Jesus , A Man Of History

 Once again I hear people coming up with that remark Jesus didn't exist. That he is someone made up to explain a belief system that has no validity.
   Well, Jesus is a man of history..
   There is just too much evidence for the historicity of Jesus-- more so than for the historicity of a person called Julius Ceaser.
    Even outside the four gospels we have the accounts of Polycarp, Eusebius, Ignatius, Justin and Origin.
    There were no that far removed from the time of Jesus.
    Tacitus, born A.D. 52-54, writing in the time of Nero refered to a person named Christus who was put to death by Pontius Pilate, a procurator of Judea in the reign of Tiberius.
     Josephus born A.D. 37 wrote "There was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it is lawful to call him a man."
     I will not bore you with more. You get the idea.
    And it was this Jesus who claimed to be the Son of Man ( a reference to the Jewish Messiah)
    Just saying that Jesus is  a man of history
    .For reading on the subject try the book here.
  

Forerunner To Jesus Happy

   So we have Mary after the announcement that she was to carry the baby who would be Jesus, The Savior of mankind, running nine miles (Well, maybe not running. She went by donkey or she walked) to her cousin ,Elizabeth whom she has heard is pregnant. Elizabeth is an old lady. But it is Elizabeth God had chosen to carry and give birth to John, the baptizer, the forerunner of the coming Messiah.
  A greater site. Mary, fourteen years of age, goes to Elizabeth maybe in her seventies. Neither one of them complains about their state. Elizabeth is old. She is about to have a baby to nurse and diaper and bring up to adulthood. Here was Mary, a young woman, unmarried and a virgin. Plus she had no idea if her espoused one, Joseph, was going to marry her. He was as far as we know, unaware at this point of Mary's pregnancy. He would find out when Mary returned that she was with child. An angel of the Lord, Gabriel to  be exact, would have to calm him down and Joesph would by faith beliefve the dream to be correct.
   When Mary enters the room, the fetus, who is John, jumps in Elizabeth's womb signifiying this is the mother of the Messaih coming. John was prophesized to be the one who announced the coming of the savior. He was the Elijah which was to come.
     Beautiful throught.

Basic Discipleship Truth

  We need to be aware if we are going to disciple someone that we ourselves have something to share. It is going to be a one on one relationship you will be setting up.

   You don't have to be perfect. In fact, it is best if you don't have everything together quite yet. The person you are discipling needs to see you struggle. How else is that person going to understand the Christian life and see Christian Growth?
    Of course you must realize that this is all possible because of the resurrection. If Christ is not raised, then what we do in discipleship is useless and just spinning our wheels, so to speak.
    Pastor Joe, the pastor of ACTS, A Church That Studies, has talked about the ascension. He states Christ ascended to heaven and opened the gates of heaven so that we can partake in the heavenly blessings that come down. That sounds about right.
     But we do need to be a Christian ourselves. We can't transmit something we don't have. We need to have a relationship with God because of the death of Jesus. And that death must have been as a payment for your sins.
     Jesus said if He be lifted up He will draw all men to himself. Yes. But after they are drawn someone needs to come along side and walk that person through what he needs to know. The Bible study. The prayer. The daily behavior. The attendence with fellow believers. 'Forsake not the assembling of yourself together as is the habit of some.'
      Just some basics.

   

Sheep Know His Voice

  Today being a Sunday I went to services. Todays' sermon concerned the passage in John about the sheep and the shepherd. The shepherd leads the flock. He doesn't push them along. The sheep know and trust the shepherd. that is why they follow. And they only know their shepherd not someone elses.

 And just how do the sheep know who is their shepherd? Glad you asked. It is because the shepherd has been with them since they were lambs. They grew up with him and have learned to trust him.
So it is with us who are called Christians. Jesus is our shepherd. He leads us and we, in trust, follow Him.
  Do you knw Him? Is He your shepherd?

Tomb Still Empty

   One week later and the tomb is still empty. Yes, He must be risen. And if He is risen that means all that he said while He was here is true. He is the God-man. He is returning someday for those who are His. He said so, and since He is risen, He did  not tell a falsehood.

    The cross also is empty. They took Him down and they put Him in the tomb. And the tomb now is empty as I have said.
    And that makes all the difference in the world.

Scripture Reading

      

     It is very important that daily---and I do mean daily-- you read God's Word, the Bible.
      God has spoken. He no longer spends His time speaking in visions and dreams and signs and wonders.   
      Oh, He could choose to do that, but why would He?. He doesn't repeat Himself. He has already appeared once for all in these last days. Hebrews tells us so.
    And God is not a man that He should lie.
    Nor does he speak to special people today. Beware of the preacher who says he has a special revelation from God.
     Ask him where in the Bible that is found or where does it say that.
     God has spoken and caused  it to be recorded all He wants us to know.
      It is found in the Bible. God's communication. The answer to your question is there. Oh, you will have to dig. truth is like gold. You must mine it. But if you pray before opening the book and you ask God to show you something from the book He wants you to know today, He will it.
       May God bless you as you read His word daily.

Bible reading-Installment one

   I want to start posting about an important subject. It is important for the growth of a person who has a saving relationship with God.

   It is important that an instruction book be left for those who procure an item. When we are passed from death to life.. an important concept-- we need instructions. It doesn't come natural, this new life we have now. We need to know just what it is we have and how to get the best out of it.

    As I have stated in an earlier post God is not silent and He has communicated. He wants us to know something about Himself. This pertains to those who have a relationship with Him as well as those who are not at the moment assured of His presense.
   The Bible, which you can see in the picture , is God's communication to mankind. Yes, He used human writers. Yes, it took over fourteen centuries to get to where it is today. Sure , ir has many literary forms contained between its covers. But no one can say God has not communicated. He is not silent.
    On that premise I would like to say that God created all things. And by right of ownership of what He created He has the right to say how it, the creation, should act.
    What we have today is not what He first created. One day He will come back and recreate. The one thing that made it not perfect is man's wilful disobedience to a direct command. "You shall not eat of..."
     You say you think that was unfair, to place all men under condemnation for one person's act. But you also have to acknowledge that because of one man's act, dying on the cross for the sins of the world,- that is all mankind,- God can restore what He had created back to where it once was.
    First He is restoring man to a relationship He had with Adam and Eve in the garden. Some day in the future, spoken of in the book of the Revelation, He is going to give us a new heaven and a new earth.
    He has presently left us His communication-the Bible. We are to study it to show ourselves approved to God as a workman. To study, it would mean we. need methods. In earlier posts I have laid out some methods that can be useful.
    But first, sit down and open the Bible. Have a notebook handy to jot down what is there.. Which would mean you also have a pencil or pen. Read and ask questions as you go along. What does this passsage mean? How does the writer develop the point. What did it mean to those of that day who read it or heard it for the first time? What does it have to say to me today?
   Keep reading the posts to come. I have just begun.
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Education and Skill Training

   I am all for education. Yet with the cost of a higher education  being so high it is best to consider, is that
college degree all that important for you in your future plans for life? I mean, if you wish to be a plumber, do you really need that college degree? You can find a master plumber  to learn under and with sweat equity and close supervision you could get what you need to be a plumber. Just be the best plumber there is.
   I don't think Jesus had a college eduation. He grew up in a carpenter's family. He learned the trade from Joseph. I am sure Joseph and Son was a good compnay. And after the death of Joseph I am sure Jesus Bar Joseph was a good company to get your chairs and tables and other things from.
   He was an easy learner. What we might call a genius today. He picked up what needed to be known. Of course, being 100% God and 100% human helped, but I don't think he shortcercuited the human. He had to learn the same as us. He was tempted in all things, such as we, but without sin.
    And he knew the Jewish Scriptures. In Luke we are told He was left in Jerusalem in his thrirteenth year and stumped the wise men in the temple with what he was saying. But still he went home with Mary and Joseph to continue his child and young adulthood. At about thirty He came out and was baptised by John in the Jordon.