“HE LED THEM!”

 Luke 24:50-53                       (ESV)

The Ascension

“[50] And “HE LED THEM” out as far as Bethany, and lifting up HIS hands HE blessed them. [51] While HE blessed them, HE parted from them and was carried up into heaven. [52] And they worshiped HIM and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, [53] and were continually in the temple blessing GOD.”

The Ascension of the physical body of JESUS into Heaven is recorded in the book of Luke in four simple verses.   THE LORD and HIS disciples left Jerusalem that day and went just east of the Mount of Olives to Bethany, “a designated place for the sick and those with contagious diseases”, according to some.  

Why didn’t JESUS lead HIS disciples to a place of grandeur and prosperity?  One would think HIS disciples might remember this place as the final place JESUS was seen on earth?  

JESUS CHRIST came to earth to save we who are sick and those with contagious diseases.  In HIS final act of obedience, “HE LED THEM” to a place of servant hood, not of celebrating HIS victory over death!  Yes, because of HIS victory we are able to be FREE from death, hell and the grave, but HIS disciples needed to know that “HE LED THEM” to minister to the sick, NOT just to glory in HIS victory!

We need to remember that “HE LED THEM” to Bethany, not to Jerusalem, to minister to “a designated place for the sick and those with contagious diseases” just before HE ascended to Heaven!  Am I following HIM to Bethany???

“GOD HAS REVEALED TO US!”

 1 Corinthians 2:9-10                      (ESV)

“[9] But, as it is written, 

    “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,

        nor the heart of man imagined,

    what GOD has prepared for those who love HIM”—

    [10] these things “GOD HAS REVEALED TO US” through the SPIRIT. For the SPIRIT searches everything, even the depths of GOD.”

There are people who believe that JESUS only shared WHO HE was with people who BELIEVED, with those who were CHOSEN?  After all, HE was THE CREATOR and everyone “should” know where they came from?  

I didn’t know my earthly father until I was almost 24 years old.  I met him and was so underwhelmed by the absence of love for me, his son, that I refrained from seeing him again until he was near death.  

How could anyone NOT love someone given to them by ALMIGHTY GOD, THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSES?  To understand that HE CHOSE us from before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4) FOR A PURPOSE, to serve HIM is something that we must OPEN our EYES to SEE!  

“GOD HAS REVEALED TO US”, via HIS HOLY SPIRIT, what HE has CHOSEN us to do for HIM!    The sad thing is that sometimes I am in such a hurry that I exhibit very little interest in SEEING what GOD wants to do and I try to accommodate what I think is best!  FATHER IN HEAVEN, I beg YOU to not give up on me and display to me that which “GOD HAS REVEALED TO US” for YOUR GLORY!!!

“YOUR WORD IS TRUTH!”

 John 17:14-19                        (ESV)

“[14] I have given them YOUR WORD, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. [15] I do not ask that YOU take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. [16] They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. [17] Sanctify them in the TRUTH; “YOUR WORD IS TRUTH”. [18] As YOU sent ME into the world, so I have sent them into the world. [19] And for their sake I consecrate MYSELF, that they also may be sanctified in truth.”

Almost the entire chapter of John 17 is called THE HIGH PRIESTLY PRAYER, coming from JESUS to HIS FATHER because HE knew what lie ahead of HIM!  Since JESUS knew what lie ahead of HIM, yet HE willingly submitted to the FATHERS PLAN, HE has “all authority” (Matthew 28:18) over “this world”!  Yet JESUS suffered through the torment of Calvary because of my sins, and yours.  

Our wishes don’t validate our sins, no matter what you told.  JESUS CHRIST paid the price of redemption for our sins and HE ALONE has the power to forgive us, no one else!  1 John 1:7 plainly says “But IF we walk in the light, as HE is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of JESUS HIS SON cleanses us from ALL sin.”  

For this humble FOLLOWER OF JESUS, I want to remember that “YOUR WORD IS TRUTH” and that I MUST adhere to TRUTH, not try to change TRUTH to accommodate my actions!!!

“I DO NOT UNDERSTAND!”

 Romans 7:15-25                        (ESV)

“[15] For “I DO NOT UNDERSTAND” my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. [16] Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. [17] So now it is no longer I who do it, but SIN THAT DWELLS IN ME. [18] For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. [19] For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. [20] Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. [21] So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. [22] For I delight in the law of GOD, in my inner being, [23] but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and MAKING ME CAPTIVE to the law of sin that dwells in my members. [24] Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? [25] Thanks be to GOD through JESUS CHRIST our LORD! So then, I myself serve the law of GOD with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.”

Being in CONTROL is something that I have never been able to master to my own benefit.  I would be too strict with myself, then I would be too lax further down the road.  It doesn’t make sense that I would be so on FIRE for THE LORD and then display such Spiritual Immaturity in the same day.  

There are times when I have to be reminded that this body is a temple of the HOLY SPIRIT (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) and I shouldn’t have CONTROL over what going on with my body.  If ANYONE should understand this, it should be me?  Sixteen years ago I “believed” myself to be in CONTROL of my life.  Within a little more than a month I was in a coma and medical team was unable to CONTROL my blood pressure.  My personal physician wrote in my medical records in September 2007 “However, he has had a remarkable recovery that could only be defined as a miracle from GOD!”  

To say that “I DO NOT UNDERSTAND” might just mean that GOD is in our midst doing what ONLY HE is able to do!  There is NO DOUBT in my mind that GOD is capable of doing as HE pleases, so why am I amazed when that occurs?  ALMIGHTY GOD loves me, a broken vessel incapable of reciprocating HIS affection, and “I DO NOT UNDERSTAND” that!  HIS LOVE is a boundless love, and I am SO GLAD it is!!!

“BE ON GUARD!”

 Mark 13:22-23                    (ESV)

“[22] For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, TO LEAD ASTRAY, if possible, the elect. [23] But “BE ON GUARD”; I have told you all things beforehand.”

Almost the entire chapter of Mark 13 is written in red letters, indicating that the WORD was spoken by JESUS, the CHRIST!   Whenever I see red letters in Scripture, I pay attention because I feel as though JESUS HIMSELF is speaking directly to me.  

The television in our house isn’t used as much as it previously was.  I used to have it turned on listening to a news channel that claimed to be the source of TRUTH, but when I started listening more to THE TRUTH the “fake news” will NOT satisfy!  Therefore I don’t listen to it anymore and I try to listen to THE REAL TRUTH!  

Listening to “counterfeit” sources of “this world” will not satisfy when you have been exposed to TRUTH!  We need to “BE ON GUARD” to being exposed to the lies that come from “the enemy” and know where it is coming from!  The devil is a liar and what he is trying to accomplish is to LEAD US ASTRAY.  When we listen to TRUTH we are more apt to follow HIS ways and do HIS WILL!  

“BE ON GUARD” that you are not listening to lies, but the listening to TRUTH…..that is JESUS CHRIST!!!

“YOU ARE MY GOD!”

Psalm 31:14-15                                 (ESV)

    “[14] But I TRUST in YOU, O LORD;

        I say, “YOU ARE MY GOD.” 

    [15] My times are in YOUR hand;

        rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!”

Hearing from others how we need to give GOD more time to work things out lends to the notion that we are the ones in CONTROL, that we are better prepared to decide what is best for our lives???  Even when we were formed in our mother’s womb ( Jeremiah 1:5, Psalm 139:13-18) GOD was in CONTROL.  

“The enemy” loves to cloud our vision with “the lie” that we are the ones that are making decisions about our future.  In 2007 I had plans that I would begin a foundation for helping underprivileged youth get out of the rut of poverty and become successful.  The plan was to start the efforts on July 09, 2007.  That morning I awoke at 5:30 AM to go to the bathroom with a Brain Hemorrhage.  

GOD never inquired of me for my opinion.  My lesson was that “YOU ARE MY GOD” and I AM NOT!  HE desires for ALL OF US to TRUST in HIM for everything, not just when we get in a bind.  About three weeks later I was brought out of a seventeen day coma that I wasn’t consulted about beforehand.  Sixteen years later I still have to be reminded that “YOU ARE MY GOD” is in CONTROL, not me!  

“YOU ARE MY GOD” is our dearest FRIEND (John 15:13-15), so why don’t we TRUST HIM freely rather than being placed in a coma???

“BE STRONG IN THE LORD!”

Ephesians 6:10-12                                  (ESV)

The Whole Armor of GOD

“[10] Finally, “BE STRONG IN THE LORD” and in the strength of HIS might. [11] Put on the whole armor of GOD, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. [12] For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

A lot of times our lives are operating at such a whirlwind pace that we don’t take time to BE STILL, AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD (Psalms 46:10) is saying to us.  For most of us, the remedy to NOT hearing from our CREATOR is to open the BIBLE for a few minutes with the intention of hearing from the LORD on our timeline.  Could it be that we don’t have the proper understanding of WHO HE IS and that we are not as important as we think we are???

In his letter to the church at Ephesus, the Apostle Paul sums up his communication with “Finally, “BE STRONG IN THE LORD” and in the strength of HIS might”.  Put on the whole armor of GOD, that you may be able to STAND against the schemes of the devil.”  

I have never spent a lot of time in a facility where lifting weights was the main goal.  Being BLESSED with strength is something that I was gifted with by hard work and my genetics.  I never knew how strong I was until after I was recovering from the Brain Hemorrhage in 2007.  Losing almost twenty percent of your body weight in less than two months can reveal that to you.  My physical strength was very important to my recovery, but not nearly as important as “BE STRONG IN THE LORD”!

Spending an appropriate amount of time in BIBLE study and prayer time is something that is vastly under appreciated by humanity.  “Put on the whole armor of GOD, that you may be able to STAND against the schemes of the devil” isn’t something that should be ignored.  I need to “BE STRONG IN THE LORD”, not because I am important in HIS PLAN, but because HE lives inside my body!!!