked The Holy Spirit to bless my studies to focus on the person of Jesus Christ and reveal him to me in a greater way. I truly believe that the study of all those other men and women of God in the bible is one of the ways the Holy Spirit reveals Jesus Christ to us in a greater way. My prayer is that the Holy Spirit will always bring my focus back to Jesus Christ.
There are several instances in the scriptures where the Holy Spirit would refer to sports as an analogy to help bring a point home. In relating this topic to the sport of playing basketball Jesus Christ is like the slam dunk of our spiritual life. He is who starts the game, the main player and he is who we are all studying to perform like. In your studies, prayers, and spiritual training you want your focus often turning back to him. How will we ever learn to win at this life? Jesus Christ overcame many different obstacles, challenges, and enemies. His purpose for coming to the earth was often met with opposition. Even by those who followed Him the closest. When we understand his purpose we can better understand our role and our position, and partner with Christ to overcome and win on his team. Jesus came to show us His example of overcoming this world, the flesh, and deliver us from hell. This was his purpose for coming to earth to destroy the works of the devil.You don't want to constantly be sitting on the sideline studying him either. You want to at some point get in the game and get the ball in the hoop. True success is getting the spiritual ball(Jesus) in the hoop (heart) when you never get the ball in the hoop then what is the point of playing in the first place. This is a time in our Christian culture when the true Jesus Christ is not being preached. If faith in Jesus Christ is our goal then why don't we minister Jesus Christ and him crucified. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:2 For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
We have been taught a false Jesus. A Jesus that didn't endure the cross. A Jesus with no nails in his hands and a Jesus with no crown of thorns pressed into his brow. What happens when you preach a Jesus that didn't have to go to the cross to get resurrected? You end up with a people whose faith is in a false god. A people who have in their hearts faith in a god who hasn't been through rejection, ridicule, pain, or suffering. We all have been guilty of worshiping this god who is supposed to revolve around our plans of so-called prosperity. Due to these man-made images, and doctrine teaching, we also have a rampant wave of false prophets persecuting the true followers of Christ, even to the point of rebuking and reproving those who oppose their false doctrine. They say the gospel is to a poor (no money)man: he doesn't have to be poor no more the gospel to a sick(dying slowly overweight or dying fast cancer) man is that he doesn't have to be sick no more. They disguise their motive as a love for filthy lucre(money) and call this the prosperity message. You can lie to yourself and say you want to be rich to help others all you want but God knows the true reason why you want to be rich. You can say to yourself I want to be healthy so I can better take care of other people. But God knows the real reason why you want to be fit and trim. This is a great deception because you can gain better health for yourself and become more prosperous financially and materially but you can be becoming less spiritually prosperous. The true gospel is that Jesus Christ made us and we fell short of the glory to receive Him on our own. He made a way for us to receive Him through His death on the cross. He gave us access to Him. This access then relieves us of the bend that we had toward hell! Our fathers sinned and we became children of sin. Jesus Christ gives us a heart like His and adopts us into the family of faith that overcomes the bend we had toward sin. We then can become children of God. Receive eternal life. We can have God as our inheritance instead of being slaves to ourselves. Just like the children of Israel had a desire for certain foods and materials they tested God and used him for the things he could do for them instead of desiring a greater relationship with God and to better understand his plan and heart.
Psalm 106:15
And he gave them their request, but sent leanness into their
soul.
The children of Israel prospered in things that they wanted but pined away in their spiritual life. So the idea that people who really have faith in God will prosper is not the truth of how Jesus taught. In fact, he taught the contrary. that he that will lose his life will save it.
When you begin to lose yourself in him you will save it. This makes better sense because this can apply to us all rich or poor sick or healed. We then can clearly see here that the true gospel is that you have been free from self and all the consequences that come along with flesh and self when you embrace me and let go of self long enough to have an encounter with me you will save your life by letting go of self. Let go of self-help. let go of self-will, selfishness, self-pity, self-made. Let Jesus help you self help is no help at all. God's will is not for you to become a better you. He wants you to die to yourself so that he can live the life he purposed for you through you. In order for that to happen you need the Holy Spirit he is our helper her helps or weakness don't get me wrong when you have Jesus Christ in your life you can defy life itself and live in his new kingdom of glory where sickness and poverty is not our portion. wrong people just like Peter did.Mark 8:27-38
27 And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am?
28 And they answered, John the Baptist; but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets.
29 And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ.
Here Peter acknowledges Jesus as the Christ but still the crucified one wasn't in his heart yet. Read on.
30 And he charged them that they should tell no man of him.
31 And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
32 And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him and began to rebuke him.
33 But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.
34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.
36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
38 Whosoever, therefore, shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
Even though Peter was a disciple and a close follower he still didn't have an understanding of this those who get rebuked are the ones who"don't have enough faith" to get a job, house, and a spouse! It truly is like putting the cart before the horse it tells people that they can live the resurrected life in Christ. With no need of death to self. Our spiritual goal is to be death to self so that Christ can resurrect in us.
Read here in this section of scripture that Matthew's account of this conversation:
15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
20 Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.
21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
22 Then Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
28 Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.
| ¶ |
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