Tag: messiah

Posted in A Father's Love, Devotions, spiritual warfare, The Gospels, wisdom, worship

Luke 22 Part 3–The End of the Beginning

Posted on by Michael Smith

Luke looks at Christ’s sacrifice from a great number of angles.  He looks at Pilate’s desperation as he longs to free Jesus, but, at the end of the day, caves to the pressure and hands the Messiah over for crucifixion. Next, Luke looks at the crowd.  The people that cheered only week before were hurling demands for their Hero’s death as if He had personally injured their families.  He showed the soldier’s disdain as they gathered a stranger to assist the Savior as his body had been beaten and bruised to the point of death.

Then Luke looks at the crowd, mourners for whom Jesus has pity. The thieves on either side of the cross.  The Jewish leaders and guards that mocked him with taunts and signs and finally Jesus’ followers that stayed back and watched with horror as their beloved teacher was being killed. Finally, we even see the grief of God as He makes the land dark and rips the temple vail.

In all of that, we also see Jesus. He is pleading for forgiveness of those that are mocking and killing Him. He is mourning for His mourners. He is granting life to the thief that recognized his innocence.  He is making one last effort in His role of human to be humane. 

Interestingly, Christ’s death would be the victory over the very ones that demanded it.  It would signify the end of sacrificial atonement of animals. It would destroy the theocracy then enjoyed by Jewish leaders of the day.  It would finally end Satan’s hold on the hearts of people. We who are yet sinners would now have the opportunity to have a personal relationship with God.

In life and in death, Jesus rose above the holds of humanity and demonstrated God’s unique love and unique character.  Then at the perfect hour, Jesus said it Himself–IT IS FINISHED! just as the modern Christian song says, that was the end of the beginning.

God Bless You

Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. 21 But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

22 For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.”

23 But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. 24 So Pilate decided to grant their demand. 25 He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.

The Crucifixion of Jesus

26 As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28 Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then

“‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”
    and to the hills, “Cover us!”’[b]

31 For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”[c] And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”

36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

38 There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews.

39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.[d]”

43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

The Death of Jesus

44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”[e] When he had said this, he breathed his last.

47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” 48 When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. 49 But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

Posted in A Father's Love, Creation, Devotions, Holiness, spiritual warfare, The Gospels, wisdom, worship

Luke 9 Part 3–Who Jesus IS

Posted on by Michael Smith

Luke continues to spotlight amazing moments in the life and ministry of Jesus.  One of those moments was the moment when Jesus asked the group who people were saying that He was.  Jesus knew, of course what the people were thinking and saying, But He wanted His chosen guys to ponder it a bit.  So, when He asked, the answers were all over the board–John the Baptist, Elijah, one of the other prophets from old.  In Jesus discussion, that was warm up question.  Then Jesus asked the main question.  “Who do you say that I am?”  Peter, always blunt and always 1st says, “You are God’s Messiah!”  

That statement must have exploded through the group..  It would have been stunning to see the eyes of the other disciples and the reactions they gave.  Jesus had performed some amazing miracles.  He spoke of life and of God in a way no other prophet or preacher had done.  He was a man of authority and His following was great.  He calmed storms, cast out demons, healed the sick, fed the masses, and raised the dead.  Still, at the end of the day, it was a huge leap of faith to acknowledge that Jesus was the Messiah.  Peter was the faithful one.  He rose and took the lead.  Scripture shows that Peter was not perfect, but there is little doubt that he was all in.

In our day, we see how the story played out.  We know that Jesus is the Messiah.  We know he was not simply a prophet, a good teacher,  or a Rockstar.  We know that Jesus was God and is God.  He made himself nothing and took on the form of man. He humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2). 

With the historical perspective that we have, we can be as confident as Peter when we announce that Jesus is the Messiah.  We must live our lives in a way that honors the love and sacrifice Jesus made.  If we will, He will lead, provide, and protect us until we are with Him, in eternity.  Help me, Lord to honor You as my Messiah!!!

God Bless You

Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?”

19 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”

20 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”

Jesus Predicts His Death

21 Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. 22 And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? 26 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

27 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”

Posted in A Father's Love, Fathers Love, spiritual warfare, The Gospels, wisdom, worship

Isaiah 29-30 With God, There Is Always the Hope of Restoration

Posted on by Michael Smith

It is an amazing part of the knowledge of the Lord, to realize the reality that God’s strongest desire is to bless and protect the ones He loves.  In Isaiah 29-30, God speaks first of the siege of Jerusalem.  He speaks of the sadness as Jerusalem is taken down.  He warns not to run from what is ahead–but, to repent.  Turn their hearts from other gods and destroy their idols.  Then as they return to Him, the Lord will protect and restore them.  He will restore their faith, hope, and their future.  

When they return to Him, the Lord will then come in a fury and destroy the enemy, restore the land, and restore the faith and joy of the people.  Amid the sieges, the captivity, and the loss of national identity, it had to be these promises that allowed many to maintain their faith and follow God.  It was these promises that led the remnant back and through the centuries allowed the people of Israel to continue their traditions and seek the Messiah.

Now these thousands of years later, the Messiah has come and died and rose again; and, we all can be in personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus.  That faith will bring hope in all circumstance and as in the passage return us to days of peace and times of joy.  We will quit worshiping our handmade gods and humbly seek our Father.  We will experience peace, love, and have the confidence that we will be with the Lord throughout eternity.  

We can live without fear in a fearful time.  We can have real joy during chaos and unrest.  In short, we can and will live abundant lives even while the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. (John 10:10) We can walk in confidence as we allow our lives to be hidden in Christ with God. (Col 3:1-4) Thanks Father, that Your peace does pass all human understanding; and Your desire is to bless those You love.

God Bless You

18 Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you,
    and therefore, he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice.
    Blessed are all those who wait for him.

19 For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. 20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. 21 And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. 22 Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, “Be gone!”

23 And he will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. In that day your livestock will graze in large pastures, 24 and the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. 25 And on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26 Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the Lord binds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.

27 Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar,
    burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke;[d]
his lips are full of fury,
    and his tongue is like a devouring fire;
28 his breath is like an overflowing stream
    that reaches up to the neck;
to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction,
    and to place on the jaws of the peoples a bridle that leads astray.

29 You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel. 30 And the Lord will cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen, in furious anger and a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst and storm and hailstones. 31 The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the Lord, when he strikes with his rod. 32 And every stroke of the appointed staff that the Lord lays on them will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres. Battling with brandished arm, he will fight with them. 33 For a burning place[e] has long been prepared; indeed, for the king it is made ready, its pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it.

Posted in A Father's Love, Marraige, spiritual warfare, The Gospels, wisdom, worship

Isaiah 25–God’s Amazing Promise to His Chosen

Posted on by Michael Smith

Clearly, the Lord has an end game.  It was always God’s plan to restore His people to a place to fellowship with Him.  God has always wanted to be in a personal relationship with us.  Still, our sin and culture has separated us from God.  Isaiah knew that separation would one day end.  God showed Isaiah that the sin would be wiped away and the veil removed.  When Christ was crucified, the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies was ripped into from top to bottom.  God wanted to fulfill his word to Isaiah–not by ripping a curtain, but by removing the barrier between God and man–SIN.

Isaiah’s words were and are for the entire world.  God will clear the way for His own.  He will swallow up death, remove the barrier between God and Man, wipe away all tears and provide a feast for all that will follow Him and believe His Word.  That is no small promise, and fortunately for us; God always keeps His promises.  When one considers that this was written hundreds of years before the world experienced the coming of the Messiah; we who are 2000 years after still benefit from the promise and its fulfillment.  That is a great testimony to God’s patience, desiring that none should perish and His planning and execution of that plan.  

We need to live a life that honors God’s promise.  What that means simply is to walk in a way that allows God to transform us into His image; so that we will be like him, and enjoy the eternal feast planned for the Bride .

God Bless You

O Lord, you are my God;
    I will exalt you; I will praise your name,
for you have done wonderful things,
    plans formed of old, faithful, and sure.
2 For you have made the city a heap,
    the fortified city a ruin;
the foreigners’ palace is a city no more;
    it will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
    cities of ruthless nations will fear you.
4 For you have been a stronghold to the poor,
    a stronghold to the needy in his distress,
    a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat;
for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,
5     like heat in a dry place.
You subdue the noise of the foreigners;
    as heat by the shade of a cloud,
    so the song of the ruthless is put down.

6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
    a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
    of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
7 And he will swallow up on this mountain
    the covering that is cast over all peoples,
    the veil that is spread over all nations.
8     He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
    and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
    for the Lord has spoken.
9 It will be said on that day,
    “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
    This is the Lord; we have waited for him;
    let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

Posted in devotion, Holiness, Marraige, The Gospels, wisdom, worship

Isaiah 15/16 The Fall of Moab

Posted on by Michael Smith

Truly one of the odd prophecies delivered by Isaiah for several reasons.  Moab, the country grown from the ancestors of Lot was not a favored country for Israel.  Throughout its history, Moab was never friendly to Israel and, as Israel returned to occupy Canaan, Moab did not assist nor make peace with Israel.  While the struggle was on again/off again Israel was never allied with Moab.  

So, when reading the prophecy, Isaiah grieves the demise of Moab which is legitimate not sarcastic.  It is a prophecy with a time frame, 3 years. Moab was a wealth land.  Its people affluent–so the prophecy that they would be destroyed within a day is daunting. According to Isaiah the destruction would be complete, and the people left penniless and homeless. It is the relation to Israel and the possible destruction of Israel that caused Isaiah’s pain.

Isaiah was truly personally vested in his visions from the Lord.  In Isaiah 16, Isaiah even makes mention of the coming Messiah.  The destruction of Moab is a foretelling of the complete destruction of the region.  The point is that the destruction would pass.  Isaiah would find the promise in the destruction. The promise of a ruler that would establish a throne of peace.  Such a promise provided hope to Israel, to Moab, and to us.  No matter the depth of life, God’s promise is to restore and redeem His chosen. 

As part of that group, His chosen, we are called to follow him closely and trust Him completely.  In that journey, we will not always know what lies ahead.  What we can be sure of is that God is never surprised, nor is He ever out of control.  Like Isaiah, we must cling the promise and endure the trials.  In that, we will find peace and eternal life with Christ.

God Bless You

 A prophecy against Moab:

Ar in Moab is ruined,
    destroyed in a night!
Kir in Moab is ruined,
    destroyed in a night!
2 Dibon goes up to its temple,
    to its high places to weep;
    Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba.
Every head is shaved
    and every beard cut off.
3 In the streets they wear sackcloth;
    on the roofs and in the public squares
they all wail,
    prostrate with weeping.
4 Heshbon and Elealeh cry out,
    their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz.
Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out,
    and their hearts are faint.

5 My heart cries out over Moab;
    her fugitives flee as far as Zoar,
    as far as Eglath Shelishiyah.
They go up the hill to Luhith,
    weeping as they go;
on the road to Horonaim
    they lament their destruction.
6 The waters of Nimrim are dried up
    and the grass is withered;
the vegetation is gone
    and nothing green is left.
7 So the wealth they have acquired and stored up
    they carry away over the Ravine of the Poplars.
8 Their outcry echoes along the border of Moab;
    their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim,
    their lamentation as far as Beer Elim.
9 The waters of Dimon[a] are full of blood,
    but I will bring still more upon Dimon[b]—
a lion upon the fugitives of Moab
    and upon those who remain in the land.

Send lambs as tribute
    to the ruler of the land,
from Sela, across the desert,
    to the mount of Daughter Zion.
2 Like fluttering birds
    pushed from the nest,
so are the women of Moab
    at the fords of the Arnon.

3 “Make up your mind,” Moab says.
    “Render a decision.
Make your shadow like night—
    at high noon.
Hide the fugitives,
    do not betray the refugees.
4 Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you;
    be their shelter from the destroyer.”

The oppressor will come to an end,
    and destruction will cease;
    the aggressor will vanish from the land.
5 In love a throne will be established;
    in faithfulness a man will sit on it—
    one from the house[a] of David—
one who in judging seeks justice
    and speeds the cause of righteousness.

This is the word the Lord has already spoken concerning Moab. 14 But now the Lord says: “Within three years, as a servant bound by contract would count them, Moab’s splendor and all her many people will be despised, and her survivors will be very few and feeble.”

Posted in Creation, Devotions, Holiness, spiritual warfare, The Gospels, wisdom, worship

Isaiah 11–Jesus, The Game Changer

Posted on by Michael Smith

In his delivery of the difficult message to God’s chosen people, Isaiah never seems to give a tough decree without the follow of great hope.  Isaiah had just finished describing the enslavement of the people to Assyria and to Egypt he also talked of the return of the remnant anf the destruction of Israel’s captors.  Then, from that, Isaiah stops and begins a description of the shoot from the branch of Jesse that restores and brings peace.  

In Isaiah’s description, The one that will restore will do so with peace, wisdom, and understanding. There will be no need to raise a sword because he will unify and protect His own.  He will bring peace accross all nations and will rule with wisdom and not with might. Sadly, the description is not the description of most rulers.  The Messiah was not sent to be a mighty tyrant or warrior king, He was sent to seek and to save that which was lost.

Looking back at the coming of the Lord, He truly divided time and taught peace and unity.  He changed the world by reminding us that to be first–one must get to the back of the line.  The great should act with the most humility, and the leaders should be the most selfless servants. 

Then and now, His people are to be the ones to lead the nations to a right knowledge of God and draw them to God not push them away.  Make no mistake, God is all knowing and all powerful. He brings up nations and then takes them down.  He allows men the ability to destroy themselves–but desires most to restore and unify them.  Jesus, the shoot of Jesse, waits to be the change agent; if we will simply trust and follow Him.  Let’s Pray for revival for ourselves, our families, and our nation.

God Bless You

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
    from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
    the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and of might,
    the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
    or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
    with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
    with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness will be his belt
    and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
    the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling[a] together;
    and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
    their young will lie down together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
    and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy
    on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious. 

Posted in A Father's Love, Creation, Devotions, Fathers Love, Holiness, spiritual warfare, wisdom, worship

Isaiah 7 Great News for Now and Forever

Posted on by Michael Smith

Now that God had His man on the ground, He sent Isaiah and his Son (A remnant will return) to assure and encourage the King.  Three phrases carry the day–Be careful, keep calm and do not be afraid.  Ahaz had reason to be afraid, the 10 tribes–Ephriam and Assyria were poised to take Judah (Judah and Benjamin).

God makes it clear–“Not going to happen!”  What is more, the two enemies will be a distant memory. This was pretty good news for Ahaz–even though he was not following the Lord.  Fortunately for him, God honored his promise for David and on David’s behalf.  Isaiah knew that God was not fooling around and was able to give the message to the king. 

Tucked in this is another great message–Messianic prophecy 1–Judah will have an eternal reign.  Isaiah tells Ahaz that God Himself will seal His mark on history–A virgin will give birth to a son and his name will be Immanuel–God with Us.  Ahaz had no clue that this was a promise for eternity, surely if he had, he would have trusted God and followed God’s leadership.

Isaiah would lead four kings and try to give them a vision for the future of God’s chosen people.  Many of the messages would have immediate relevance, and many would have relevance for all time.  This was the first message recorded after Isaiah’s call that rocks our world. 

We wake up grateful each day that “God with Us” came and changed history, government, and people’s ability to have a relationship with the Father. It was a great promise for the king and for all of us who know and trust God. He alone will complete us and restore us to the eternal folks we are to become. 

God Bless You

Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out, you and your son Shear-Jashub,[b] to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field. 4 Say to him, ‘Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood—because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah. 5 Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah’s son have plotted your ruin, saying, 6 “Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves and make the son of Tabeel king over it.” 7 Yet this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘It will not take place,
    it will not happen,
8 for the head of Aram is Damascus,
    and the head of Damascus is only Rezin.
Within sixty-five years
    Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people.
9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria,
    and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son.
If you do not stand firm in your faith,
    you will not stand at all.’”

10 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, 11 “Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.”

12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.”

13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you[c] a sign: The virgin[d] will conceive and give birth to a son, and[e] will call him Immanuel.[f] 15 He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, 16 for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste. 17 The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah—he will bring the king of Assyria.”