The Lord's Supper

Many of Jesus' actions and words at the Last Supper, such as the breaking of bread, and distributing of the bread, were part of the prescribed Passover ritual. But when Jesus said, "This is My body' and "This is my blood" while distributing the bread and the cup, He did something totally new. These words, which were intended for our blessing, have been the focus of sharp disagreement among Christians for centuries. In what sense are the bread and wine Christ's body and blood? What should the Lord's supper mean to us? The answers to these questions are often grouped into four categories, although there are variations within these four broad views.           

(Note: the italics are quotes from Nelson's Bible Dictionary)

Prayer and Fasting

PRAYER

 Genesis 17
1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply the exceedingly.
3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him...

Being A Witness

Take The Exit

Matthew 7
13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

Matthew 7
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Come Home

When Jesus died on the cross, He didn't just die for the sins we committed before we were saved. He died for the sins we've committed period (past, present, and future). All of our sins have been put on His cross. There is no such thing as the Heavenly Father un-adopting a child He has adopted. Either you're His or you or you're not. Now, when you are His it does not mean you are going to live right all the time. There are many prodigal sons and daughters running around out there.

Who's Holding Who?

Suppose you have a child. Your only child... and you love your child more and more each day. Your love for your child grows to where you love him/her more than life itself. Now around the time that your child turns ten years old, that child is murdered. The murderer is found and detained by the law. Suppose the law of the region allowed you to do whatever you like to this murderer. The murderer's life is in your hands at that point.What would you do?  If you kill this murderer, doing so would be vengeance. The murderer being left in the hands of the law to be tried in a court in front of a jury, and sentenced by a judge...that would be justice. If you were to forgive this murderer, but warn that you never want to see them anywhere even remotely near the region again... that would be mercy.

Vines, Branches, and Fruit

Ephesians 2
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.


Not of works... Why are we so drawn to works? In ancient times the message of faith was preached and accepted. Later denominations showed up and added works to the message. You have to pray X amount of times a day, or confess this, or do that or you won't make it to Heaven. If you read the Old Covenant you will see one thing continually.

The Law came by Moses and God by Moses said if you want a blessing, work for it. While grace says I give it to you freely. The Law demands that your blessings be earned, while grace says you don't have to earn it...you just accept it! And we as human beings have within us something that cries... No, No, No, there is something I must do! There is something I must do!! And God says I'VE DONE IT! It takes some of us almost a lifetime to come to the realization that there is nothing good in the flesh...nothing of the flesh that God wants.

Here is a little illustration to show where many, many Christians are today.

So Easily Wounded...

What does the Scripture mean when it talks about "communion"? There are seven meanings.

First, the word communion means presence. God the Father's desire for you is that the sweet presence of the Holy Spirit will be with you. 

Second, it means fellowship. You do not need to pray to the Holy Spirit; you simply fellowship with Him. And you should seek that communion as you would seek water in the wilderness. 

The third meaning is sharing together. You pour out your heart and He pours out His. You share your joy and He shares His. "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us..." wrote the apostles to the believers in Antioch (Acts 15:28). They were sharing...even writing letters....together.

Fourth, communion means participation with. The Holy Spirit becomes your partner. The Scripture, filled with phrases like "working with them" and "the Spirit and us," makes it clear that the work of the Spirit is in participation with you.

Fifth, it means intimacy. You'll never experience deep love with Christ until you know it with the Holy Spirit who brings that intimacy. There is no other way. God has "poured out" His love into our hearts "by the Holy Spirit who was given to us" (Romans 5:5). You can't love God without the Holy Ghost.

Sixth, the word means friendship. The Spirit longs to be your closest friend, someone with whom you can share the deepest secrets of your heart. 

And seventh, communion means comradeship. In Greek the word means "commander." He's like a captain, a ruler, or a boss... but a loving, friendly one. Just as he instructed the apostles where they should go and where they shouldn't, He must be allowed to rule in your personal affairs. Remember, since Christ departed, The Holy Spirit is "in charge" on earth.

Good Morning Holy Spirit

What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Some people think it is exactly the same as driving a car into a gas station and filling up the gas tank with fuel. But that isn't it at all. I have a small container of oil that I use for anointing from time to time. It's just a little bottle filled with olive oil, given to me by my mother. When the oil is used up, it's gone. The bottle doesn't fill itself up again.

Ephesians 5
18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

The Person of the Holy Spirit

When I got saved I originally thought that was all there was to receive, that is until the Lord began to reveal Himself to me. Little by little and at various points in my walk I've received revelations of the Lord, from different pastors, teachers, the reading of His word, prayers, dreams, visions.....and looking back I realize how little of Him I had when I first got saved, how little I understood as a new born in Christ. Even now (years later) there is still so much I don't understand and so much that I lack. There is still so much of Him that I need in my life. God is bigger than our experience... much bigger than any experience we've had with Him. We limit the the Lord to our level, to what He has done in history, to what He has done through others. Our Lord is greater than this.

If you look at the church today (in general) you see something happening, a kind of separation. God is dividing the sheep from the goats. It's like He's calling a remnant out of pollution. You have one group that says "I don't want the gospel, I don't want the blood, I don't want to offend anybody." The minute you walk away from the blood of Jesus, the minute you walk away from the pure Word of God, because you're afraid to offend someone you begin a path to destruction. There are those that have gone into a mixture, accepting each other on the basis of God loves all. It's a gospel for everybody. No longer is His wrath preached...you see, God's love and His wrath are equal. He is holy. In holiness there is blessings and death. There is blessings and judgment. Like turning on the light in a dark room, when light enters in, darkness must go. Just as the light of the truth of His word judges the darkness of one's heart. Holiness judges sin...there is light in holiness, and there is darkness in sin. The two will not co-exist with one another, but when God's wrath is removed there is no longer any judgment. They remove His holiness. When we say that God is holy we declare His total being. When we say that He is Holy, we are saying that He is light, He is justice, mercy, grace, love, glory, wrath, judgment.....A God of war and a God of peace.

The Authority of the Word of God

Concerning God's Word...

John 10

34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, YE ARE GODS?

35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;

36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?

The Word of God says clearly that when Jesus answered the Jews about whether he was the Son of God or not, the lord turned to the scriptures. He said "is it not written in your law…" when the Jews wanted to stone him for calling himself the Son of God. Jesus points to the scripture. He mentioned two things actually…The Word of God and the scriptures. The Lord called the bible The Word of God, not the word of man. When he called it The Word of God he was saying that the truth revealed in it did not have human origin but is truly the Word of God. He says that the scriptures can not be broken…. Meaning they are eternal, and unbreakable. You see, the Word of God is the revelation of Jesus Christ. When you read the scriptures, when you study them…. You are discovering Jesus. You're not discovering information, history, poetry, philosophy, theology, religion, etc. You are discovering Jesus….

Choice and Change

Been a lot of changes in my life since I started this blog in 2006. It's been five years... three since my last post. I've gone from borderline anti-marriage movement member to a Christian husband and father. I believed, repented, and was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior as of 2008. Now that I have received salvation I'm learning to walk in Christ's love. Learning to be a husband(Also as of 2008), learning to love, learning how to be patient, learning to have faith, learning to pray, learning to simply trust and believe Jesus because he said to, learning to simply live through Him day by day.

There have been such radical changes in my life since posting here that I've decided to deleted most of the older posts to this blog as I am no longer that man. However, I have kept a few of those posts as a reminder of who I used to be, and what the Lord saved me from. Lets see where this goes.

God Bless.