Talk of JESUS .com

Tag: faith

  • Slow of Heart to Believe

    Slow of Heart to Believe

    Are we slow of heart to believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ Jesus?

    In an early encounter with two of His disciples (followers), Jesus, our risen Lord, accuses gently:

    “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken …”

    – Luke 24:25 KJV

    Does this from our Lord resonate in your twenty-first century ears?

    A commentator on what Jesus told these two disciples from the Prophets remarked (certainly tongue-in-cheek) that he could never forgive Cleopas for not telling Luke which passages from the Prophets Jesus used. I, too, could only speculate; but would point us to some scriptures we might resist in our Bible reading. It is with more ‘WARNINGS’ to the churches I would like to direct our reluctant eyes ‘slow of heart to believe.’

    the_seven_churches_of_revelation

    • Ephesus – you have abandoned the love you had at first…
    • Smyrna – Do not fear what you are about to suffer.
    • Pergamum – you have some there who… practice sexual immorality.
    • Thyatira – teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality…
    • Sardis – “‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die…
    • Philadelphia – I know that you have but little power… I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.
    • Laodicea –  For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

    AS WE, would so easily dismiss the cautions of Jesus to the seven churches of Revelation; so, too, the disciples were ‘slow of heart to believe’ all the Prophets had warned God’s disciple nation: Israel (and also Judah).

    NOTE: The following scriptures are King James Version:

    Isaiah 3:8 For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory.

    Jeremiah 2:11 Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.

    Hosea 4: Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.

    Perhaps, hearing with open ears and seeing scripture with eyes uncovered, you may see in much scripture how the Messiah, the Christ, must suffer and die.

    Hear (even after His resurrection) and consider in closing Psalm 49, thinking of the incarnate life of Jesus.

    Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world:

    Both low and high, rich and poor, together.

    My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.

    I will incline mine ear to a parable…

    They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;

    None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:

    (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:)

    That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption…

    But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me…

     

    Luke 23:46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!”

    And having said this he breathed his last.

     

  • A Flicker of Faith

    A Flicker of Faith

    Proverbs 24:20 For there shall be no reward to the evil man; the candle of the wicked shall be put out.

    Beloved brother; dearly beloved sister:

    I know you have been ‘lukewarm‘ in your belief in Christ. You have been lukewarm in your faith in Jesus. You have been cold in your heart for His church and unthankful in your daily life.

    Your offering has been stingy (if you have even returned any of what is already His).

    And your prayer?  … Probably as infrequent as my prayers so often become.

    The flame of His light dimly flickers in the fruit of your witness. You resist the fire of His Holiness each time the Lord calls you to repentance.

    Yes… at times, we are lukewarm for the risen Lord, Christ Jesus. At times, we fail miserably in our Christian… our christian… our not-so-Christlike mortal life.

    The Light in You

    Luke 11:33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light.

    34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. 35 Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness.

    36 If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”

    John 1:4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

    5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

    Has the Lord’s light left your heart?

    OR do you answer our risen Lord’s voice at the door of your heart saying: ‘Repent, beloved?’

    Jesus seeks the lost. He welcomes the return of the prodigal christian.

    For to the church at Ephesus, the risen Christ also revealed through John:

    Revelation 2:5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent…

    7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

    To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

  • What Must I Do?

    What Must I Do?

    So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”

    Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” – Acts 9:6 NKJV

    Have you had a personal encounter with the Living God?

    Saul, an enemy of Christ, religious zealot and persecutor of true followers of the Way (the Apostles and others) encountered the risen Christ. Saul was a stumbling block to those who would claim Jesus as our Lord and our God.

    Saul of Tarsus’ encounter with the risen Christ is no less significant than an earlier encounter of Moses with God in the burning bush. This man, a leading disciple of the Temple is zealous for God; yet before this personal encounter Saul was galvanized against the risen Jesus, God Incarnate.

    Saul comes to the unknown: as Moses approached the unknown and as we each approach God in faith; for God has drawn us into His Presence. We have come from our place of complete understanding onto the Holy ground of marvelous mystery.

    God IS. Jesus IS.

    Now what must I do?

    Saul had asked the risen Jesus at this moment the obvious question: NOT just, ‘what are you?’, but, ‘Who are you, Lord?’

    Saul had finally bowed down in humility to Jesus Christ, Son of God. Saul in worship finally bowed down in humility as we we all must at the moment we encounter Jesus as ‘our Lord.’

    Acts: 9:4 ESV And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”

    5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?”

    And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”

    “Who are you, Lord?”

    Is that what you ask of Jesus now that you have met Him?

    Lord, ‘kyrios’: This ‘relationship‘ between Jesus and a ‘Christian’ believer and follower is used over 100 times in the Acts of the Apostles. This relationship of Jesus as Lord is to show you, dear brother or dear sister in the Lord, and to show me Who Jesus IS and who we are to become in our relationship to Him as our Lord.

    Outline of Biblical Usage
    he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, lord
    the possessor and disposer of a thing
    the owner; one who has control of the person, the master
    in the state: the sovereign, prince, chief, the Roman emperor
    is a title of honour expressive of respect and reverence, with which servants greet their master
    this title is given to: God, the Messiah

    Before we bowed down to Christ as our Lord we were stumbling blocks to those who would believe, yet witnessed in us how Christ was NOT our Lord.

    Do you, who believe in the resurrection of Christ Jesus now ask: “What must I do?”
    • Jesus was: before He was born of Mary.
    • Jesus was: before He was crucified on the Cross
    • Jesus was: as He appeared in His broken flesh to the Apostles
    • Jesus was: when you were born
    • Jesus IS: in this very moment and place
    • Jesus IS: when your flesh must die
    • Jesus will BE: in the resurrection of souls for ALL time and eternity!

    What must we do, Lord?

    The answer of Christ is as individual and personal as our new relationship with Jesus as our Lord.

    For Saul who would become known as Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, the answer was clear and specific:

    Acts 9:6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”

    7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.

    9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

    When we first encounter our risen “Lord,” we may also be blind. We will be told what to do.

    IF Jesus is your Lord, take HIS hand and allow your new Lord to lead you into the city of faith.