313th Post Jesus Promises Made to His Followers Con't.- Jesus Prayer Con't. - John 17: 10-11.

John 17: 10 -11.
All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.
Jesus is still in the upper room the night He was to be betrayed, continuing with this prayer. Jesus is explaining again that He and the Father, are completely unified in their actions and belief. If you look at this prayer, Jesus shows His omniprescence, the ability to be everywhere in time at the same time. The believer's in the Old Testament, like Abraham, David, Isaac and Jacob; all believed the Promise of the Messiah, without ever seeing His coming. They did not know Jesus, but they knew the Father, and they were saved because of this belief that God would keep His promise. When Jesus came to Minister to the people, the people believed the Words of the Father first, then as they came to know Jesus, they started to believe in Him also, because His message is the same as the Father's. Jesus is telling them that He is no longer in the world, because His time on earth is short, and He is passing the mantle of preaching, teaching, and healing onto His Disciples. They will have great power, but they will not be God! Jesus is the only True God, that walked among us, He had to walk and keep all of God commands perfectly to be our True and Perfect Sacrifice, and to be able to Atone for our sins. No other god has done that!! That puts Jesus in a place by Himself, and gives Him the right to say "That no one comes to the Father except through Me!" Do you believe yet?? There is still time to make that commitment.

312th Post Jesus Promises Made to His Followers Con't Prayer Con't. - John 17: 8-9

John 17: 8-9.
For I have given them the words you have given me, and they have received them and have come to know the truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.
This is the continuing prayer Jesus prayed for His disciples, and us in the upper room just before He was to be betrayed. Jesus again says that His follower's have been given to Him by God the Father, they believed the words you have given Me, and have come to know the truth that you sent Me. To be a follower of Jesus, you have to know Jesus on this level. You have to believe that Jesus was sent by the Father and acted according with God the Father's wishes. This sets you apart from the rest of the world. The rest of the world still condemns Jesus, and does not accept Him. Only Jesus can save you from your sins! This is the Truth!! If you want eternal life, you have to believe in Jesus as your one and only true Savior. Only Jesus paid the price, and has the power to atone for sin. This is why He sits at the Right Hand of the Father today. Do you believe?? There is still time to make that commitment!

311th Post Jesus Promises Made to His Followers Con't. - John 17: 6 - 7.

John 17: 6 - 7.
I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you.
This is the continuing prayer that Jesus prayed for His disciples and us, on the night He was to be betrayed; still in the upper room. Notice how clear His words are now, Jesus has stopped speaking in parables. In verse 6, Jesus says I have clearly explained You and Your words to the people You gave Me out of the world. Here Jesus makes a distinction between the believers and the rest of the world. The world hears the word, but does not believe it, or act upon it. The believer hears the word, recognizes it as truth, and remembers it and conforms it to his life, thus transforming his life. You, the Father have given them to Me, and they have shown themselves worthy by keeping your word. At the completion of My earthly Ministry, they know that everything you have given Me is from You. They understand I have represented You correctly to them. The Old Testament teachings have become clear, and I have marked the path plainly. The way is prepared, all who seek will find the true path. My task on earth is now complete.

310th Post Jesus Promises Made to His Followers Con't. - His Own Prayers Con't. - John 17: 4-5.

Jesus continued in His prayer that He had glorified God the Father, while He was on Earth. He did this by telling the people about God the Father, and performing miracles to show the people, that His words were true because God the Father was working in and through Him. The religious leaders of that time, instead of embracing Jesus as the Messiah, tried to turn the people away from Him, by saying that Jesus got His power from Satan! They rejected Jesus and His message. This is happening still today, we see, but don't understand, we hear but don't comprehend. Jesus, despite the opposition of His message, kept proclaiming the Gospel (good news) to everyone. Some people believed, these are the ones God has saved, and is still saving today. Jesus is now at the end of His earthly Ministry, and is asking the Father to keep his promise by glorifying Jesus, by raising Him from the dead, and seating Him at His Right Hand. When Jesus died on the cross, and He said "IT IS FINISHED"! Jesus had completed His task! He descended into hell as the conquering hero, not the beaten enemy to be punished some more. Jesus showed Himself to Satan, to show him, that Jesus had prevailed, Jesus took his power, and his future. Satan is still a being, not to be taken lightly. He will still cause you much pain and suffering. Think about that, when reading the sayings and miracles of Jesus. Jesus relieved suffering, and pain; not compounded it. Do you know this Jesus?? There is still time to come to Him!!

309th Post Jesus On Promises Made to His Followers Con't. - John 17: 3 Con't.

Verse 3 of John 17 talks about eternal life. Remember that this was spoken on Maundy Thursday Night, before Jesus was to die and rise again. Jesus had not yet risen, and so He and the Father had only spoken about resurrection. Jesus through His talks with the disciples, the Father through His prophets, and His Word that had been written, at this time was limited to the Law and Prophets. The prophets had spoken about His rising from the dead, they had written, "He would not decay", Jesus Himself said He would be like Jonah. He raised Lazarus 4 days after being dead, and Martha said "Lazarus was beginning to smell". The Torah says to Moses at the burning bush "I AM the God of Abraham, Isacc and Jacob". The key word in that passage is the word of, if they were dead, God would have said "I Was"! The Bible clearly teaches life after death. The disciples were going to experience this first hand in a few short hours from now, less than a week later. They would see the risen Savior, and He will talk to them and eat before them. What all this means I will get into more detail as we follow Jesus to the cross and beyond, in this study.
Verse 4 & 5 in John 17: goes like this: I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

308th Post Jesus Promises Made to His Followers Con't. - Jesus Prayers Con't. - John 17: 1-26 Continued.

The last part of verse 2 says that He should give eternal life to as many as God the Father had given Him. This seems to contradict what John 3:16 says, according to this passage all you have to do to earn eternal life is believe. This is not the end but the beginning, when you start to keep God's Word, you start to show fruits of your faith. This is important, faith starts with belief, but you must continue to walk with God, and adapting His words to your life. This is how you walk with God. Most people when they read John 3:16, do not pay attention to the word belief. They read this passage to mean "all people", because we are all part of the world. This is not what this passage says. Everyone is given the chance to believe because it was given to the whole world. You decide yourself if you are going to believe or not. According to this passage, God the Father puts you as a believer into Jesus' hand, and there you remain as long as you continue to believe. This is exactly what John 3:16 teaches. Only believers are saved! This is the truth. There is no contradiction between John 3:16, and John 17: 1-2. I hope this has made things clear, and not confused you. Verse 3 is as follows: And this eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. Will comment on these to verses next post.

307th Post Jesus Promises Made to His Followers Con't. - His Own Prayers Con't. John 17: 1 - 26.

John 17: 1-26. This was spoken by Jesus in the Upper Room on Maundy Thursday, before He was to be betrayed. Since the whole chapter of John is the passage it is too long to print here and discuss it, like I usually do. What I will do is print this passage in sections, and then comment on the section printed. The passage will be "italics" as usual.
When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
In verse one Jesus says the time is come for the Father to glorify His Son. When Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, Adam brought sin into the world. Adam was deceived by Satan, and disobeyed God. Satan has been enjoying ruling the earth ever since. God has sent His Son as Messiah, to take sin out of the world. How well you understand this, is based on how well you understood what the "Cup" symbolizes in the previous posts. When Jesus dies on the cross, and rises from the dead Jesus will be glorified. This is what verse 2 of this passage where it says that the Son will glorify you. The word "may" is used before this was spoken before it became fact. The last part of this verse is where we will pick up on next post.

306th Post Jesus Promises Made to His Followers Con't. - His Own Prayers Con't. - John 11: 41 - 42.

John 11: 41 - 42
Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.
This was spoken by Jesus very late into His earthly Ministry, a week before Palm Sunday His Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem. The scene takes place at the burial place of Lazarus, just before Jesus raised him from the dead, after being dead 4 days. Jesus thanks His Father in Heaven for hearing Him, and then qualifies it by adding, I know You always hear Me. When you become a believer, you will always have the ear of God, the creator of Heaven and Earth and all that it holds! How great is that!! We have a God that never sleeps, takes a vacation, or goes out on break. He is always there with us. Then Jesus tells His Father that He is asking out loud, so that the people standing around might see and believe. Jesus spoke the words, so that we might have an account, and come to belief, just like the people who were actually there. How great is that, that we have a God who is interested in all aspects of our life and wants to be included in it. He is not a scary God, but a loving and just God. This is why He gave His Son to die for us for our sins, and there by reconciling us back to Him. The only way to be free from our sin guilt is to ask God for forgiveness. Are you ready yet?? Only you can make this decision. There is still time. Do it today!!

305th Post Jesus Promises Made to His Followers Con't - The "Cup" Con't. - Matthew 26: 39, 42.

Jesus was reluctant to drink the cup because it contained sin and God's righteous wrath in it. Remember Jesus is God, and being God hates sin just as much as His Father, and being perfect would never have God's wrath aimed at Him. The Father demands the shedding of Blood, or there is no forgiveness! Jesus has to take on that sin and endure the wrath that is owed in order for us to have no "cost". Remember the consequences of sin in the last post. To have no cost, someone would have to pay for it. If the wrath had not been paid, it would still be owed, there would be a cost of our sin even now. Since God's wrath was also part of that "Cup", Jesus paid it all at once.
I hope you have a better understanding of what exactly Jesus was looking at, when He asked this prayer to His Father. Jesus ended His prayer with "Not My Will, But Yours be Done". How many of us when we ask God for something, forget to include this phrase? God is in control, and has always been in control, and will continue to be in control, even during the coming tribulation period. Jesus submitted to the Will of His Father, we also will have to submit to the will of Jesus, and when we do that we are submitting to the will of the Father. Jesus had to drink the "Cup", and all of it, in order to become our perfect sacrifice. The Propitiatory Sacrifice, for us.

304th Post Jesus Promises Made to His Followers Con't. - Jesus and the "Cup" Con't.- Matthew 26: 39,42.

The reason Jesus shows reluctance to drink this cup, is because what it symbolized. The Cup holds all the sin committed from the time of Adam until Jesus comes again, at this time in the Garden of Gethsemane until now we are still waiting for Jesus' return. The sin is only half of what that Cup holds, it also holds God's righteous wrath due as a cost of those sins. This is something most Christians do not think about. Sins have consequences that are linked to those sins, and even if we are forgiven those sins, the consequences still remain. The Bible teaches that "The wages of sin is death". Even if we ask God to forgive all our sins, we still die. Death is the consequence of sin. In order to understand God's wrath, and how it works, you need a good understanding of the Old Testament. Most Christians do not like to read the Old Testament, because they say it is gory! There is a lot of gore in it that's true, but there is also a lot of love and forgiveness in there as well. It is through reading the Old Testament, that you start to understand why it takes God so long to pass judgment on the sinful people. God is hoping that the people come to their senses and ask God for forgiveness and change their ways. This is why it took so long for the Messiah to come the first time. We know what the "Cup" contains, now we are going to look at why Jesus was not looking forward to drinking it. In the next post.

303rd Post Jesus Promises Made to His Followers Con't. - Matthew 26: 39,42.

Matthew 26: 39, 42; Mark 14: 36; Luke 22:42.
O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will. O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.
This was spoken by Jesus on the night just before He was to be betrayed. I believe that the significance of what this "Cup" symbolizes to Christians, has been minimized over the years, to something we read, and don't think much about. If Jesus chose not to drink this "Cup", things would be much different here, and follower's of Jesus would not exist! The Gospel of John, gives the most complete account of what happened on Maundy Thursday, starting with Chapter 13, and going to Chapter 18. Jesus talks about being Glorified, several times within those chapters, and speaks of completing the task as already finished. When Jesus gets to the Garden of Gethsemane, all of a sudden His manner changes. He leaves his disciples, takes a few of his closest disciples with Him and goes a little deeper into the Garden to Pray. Jesus is pleading with His Father to let this cup pass from Me. Why would He ask this? This Night and the following days are what Jesus was brought into the world to accomplish. Jesus had known this for some time. We will look into this why, in my next post.

302nd Post Promises Jesus Made to His Follower's Con't. - His Own Prayers -Matthew 11: 25 -26.

Matthew 11: 25 - 26; Luke 10:21.
I thank You Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father for it seemed good in your sight.
This was spoken by Jesus about 1.1/2 years into His earthly Ministry. Jesus is very busy, preaching, teaching, and healing. This passage occurs soon after John the Baptist's disciples bring Jesus John's question, "Are you the one who is to come, or shall we search for another?" Jesus sent out the disciples two by two to minister to the people. Doubt among the people, including His own group seemed to be growing. It was at this time that Jesus spoke the passage mentioned above. Jesus is living in the time of the Gentiles, that the prophet Daniel had foreseen, and spoken about. We also are living in the time of the Gentiles, this will be the case until the anti-christ stands outside the rebuilt Jewish temple and declares "he is god!" During this time the words of Isaiah are in effect, "Seeing, they won't see, and hearing they won't understand." Only the people that recognized that Jesus was Who He said He was, would be able to hear and understand the truth. This is the same today. In order to understand what Jesus said and taught, you must believe He is the Son of God and Messiah! After 302, posts you must have some idea as to who He is. Are you ready to follow Him yet?? The choice is yours.

301st Post Jesus Promises to His Follower's Concerning Prayer Con't. - Matthew 26: 40 - 41.

Matthew 26: 40 - 41; Mark 14: 38; Luke 22: 46.
What? Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
This was spoken by Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane the night of His betrayal. Jesus has taken His most trusted disciples away from the rest and asked them to watch and pray with Jesus as He struggled with the "Cup". Jesus being God, knew what was going to happen, the disciples did not. To the disciples, it was just another "Passover" feast. They knew Jesus seemed to be acting strangely, but could not understand why. If you look at chapters 13 - 17 of John, Jesus was very concerned with them, and kept telling them that when He leaves to love one another. Then, here in the Garden, Jesus is reprimanding them for sleeping. This shows the stress, Jesus was under. Jesus totally understood what was about to happen. He asked His trusted disciples to watch and pray with Him, for support. The disciples could not understand what was happening, so they did not understand why Jesus was getting short with them. Later when most of these disciples face their own last moments on earth, will they understand why Jesus acted the way He did, and will have to remember that the time Jesus needed them the most, they failed Him. This is an important lesson, when someone asks you to watch and pray with them, in order for them to ask you that, they are dealing with something very serious. How will you react?

300th Post Jesus Said Promises Made to His Followers Con't. - Peace and Rest Con't. - Matthew 10: 28 - 31.

Matthew 10: 28 - 31; Luke 12: 3 - 7.
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
This was spoken by Jesus about 1.1/2 years into His earthly Ministry. Jesus is telling us, not to fear evil men or even the devil. They can only kill your body, once. But Fear God who created the heavens and the earth, and hell itself. He (God) has the power to kill both body and soul in hell. The word fear here is not the meaning of being afraid, but of reverence. We are to remember that God is in control, and we are subject to His will. This is why Jesus talks about the price of sparrows and the hairs on your head. God created both, and care for both. Jesus talks about the the hairs on your head being numbered; if God knows you that well, you have much value in His eyes. God sent His Son to die for us, so that not one of us should be lost. All we have to do is believe in Him, and let the Holy Spirit living in us change our lives. Only you can change your position, and you do this by asking Jesus into your heart. Have you done this yet? There is still time.

299th Post Jesus Said Promises Made to His Followers Con't. - Comment on Peace and Rest Con't.

In the previous post we looked at God's definition of peace, that was the first part of this promise the second part is rest. God's definition of this word is also different from the world's. The world says that rest is relaxation. Jesus told His follower's "Come to me all that are burdened and heavy laden and I will give you rest." This also is a passage that gives believer's trouble. On the surface it sounds very good, we come to Jesus and we will be free from burdens. Is that really what Jesus is saying here? The rest of that passage reads "My yoke is easy your burden is light." It has probably been generations since a lot of us had family that worked the land. This works to our disadvantage when trying to understand this passage. Many of us read the word yoke, but have no idea of the meaning. If you are familiar with yokes, you know that they can come to fit one animal, or many. Some of you might be familiar with yokes that fit two or more. If you are, you know that there is a particular order that you hook your animals in. You have a strong and a weaker. This means one of the animals is the lead animal. This is the point Jesus was trying to make. Notice in the passage He says "My yoke". That means you are harnessed to Jesus, and He is the lead. This is very hard for us, because control is something we relish in. Notice when we become "Christians" we say we are follower's of Jesus. Who is leading? If you are a practicing "Christian" you are following not leading. In what position are you in?

298th Post Jesus Said Promises Made to His Followers - New Section on Peace and Rest - Comment.

This is a new Topic and we start with an introduction to this topic entitled Peace and Rest. God's definition of peace and rest is different than the world's. When the world talks about peace, it means a time of calm with no tribulation. When God talks about peace, it means calm while going through tribulations. This is where a lot of believer's have trouble, because they want to apply the world's definition to God's. They believe God is offering peace without tribulation. For God to offer that we would have to be living in a perfect world. This is a promise to come, but this is not what we have now. We live in a fallen world, and because of that, we have to live with the consequences of that situation. That means we will have sickness and death, famine and drought. To live at peace through this situation is the real gift. To receive this gift of peace, requires belief and trust on our parts. This is easier said than done. James 1:2 tells us to count all of our tribulations joy and to thank God for them. I don't know about you, but when I have been given tribulations, the first thing that comes to my mind is not "Thank you God!, you can give me more, I love it!" This takes walking with God for a time, before you are able to accept everything that happens as a gift from God. In Chapter 15 of John, we learned that as believer's we are branches connected to the true vine, and the vine dresser has to prune us from time to time in order to produce more fruit. When you are living according to God's will, you accept these prunings without complaint, when you have achieved this you are living in God's peace.