Tag: Jesus on the Cross

8 DAYS OF GIVING THANKS T-3 DAYS |THANKSGIVING 2019

Isaiah 1:18

Thankful for a God who reinvents us!

by Oscar Roca

I just got a sent a picture of a blind farmer who was passing through his land, looking for his turkeys. The funny part was that he was walking right in front of them, and they were making cow sounds. 

I laughed so hard because this time of year, turkeys are the main course on the plate in my country! 

But then, I started pondering on the fact that those turkeys in that cartoon are so incredibly wise! Yes, I know it’ s just a funny cartoon mem, but think about it, when was the last time you reinvented yourself? 

We all must take this journey called life. I invite you to reinvent yourself today; don’t wait until New Year’s Day to write a list of things you want to reinvent in your life. Start today. 

—What is your physical goal?

—What is your mental goal?

—What is your job goal?

—Most importantly, what is your spiritual purpose?

I don’t have a clue on the first three since I most likely don’t know you personally. But, I do have an answer to the last one. Get to know God personally before this Thanksgiving holiday. I promise you with God’s help; you will be able to accomplish anything in life. I also know that God will reinvent you. 

Wherever you are in life, whatever your past mistakes or regrets, stop holding on to them.

Start fresh on this special Holiday Season. Finish Christmas with the Peace of The Christ Child, who can take all your past away and make you a new person.

I thank God for fresh starts. I know, because He gave me one when I asked Jesus into my life and committed myself to Him. 

Here are some links if you want to reinvent yourself spiritually… 

How Can I know God

Steps to Peace With God

Know God

Paz Con Dios

Pasos para la Salvación PDF

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Make a Change Impeach? No Change Will Come Until We Preach! |Only Christ’s Crucified Will Change the World!

…25 Demetrius assembled the craftsmen, along with the workmen in related trades. “Men,” he said, “you know that this business is our source of prosperity. 26 And as you see and hear,not only in Ephesus, but in nearly the whole province of Asia, Paul has persuaded a great numberof people to turn away. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all. 27 There is danger not only that our business will fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited and her majesty deposed—she who is worshiped by all the province of Asia and the whole world.” —Acts 19:25-27 Berean Study Bible

As Christians, we need to keep the priority on what we want to accomplish in our faith.
— Some Christians want to change the world for America through politics.
— Some want to go to the ends of the earth and proclaim the Gospel to other nations.
— Some want to be the best in their fields with the help of God.
— Some want to change society from within and force non-Christians to live as we do with a set of Biblical laws, whether people want them or not.
—Others see themselves living quietly and letting the world take care of itself while they await the coming of our LORD for us.
— Most of these priorities are by themselves, okay. Yet, they miss the mark on what God wants for His followers.
You see, we can’t change the world on our own and for our country until we change peoples lives through Christ.

We can’t change a community, & or a nation or the world with more Laws. We change them all with Christ’s love and what He did on the cross for them!

—We can’t go to the ends of the earth until we go next door and proclaim the Grace of God for all mankind to our family and neighbors.
— We can be the best in our fields without having a fulfilled life. This fulfillment is only brought to life if we are in God’s will.
— We can’t place God’s laws on people who will not understand them. It is by the Spirit who counsels us in the things of God that we will recognize and be guided to do what Christ wants for our lives. I believe that all life begins before birth. Why? Because God states it in His scriptures. I can’t see taking a precious life unnecessarily, or only because I consider it an inconvenience that I will be responsible for taking care of this baby for eighteen years plus.

Getting back to the reasons why Christians believe that they should force our way of life on others…

Christian principles have been, and still, are valuable to the world, to individual nations and to communities where we live.

Christian beliefs, laws, and morals could be implemented ’til Kingdom come. But without having a saving knowledge, and personal commitment to the LORD and Savior Jesus, we will have the cleanest cities on earth; with the most law-abiding people on earth, going straight to hell once they leave this planet!

“”17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with words of wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. 18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate…. 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength...””—1 Corinthians 1 Berean Study Bible

What we need to do is preach Christ crucified and keep preaching His sacrificial blood on the cross.

We need to let people know that it is only through Christ’s death payment, that individuals can come to a lasting relationship with God. But we also need to tell them the consequences of not listening to what we are saying. If we only preach love, we could be condemning people straight to hell.
Each person needs to know what their wrongdoings or sins have done in their lives. Each person has to come to repentance and commitment to changing the direction they are headed in their life.

If you are anything like me, I had to hear this time and time again until I realized that it was not by saying thousands of repeated prayers, or going to church every Sunday, but not adhering to Christ’s teachings the rest of the time.

We need to be like the Apostle Paul. His total commitment to preaching is all he did. There was no, I am going to speak to the city leaders to implement the Torah to the Greeks. He did not go and speak to King Agrippa or the Governor Festus to change the way unwanted Roman babies were being thrown out into the front porches all over the Roman Empire. What Paul did was take the Gospel into all towns, cities and provinces of the Empire. He spoke to one person after another, groups of people by rivers, mountains, and major cities!

Just one man filled with the Holy Spirit turned all of Asia to Christ. To the point of people turning away from their false gods and committng to the LORD Jesus! So much so, that he was stoned and thrown from a cliff by the sellers of the false deities who had been losing customers and their livelihood becasue of one man.

My fellow brethren, preach Christ crucified as much as you can. Do as much preaching about Jesus as soon as you wake up, until you go to sleep. If need be, open your mouths to tell this world about Him! What I am saying is this— Live your lives so filled with God’s Spirit, that they see the goodness in you and glorify the LORD!

Go change your homes, communities, nation and the world for Jesus!

If you are reading this and want to preach Jesus and Him only, but don’t know how to get started. Get to know God more and what He wants for your life:

Know God

Steps to Peace With God

How Can I know God

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From The Cross—To The Grave—To The Trumpet Blast of The LORD |The LORD’s Feasts 2019

The Cross

This month marks the beginning of the Fall Feasts that some in Israel are celebrating. The Feasts of The LORD or Holy Convocations that God institutes in Leviticus 23, are for all mankind.

This post is meant to give you a short cut outline to my future seven posts of the Feasts of God. I will explain each one in detail as we reach their perspective dates.

Again, these Feasts were not from Moses, nor were they only for the young nation of Israel when they were given. Because these Feasts or Holy Convocations, were a type of repetitions or rehearsals which are to be memorized and repeated continually for all ethnicities of people in every country of the world; for all to practice as the dates arrive.

It was God Himself that dictated to Moses, what the Israelites and non-Israelites should do during these Holy Days:

The LORD (YHWH) spoke to Moses, You notice that God speaks and Moses dictates.

2 “Tell the Israelis that these are my festival times appointed by the LORD that you are to declare as sacred assemblies:

The Tomb cave

God goes on to explain the Spring and start of summer Holy Days—Sabbath, Passover, First-Fruits,  Feast of Weeks, 

Tongues of Fire

This is where we are in God’s calendar-—He then again says: 

“The LORD spoke to Moses…—24“Tell the Israelis that on the first day of the seventh month you are to have a Sabbath of rest for you—a memorial announced by a loud blast of trumpets. It is to be a sacred assembly..”

Shofar

God goes on to explain the Fall Holy Days—Trumpets, Atonement & Tabernacles

We start with The Feast of Trumpets:

This yearly Fall Festival or Holy Day period is to start on the seventh month (Falls on September 29th of this year), people are to have a rest day from everything except remembering God, and this special day was to be for sounding ram’s horns throughout the land. He then says that it is a sacred assembly. 

After ten days, God tells His people to assemble together once again:

Praying to be Atoned

27 “However, on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It’s a sacred assembly for you. Humble yourselves and bring an offering made by fire to the LORD. 28 You are not to do any work that same day. It’s the Day of Atonement, because your atonement is made in the presence of the LORD your God.”

 Sukkah 

Then God again tells His people:

33 And the LORD said to Moses, 34“Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Feast of Tabernacles to the LORD begins, and it continues for seven days. 35 On the first day there shall be a sacred assembly. You are not to do any regular work. 36 For seven days you are to present an offering made by fire to the LORD. On the eighth day you are to hold a sacred assembly and present an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a solemn assembly; you are not to do any regular work.

This again is just a glimpse of what will be explained in the furture. The world needs to know what God wants for all of us. These Festivals or Feasts or Holy Gathering were meant for us to be aware of God’s Timeline in History. These are not meant to try and figure out the exact time of each of the prophetic events, but more as a guidleine to ensure our faith and make it stronger.

Please go back and look at each of the picture graphics. They explain why God wanted us to rehearse, know, live and act on these Feasts.

If you don’t know God in a way that you understand the scripture references, I invite you to get to know Him and His Holy Calendar of future events:

How Can I know God

Steps to Peace With God

Know God

References:

Bible Quotations from:

ISV Bible

Berean Study Bible

Graphics from FreePik

Wikipedia

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The Passionate Jesus —Get to Know Him Personally This Passionate Week |Passion Week Series

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  • The Roman Road leads to the edge of the cliff and into the bottomless pit unless you confess Jesus as your personal LORD & Savior

  • That cliff will always keep you separated eternally from God until you choose His Son, who has paid the death contract for you.

  • We all carry the death contract from the day we are born and it gets heavier the older we get.

—This Sunday will start the beginning of a great and awesome week. Where God did a wondrous work of sacrifice though His Son Jesus the Savior for those who out their trust in Him.

—Passion Week starts with Palm Sunday( Matthew 21) and ends on Resurrection Sunday. But it doesn’t end there. You see, the story starts with Jesus, the Second Person of the Trinity. Who is the Creator of this universe. He spoke and the Big cosmological Bang happened.

—From the beginning of time, Jesus knew what was going to happen when He breathed life into humans.

—Yet, with all His omnipotent knowledge, He still obediently humiliated Himself by leaving His throne and coming down to earth as a human baby. That is unimaginable to me.

—That God would become flesh & bones(John 1:14; Hebrews 2:14 ). With the same carnal needs. With all of the weakness of a human body (Hebrews 2:17) which starts decaying the minute we are born.

—He was 100% human—100% God. I won’t try to explain this in 1-3 sentences because theologians have tried answering this wonderful and mysterious truth in volumes of books.

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By Pete Rose 

  • Just know that the chances of 1 person fulfilling a few prophecies or predictions are astronomical. Jesus has fulfilled over 350. Yes, 350. If I was a Vegas man, I would place my bets on Jesus. I would take what He said and the predictions or prophecies He fulfilled as facts.

  • Now comes the most extraordinary 3 facts to take away from this:

— Jesus was tortured & died on the cross (Matthew 27)

— Jesus was buried  (Matthew 27:56-66)

— Jesus resurrected from death 3 days later (Matthew 28:1-15)

  • If this was not true, the greatest Empire and military in history, would have:
  • —Made a ridicule out of Jesus by displaying His body
  • — And/or killing off Jesus’ disciples for lying.
  • —Solving the mystery of where the body was hidden.

But neither of those things happened, why?

— There were too many witnesses who saw Jesus after His death. (Acts 5:32)

—The story was never fully disputed & the disciples continued preaching in the same city Jesus was buried. The Sanhedrin could not shut them up! ( Acts 5:32; Acts 23:24)

—The rest of what happened to His followers as they multiplied has been chronicled in the Bible and in other historical chronicles. (1 Corinthians 15:2-4)

  • Jesus disciples were:

—Beaten to stop having them share the Gospel of Jesus.

—Tortured to deny Jesus as the Messiah—Savior of Israel and the world.

—Killed for not recanting. It was the other way around, people like Paul of Tarsus chained up to his jailers converted many of them until he was put to death for His Lord and Savior, Jesus. 

  • Yet, His disciple remained faithful to the story of:

— Jesus,

—His teachings,

—His miracles,

—His crucifixion,

—His death

—His resurrection.

  • All this along with changing the mightiest empire that ever was through:

—Person to person sharing of the Gospel of Jesus.

— One on one disciplining on how to be followers of Christ.(2 Thessalonians 2:15)

—Continued fellowship of the church of Jesus who were called people of the Way.(Acts 2:46)

  • Yet still there are:

—Doubters to Jesus being who He said He was.

—Almost two thousand years later, Jesus is still controversial.

—People are still coming to know Him personally.

—Others are still scoffing at the stories they hear.

  • No other person in history has been:

— Loved & hated.

—Admired & Despised

—Worshipped & ridiculed….

  • Jesus remains a central figure in modern history.

—Countries have come and gone.

—Scoffers have said that Christianity is dead countless times.

—They have vowed to make Christians disappear.

—Yet, Jesus’ followers remain strong as always.

— The Bible remains the most read book in History because it’s His Story!

  • All this, due to a humble Carpenter who:

—Was born in Bethlehem

—Raised in Nazareth

—Taught scriptures to the masses by His Authority

—Said that He was God

—Fulfilled over 250 prophecies written centuries before His birth

—Healed the sick and lame

—Raised people from the grave

—Walked on water

—Gave sight to the blind

—Gave grace, mercy & peace to this sinner!

  • May you get to know Jesus the Messiah—Savior of this world during this most Holy of Weeks.

Get to know Him, here is how:

How Can I know God

Steps to Peace With God

Know God

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The Only Action to Take |Gift of Salvation

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Some people say, “When you do an act of kindness, it’s good Karma!” If someone does something horrible, then you hear, “Wait until his Karma catches up to him!”
We’ve all heard of people saying there’s Karma in every action we take. The definition of this Buddhist and Hindu belief is that a person’s actions in this life or previous existence is a deciding factor in where a person will end up in the next life.

  • Although I don’t agree on the belief of a previous life or recycling into the next, I do believe that a person’s action will, in fact, be the deciding factor of where they spend eternity. You notice I said action and not actions?

The Word of God makes it indisputable in Hebrews chapter 29 verse 27 that it is appointed for a person to die once and then God’s judgment will be passed.

  • Here’s where the total opposite belief of what Karma is, comes in:

As human beings, we can never obtain a perfect balance for our next life on our own. We are never going to be good enough to achieve perfection. Only God, the Creator of the universe is perfect.
He is the only One that can judge us by His standards. And through the eternal measures of the heavens, we always fall short.
Here is where we have the chance to make destiny ours. We can, in fact, receive perfection. But here’s the catch, it’s not by our own actions.
It is by the time action that Jesus the Savior of the world, who is also the Son of God in the Trinity. He came and lived a perfect life. We can’t fathom this because we can’t live this kind of perfect life.
Some like the Buddha, Francis of Assisi, and Mother Theresa of Calcutta,  tried their best to lead good lives. Notice I said good and not perfect?
They through their own actions could never be good enough for their efforts to cancel out their sins.
All people have sinned and are in need of saving grace that is only given through Jesus. All people including Buddha, Mother Theresa, and all the other “beatified” human beings who have passed from this life into the next have died and were buried. None came back to life, except One.
People’s actions will not be good enough for them to enter into God’s heavenly Kingdom on their own accord. Before you tell me that this is extremely harsh to say, I am not the one saying it. The Word of God is clear on this. I wish I could say otherwise but then I would be making myself God and trust me, I am and will always fall short on that measure.
Instead of getting angry or depressed because you realized that you can’t make it into heaven on your own, why not ask the One that can help you. He is the only One that has died, been buried and risen from the dead. His name is Jesus the One they called the Carpenter, The Nazarene, The Way, the Truth, and The Life.

  • Ro 8_38_392018-10-22 at 5.05.06 PM.pngGet to know Him, I promise you will not regret it.
    Below are reference links to most of what I mentioned here. Do your own homework and make the right decision.
  • Once you make a decision to follow Jesus, he will never leave you! Nothing will be able to separate you from His love.
  • Don’t leave it up to your very own “Karma” to find out too late…

 

 

 

 

References:

No human being is righteous in God’s eyes:  

https://biblehub.com/romans/3-10.htm

https://biblehub.com/romans/3-23.htm

Jesus is sinless:

https://biblehub.com/isaiah/53-9.htm
https://biblehub.com/1_peter/2-22.htm
https://biblehub.com/2_corinthians/5-21.htm
https://biblehub.com/1_john/3-5.htm

Christ came to save us:

https://biblehub.com/romans/8-38.htm

He is the Only One that can save us:

https://biblehub.com/john/14-7.htm

Ask Him to be your Savior:

https://biblehub.com/romans/10-9.htm

Welcome to the Family of God:

https://biblehub.com/hebrews/10-22.htm

Got more questions?:

Steps to Peace With God

How Can I know God

Know God

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Jesus=Jehovah Is Salvation |Day of Atonement

Day of Atonement.png

The Day of Atonement

“”26 Again the LORD said to Moses, 27 “ The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. You are to hold a sacred assembly and humble your souls and present an offering made by fire to the LORD. 28 On this day you are not to do any work, for it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the LORD your God.”” Leviticus 23:27- Berean Study Bible

“”13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.””… Galatians 3:13- Berean Study Bible

As Christians, we don’t really see the importance of the Jewish Feasts. This is because we think that they were instituted by the Israelites (Ancient Jewish people) but nothing could be further from the truth.

At the beginning of Leviticus chapter 23, we see that God calls these Holy Convocations His feasts.

Feasts of the LORD
1 Then the LORD said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘These are My appointed feasts, the feasts of the LORD that you will proclaim as sacred assemblies.…Leviticus 23:1-2- Berean Study Bible.

This means we as Christians need to be observing these days. They are for all those that call Jesus their Savior.  We are not to go to the extremes of becoming so caught up in the acts that we forget the meaning behind The Feasts. These are to dress rehearsals for the real thing. That real thing is Jesus, Yeshua, Yehoshua. These dress rehearsals were appointed times for us to know the exact time Jesus would come. Yet, His people, the ones that had the oracles of God, the ones that kept every scroll written in almost perfect form, missed the appointed time.

But before you start judging the Jewish people, Christians have also missed out on this. Let me explain, we have and will always have the Greek Scriptures in the New Testament. Yet, when I speak to people of the importance of chapter 23 of Leviticus, the person usually says that all the Old Testament (Hebrew Scriptures of the Bible) is for the Jewish folks and that we need to focus on Jesus’ writings.

I usually smile and tell them if Jesus is the Word, that The Word was from the beginning and since Jesus is The Word, His writings are from Genesis to Revelation. Then I see their reaction…a blank stare into the endlessness of the universe.

You see, everything in the Bible points to Jesus (Yeshua- Jehovah is Salvation). The scriptures point in only one direction, Jesus’ direction. The Feasts all point to Him. They were practices for us to know the time of His arrival. Yet most people missed Jesus’ first coming. He kept telling the Jewish people He was the One that scriptures spoke about. He also kept telling them that His hour had not come yet. Until that specific time Jesus rode in on that donkey and allowed Himself to be worshipped as the Messiah of the world.

This brings a new meaning for us Christians when Jesus says:

“”2 You know that the Passover begins in two days, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.””- Matthew 26:2 Berean Study Bible

Preparing the Passover
17 On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” 18 He answered, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him that the Teacher says, ‘My time is near. I will keep the Passover with My disciples” at your house.’ 19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.… Matthew 26:17-19 Berean Study Bible

You see, Jesus has fulfilled all the Spring and summer Feasts or Appointed Times. There are Three Appointed Feats left. These are Fall Feasts and the Day of Atonement is one of these. I will be explaining each of these separately.

Today it’s the Feast of Atonement. The Day where Jesus the Messiah of the world, will make His people clean and unblemished from their sins. May today be the start of your new clean life. I ask you to get to know Jesus, the Messiah or Savior of the world.

~ If you know and have a relationship with Jesus, may today be a joyful and somber day. One that brings you to His throne room and right at the feet of Jesus who gave Himself to be a sacrifice for us all. May you praise His name and ask Him to make you clean by wiping away the uncleanliness in your lives.

~ If you do not know Jesus. I ask you to make today the day that you ask Him into your life.  Also, ask Jesus to wash you clean and make you right in the sight of God. The Bible says that he will make you a new creation.

“”7 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:…”” – 2 Corinthians 5:17-18 Berean Study Bible

Do not wait, ask Jesus into your life. Make a commitment to walk away from the things that are loading you up with bad things. Things that you have done yourself that you want gone. Ask him to change you from the inside out. Make this day a day you will remember as the day Jesus Atoned for your sins…

Steps to get started with Jesus:

How Can I know God

Steps to Peace With God

Know God

 

 

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