The reason Christ came was to destroy the works of the enemy

I sometimes wish I lived in the days Jesus walked the face of the earth. I mostly think it must have been an amazing time for people of that period, whether they were Greeks, Jews or Romans. There must have been some curiosity even as Yeshua grew up; His parents were curious, the teachers in the Synagogues were curious, the Pharisees and Sadducees were curious in their own way, and I suppose His siblings must have been curious about Him. Jesus was different, He was a radical. He said things that no one else was bold enough to say.

My Bible has a record of Jesus as one who was born into a Jewish family in Palestine, the region that is present day Israel.He was born in a manger, a very humble backdrop for the King of Kings; surrounded by sheep, goats, hay and odd smells. Through His ministry, we observe Him traveling through the regions of Galilee, Samaria and Judea. We see Him teaching in synagogues and speaking with compassion to the multitudes that followed Him everywhere He went.

Jesus preached about the Kingdom of God, He preached repentance, He preached love and equality for mankind. The Bible records Him healing the sick, casting out demons, raising the dead, walking on water, turning water into wine at a wedding, and a number of other miracles. 

He spoke with authority and was 100 percent passionate about His work on earth. That’s right. Yeshua Jesus Christ had a mission and a purpose on this planet. He wasn’t just twiddling His fingers during the brief 33 years of His earthly existence..He was a worker..a miracle worker most of all. To examine His work on earth, I’d love to examine His names.

Examining the names of God is to walk along a path that is sweet, it is to unravel the essence and character of our beautiful Savior.  The names God chooses in the scripture reveals His true nature to us.

In Isaiah 9:6b; “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

In the gospels, we see John writing of Him, John refers to Him as The Word John 1: 1-5a: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

John continues to give an account of John the Baptist where he calls Jesus, The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. John the Baptist’s disciples actually follow Jesus Christ, and call Him Rabbi or Teacher. They even testify to others who would later on become disciples, that they have found the Messiah.

Throughout the Book of John, we find Jesus saying of Himself, “I am the Bread of Life,” “I am the Resurrection and the Life,” “I am the vine, you are the branches..”I am the good shepherd””I am the door.. and so forth.

Jesus says in John 10:10 “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

In 1 John 3:8 we see it mentioned that the reason Christ came was to destroy the works of the devil. “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.”

What are the works of the devil?

We have to go back to the Garden of Eden to answer this. The Bible has a record in Genesis of God giving to man dominion over everything, it as well has the record of man handing over his dominion to the devil by deception.

Satan’s works?  Morally, he entices us to sin. Physically, he inflicts disease and seeks to destroy those who bear the image of God. Intellectually, he seduces us into error. And spiritually, he blinds the minds of unbelievers lest they see and believe the gospel.

By Christ dying on the cross for mankind, was to restore the dominion that was stolen back to mankind. It was to free us from the harassment of the evil one, loose those in captivity. It was to give mankind abundant life here on earth, and eternal life when we depart earth and enter His rest.

Colossians 2: 14-15 sums it up, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;[And] having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.”

Do you believe in Jesus Christ? The Bible says that if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart, accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as your redeemer, you shall be saved.

 

 

 

Yeshua Jesus Christ claimed He was God, well was He?

Of all the founders of the world’s major religions, none has made as a profound impact in the history of mankind, as Yeshua Jesus Christ. He was a radical in His time, changing as it were the order of things in society, somewhat even going against them and bringing all of mankind into new possibilities and hope. He is the one whose name is constantly mouthed and screeched by all and sundry, when they strike their foot against a stone, “Jesus!”

I’ve never quite fathomed why ‘the world’ does this. One thing I understand though, even as the day draws nigh unto His return, is that His tomb is empty and that He claimed to be God. Not once, not twice, but several times throughout the scripture, Yeshua was quoted as saying, “I am God,” “I and the Father are one.”

Let us examine the founders of other religions briefly.

Buddha proved himself to be a man of great intellect, but a man nonetheless. Mohammed on the other hand acknowledged that there were other great prophets before him; Moses and *Jesus* but somewhat as the “last and greatest prophet”, he said that ‘his sayings superseded their teachings.’

As for Hinduism; the religion is based on the premise of a multitude of gods and goddesses symbolizing the one abstract supreme being or Brahman. The most fundamental of Hindu dieties are the Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva; many other gods such as Ganesha, Krishna, Rama, Hanuman and goddesses like Lakshmi, Durga, Kali and Saraswati are popular among hindus all over the world. Moreover, to a hindu, all avatars (incarnations of god) are mythical and non-historical. Which is to say, they have never declared themselves to be God.

The New Testament of the bible leaves no doubt that Jesus and His followers claimed that He was God. It’s interesting to note, that even outside of Christendom; Jewish and Roman historians, as well as writers that were anti-Christ confirmed in their discourses that Jesus and His followers claimed He was God.

Reporting on Emperor Nero’s decision to blame the Christians for the fire that had destroyed Rome in A.D. 64, the Roman historian Tacitus wrote: “Nero fastened the guilt..on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty (crucifixion) during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of ..Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome.”

Another important source of evidence about Jesus and early Christianity can be found in the letters of Pliny the Younger to Emperor Trajan. Pliny was Roman governor of Birhynia in Asia Minor. In one of his letters, dated round 112 AD, he asks for Trajan’s advice about the appropriate way to conduct legal proceedings against those accused of being Christians. Pliny says he needed to consult the emperor about this issue because a great multitude of every age, class and sex stood accused of Christianity.

At one point in his letter, Pliny relates some of the information he has learned about these Christians noting that, “They were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and bound themselves by solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft or adultery, never to fasify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up; after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble to partake of food-but food of an ordinary and innocent kind.”

We have then to say that from both Christian and non-Christian sources, it is an undeniable fact that Jesus claimed to be God.

The claim that He was God, resulted in Him being arrested, tried and crucified on the cross, apparently for ‘blasphemy’ in claiming to be God. If we examine the life and teachings of Yeshua Jesus Christ, we observe that He was neither a lunatic or one of unsound mind, as many who have professed they were God through the times, these ones have fizzled out and have been forgotten, waved away into the anals of madmen. Yeshua Jesus Christ on the other hand, is well recognized throughout the world, through history as the ‘greatest man that ever walked the earth.’

Researcher Robert Morey stipulates, “There is more historical evidence for Jesus Christ than for any other historical person. There are literary works from his friends and foes, archeological evidence, letters correspondence and historians.”

I believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, I believe that He was God. Do you?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jesus was not even white..can we move on already?

This may be a tad bit offensive, but truth is..we must hash things out.

For the longest time possible;  I’ve had friends, acquaintances even, and online buddies preach a different gospel…one that focuses solely on the race, the whiteness of Christ, and negates the essence of the Christ; as Saviour, as Redeemer and as the anointed One. They blather that Jesus didn’t save no black man, and yet we all out beating our chest preaching His gospel.

My response to them is..

Forget every blond haired blue-eyed Yeshua image you’ve ever seen. We don’t worship images, we worship Jesus Christ..the Messiah..the one who lives forever more..Who when He walked the earth, was middle eastern NOT caucasian certainly not white..the Jesus Christ who walked the earth for 33 years, who forgave and healed the masses, who performed miracles everywhere He went, the Jesus Christ who was nailed to the cross, shed His blood for the redemption NOT only of one kind of folk BUT for the whole of mankind, the Jesus Christ who died and spent three days in hell, preaching to souls, setting captives free..who TOOK from the devil the keys of death and hades, the Jesus who resurrected, who ascended to heaven and is currently seated at the right hand of God the Father..the Jesus whose name has power over every principality, darkness, evil spiritual beings and wickedness, that at the name of Jesus every knee must bow; He whose blood cleanses us from our sins.
What colours are spirits by the way? I am born and bred in Africa, East Africa..I know my lineage, my family tree but don’t worship my ancestors.. I deeply respect them but my worship is unto the Most High God.
The colonizers and slave masters may have oppressed our people by way of Christianity, but Jesus Christ in the greatest act of love offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice to redeem mankind for all eternity. I have never read or heard of Jesus Christ oppressing anyone…
How do I know all this is true? I’ve witnessed countless of miracles performed in His name, deliverances of those oppressed of the enemy, confirmations, personal experiences. You can’t talk of Jesus as you do without a total revelation of WHO He was, What He did and HOW He is coming back..

Question: Do you know Him as Lord of your life..?

A tug of war with God

Nothing says, shock on me like a mum letting go of her child. Letting her go to God, never to return, no, not here on earth.

It feels horrendous, hollow, devoid of she, missing her.
It’s that deep feeling you have with the knowledge that sometimes God says no.
All of our prayers will be answered, but not all will be answered as we wish, or the manner we desire.
For the longest time possible, I learnt that God always answers prayers.. He is a God that we communicate to, and a God who communicates back to us. He talks, God speaks. The answers may be; Yes, or wait, the answers may as well be no.
I understand the no’s when praying over a relationship.
“No, you cannot marry him.”
I understand the no’s when you are praying to move location
“No, you cannot move to this place.
I don’t understand the no’s when we are praying for a young teenager, to return to full health..after chemo and a bone marrow transplant.
“It was going well, this is not how it was meant to pan out!” We scream inwardly in agony.
Then we turn our thoughts to the young girl..in our mind’s eye we see her stepping into God’s rest, ushered a welcome in song, our Lord Jesus Christ Himself giving her a big hug..
We imagine God Himself assigning her a place, a mansion there where streets are made of pure gold, gates of pearl, water crystal..and we can’t imagine her, full of joy, body perfected, in a perfect place…wanting to return to us.
In her little way, she glorified God. She prayed, she studied her bible..she was a witness to others about Him.
Are we glorifying God? Are we ready to enter into His rest?
Let us remember Our Lord Jesus Christ suffering on the cross, purchasing us back to God by His blood, that we may forever be accepted in His glorious kingdom.
Let us also remember that we are eternal beings living in a temporal abode, the earth suit, and and everything on this earth is just a shadow of things to come. Let us prepare for eternity..Let us come to Christ.

Shalom..

 

Welcome Holy Spirit..

The Holy Spirit is undoubtedly the most misunderstood person in the Godhead..the Holy Trinity made up of God the Father, God the Son..Yeshua Jesus Christ and God the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ introduces us to the Holy Spirit, when in an awareness of His imminent departure promises His disciples that He won’t leave them alone..but He will send the Helper, the Holy Spirit..the comforter.

In the beginning God..

 

There is not a more fitting start for the Book of beginnings than the sentence…”In the beginning God…”

From then on, we go into a journey so fast that it feels like we have hit the ground running. The first, second, third day we get to observe God in action..not only understanding Who God is, but how He is defined in name and in character.

We get to know Him as Creator when by His commands, things that hitherto didn’t exist come into existence. By the word of His mouth; God separates, God aligns, God gathers, God creates..”.Let there be…let the..let”
When He comes to man..who is to be formed after His own image, He goes a step further..forming him by hand from the dust..and breathing life into him..

While Webster’s dictionary defines God as; “the supreme or ultimate reality, a being believed to have more than natural abilities and powers and to require human worship, a powerful ruler and so forth…” God addresses Himself in Exodus to Moses as ‘The God of your fathers; Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…He also identifies Himself as “I AM who I AM”
It seems a strange reply, but God says it as if saying, “You can’t define me, grasp me, encapsulate me, encircle me, measure me, put me in a box..I exist independently of your thoughts of whether I exist…I have being in myself, I am self-existence, eternal, holy, unchangeable in word and nature, I am the Almighty, I am The Lord.

A fitting way to start any beginning, begin the New Year such as today..”In the beginning God..”