Yeshua Practiced What He Preached

Whatever Yeshua preached that we should do, He did Himself.  I have a few examples to share, but I'm sure there are more.  I've been thinking about this again and again, and it fascinated me to know that Yeshua did for us everything He told us to do for Him!

Let's start with the picture above.  It's a bit...interesting.  We might actually get a chuckle out of it.  But if you think about it, Christ did exactly what this picture shows.  He traded His eternal Throne of Glory for the life of a homeless man.  Likely His clothing was tattered.  He probably slept where He could.  When you internalize this truth, it really AWES you.  The eternal Son of God Almighty humbled Himself to become a man.  He willingly emptied Himself of His Glory to be born into our world.  He even describes Himself as humble (Matthew 11:29).  Imagine that for a moment.

A Being that can speak anything into existence, Who owns EVERYTHING...is humble.  He doesn't think twice about being generous.  It is His very nature to Love.  This is one of the qualities of God that brings a person to their knees.  An Almighty Being such as He cares *that much* to step into His own creation?  How many times have you heard someone wonder why an Almighty Being would even care about the "ants" on that blue speck in an unremarkable arm of the Milky Way, one of a bajillion galaxies?

But He does.  An eternal God of Love would love everything He's created, AND love it with an infinite Love.  Especially creatures made in His own image.  It wouldn't matter if we were all giants and lived on a planet the size of Jupiter -- we'd still be tiny to Him.  And yet He cares.  SO much.  Because He's humble.  And He's giving.

Point Number One: Yeshua told us not to worry about tomorrow (Matthew 6:34).  He never did.  You never once saw Christ fretting about food, clothing, or money all throughout the Gospels.  He was peaceful.  He completely trusted His Heavenly Father to provide.  In fact, He frequently told His disciples to have faith when they descended into worry.

Point Number Two: Yeshua told us to give everything we owned to the poor and come follow Him (Luke 18:22).  Like the picture above -- if He expects us to live a life without comfort, He likewise lived a life without comfort to set an example.  It's an extreme example, granted.  But the ultimate point was to put no value in material gain.  If you lose something material, it matters not.  You have treasure in Heaven.  Christ knew this.  Therefore, He was willing to live a life without material possessions.

Point Number Three: In Luke 6:28, He tells us to bless those that curse us and pray for those who abuse us.  In Luke 23:34, Yeshua prays for those who are about to crucify Him - "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."  Does this mean God the Father turned away from what they were about to do?  I don't know.  But I do know that after the crucifixion, when the earthquake hit, the centurion and those soldiers with him cried out in Matthew 27:54 - "When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”  If we are to believe that grace is by faith alone, and if the very Son of God prayed for the Father Himself to forgive them, clearly we see the fruit of the Son's prayer moments after His death.  We pray for those that abuse us and bless those that curse us because we never know how the Father will answer our prayers and bring them to faith.

Point Number Four: Yeshua tells us to turn the other cheek when someone strikes us in Luke 6:29.  Yeshua is the Prince of Peace.  Here, He's telling us to keep the peace.  Do not stir up contentions with petty fights.  We see Yeshua keeping His peace at His kangaroo court of a trial (Matthew 26:57-68).  Even when they beat Him and tugged at His beard and mocked Him, He stayed silent and did not sin.

Point Number Five: Luke 6:31 tells us to "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."  This is actually quite profound.  If God want us to give our lives to Him, He must give His life to us.  If He wants us to give up everything to follow Him, He must give up everything to save us.  He doesn't tell us to do anything without first doing it Himself.  I don't know about you, but I find this truth amazing, even though I've read the New Testament a million times.  If He asks for a commitment from us, He commits first.  Always.  And in the same manner.

Point Number Six: Yeshua says in John 15:13 that "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends."  This is probably the most obvious of Christ "practicing what He preached" teachings, as He did, in fact, lay down His life for His friends -- US.  Notice how He says this is the GREATEST of loves.  Notice who is dying -- the Son of God.  Therefore we know that God Loves us with the GREATEST of Loves.  His Own.  Because He IS Love.

Point Number Seven: Matthew 5:44 has a great and humbling truth hidden within it.  This is the famous "Love your enemies" Scripture.  Christ definitely practiced this one.  And Paul even reinforced this idea in his epistles.  We think this is because God is a loving God and we should love everyone -- Kumbaya and all that.  But this is deeper when we scratch at it.  EVERYONE was an enemy of God before Christ came.  And He died for us WHILE WE WERE YET SINNERS (Romans 5:8).  Yeshua told us to love our enemies because He first loved US, those of us who were at enmity with God (James 4:4).

Some people think what Yeshua asks us to do is beyond us.  That we can't possibly do it.  Perhaps they are right.  We are sinners, after all.  But everything Christ taught, He practiced.  I'm sure there are scores of other examples I haven't shared.  Like the Two Great Commandments, for one.  Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.  Yes, Yeshua honored them.  Imagine -- treating us, His neighbors, as Himself.  How does God Love within the Godhead?  Perfectly.  Amazingly.  All-consumingly.  And this is how He loves us.  The Father loves us as He loves Christ.  Christ loves us as He loves the Father.  The deeper you dig, the farther you fall into the height, depth, length, and breadth of the Love of God.  No one and nothing compares to Him. 

What He has done for us cannot be put into mere words.  There aren't enough ages to come to sing His praises.  My heart isn't big enough to contain my awe.  My spirit is overwhelmed at the beauty, the sheer and utter beauty of the King of Kings.

My Bridegroom, My Beloved, My Yeshua.

Lord...  I love You.  Because I know beyond the SHADOW of a doubt that You undeniably Love me.  My only lament is that words are not adequate to describe what I feel for You...  And if I cannot describe my own love for You, when I am but a human, how then can I even BEGIN to fathom Your unfathomable Love for me?

If my love is a drop of rain, 

Your Love is the ocean.

~~Becka

Understanding our Inheritance in Christ

 

In church, we're taught that the Body of Christ is made up of many members.  Each member has a certain job and we represent Christ here on earth.  He is the Head, and we are the Body.  And this is quite true.  Every member of our Lord's Church has a role to play in the Kingdom of God.  I heard someone say once that you are who you are in the Body of Christ because you are needed.  I recently asked Yeshua what I was in His Body.  I wasn't quite sure.  

He showed me that I'm an edifier.  One of my greatest gifts is to encourage others, as well as having a way with words.  There's no doubt in my mind Yeshua allowed me to grow in the knowledge of how to write stories and weave words together to keep things interesting when He finally called me to do His work.  I believe I was put here to edify other members of the Body, as well as sharing what I've learned through the Holy Spirit.  I suppose I have a ministry of sorts, writing on my Facebook page, this blog, and posting in Christian forums.  A humble little ministry, but our Lord is humble (Matt. 11:29), so I'm in good company.

And while it's true we're all members with different jobs, we also must realize that we are ONE BODY with Christ as the Head.  This doesn't just mean that He is above us with all authority, it means we are ONE with Him.  He is one with us.  He is our Lord, He tells us what to do, and as His Body, we do His will in this world.

But a head can do nothing apart from a body.  It has no feet.  It has no hands.  Apart from the body, the head is useless.  Now, I'm not saying CHRIST is useless, God forbid!  My point is, if it wasn't for Christ's Body (ie., US), the Word of Christ wouldn't have spread much farther than the Promised Land.  In that light, the body is likewise useless without the head.  It cannot move, cannot walk, it has no life.  Both are interconnected, both are one.  Your head is not separate from your body, and likewise, Christ is not separate from His Church.

Where the head is, there the body is also.  Where the body is, there the head is also.  Christ illustrated this when He said in Matthew 18:20 - "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them."  He is with us when we are gathered in His name.  Ephesians 2:4-6 says - "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus".  We have been raised up with Christ, therefore, we are likewise with Him.

This is a fascinating truth, because in Ephesians, the wording is past tense.  We won't be seated in the future, we are seated RIGHT NOW with Christ in heavenly places.

The picture above might be a little crude, as there's only ONE Throne in Heaven, not two or three.  Even though God is three Persons, He sits on one Throne because He is one God.  Just as Christ sat down at the Father's right hand, we, too, will sit at Christ's right hand.  

Revelation 3:21 - "The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne."

Now, this is NOT to say we become God or gods ourselves.  Rather, Peter explained that we share in the Divine Nature in 2 Peter 1:3-4 - "His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire."

What does that mean, to partake of the Divine Nature?

To put it simply, there was only one loophole through God's holiness.  He is so perfect, that only perfection can stand before Him.  This is why we must be redeemed.  God's justice is met when payment for the sin can be made.  This is what Christ did for us, He paid our debt for sin by dying in our place and taking God's wrath upon His Own shoulders.

This also accomplished a spiritual switcheroo.  2 Corinthians 5:21 explains it this way - "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

In order for Christ to take our sins upon Himself, He had to give US His righteousness.  The whole point of salvation is to make us clean, perfect, righteous, and holy.  This cannot be accomplished by our own ability, therefore, we have Christ's own righteousness.  This is what it means to partake of the Divine Nature.  He literally gave us a piece of Himself in order to redeem us.

While we are not "gods", we have been given the authority to rule and reign with Christ.  And this privilege comes with sitting on God's Throne with Him.  We are allowed, because we share in His Nature -- not even the angels can boast of this!  Right now, we are a little lower than angels, but when we sit upon Christ's Throne in our glorified bodies, we will be FAR ABOVE any other power in the universe, according to Ephesians 1:21.

Romans 8:17 tells us we're co-heirs with Christ.

 

We inherit what Christ inherits.  Well...  What does Christ inherit?  

ALL OF HEAVEN AND CREATION!!  The Father has given ALL power and authority to His Son! 

This is amazing, because it means that not only do we get to go to Heaven, we get to inherit what CHRIST inherits.  We're also allowed to sit ON His Throne to rule and reign with Him, and we've been given His authority.

If you go back through your Bible, you'll see countless promises given to the coming Messiah all throughout the Old Testament.  Here's the kicker in all this -- if we're co-heirs with Christ, if we're spiritually united with Him, if we share in His Divine Nature, if we're One with Him as the Head and Body are one, then WE likewise have ALL the promises given to Messiah!

Heaven will not be some boring, endless church service before the Throne of God singing worship songs to Him into eternity future, but rather, we inherit CHRIST, who has inherited EVERYTHING.  We are granted a place to sit at His right hand, just as He sat at His Father's right hand.

This is why we're called His Bride!  Just as a man is the head of the household, Christ is the Head of His Church.  We'll submit to His authority, but we'll also wear His name and work under His authority, just as a wife with her husband.  Yeshua quite literally gave Himself to us on the cross of Calvary.  

In more ways than one!  \O/

~~Becka

A Fascinating Study on God's Right Hand

We've heard it countless times before -- "God's right hand".  It's all over Scripture.  But what does it mean?  Typically, it has nothing to do with seating arrangement and everything to do with authority.  It is where the saying "my right hand man" comes from.  If you are at someone's "right hand", you are working under the authority of the one you represent.

We know from many verses in the New Testament that Christ is now seated at the right hand of God.  I won't post all of them, but here are some examples:

Matthew 26:64~
Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

Mark 16:19~
So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

Acts 2:33~
Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

Acts 5:31~
God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

Acts 7:55~
But he (Stephen), full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

Romans 8:34~
Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Ephesians 1:20~
that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,

Colossians 3:1~If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Hebrews 1:3~
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Okay, so what does all this mean?  It means that CHRIST has been given all authority by God the Father to "sit down at His right hand".  There are not two or three Thrones in Heaven, just the one Throne of God, and Jesus is sitting there.  So, too, is the Father.  But Christ has been given all the authority, and He is equal to God. 

Once this concept is established, take a walk through the Old Testament and find the verses that mention God's right hand.  We know Christ was with God before His First Advent on earth.  Therefore, Christ was always at God's right hand.  If this is the case, many many verses open up to a new understanding.  And the book of Psalms is amazingly prophetic!

Psalm 16:11~
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

This verse goes amazingly hand-in-hand with Ephesians 1:3, which states we have every spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.  Christ is the fullness of joy!

Psalm 17:7~
Wondrously show your steadfast love, O Savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand. 

This verse even calls God "Savior", who hides His children from adversaries in Christ.

Psalm 18:35~
You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great.

This Psalm says God's right hand supports him and gave him salvation.

Psalm 20:6~
Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand.

Who saves mankind?  Christ!  Who's the saving might of God's right hand?  CHRIST!

Psalm 21:8-9~
8 Your hand will find out all your enemies;
 your right hand will find out those who hate you.
 9 You will make them as a blazing oven
 when you appear.
The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath,
 and fire will consume them.

WOW.  The Second Coming is in Psalm 21!  Christ Himself will return and ferret out the wheat from the chaff.  Read the account in Revelation again when Christ descends from the heavens with His Bride and His Host behind Him!

Psalm 44:3~
for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm save them, but your right hand and your arm, and the light of your face, for you delighted in them.

Salvation belongs to our God, by His right hand, not their own arm.

Psalm 45:9~
daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor; at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.

I LOVE this Psalm.  It is a lovely picture of Christ and His Bride, the Church.  Who stands at the right hand of Christ?  His CHURCH!  

Psalm 48:10~
As your name, O God, so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is filled with righteousness.

Kind of self explanatory.  :P

Psalm 60:5~
That your beloved ones may be delivered, give salvation by your right hand and answer us!

Salvation is through Christ alone, as there is no other name under Heaven, given among men, by which we must be saved!

Psalm 63:8
My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.

Again, Christ upholds those who call upon Him.

Psalm 74:10-11
10 How long, O God, is the foe to scoff?
 Is the enemy to revile your name forever? 
11 Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
 Take it from the fold of your garment and destroy them!

I have half a mind to believe this Psalm is calling for the Second Coming!  How long is God going to wait before He sends His Son back, making His enemies His footstool??

Psalm 80:17
But let your hand be on the man of your right hand, the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!

Who is the "man at God's right hand"?  CHRIST!

Psalm 98:1~Oh sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.

Again, by Christ, salvation comes!

Psalm 110:1~The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”

The LORD (Yahweh) says to my Lord (Yeshua) - this was David talking.  David was the KING of Israel.  The highest you could go in authority.  Then who else is Lord over David but the Messiah?  And how can even the Messiah be Lord over David unless He is also GOD?

Psalm 110:5
The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.

Lord (Yeshua) in small letters does not mean Yahweh, but rather, the Messiah.  This is also a Second Coming verse.  The Messiah comes to shatter kings when He descends to claim His Kingdom.

Getting tired yet?  But wait, there's more!

Song of Solomon 2:6~
His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me!

The Song of Songs is allegory for Christ and His Bride.  It is a love story between Him and His Church.  Therefore, when read in that light, Christ, God's right hand, embraces the woman, or the Church, in love.

Isaiah 48:13~
My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand forth together.

In Isaiah, we get a remarkable confirmation of John 1:3 - "All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.", as well as Hebrews 1:2 - "Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds".  It's amazing what we can discern when we have the right "glasses"!

Lamentations 2:3-4~
He has cut down in fierce anger all the might of Israel; he has withdrawn from them his right hand in the face of the enemy; he has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob, consuming all around.
He has bent his bow like an enemy, with his right hand set like a foe; and he has killed all who were delightful in our eyes in the tent of the daughter of Zion; he has poured out his fury like fire.

This is a sad, sad Scripture.  In it, we see a prophecy of God removing His right hand (the Messiah) from the Jews and handing His people over to the enemy because they did not believe.  Instead, God gave the Messiah to a people who would honor Him - the Gentiles.  The "burning flame" spoken of is likely when Jerusalem (and the Temple of God) was razed by the Romans in 70AD.  The punishment for forsaking the Holy One of God was to be scattered among the nations for millenia.  It is only until recent times we have seen Israel reborn as a nation (1948), thus fulfilling Isaiah 66:7-8.

Matthew 20:23~
He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

And finally, we have Christ's own words, given to the mother of James and John, who'd asked Christ if her boys could sit on His right and left sides in His Kingdom.  But Christ answered with a cryptic reply.  What does He mean, "for those whom it has been prepared"?

He is speaking of His Church.

Revelation 3:21 confirms this by saying - "The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne."

This one verse is revolutionary in understanding our FULL INHERITANCE in Christ.  We have established that Christ sat down at the right hand of God.  This means He has all the authority of God.  Christ grants His CHURCH to sit at HIS right hand, thus giving the CHURCH all the authority of CHRIST.

This is amazing.  Astounding.  Something every Christian needs to understand.  We're not just purchased out of Hell, but given a GLORIOUS seat in the heavenlies, right next to Christ, who is right next to the Father.  Not even the angels can boast of that!

Ephesians 2:4-6 says: "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Hallelujah, brethren!  We are seated at the right hand of Christ, and every blessing and promise given to the Messiah is also given to us, His Church.  He is One with us, as a husband is one flesh with a wife and as a head is one flesh with its body.  When we accept Him, we become like Him.  Not "gods", but sons of God, and co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17).

 
This study is by no means exhaustive.  There are many other Scriptures about God's right hand.  For the sake of length, I did not post all of them.  But through this study, we can know and understand that we have a wonderful, amazing, awesome, inspiring, and absolutely BEAUTIFUL GOD!!!  And not only that, but He gives us a wonderful, amazing, awesome, inspiring, and absolutely BEAUTIFUL inheritance in His Son, to Whom He has given us, for the praise of His Glory!  (Ephesians 1:12)

I cannot wait.  I cannot wait.  I cannot wait!!!  \O/

~~Becka

The Resurrection From the Dead

Resurrection from the dead - what does that mean? A lot of people might assume this post will be about Christ's resurrection.  But I'm going to talk about the Resurrection of the Church. 

This is when Christ returns, and He resurrects those who love Him to Heaven in spiritual, glorified bodies.  It doesn't matter if they're dead or alive, they're resurrected and taken home.  The very same bodies we inhabit now we'll inhabit then, but we'll be clothed with Christ's own righteousness.  Those believers who are still alive when this happens will never taste death.  They're glorified alive and taken straight to Heaven.  You can read about this event in 1 Corinthians 15 and the short books of 1 & 2 Thessalonians.

I was thinking about the Resurrection when a thought struck me.  That is not the moment we're resurrected.  It IS the moment we overcome death, but it's not when we're resurrected.

What sense does that make?

Ephesians 2:1-3 says: And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Before we believed, we were dead in our sins.  This is what Jesus meant when He told the man who had to bury his father to "let the dead bury their own dead."  (Matthew 8:22)  He wasn't being heartless to this man, He was making a point.  The dead are just that -- dead.  They cannot do anything.  And those who were burying this man's father were dead in their sins.  They were not believers, and thus, not alive.


Christ told Nicodemus that one must be born again in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven (John 3:1-15).  We've heard that phrase "born again" countless times.  Some of us don't understand what it means.  It's quite simple, really.  When we first believe, God does a supernatural work on our hearts.  We are instantly free from sin because our punishment was taken upon Christ.  In its place is His righteousness.  (2 Corinthians 5:21).  Being "born again" means that God's grace saves us, and also creates a new heart within us, one that hates sin and loves righteousness.  This is done so Christians don't run amok and sin to their hearts' content.  It is also to prove we are new creations in Christ.  We are no longer creatures born under the first Adam, but under the Last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:22, 45).

If the second death is eternity in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14), then the second birth is eternity in Heaven.

Therefore, our resurrection from the "dead" happened the hour we first believed.  We weren't dead bodily, but we were dead spiritually.  And that is the resurrection that counts!  When Christ gives us our new bodies upon our glorification, it is because we were first resurrected from spiritual death to spiritual life through the second birth!

Christ Himself proves this idea when He says:

"And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God:  ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” ~~Matthew 22:31-32

This revelation stunned the crowd He was with.

And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.  ~~Matthew 22:33

Why is this so revolutionary?  Because Christ was telling them that their Patriarchs were alive!  They weren't dead.  Their bodies might be dust, but their spirits lived on. 

Christ came to give life.  Spiritual life.  This is why those who believe aren't necessarily afraid of death because they know their destination.  Death is merely the transition into this new Life.  But there is no life apart from Yeshua (1 John 5:12).  Therefore, if you die the first death (bodily) without Yeshua, you will suffer the second death (Revelation 20:14).  But if you are born the first birth into this world (bodily) and believe in Yeshua, you will be blessed by the second birth (John 3:1-15).

Therefore, it is belief in Yeshua that resurrects you from spiritual death.  And because of that resurrection, you will partake in the BODILY Resurrection when Christ returns for His Church.

This concept was taught by Paul in the book of Romans.

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  ~~Romans 6:1-3

Christians know this as a part of doctrine, that we're baptized into Christ, which symbolizes dying and rising with Christ.  But Christians usually think of our resurrection as "The Resurrection" when our bodies are raised incorruptible.

No, the bodily resurrection follows the spiritual resurrection, which happens when we first call upon the name of Yeshua as our Lord and Savior.  When looked at this way, you could call the "second birth" (or being "born again") actually our "spiritual resurrection" from being dead IN sin to being dead TO sin.  

You are literally starting a new life.  In that moment, you have overcome death and given LIFE in Yeshua!  You are spiritually reborn and remade.  How amazing is that?  God recreates you and births you again into a new being.  Not by being bodily born again, as Nicodemus mistakenly thought, but in your spirit.  

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."  ~~Ephesians 2:10

This is the only way the Holy Spirit of Yahweh can live within our hearts.  God can only dwell in perfection.  That can only happen when our sins are removed and the righteousness of Yeshua replaces them.

Through this "second birth", Paul says:

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus."  ~~Ephesians 2:4-6

How can we "be raised" in the past tense if our physical bodies are still flesh and not glorified?  Because our resurrection literally happened the moment we accepted and believed!

We are already alive.  Forever.  We will never taste the second death (Revelation 2:11).  When we die, we are present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8).  Our spirits have been resurrected.

It is only after this resurrection to spiritual life after being dead in our sins, then comes the resurrection of our physical bodies at the end of the age (John 14:1-3).

Praise God!

 

The Amazing Book of Ephesians

Just recently, God's been opening my eyes to the riches in the book of Ephesians.  I've read it countless times, but I believe the Spirit has opened my eyes to read the text to the full.  I wanted to do something fun with the first chapter, so here it is -- in pictures.  :)  There might be a verse or two missing, but you get the idea.

This picture doesn't show it, but verse one actually says, "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus..."  He says he's an apostle of Christ by the will of God.  He wasn't an apostle on his own faith.  Christ appeared to Saul, a Pharisee, on the road to Damascus, and asked him, "Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"  (Acts 9)  You see, Saul loved to execute Christians.  But his encounter with the Lord changed his mind -- and his name -- to Paul.  Therefore, it was GOD'S will, not his own, that he became an apostle of Christ.

 

This verse is mind-boggling.  I will likely remember it always since it has struck such a chord with me.  We have EVERY spiritual blessing in the heavenly places through Christ.  Not some, not most, but ALL.  That floors me.  Every blessing in Heaven is ours right now.  We are sons (and daughters) of the Most High.  And with that comes a GREAT inheritance.  But it's not for a future "someday", but today.  We are co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17).  

And we come to another glorious nugget of truth.  God chose us in Christ before He made CREATION.  That oughta humble a few of us!  Wow.  He knew me before Genesis 1:1.  He chose me in Christ to be without fault.  Let me just pause for a sec to post this pic:

Oh yeah, proclaim it!  If you're a believer, He CHOSE you before the foundations of the world!  Before He hung a single star!  Okay, let's move on.

 

Why did God choose us?  It has always been His plan to adopt us through Christ!  How amazing is that?  When Moses climbed Mt. Sinai, it was always God's plan to adopt you in Christ.  When Noah filled the Ark, when Solomon built the temple, when Boaz married Ruth.  ALWAYS God's plan.  That means YOU have always been God's plan as well, meaning there has never been a time in eternity-past when God didn't know you and love you.  For those of us who often wonder "why me?"  The answer is "because it gave Him great pleasure."

The Beloved is Christ.  We are accepted by God through Him.

This verse tells us HOW we are accepted through Christ -- our redemption comes through His blood by the grace of God.

 

The "mystery" of His will according to His good pleasure was what we just read back in verse 1:4 - the mystery was adopting us (gentiles) as sons and daughters!

 

Again, Paul re-iterates that God predestined us to be sons for the purpose of His will, so that we who were first to believe in Him will bring Him glory.  Seriously, how blessed are we as the Bride of Christ? Not only do we have all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, but we were CHOSEN by God, before creation, to be adopted into His family through Christ.  Being co-heirs with Christ is an astounding inheritance.  Revelation 3:21 says we will be allowed to sit on His Throne!  We have the authority of GOD behind us.  Not in the future, but right NOW.  This knowledge sheds new light on Romans 8:31 - If God is for us, who can be against us?

If we're chosen by God and called by God to be adopted children of God, then no power in this universe can stop us, because we have His authority to back us!

Because we were chosen, called, and adopted, we have thus been SEALED by the Holy Spirit, who is the promise of our redemption - our glorification upon the Rapture of the Church, also known as the Resurrection.  Being "sealed" means that nothing can break the seal.  If God chose us, called us, and adopted us, then He seals us as well, and we can never be lost to Him.

Here, Paul thanks God for the Ephesians, likely thanking Him for choosing, calling, and adopting them into His family.

 

Paul YEARNS for all the brethren to know what their inheritance is in Christ as children of God.  He prays for the eyes of their hearts to be opened so they can know the secrets, the intimate knowledge of this mystery, and the riches of this GLORIOUS inheritance we are given in Christ.  We're not just saved from sins, brethren.  We're elevated ABOVE the angels!  Given the very authority of Christ because we are one with Him as His Body.   We will one day become like Him in glorified bodies and rule and reign with Him in His millennial Kingdom.  We are kings. (Revelation 1:6, 1 Peter 2:9)  And He is our King.  The King of kings.  

 

(No pretty picture for these verses, but they couldn't be left out.  Notice Christ is seated at God's right hand in the HEAVENLY PLACES.  Where do we get all spiritual blessings from in verse 1:3?  Yup.  Christ is FAR ABOVE every other authority in the universe -- and above every name -- even in the age to come.

 

And here's the clencher of the entire chapter!  God placed all things under Christ's FEET and appointed Him to be HEAD over all for the church - His Body.  Does a HEAD have FEET?  No, but the BODY does!  The Body of Christ is His hands, His feet, His eyes, and His ears in this world.  We are one with Christ through the sacrifice He made for us because He became our sin and we became His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).  When we first believed, His sacrifice bonded us and sealed us to Him forever.  He has authority over us as the Head, but we are His Body, carrying out His authority in this world.  Which means, if God has placed all things under His feet, they are under OURS as well, because WE ARE HIS FEET!!

I just ADORE the book of Ephesians!  And it only gets better...  Ask the Spirit to open your eyes and re-read it.  Chapter 2 is just as amazing!

~~Becka

 

The Hidden Blessings of God

One thing I've learned as a disciple of Yeshua Messiah is that He doesn't do anything "normally".  What I mean by that is everything in His Gospel, everything He has done, and will do, seems backwards to us.  God Almighty should be high and lofty, showing off His Glory, telling people how wonderful He is.  But Christ said He's gentle and humble at heart (Matthew 11:29).  How can grace be unmerited?  How can God give it freely, and to anyone?  Surely it is based on how we love Him, or our performance as a Christian?  Surely WE have something to do with our own salvation?!

But the Lord says, "No. Salvation is not YOUR work.  You are MY workmanship." (Ephesians 2:10)  Indeed, salvation belongs to our God (Revelation 7:10).

This line of "backwards" logic got me thinking.  All throughout the Bible, we're told to rejoice no matter the circumstance.  We're shown an example in Paul, who suffered his way through shipwrecks, snakebites, whippings, and imprisonment, all the while singing HYMNS to God.  How many of us would shake our fists at Him for all He's heaped upon our heads?  How many of us would wonder what we did to incur God's wrath?  But no, Scripture says, "Count yourself blessed" when you're persecuted in Yeshua's name (Matthew 5:11).  Paul says to "Rejoice always" and "give thanks in all circumstances" for it is "the will of God in Messiah Yeshua for you" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

It would seem this is another instance of something that is backwards to us.  Could it be that sufferings are actually blessings in disguise?

I meditated on this idea for quite awhile.  It really would seem Scripture is telling us this.  I once took the idea behind rejoicing in suffering to mean that we should take everything that happens to us with a smile, because NOTHING can take our inheritance in Christ.  God still looks upon us in favor and we are still loved as sons and daughters of the Most High.  And surely, that is a wonderful way to look at trials.

But there's another layer here.  The more I thought on it, the more it became clear.  God teaches us through trials.  They are His way of refining us and disciplining us.  But what is the end goal?  To become like Christ.  To be conformed into His image (Romans 8:29).  Why doesn't God take us home to Heaven when we wish to be taken out of this world?  Why would He keep us here on earth when Heaven is so much MORE?

God revealed to me that this temporal life is the ONLY place we can learn humility.  It is the only place we can learn how to be totally dependent on God.  Think about this.  Heaven is a perfect place.  There is no sorrow, no pain, no sickness, no death.  It's a utopia.  God calls it our "rest".  There, we see God Face-to-face.  No longer can we rely on faith.  There, pride doesn't overcome us, and thus we cannot deepen our relationship with God by repenting and striving for change.  There, sickness doesn't overcome our bodies, so we don't learn to lean on God's strength when we are weak.

I don't believe we'll ever stop learning in Heaven, but our capacity for learning things through trials will be gone.  When we each leave this world for the next, we are as prepared for our spiritual lives as God wants us to be.

The person we are now is vastly different then the person we were when we were children.  We grew, matured, and left childish things behind (1 Corinthians 13:11).  I believe it is the same for maturity in the spiritual realm.  God keeps us here in the temporal world to mold us and shape us into the mature, spiritual person we will one day become.  Because once we cross over into the next world, we can no longer learn the lessons we learn here through painful experience.

In this way, when seen in this light, God is merciful for letting us remain in the flesh for as long as we can.  It's backwards, I know.  When a person is being wasted away by cancer, when the ends just aren't meeting, when enemies scoff, the roof leaks, your husband leaves you, or you survive a horrific car accident, they are all God's mercies.

Unless a person is eaten away by pride and they don't understand how God is moving in their life, they will get closer to the Lord in their suffering.  Pain brings us to such a point that we cling to Christ's robes.  There's no hope anywhere else.  There's no one left to turn to.  No magical safety net.  In that place, we're right where God wants us to be.  He can shape us, teach us, mold us, and create us into the mature spiritual being He wishes us to be when His Kingdom comes.

I've often wondered why God saw fit to give me a lonely childhood.  My parents divorced when I was 12, and I spent my nights, every night, alone in my house until I was 18.  My mom left, and my dad worked the swing shift at a casino.  I had no one.  God found me early, and kept me close.  In those tender years, He taught me how to never let go of Him.  He taught me that He is my Best Friend.  He taught me that He looks after me.  In short, He made me lonely so that I could know the FULLNESS of knowing Him.

When I was a kid, I broke my wrist in three places.  When I grew up, I had trouble with the ligaments.  Eventually, I had to have surgery on it.  Then, the very next year, I contracted cellulitis in my leg, which gave me a huge, purple scar on my calf.  In the grand scheme of things, these aren't scenarios that cannot be lived through.  But I often thought...WHY is this happening to me?

In the middle of it all, I was PRAYING.  I was on my knees (figuratively with the cellulitis lol) all the time, wanting to know what was going on, asking God to take my pain, fully leaning on HIM.

My trials with my wrist and my leg taught me patience.  It took months before I got the surgery on my wrist and months before the pain went away in my leg.  They taught me perseverance.  I wasn't going to let them get me down.  They taught me endurance.  When I thought I couldn't take anymore, I plodded on.  They built my faith.  I couldn't see the end-goal, but I was determined to trust and leave it in God's hands.

They taught me humility, because now I have scars in both places.  Not too pretty to look at.  But despite it all, God still loves me.  And despite it all, my faith survived.  I still love God.  And oddly, even more so.  Sound a little backwards?

In the end, when you look at that list -- patience, perseverance, endurance, faith, humility, love -- Who does that remind you of?

YESHUA

Could it be that pain, trials, sickness, persecution....  are BLESSINGS?  Is this what Paul was trying so hard to convey in his Epistles?  Is this why martyrs sing on their way to die?  Is this why we should count it all as LOSS in order to gain Christ?  Is THIS how God can take what the enemy means for evil and use it for good?

Is our good to become more like Yeshua?

In this, I believe it is so.  It's hard to grasp, but when you do, all kinds of new possibilities to worship open up for you.  Your faith will never waiver in the hard times.  Everything that is happening to you, either good or bad, is a blessing from God, shaping you into the person you will one day become when you cross into Glory.  Shaping you into the reflected image of the glorified Christ.

Hallelujah!

~~Becka

Abiding in Yeshua

What does it mean to abide in Yeshua?  "Abide", according to Merriam Webster online, means to wait for, to endure without yielding, to bear patiently, to accept without objection, to remain stable or in a fixed state, to continue in a place, to conform to, to acquiesce in.

In other words, you live where Yeshua lives.  You follow in His footsteps, you do what He does.  You love the world as He loved.  Abiding is not giving the Lord lip service, nor is it visiting Him every now and again like you would a mere acquaintance.  It's not praying only when you need something or claiming to be a Christian yet having no evidence of His teachings in your life.

So what does abiding look like?  Christ gave us an illustration of abiding in the Gospel of John, through the Vine and the branches.

 

Think for a moment about the Vine and the branch.  The branch doesn't get sustenance from the soil.  The branch is not the entire plant.  The branch only lives because it is grafted onto the Vine.  Where does the branch's food and water come from?  Where does it's energy come from?  Upon what does it depend?

The Vine.

And Christ goes even farther than this, saying it is only by our dependence on the Vine that we can bear fruit.  The fruit of the Spirit can be found in Galatians 5:22-23, which says: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."

These are the markings of a true Christian.  Showing these fruits to the world when you're not a believer is a daunting task indeed.  Pride and self-righteousness will always get in the way at some point.  But when a believer abides in Yeshua, they begin to become like Him.  They learn of His humility and what once was a hindrance now becomes a joy.  There is no more selfishness in service, only the joy of giving.  When your focus is off yourself and onto Him, when you realize you are just the branch but HE is the VINE, your worldview shifts to what is truly important.  Your happiness stems, not in your circumstance, but in your security in Him.

  

You become thankful for all that Christ has given you.  You realize that apart from Him, there is nothing.  As the mere branch, you know if you were cut off from the Vine, you would wither and die.  There is no hope of growing roots and becoming a vine yourself.

When you see yourself as a branch abiding in the Vine, you begin to realize you are LIKE the Vine!  Only a grape branch can grow from a grapevine.  You cannot have a tomato branch on a grapevine.  Therefore, the whole point of abiding in the Vine is to become like the Vine.  And the only way to become like the Vine is to experience His goodness, mercy, and peace for yourself, which is found in communing regularly with the Vine.

But abiding isn't easy.  The Vine-dresser might come along and prune you every now and again.  When you stray too far away from the Vine or when you start to grow weird leaves that aren't of the Vine.  Sometimes, however, pruning is necessary in conforming you into His image.  Humans are a fickle folk.  We don't learn many lessons unless we've lived though them.  It's the lessons that we have hands-on experience with that we remember the most.

Therefore, we must know what it's like to be lonely before we can truly pant after God as our only friend.  We must know what it's like to stumble and fall so that He can lift us up.  We must know when we are weak so we can lean upon His strength.  We must become dependent so that He can provide our needs.  We must go through the desert alone to perfect our faith that God never leaves us.

Perhaps this is why there is pain and suffering in the world -- to teach us greater Truths God couldn't otherwise teach us in a perfect Heaven where there is no suffering.  I think that is why the angels long to look, because they literally cannot learn the things we learn through experience. Christ knew this life is hard, sometimes overwhelmingly so.  But if we abide in the Vine, we can overcome.  The Vine protects the branch and gives it all it needs to survive.

So even if the sun burns your leaves or a drought has left you wilted, your branch is still rooted in the Vine, which can never die.  And if HE can never die, therefore neither can you.  He is your Life, He is your Love, He is your Everything.

~~Becka