One Thousand Years: Genesage "To see God, face to face" (chp 1:12)

Look but See.

Hear but Listen.

Think but Understand.

Walk and Consider.

You may know what I know.

Eben arrived at his “house” and sat for a moment in quiet meditation.  He considered his life. Each day he liked to take stock of where he had been and where he was going. He had been fortunate God chose him to be spared. He was glad of that.

But his heart was always moved with the thought of those who had been; Left Behind. [1] He took time to identify himself with the great suffering the Survivors had been thru. The fact that every possible outlet for release had been taken away, even death….Eben felt nauseated to think of a sinful man facing the sinless God.

No one ever had been thru such a time as that.  No one ever would again. At least that’s what God said.

Like a Father who considered his children, and pities them, Eben often was moved to compassion for them when alone. If only they had been spared the misery, the agony, the suffering which gave birth to the Kingdom.

He knew it was necessary, even deserved, but compassionate sensitivity moved him.  He thought how sixty-nine years later the Survivors still bore the scars for generations yet to come.

Only the King would bear His Scars forever but as to the Survivors, he knew theirs were healing. Healing, but at a very slow pace. Because of that, the Beginning Years of the Kingdom was involved in healing and peace. A retreat, a treatment time centered on them.

   Male or female, young or old anyone who “passed thru” the Tribulation, all were brought to a place of rest, a resting place.  All were taken care of. All were given preference. It was a “Time of Service”. The leaders of each community served. Though once told they would be Kings; they were in fact servants of all.

No leader of any community objected to serving those in need.  They had been to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. There, in heaven, in full view of legendary People of the Bible, historical figures, family, friends or foe, and even angels in heaven, every single person had their feet washed by the Son of God, the Son of Man.

Having God wash your feet changed every person who was there forever.

God himself in Heaven had wiped away every tear.

Every tear Eben shed, every tear everyone in attendance shed. The incredible drama unfolded as each and every person came before the King.

One by one those in attendance came before the one whom they were called by his name. Christ. Christian. They came to Jesus just as they were and for a moment, there in the midst of heaven, a realization came upon them. A realization that would change the course of mankind’s history forever.

They came to him whom they served. The stood close to him whom they said was their Lord.  Face to face they looked in the face of God.

What they saw left all that was inside them shaken.

Not a word was spoken as each presented themselves one by one before the King. Not a word spoken but the results were all the same. They stood for what seemed a lifetime to the one standing there, but in a place no time existed, what was a day and what was a thousand years?

They came, they stood, and they saw…Jesus.

Each one, in that moment of realization, they saw in His Eyes, their life, “flashed” as it were, before their eyes. They saw every moment God saw, and wept. They saw what they had forgotten, but Jesus had not.

No one felt unashamed.

All felt as though they had passed through eyes like flames of fire. Fire that found their life, their entire life, as a work of God. A work not of themselves, a work not of their deeds or accomplishments, but a working out by God working on them from within.

It was all about His Work, not theirs.

All were judged in the balance and found wanting by the fire of the gaze of the Son of God in Heaven. He eyes were like fire, all passed thru his gaze.

But the Son of Man did not leave them there humiliated or ashamed.

He did not leave them naked to their judgment or devastated by self-blame. He knew all they thought they had done in the name of the Son was gone in one glance.

He knew all they thought they had become was consumed by the sheer magnitude of Holiness in Heaven. He knew this and did not leave them uncomforted.

What He did to one, he did to all. How he comforted one, he comforted all.

When Eben came forward and experienced what everyone else had. He too felt the Fire of His Gaze consume him. Consume to reveal to Eben all his life had been. Eben wept.

The Son of Man though at the instant of tears rose, He rose to every person who ashamedly cried after the fire of his gaze consumed their life’s story. He rose as he had held each person previously by the arms. Each one slumped in his arms sobbing. Each felt as Eben did.

He held Eben from falling. He held him by the arms pressed in to the sides. He held him so he could see Eben face to face. He held and He looked at Eben directly. Had he not held him, as all others, they would have fallen. Fallen as though dead away. But he held them so he would still look deep into each one’s eyes.

Eben looked into the Eyes of God. He looked and fell. This time he fell forward. Forward into those eyes, the Eyes of God Almighty.  Fell forward into the pool of timelessness that unfolded to him the only life lived perfectly in all the entire Universe.

The life of Immanuel. The Incarnation of God Himself.

He saw the life of the Son of Man, the Son of God on Earth. He saw all of it and was changed. It would be forever a memory as real as his own life. So real as that portion, that segment, that time of Jesus on Earth became a memory the two of them shared.

Jesus wiped away the tears on Ebens face with a kiss. The Kiss of God wiped away all his fears. It was a kiss of love from the God of Love who changed each man and woman as they came before him, forever.

They would never be the same, the Judgment Seat of Christ was the place each met the scarred Son of God…, face to face…, and lived.

The “Invited to the Banquet” met God. They became One with the Son. Personally, physically, the raptured became enraptured with He whom they had longed for. It was moving. It was life changing. In one way sorrowful.

After meeting with Jesus, while waiting for others to likewise experience God, they recalled…, who was NOT there. Which loved one was missing. Which family member not present. Which person didn’t make it.

Not one eye dry. Not one eye not dried by the Son of God.  Each and every person met by the Son of Man. Each saw God and met Eye to eye. Judged by him and in that moment changed. Changed forever.

But also sober, serious, realization that while many were indeed called, few had been chosen. The few chosen, though humbled by the one they loved, were sorrowful for the ones whom God revealed that in the life of Jesus they saw, how every person not there, HAD been called. Each and every one of them. Not one person had been left out, all had been called.

Knowledge brought complete humility.

Recognition of a greater love than any mere human could do caused each person to consider how they got there. What price the Son of God had paid. It was what only God could do and did.

The scars were obvious on He who had done it. It was more than humbling, it was transforming. 

All recalled the Son of man came not to be served but to serve.  He proved it to them. He came to all once again and washed their feet as he had done so long ago when on Earth. Jesus in all his glory washing Eben’s feet had changed his heart forever. No moment in time was more poignant or appealing.

God, washing the feet of man.

There was nothing He would not do for God now. The moment of vulnerability and humility had changed Eben forever. Nothing would ever be the same. The same was true of all the “kings” or leaders of each community. As he washed their feet, he told them what they would do in the Kingdom Come. They would serve as he had served them.

Rather than a mere formality, he took time.

The King of Kings while washing the feet of his followers spoke to each person individually. He cared for the connection this intimate time was having on the person receiving it. Massaging, bathing, anointing the feet as if his own, he shared with the person his praise for who they were.

Praise only the individual and God alone could know. That Praise, that respect, that love, sealed the heart of the person whose feet were washed. Rarely was a moment so personal to intimacy than the Creator serving his Creation.

Mankind’s idea of ruling and reigning was a far cry from the Way Messiah set His Kingdom in Order.

What once man had thought he would rule as Lord, he found another “means” of rule. The Way of Love. The capacity to so envelop a soul that the emotional response and the conscious choice would meld to become a person who desired to follow the example it was given.

Having received love, they would give love. Serving. How man had seen ruler ship was the opposite of what God had intended from the beginning. Jesus proved that in His Kingdom. Jesus demonstrated it in his Life.

This man; this Son of God; this one who said; God is Love in describing his Father in Heaven, so too described himself by the action he took.

He could easily have ruled, but choosing to serve, he wound up with more than subjects, he incorporated lovers. It wasn’t that all who encountered this would die for him, it was that all loved to a degree that nothing of self was retained but all was done for the name of the Son. Love was like that when loving the Son.

Loving who He loved was easy.

God is Love, so was His Servants.

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[1]Left Behind is a reference to those who Not being raptured or being spared the Judgment of God on the Earth, had to endure his wrath.

Posted via email from The Last Call Digest

Last Call: Are you a strategic thinker? (103-5) -Barry Werner

Are you a strategic thinker? (103-5)

Effective leaders think strategically. Read 2 Kings 3:9-27.

In the Maxwell Leadership Bible, John Maxwell discusses strategic thinking.

The kings of Judah, Israel, and Edom ally themselves to fight Moab. But in the middle of the desert they make a horrifying discovery: They have run out of water!! Panic strikes until they remember Elisha and his connection to the God of miracles.

Elisha responds differently to their request than they had imagined. He declares God will give them plenty of water – that was easy. But he also predicts God will give them Moab itself (2 Kings 3:17, 18).

The principle is this: These kings were diverted from their big-picture mission with a logistical matter. No doubt, water was important. But God reminded them that they had asked only for the small thing, not the ultimate thing.

Years ago, Discipleship Journal published an article on this very lesson. Our prayers as leaders must become more strategic.

·        Logistical prayer: We pray logistically when we ask God for small things: “Lord, help the microphones to work today as I teach.”

·        Tactical prayer: We pray tactically when we pray for more meaningful things, but still not for the ultimate: “Lord, help me to say something meaningful today to my people.”

·        Strategic prayer: We pray strategically when we pray for the ultimate purpose of God: “Lord, may You be glorified today and may You raise up disciples from this meeting.”

With the number of decisions a leader will make every day, when crisis situations happen, with the pressure to meet the physical and emotional needs of your team, with deadlines ever looming, it is easy for a leader to ignore thinking strategically. Effective leaders think and pray strategically.

Proverbs 24:3 “By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established.”

Ecclesiastes 12:9 “Not only was the Teacher wise, but also he imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs.”

·       

·       

Tags: Strategic Thinking

« What investments have you made in the lives of others? (103-4)

What is your orientation toward leadership? (104-1) »

Last Call Digest

This material was brought to you by Broadcast(B.C.)Christianity. Last Call Digest, is a ministry of Michael James Stone, volunteers, and people dedicated to the Love of God and Salvation of Souls. It is an aggragate of Christian Material selected to Bless you and Prepare you for each and every day you read them. May God Bless You as You Do!! Reading these Devotions will help you to prepare daily for life, living, and your Lord. You will hear God Speak To You thru them.  Jesus  is Coming Very Soon.

Last Call        

Broadcast(B.C.)Christianity, operates by you, with you, and for you. “Freely you have received, freely give”  Pass this on, everywhere you can, anytime you can, anyway you can. You will be blessed if you do.LastCallDigest@michaeljamesstone.com

Last Call Journal

Fair Use Notice

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work herein is archived under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in reviewing the included information for personal use, non-profit research and educational purposes only.

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner.
The material is being made available in an effort to understand scripture, news, technology and society especially as it relates to God and Jesus. It is specifically for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. This is a completely non-commercial site for private personal use. No fee is charged, and no money is made off of the operation of this site. Nor is any implied reciprocal gratuities implied or construed.

Posted via email from The Last Call Digest

Last Call: A more excellent ministry - Bob Hoekstra


The New Covenant
Inaugurated for the Church


But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises . . . And the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us . . . “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts” .  . Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us. (Hebrews 8:6; 10:15-16, 19-20)


This new covenant of grace (promised to Israel eventually) has already been inaugurated for the church now. The book of Hebrews documents this fact repeatedly. “But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.” Here in chapter 8, verse 6, the new covenant is referred to as “a better covenant.” Then, the instituting of this new covenant is described in the past tense, “was established.” It has already been put into operation for the church.

   
In Hebrews 10:16, the promise of the new covenant is quoted from Jeremiah 31. “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts.” In the previous verse, we are told that this quote from Jeremiah includes a message from the Holy Spirit to us, the church of Jesus Christ. “And the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us.”

   
Furthermore, in Hebrews 10:19-20, the new covenant is applied to the access of the “brethren” (the church, God’s children) to their holy God and Father. “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us.” Through His death on the cross, Jesus consecrated (that is, inaugurated, instituted, established, put into operation) the new covenant for us today!

   
Of course, this all fits perfectly with the application of the new covenant to the church celebrating the Lord’s Supper. “In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood’ ” (1 Corinthians 11:25).


Dear Lord of Glory, I rejoice with great gladness that Your new covenant of grace is the wondrous manner in which I am invited to relate to You. In this rich covenant, I have found forgiveness of all my sins. Praise be to Your name! In this bountiful arrangement, I can grow in intimacy with You. Blessed be Your name! In this generous provision, I anticipate being changed and enabled by You from deep within my heart. Glory be to Your name forevermore!

Last Call Digest
This material was brought to you by Broadcast(B.C.)Christianity. Last Call Digest, is a ministry of Michael James Stone, volunteers, and people dedicated to the Love of God and Salvation of Souls. It is an aggragate of Christian Material selected to Bless you and Prepare you for each and every day you read them. May God Bless You as You Do!! Reading these Devotions will help you to prepare daily for life, living, and your Lord. You will hear God Speak To You thru them.  Jesus  is Coming Very Soon.

Last Call        
Broadcast(B.C.)Christianity, operates by you, with you, and for you. “Freely you have received, freely give”  Pass this on, everywhere you can, anytime you can, anyway you can. You will be blessed if you do.LastCallDigest@michaeljamesstone.com
Last Call Journal

Fair Use Notice
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work herein is archived under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in reviewing the included information for personal use, non-profit research and educational purposes only.

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner.
The material is being made available in an effort to understand scripture, news, technology and society especially as it relates to God and Jesus. It is specifically for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. This is a completely non-commercial site for private personal use. No fee is charged, and no money is made off of the operation of this site. Nor is any implied reciprocal gratuities implied or construed.

Last Call: We are to bring the world to God. - Raul Ries



Bondage & Redemption

Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the LORD; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.
Exodus 6:6


After coming out of Genesis, the book of beginnings, and learning the principles of God’s beginnings, you get to the Book of Exodus, and you find the people of God in Egypt. In Exodus, there are a couple of things we need to understand. First, Egypt is a type of the world.

God allowed them to be in bondage in the world because the people made the choice to go to Egypt. He allowed them to go to Egypt, but He did not intend for them to become like the Egyptians or grow comfortable.

They were to be set apart, to be salt and light, to the people of Egypt. If we are in the world, we are to bring the world to God. But, what did they do? They became part of the world. And in becoming part of the world, they were put in bondage to the world. Four hundred and thirty years they would be in bondage—four generations.

What is incredible here in the Book of Exodus is we also find God’s redemption. When the people cried out to God, He heard their cries and delivered them from their oppressors.

We find redemption today through Christ. When we cry out to God while in bondage to the world, God will hear our cries and deliver us from our oppressors.

Life is not worth living apart from redemption.
-Augustine-


Last Call Digest
This material was brought to you by Broadcast(B.C.)Christianity. Last Call Digest, is a ministry of Michael James Stone, volunteers, and people dedicated to the Love of God and Salvation of Souls. It is an aggragate of Christian Material selected to Bless you and Prepare you for each and every day you read them. May God Bless You as You Do!! Reading these Devotions will help you to prepare daily for life, living, and your Lord. You will hear God Speak To You thru them.  Jesus  is Coming Very Soon.

Last Call        
Broadcast(B.C.)Christianity, operates by you, with you, and for you. “Freely you have received, freely give”  Pass this on, everywhere you can, anytime you can, anyway you can. You will be blessed if you do.LastCallDigest@michaeljamesstone.com
Last Call Journal

Fair Use Notice
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work herein is archived under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in reviewing the included information for personal use, non-profit research and educational purposes only.

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner.
The material is being made available in an effort to understand scripture, news, technology and society especially as it relates to God and Jesus. It is specifically for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. This is a completely non-commercial site for private personal use. No fee is charged, and no money is made off of the operation of this site. Nor is any implied reciprocal gratuities implied or construed.

LastCall: What Does True Christianity Look Like? -Kay Arthur

PRECEPTS FOR LIFE

a Production of

Precept Ministries International

P.O. Box 182218, Chattanooga, TN 37422-7218

1-888-734-7707/ www.preceptsforlife.com

The following is an actual transcript of the PRECEPTS FOR LIFE Broadcast. For the purpose of filling transcript requests quickly, they have received only light editing. If you have questions concerning the material covered in this broadcast, Kay has published a number of books explaining the Scripture in depth. These books may be ordered by contacting the telephone number or address printed above.

 

SERIES: Sermon On The Mount

TITLE: Program 4 – What Does True Christianity Look Like?       

THURSDAY (1/21/10)

          

OPEN 

I‟m sitting beside the Sea of Galilee. This is where Jesus walked and yet when He came here because of His teaching, because of the miracles that He did, the message went out and the multitude could see Him and they came because He had the words of life.

It‟s on this shore that He said, “Blessed are those that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Today God can satisfy your deepest needs. 

 

PART ONE

It was during the first part of Jesus public ministry as He walked the shores of the Galilee that He went up onto a mountain and taught what we call the Sermon on the Mount. He showed us that the standard that is set for those that really follow God, those that really know God.

Those are that are true disciples of Jesus Christ. They needed to see this because they thought that the righteousness that they could attain that would get them to heaven was an external righteousness and they didn‟t understand that it was a righteousness that would come from the heart. As He began the Sermon on

the Mount, He opened up with, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” And He showed us the starting place of where Christianity really begins. It begins in that deep poverty where we see that in and of ourselves there is no righteousness.

There is no way that we can ever please God. That righteousness has to come from someplace else. And He shows us that character as He gives us the blessing for people who have that character. Then He goes into the conduct. How do I conduct myself as I live this life as a citizen of heaven?

And then He went into the conflict because conflict is going to come. And you see that conflict woven throughout the message of the Sermon on the Mount.

But then He does something very interesting. At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, He really clears up the confusion that so many face as to those who profess to know God and really don‟t know Him. In Matthew chapter 7, as He starts to bring His teaching to a conclusion this is what He says in verse 21. “Not everyone who says to Me, „Lord, Lord,‟ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.”

Do you know someone and you look at them and you say, “You know, their life is so different to what I thought Christianity was all about and yet they profess to know Jesus Christ. Surely they belong to Him because they‟ve been baptized or they‟ve been confirmed or they‟ve joined the church or they say that they‟re a Christian.” Well what the Sermon on the Mount does is it clears up what true Christianity is like.

As He gives the Beatitudes, He comes to the one that says, “Blessed are those that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Matthew 5:6) Now we know from the first Beatitude to the last Beatitude that these are an inclusive description of the children of God because it begins with, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (5:3)

And then at the conclusion of the Beatitudes it says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake …,” etc. “… for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (5:10)

All the rest in between talk about an attitude, a character, an attribute that brings a blessing in the future. When we think of hungering and thirsting for righteousness, it‟s logic that we would think of, here I am. I‟m a sinner and I need to be righteous and where am I going to find that righteousness?

Well that righteousness begins

with salvation. It begins when I come to the One who is righteous because I know, as Romans 3 says that, “… there is none who are righteous…” So, there‟s a desire to be righteous. Now what does it mean to be righteous? To be righteous means I want to be in right standing with God.

I want to measure up to what God says is right. In a day and age when we have no absolutes, we find that God‟s absolutes have never changed. What God does is He uses a very fleshly thing to show us an incredible spiritual truth. When He‟s talking about hungering and He‟s talking about thirsting, He‟s talking about a hunger that is, “I‟m so hungry I‟ll eat anything that I can get a hold of. I‟m so thirsty I‟ll drink anything that I have to in order to quench this thirst.” That‟s the kind of hunger and thirst that He‟s talking about. And when we become that hungry and when we become that thirsty, what is the source? What is going to satisfy? Well, when Jesus went to Samaria, He stopped at Jacob‟s well and there was a woman there and the woman had come to get water.

And Jesus sensed that there was a spiritual hunger in her. And He said, “If you knew who it was who is asking you for water, you would have asked of Me and I would have given you water that springs up into eternal life.” (John 4:10) Let‟s look at it for a minute because I think it will be good for you to look at the scriptures and see for yourself what He is saying.

So I want you to go to John chapter 4. And in John chapter 4 Jesus said, “…whoever drinks of this water shall thirst again …” (4:13a) Behind me is the Sea of Galilee. You could drink it dry and still not be satisfied because it‟s temporal water. It‟s physical water. And then He says, “… but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” (4:13b)

In John chapter 7, Jesus stands on the great day of the feast. It‟s the Feast of Tabernacles when they‟re pouring out water and when they‟re quoting the Psalms and when they‟re talking about everyone thirsting and coming and drinking of the water of life. Jesus, “On that last day, the great day of the feast …,” verse 37, “… stood and cried out …,”

He was watching those priests pouring out the water and, “… He stood and He cried out…„If anyone is thirsty let him come to Me and drink.” He says, “… He who believes in Me, as the Scripture says, „From his innermost being

shall flow rivers of living water.‟ But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (7:37-39) Now when the Spirit would come, He would come inside of us and He would create in us, now listen carefully, He would create in us a continual thirst, a continual hunger for righteousness.

Because when we believe on Jesus Christ, we receive that righteousness that is put to our account. That righteousness that is reckoned to us that is imputed. It‟s an accounting term and it‟s put over here under the credit ledger. Here is the righteousness of God. And yet there has to be a thirsting and a hunger for a daily righteousness and this is what He‟s talking about here. So I want you to go from here back one chapter to chapter 6 of John and I want you to see what Jesus says as He feeds the multitude from the loaves and the fishes and He used that as an opportunity.

He left here and He went up to the synagogue in Capernum and there in the synagogue, He delivered this discourse. And Jesus said to them in verse 35, “…I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” So when He‟s talking about hungering and thirsting for righteousness, yes there‟s that initial receiving but then there‟s that continual walking, that continual coming to Him. How do you continually come to God?

You continually come to Him by being in the Word of God, by drinking of Him and by understanding that this is the source, this is the well spring that you need. You know, if you‟re not satisfied right now, if something‟s happening and you feel a void in your life the first thing I would tell you to do, my friend, is go back and check what you‟re doing day by day. Because Jesus said in John 7, “He who comes to Me and drinks …,” it means keep on coming. It‟s in the present tense and keep on drinking.

I want you to go to Isaiah chapter 55 and I just want to share with you as we go to Isaiah chapter 55 that it‟s just like good nutrition in life. So many times what happens in life is that we‟re hungry and so what we eat is junk food instead of eating what is nourishing and good for us.

And so many times what happens is we go to the works of man, we go to the books of man or we go to television instead of going to the Word of God and there finding that which satisfies. In Isaiah chapter 55 it says this, “Ho! Every one who

thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, and buy and eat. Come, and buy wine and milk without money and without cost.” And then He says this, “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy?” (Isaiah 55:1-2a) So many times we miss coming to the source and this is the source of hungering and thirsting after righteousness.

You know, my friend, if you‟re not hungering, if you‟re not thirsting after righteousness, if you can go weeks on end, if you can go months on end and there‟s no sense of void and there‟s no sense of a dissatisfaction or a craving within you, you really need to examine your faith to see if you are really, really a true believer.

Because only those that hunger and thirst after righteousness, will be satisfied. I want you to go to Psalm 42 and in Psalm 42, this is what God tells us, In verse 1 he says, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for Thee, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God?” Now he‟s asking that when his tears have been his food all day. In other words, something‟s wrong and he needs God to satisfy what is wrong.

Psalm 63, verse 1 says this, “O God, Thou art my God; for I shall seek Thee earnestly; My soul thirsts for Thee, my flesh yeans for Thee, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Here‟s your water, Beloved. Drink, drink, you will be satisfied and nothing else will fill that void. I‟ll be right back because we need to talk about what it means to be merciful and what it means to be pure in heart. 

 

PART TWO

We come to the next blessing. It‟s a blessing for those that are merciful. It says, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” (Matthew 5:7) You know when I hunger and thirst for righteousness, it‟s going to make me more and more like Jesus and more and more like my heavenly Father.

And when you stop and think about the tabernacle, which was a picture of how a man can be right with God and how a man can approach God. You come into that outer court and you see the altar of sacrifice. This is where the poor in spirit come and where the blood covers our sins and where we then have

forgiveness of sins.

Then you come to the laver where you‟re washed and where you‟re cleansed. You walk into the holy place and on the right is the table of showbread. You see the laver, the water. You see the bread. You see the satisfying of the thirst and the satisfying, so to speak, of the hunger. You see the lamp stand on the left, the light. You see the altar of incense with Christ as our intercessor.

And then what you see is you see that beautiful veil in the temple and if you go beyond the veil into the holy of holies, you come to the Ark of the Covenant. And what covers the Ark of the Covenant? What is it? Stop and think. Because that Ark of the Covenant represents the very throne of God and what‟s on that throne? It‟s a mercy seat. When you and I think about God, we‟ve got to think about mercy. When you and I think about Jesus Christ, we think about a merciful and high priest. We think about the new covenant that He brought that gives us mercy for our sins.

So when we talk about being merciful, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy,” we need to know and understand that mercy and being merciful to others is a lifestyle of the child of God. And if there‟s no mercy within you, if there‟s no compassion within you for others then you have to stop and say, wait a minute. Is the Spirit of God inside of me? Am I truly a child of God?”

I think that this attribute, this character of mercy is something so often that we push aside and we excuse. “I would help that person but I‟m too busy.” “I would help that person but I just don‟t have enough for myself.” What is mercy? Well let me give you a definition of mercy. Mercy is having total compassion on someone who is in need without regard as to their worthiness.

Without even looking at their worthiness. The compassion comes simply because they have a need. This is what mercy is and it‟s not just being moved with pity but it is having compassion so that you move to help them in their need, so that you supply what they need. So you give them what they require. Do you remember the parable that Jesus told about the good Samaritan?

And remember He tells the story about these men that walk by. Religious leaders that walk by this man that has been beaten and is laying beside the road. He‟s been robbed. No one goes near him. They look at him and they see him there but they walk around. But then someone comes along, a Samaritan of all things and

he takes that man and he bandages his wounds and he puts him in the care of another and he says, “Now listen. Anything that he needs you just charge it to my account.” That is mercy.

You know when I think about Christianity, I think about all the acts that have been done in the name of Jesus Christ and for the cause of Jesus Christ that have really changed a culture. I go back and I think about the Earl of Shaftsbury in England and how this wealthy man and a man who held a position in the parliament from time to time.

How this man, because he knew Christ could not be content sitting in the parliament and sitting in his own luxury and comfortable state. But he had to go down to those children, to the poor that were imprisoned because they were poor, to the children that were waifs on the street and were living this survival kind of lifestyle and the schools that he started for them to teach them and the things that he brought to meet their physical needs.

This is mercy. I think of Florence Nightingale and how she started that whole nursing profession out of mercy. These were believers. I think of Wilberforce who looked at the slavery of these people from Africa and said, “This is not right.”

And he worked all his life to abolish slavery. This is mercy.

And God says, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” Do you want mercy from God? Do you want mercy in your situations of life? Then it comes by being merciful and this is what God does. He pours initial mercy out on you when you get saved. But then there is a continual pouring out of mercy because we realize that apart from Him we are nothing. Apart from Him we can do nothing. And we find ourselves in states of need, especially spiritual need and we come to God and we say, “God, I don‟t deserve a blessing. God, I don‟t deserve this, but I‟m coming to You because You‟re merciful.” And so then what does God want us to do? Remember the man that owes a huge debt and is forgiven that debt?

And then he goes and he finds another man who owes him money and he grabs him by the throat and he says, “You pay me everything that you owe me.” And when he does that the man says, “I can‟t pay you.” And it‟s a small debt compared to what he‟s been forgiven and yet what does he do? He goes and he says, “No, I‟m not going to forgive it. I‟m going to cast you in prison.

And when you come to the end of that story it‟s so interesting because He‟s

talking about forgiveness. But He moves from forgiveness in Matthew chapter 18 to a statement about mercy. In Matthew chapter 18 this is what He says, “„Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, even as I had mercy on you?‟”(18:33)

You see forgiveness and mercy go together.

When we‟re merciful to someone we see their desperate need and putting aside all their worthiness or their unworthiness we go to meet that need. So God says, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” I want us to go to James chapter 2. And in James chapter 2 this is what He says and this is very, very important because we need to understand that mercy comes to us when we are in a state of looking at someone and judging them. Then we have to know that we are to be merciful. And in James chapter 2 this is what we read. He says, “So speak and act, as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.” (James 2:12)

Now when he talks about the law of liberty, he‟s talking about the Word of God. He says you and I are going to be judged by this Word and so if you and I are not merciful we‟re not going to receive mercy because we haven‟t been and done what we should have been and done. And so then he goes on to say, “For judgment will be merciless to the one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.” (2:13)

Now listen. When you and I are merciful, where does that lead? Well it leads to purity of heart. And it says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8) When you and I allow impurity in our hearts, Beloved, then it obliterates our vision of God. We don‟t see Him as clearly as we should.

Blessed are the pure in heart. We‟re going to talk about it later on and the Sermon on the Mount as Jesus demonstrates His purity of heart in telling us about being careful with what our eyes see but I just want you to understand this. That you and I are to be pure in heart and if we allow anything in we‟re going to miss seeing God. 

 

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One Thousand Years: Genesage "The Promised Land" (chp 1:11)

The Promised Messiah had arrived.

What he arrived to was not a promised land fulfilled, but a promise yet to be finished. The land was cursed. The People of his Kingdom had joined him in heaven, but in returning to His Land of Inheritance, the Land of his earthly birth, He found a holocaust of creation.

Nothing as Creator, when he saw it “In the Beginning”, remained.

Angels had rejoiced, Creation had sang, all of heaven and earth had been one, ‘in the beginning’.

Now, the land needed restoration, reformation, cleansing and become in fact born-again. Become an “anointed” land, a messianic age, a time of the Son of God on Earth, Immanuel. Jesus had brought his people from heaven, for just such a time as this. Israel had a need to be reborn, born-again,  so he brought his bride to the land of his brethren.

He had other help.

Twelve Thousand from each Tribe of New Yisrael built Jerusalem.

David the King and Solomon his Son helped. Together all standing shoulder to shoulder they began the work. The 144,000, barefoot, with the sole of their feet, touched every square foot of the land.

By the soles of their feet, the one hundred and forty-four thousand, chosen of God from every tribe designated by God alone, walked the length and breadth of the Land.

They “walked the walk” naming it Holy unto the Lord. They ‘sanctified’ the land as ‘priestly unto the Most High God”.  They “set apart” the land and all in it with a word and a blessing only they had been given to render unto it. Creation was cleansed there. Cleansed in the Land that would become the “The Promised Land”.

Others followed behind the 144,000 as they went. Some singing, some dancing, all were Celebrating the Kingdom had come. Jehoshaphat would have been glad. It was the largest parade in the history of the world.

It was a Celebration of Dedication the likes of which the World had never seen. Nothing yet was built, grown or existed, yet all acted as though it were already accomplished. All Celebrated as though what was unseen was in fact only a matter of time before it would be revealed in the Kingdom of God.

All that I have Seen, All that I have Heard,

All that I have Handled with mine own Hands,

All that I have Walked with my own Feet;

Eben walking home remembered seeing them walk. He too had joined them. Marching throughout the land before this new world began. Like they were marching to Pretoria.

As though singing a song of unity and marching. A song of hope, songs to inspire, songs that literally brought heaven to earth.  These men of God walked in the greatest walk the heavens had ever seen.  The One Hundred and Forty Four Thousand Man March. All land put under the “feet” of Messiah.  

Abraham, Martin and John, Martin Luther King, No one was really certain who was and wasn’t there, but an awful lot of voices and faces seemed very familiar.

Singing as they went, like some Levite of old carrying the Ark. These were unique Men of God. They carried the Word of the Lord everywhere they went. Priests in the Order of Melchi-Zedec their chief priest, Messiah. They followed, they marched, they walked, to serve. To serve Him alone.

With their bare feet they marched to the beat of a different drummer.  They traced Footprints of Holiness in the Land. They sang the Voice of the Lord. They left imprints in the fabric of eternity.

Songs of the Redeemed resounding across the Universe. It seemed as if the choir never ended.

They were the Song of Moses and the Song of the Redeemed. Singing songs of righteousness none knew, none had heard, none could sing but them; but the heavens echoed their voices where ever they went. Such joy conversed. Such a time even Solomon who had overseen the original temple in Jerusalem built, wept.

All were amazed, all said, Surely God was in this place. And He was.

Do you see what I have seen?

Do you hear what I have heard?

Do you walk where I have walked?

Do you know what have known?

They laid the promise of God to the Land. Their word was a bond, the declarations a covenant. They did as the High Priest Y’shua of their order commanded them. They lay claim to the Earth in the Name of the Living God. Every place they set their bare feet upon, God redeemed to Himself.

Every step they took God healed. Every place they moved to was set apart for purpose. A design God had in mind. A place God chose to bless.  A promise more complete than any knew how would be fulfilled. Yet God knew, and did.

God moved upon the Face of the Land where they had gone. A lot like he had once moved upon the Face of the Waters. He created the land, till it was good. He did not stop till what he desired was accomplished. He completed the Land.

What have you Seen? What have you Heard?

What have you Held with your own Hands?

                    What have you Walked with your own Feet?

The 144,000 fulfilled their destiny to bring to the World The Land God Promised. God fulfilled in them the promise he made that Messiah, The Holy One of Israel had come.

Peace of Earth, Gods Will to Men. The Prince of Peace, The King Messiah, residing in the place where Shiloh had been as The City of the Great King was re-born for Him.

The Kingdom Come had just begun.

I will see what you have seen

I will hear what you have heard

I will walk where you have walked

I will know what you have known.

The Kingdom had Come.

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