DRAMATIC GOOD FRIDAY READING

  

Okay... we know it was a Thursday evening Our Lord was arrested and His burial was rushed since the Christ-followers of that day under Mosaic law and Israel prepared for the Sabbath day beginning on Thursday evening, so not to have any work duties nor cooking between sunset Friday and sunset Saturday....but to be in a Nation that still recognizes the Death, Burial and Resurrection of The Lord, is truly a Blessing. Respect Good Friday; of course any day of the week to commemorate so great an act to save the Universe is Worthy Of Honor. The issue is not whether Thursday or Friday, but that Our Lord was beaten for you, mocked for you, shamed for you, whipped for you, nailed to The Cross for you, died for you, and rose again on the 3rd day, that you and I should not remain in the grave either, but sleep there and rise again to reign with Him for All Eternity!!                               CELEBRATE !!

    

                                                                           

 

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

JUST SOME THOUGHTS...... I come across a number of remarks about Faith and God and how others view God, The Bible, Jesus Christ, and Sin...Lately I've encountered unbelief in the Virgin Birth of Christ by those who believe "God would never" have The Savior born that way... yet this same view actually has faith in Adam being formed from the dust of the Earth.

It takes much more faith to believe Adam was formed from the ground and Eve from his rib than to believe a pure woman preserved for God gave birth as a virgin to The Savior of the World.  Can't God do Anything, beyond what we could think?

Then there's the thought that all races came from one race, (Yes the Human race) but if Cain who slew his own brother was exiled from home by God, and sent into another land, worried that the people already there would slay him, it was needful that God put a mark upon him that no one would harm him...so there were already people out there, and it is My belief that God formed the races all out of the ground and removed A Rib out of each race of Man to form a wife of his own people. Of every race on the earth there is a matching color of sand.  According to Acts 17:26 "out of One Blood made God all Nations to dwell on the earth"....However; Adam was formed with Blood also, whose?....God's.
It is  written...
Acts 20:28

Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

Then there is the belief that Jesus is just the greatest Prophet that ever lived, but not the Savior, yet this same belief comes from the New Testament that proves Jesus Christ fulfilled the prophecy of the Savior from scripture in the Old Testament And it declares Him to be the Savior of the World. It behooves me that some pick and choose which part of the same passage of Scripture they believe....We wouldn't know Jesus was/is a Great Prophet without the same passages of Scripture that declare Him to also be Lord, Messiah, The One whose Blood was shed for the redemption of the whole world.  

We'd like to attribute and limit God to our own human understanding and that's where we get it wrong, The Carnal mind cannot conceive the things of God. 1 Corinthians 2:14
We are constantly advised in the Word of God to "Believe"; Everything cannot be humanly comprehended, Only Believe it anyway the way it is given in the Bible, which is man's handbook for living. One preacher said B I B L E means "Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth". ...or Bible Instructions Before Life Ends.

Leviticus 19:19 
19Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and wool come upon thee.

(surely mingled seed is common today, especially with the GMO foods and etc. and this is not God's statute or Divine order. Many say "well that's old, and nailed to the Cross", but not everything was nailed to The Cross, only Blood sacrifices, sin offerings, circumcision (for Gentiles), and the purification process is now through the Blood of Jesus.  We should also question/shun abortions, transfusions, transplants, surrogacy,  IVF, and cremation.  God formed the bones in the womb and already has designed a natural decomposition process. Even our bones belong to God)

The most popular remarks from the unchurched believers are, "there's too many hypocrites in the Church ",  "if we had to do everything the Bible says, nobody would go to heaven."

Jesus had a betrayer, a liar, an accuser and a doubter, among His Apostles but He loved them and gave them space to repent, understood that we are flesh, and dealt with them, corrected them and It is written that "whom the Lord loves, He rebukes and chastises",  We don't turn our backs on the Church or God just because some people don't act like Christians.  We, alone will answer to God for our own sins, and neglect of serving Him, the hypocrites are not an excuse. Heaven is already inhabited right now by many of our forefathers who really Loved the Lord,  they are there Praying along with Jesus who makes intercession for the Saints on earth.  Early Christians were serious about their service to God. The Word of God is not as old as we think,...after all, a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as One day to the Lord, therefore the Bible is only a couple days old in God's eyes; If we truly Love Him, We believe His Word and Obey it.

CHRISTMAS: EVERYDAY IS THE LORD'S! LET'S NOT RESERVE IT FOR PAGANS!

Let’s make sense In these pagan-threats against Christmas!

Some symbols, especially Santa Claus needs to be removed from the Holiday,  Christian children need to be looking up for the Star of David that shown over the manger or for the precious soles of the feet of Christ in the rapture and not some sleigh of reindeer and a flying santa. Do you believe the government in the U.S. will move Christmas to say...September 21st?   No!..  and we don’t have Bibles in the hotel rooms anymore, no more 10 commandments on the wall of the courthouses, no more prayer in most schools, no nativity scenes in front of municipal and federal offices. If we eliminate this glorious day of celebration all together we simply wouldn’t have it at all except in our private lives and that's just what the devil ordered, 'remove it, keep it quiet, hide it, and eliminate it'. satan wants to increase and God decrease. "Remember Me", This is the Order of Everyday of the Year (and yes corporately for Holy Communion) but to say we "should Not observe The Lord on December 25th" does Him dishonor, we must never forget "The evening and the morning were the First day and the evening and the morning were the 7th day", and guess what?  The evening and the morning are each of the 365 days of the year, and God Made Every Day of The Year, from sundown to sundown, each day Is THE LORD's !!! so don't attribute ANY DAY to the pagans,  it is Theft.  We may Honor the Lord ANY DAY Of THE YEAR, The Lord Owns the Evening the Afternoon and the Morning!

Let's not be agents and spokes-people for satan’s agenda and goal to erase Christmas. Let's just Fix it.

I remember sharing with a Jehovah's Witness who said the 'crucifix hanging on my neck was idolatry', and I said yes “I idolize Christ” and she said but “you cant make an idol out of the symbol by wearing it, we are not to wear graven images “.....tsk, then I shared {1^st Corinthians 1:18 } how the preaching of the cross is unto them which perish, "foolishness" but unto us which are saved it is the power of God", and how there are graven images all around us, I asked, "do you have bowls in your home?", well that's a graven image after the likeness of things in heaven, and your cups are also, so get rid of all of them and pour drinks in your hand.  I also asked "do your kids play musical instruments?" well that’s also a graven image after the likeness of musical instruments in heaven, so pull them out of the music classes and get rid of those graven images. That's what some religious videos on social media are posting, trying to do away with the “whole” when it only requires getting rid of a few things within in that are questionable. It is written in Romans 13:7 " Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor."

(Even the 3 wise men brought birthday gifts to Baby Jesus.) She mentioned we shouldn’t honor birthdays because it's idolatry, I mentioned how the Bible says in Romans Chapter 14, that we should 'let no one judge what days we honor especially if we are honoring the Lord'.
I mentioned how the Bible says in Matthew 7:11  how we "know how to give good gifts unto our children", and how Colossians 2:16 says 'let no man judge what days you honor' and Romans14: 1-23  says “some men esteem one day above another and another man esteems everyday alike, let everyone be persuaded in his own mind”.

We are making a mountain out of a mole-hill here with contention over pagan practices and it borders on blaspheming Christ.
Anytime you are against extra effort and the setting aside of a high day to honor the Lord, and are in a country that actually has declared it a National Holiday and you rebuke it, whose side are you really on?  I can see satan’s ministers being the only ones hating Christmas and seeking to rid the world of it while he makes halloween and devil's night bigger, brighter, more decorated and celebrated.  We need to be careful not to call so great a celebration in favor of our Lord's Birth a pagan expression!  The pagans worshipped the log, they idolized the tree, and we only use it as decor.  To "deck" means to decorate, it's in the Bible several times in a favorable sense, look it up.  [ they "decked" the tree and worshipped it ] [ Jer. 10:4 ]   Why bring ANY plants into the home for that matter?   Let's keep/get things into perspective.  Keep it in Context. You don’t rid the whole holiday, you rid the items of it that are questionable.

The commandment says that we not "make unto thee any graven image of any likeness in heaven or earth FOR TO WORSHIP IT"  Lev. 26:1  We decorate the tree we don’t worship it!  [ they "decked" the tree and worshipped it. [ Jer. 10:4 ]   

The scriptures she referred to were all about "worshipping" the graven images,  she mentioned that Barbie and Ken dolls and any dolls, are graven images and sin to have them; I said to her..."Well speaking of things we have that are graven images, made after the likeness of things in heaven, or earth or under water,...well there's chairs/thrones in heaven, trumpets, buildings, mansions and other items yet you have them, and you don't worship them". Exodus 20:5  The command is to "NOT WORSHIP A GRAVEN IMAGE: 

 Just because something is not observed in the Bible as a High-day doesn’t mean we can’t dedicate  High-Days to the Lord, It Is an Honor to Him, and He receives it. Everyday of the year was given by God, we reserve no days to the pagans, it all belongs to God who is to be honored everyday, including December 25th, don’t give satan anything!  It all belongs to God. Long Live Christmas Day til Kingdom Come !!!!!!!!

Should we honor the birthdays of dead presidents but not  formally recognize the Birth of the King of Kings?