Who is Jesus?

“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,  but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.  
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.  
So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs. 
For to which of the angels did God ever say,
 “You are my Son; today I have become your Father’” ? Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son” ? "
                           Hebrews 1:1-5
Who is Jesus?
He is the very Son of God. “
”The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being.” states the writer of Hebrews.
It is he who provided purification of our sins. Sitting down at the right hand of God.
Over the years I have heard of some religious groups saying Jesus was an angel. The writer of Hebrews here puts that argument to rest by saying
“he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs. 
For to which of the angels did God ever say, 
“You are my Son; today I have become your Father’” ? Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son” ? 
Angels are flawed. An angel could not have paid the price for our sins. The only one who could come to earth and live a perfect life despite all the temptations and could pay the price for our sins is the very Son of God. The second person of the trinity.
The writer of Hebrews noting that it was “through whom he made the universe.” Again angels did not create the universe they themselves are created beings.
John wrote,
“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.” John 1:1-3.
Jesus was there on the day of creation. He took part in the very creation of the universe. Therefore it is obvious that he was God.
Genesis 1:26a states, “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness,...” the “in our image” is a further reference to the trinity of which Jesus is a part.
He had part in creating man.
The facts with respect to who Jesus are very clear, Jesus is God incarnate. The whole New Testament testifies to this. John 1:14 stating,
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
The apostles and the various writers of the New Testament all agree on this.
Jesus himself stating “I and the Father are one.” John 10:30.
There is therefore no room for us to question who Jesus is. The Bible makes it clear that He indeed is God and asks us to believe also.
Think about it.

Pray, Pray, Pray

“Then he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,  
because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.’ “Then the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’  
I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs. 
“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  
For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” 
       Luke 11:5-10.

Here Jesus gives a simple statement of truth about prayer. He urges believers to be persistent in their prayers to God. Assuring them that their prayers will be answered by God.
I think however there must be a caution here.
When we pray we must pray for the right things and we must pray in accordance with God’s will.
All too often I have seen Christians praying to be millionaires or for fancy cars or luxuries they don’t need. And when God doesn’t answer their prayers they wonder why.
Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with asking God to provide a good income for us. It’s when we get greedy and start asking for things in excess.
The Lords prayer states, “Give us each day our daily bread” (Luke 11:3). 
What Jesus is saying here in Luke 11:5-10 is that we need to pray continually asking for what we need. Keeping the lines of communication open between ourselves and God.
God knows if we need a Rolls Royce. He also knows that most times all we need is small sub compact  or for that matter no car at all, allowing the extra money to go into ministry or other things of importance in our life.
  God  also knows what we can handle. All one has to do is listen to the horror stories of some people who won millions in the lottery, only to find themselves unable to handle the money and end up broke.
We serve a good God. Who answers our prayers according to His will.
And we as Christians need to draw near to God. Through prayer and studying the Bible. Thus when we pray it will be more in tune to God’s will than our own.
“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  
For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” states Jesus.
So the lesson is this we need to be continually asking God for what is best for our lives. We need to seek after God’s perfect will for our lives, and we need to be continually knocking on heavens door in order that it will be opened and we will receive full measure of what God has for our lives.
Think about it.

Praise the Lord

"The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 

he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, 

for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and

 I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. "

                                                                                                         Psalm 23

Over the last couple of years my wife and I have gone through a lot with respect to our health. I had cancer surgery that was successful. However I developed to quote the doctor, “large blood clots on my lungs and in my groin” I should have died but by the grace of God I didn’t.
My wife already having some minor health problems ended up in hospital, in intensive care for a week then six more weeks in hospital. When she came out she couldn’t walk. Today she get around using a walker for short distances and a wheel chair for longer distances.
Someone asked me why would God let you go through such things. I told him that it was simply a part of life.
We live in a world filled with illnesses. I know over the years I’ve been exposed to carcinogens. And at times my wife and I don’t eat right.
The food we eat depending on where it comes from has been in contact with chemical fertilizers or pesticides. We over the years have breathed in our fair share of pollution. Such is life in the twenty-first century.
Still God has been good to us. He has been their for us in our darkest days.  
Years ago when our then eight year old son let go of my wife’s hand and dashed across a highway and was hit by a car doing eighty kilometres an hour God was their.
My son was in a coma for a week. All we could do was pray and have our friends pray.
The doctors told us the longer in the coma the worse the potential outcome. Today he’s in his mid thirties and normal. No one can tell that he was in such a serious accident.
My younger son earlier this year was helping build an orphanage in Kenya. He fell from a ladder and broke both bones in his left leg.
Amazingly he was near what some have called the finest hospital in Africa. Not only that there was a top bone specialist from England there for other reasons. He fixed my son’s leg.
The Canadian doctors telling him it couldn’t have been done any better here in Canada.
God is truly good and no one can convince me otherwise.
I know that as long as I continue to follow Him he will lead me by those still waters even in the midst of adversity.
As a result I will echo the words of the psalmist when he says,

“Praise the LORD. 

Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. 

Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. 

Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, 

praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, 

praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. 

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.”

                                                                                           Psalm 150

November 11th

Today is remembrance day in Canada. The day when we remember not only those who paid the ultimate price in war, but those who served in the armed forces in two world wars, Korea, Afghanistan and as peacekeepers around the world.
On a plaque at a Korean War memorial in Peel County Ontario Canada there is a quote from Romans 14:19

“Let us therefor follow after things which make for peace.”

We remember them by wearing a red poppy.
However I noticed there are people out there passing out white poppies claiming to be for peace. Claiming the red poppy stands for war.
These people, as sincere as they are, are misguided and miss the true meaning of the poppy.
Any soldier will tell you they hate war. War brings about only suffering and death. No one in there right mind would want such a thing.
I would go as far as saying those involved with the white poppy campaign have done little more than protest about war and injustice.
The veterans on the other had put their lives on the line, some even giving the final sacrifice to ensure the freedoms we have today.
They by giving selflessly of their lives, have done more than any protest or letter writing campaign no matter how well meaning to further the cause of peace.
Hitler was not, nor could he be defeated by demonstrations. Many did demonstrate against him only to find themselves in concentration camps or murdered.
Neville Chamberlain the British prime minister of the day, with the best of intentions returned home with a piece of paper signed by Hitler and proclaimed "I have returned from Germany with peace for our time."  While behind his back Hitler is reported to have said it is only a piece of paper, and within a year had plunged the world into world war two.
Sometimes sadly there is no alternative than to go to war.
Can you imagine what it would have been like had those, then young Allied men and women refused to go to war against such evil or failed in their endeavour?
Winston Churchill the man that replaced Chamberlain put it this way,
“But if we fall, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science.” 
The ramifications of the Allies losing the second world war are almost impossible to comprehend.
Certainly those who are giving out the white poppy and indeed many of us born after the second world war may never have been born.
Dear reader,
on this day let us give thanks to God for our freedoms and for the men and women who served and those who serve today in our armed forces.
For it is to them, every man woman and child in this country and every country that enjoys freedom owes an unimaginable debt of thanks.
May God bless them in all they do.

Greater Works

Read John 14

"Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going,

so how can we know the way?"

     Jesus answered, 

"I am the way and the truth and the life.

 No one comes to the Father except through me.

Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; 

or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 

 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.

 He will do even greater things than these, 

because I am going to the Father." 

                                                                                              John 14:5,6,11,12
Here Jesus makes it clear, once again, who He is:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life.

  No one comes to the Father except through Me... "

                                                                                                                 John 14:6

He can’t make it any clearer than that.  According to this statement Jesus is the only way to get to the Heavenly Father.
He tells Thomas to believe Him for what He is saying or at the very least believe Him for the works that were done.  The miracles he seen.
This is a choice that we all must make, even today.  There is no grey area about Jesus, we must either accept Him for what He is or reject Him.  The choice is yours.
Later  on, in the chapter in verse eleven Jesus states clearly that:

 "he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also;

 and greater works than these he will do,

 because I go to My Father."

Here is another potentially controversial statement.  “and greater works than these he will do,” How can we do greater works than the miracles Jesus did?  It comes down to what you think are greater works.
In my mind, the greatest work any Christian can do, is presenting the Gospel of salvation to someone.  To see that person receive Christ as LORD and Saviour.
After all, if a person is healed, then, they are going to die eventually, and if they are not saved, they are not going to heaven.
Even Lazarus, who was raised from the dead by Christ, would one day die.  He like us, had to make the choice to believe or not.
Presenting the Gospel to anyone is probably the greatest work, anyone can do and not only getting the person saved, but teaching  them in the Word of God, so that they grow strong in the LORD and bear fruit themselves.

Something to think about:

All the other works a Christian's do, do have their place, and they prove the power of God.  But giving an individual the opportunity to receive eternal life in Christ Jesus is the greatest work a Christian can do.
1 Corinthians 13:8 states,
“Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues they will cease;  whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.”
Verse 13 of 1 Corinthians 13 goes onto state:
“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
    The greatest gift of love is offering to all those we know the gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus.
Think about it.

Read Matthew 19

Now, behold, one came and said to him, 

“Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”

So He said to Him,

 “Why do you call me good. No one is good but One, that is, God.  

But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

He said to Him, 

“Which ones?” 

Jesus said, 

“You shall not murder.’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’

 ‘You shall not bear false witness. ‘Honour your father and your mother, 

and ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’”

The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. 

What do I still lack?”

Jesus said to him, 

“If you want to be perfect go, sell what you have and give to the poor, 

and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, 

for he had great possessions.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, 

“Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man 

to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 19:16-23

The point of the passage is where the heart is.
This man came to Jesus asking Him, “what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”  Jesus told him to obey the commandments and the man said he had since his youth.
So Jesus told him to give everything he owned and follow Him.
Scripture tells us the man, “...went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”
Jesus knew this man’s heart.  He knew that intellectually, he believed there was a God all his life, he’d been told there was.  I don’t think the man doubted that.
He, from the conversation, appears to have obeyed the laws of Moses.  And God seems to have blessed him materially.
Quite often, what we own keeps us away from God.
Having  wealth is often a sign of complete self reliance.  A good thing in many ways.
Still, it’s easy to follow the commandments of God if you’re financially well off.  But to give up everything and become totally reliant on God for even your most basic needs that takes faith.
Hebrews 11:6 states

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him,

 for he who comes to God most believe that He is,

 and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” 

Something to think about

Jesus knew where this man’s faith was at and He knows where we are at.

Are you willing to “sell what you have and give to the poor, also?

Are you willing to rely on God for even your most basic of needs?

God may never ask you to do this.

Still be honest with yourself.

Are you willing to give up all you have to follow God by faith?