The Lord's Draft

It's that time of the year again! Yes, the NFL Draft has come around giving every die-hard, casual, and part-time football fan something to talk about. As a football fan myself, I love finding out my team's draft picks when all is said and done but as far as watching the draft itself, I just don't have time. I'm sure the suspense and overall atmosphere is thrilling but I prefer skipping to the conclusion. 

After reviewing the Miami Dolphins' (my favorite team) first round pick this year, Dion Jordan, I was thinking to myself, "Man, I've never heard of that guy before. But hey, I hope he helps the team!" And certainly, I'm sure that's what a lot of people are thinking.

Then, I started thinking about what it must be like to be Dion Jordan. He's living his dream! He's a pro football player now and this is probably one of the happiest moments of his life. If not, it should be (I would think). Reflecting on that a little more, I started to think, "You know, if I was drafted to be on a team, I'd want to be on Jesus' team!" After chuckling for a bit at that thought it became more clear to me that the NFL draft (or any other professional sporting draft) is much like God choosing us.

One day, there will be a draft in Heaven and we will hopefully all be a part of it. God tells us that He will judge each of us.

Because he hath appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance to all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
-Acts 17:31

I underlined the certain parts of that verse above that I want to focus on. God has already set a day in time for our judgment and it is not going to change. It is known by no man, not even Jesus. Only the Father in Heaven knows the day of His "draft." The next part I underlined says that God will judge us according to our righteousness. Much like NFL players are judged according to their speed, agility, power, and knowledge of the game, we will be judged according to our righteousness.

So my fellow believers, non-believers, and not-so-sures, when draft day comes, wouldn't you like to get drafted? I'm sure if I was a college player, my intentions would be to one day be recognized by the NFL and receive an invitation to play for one of their franchises. Well, this is just about the same thing, except the wages are eternal life vs. being cast into the lake of fire. I want my life's works to reflect righteousness. I want my "college career" (my life) to have a good report in the Lord's eyes. I want God to recognize me and invite me into eternal life with Him in Heaven.

Hallelujah! Who wouldn't want that?!

Let's take advantage of the one gift God gave us that will make a difference in our draft day (judgment day). Get to know JESUS. Jesus is the ONLY way to the FATHER. There is no priest, deacon, pastor, minister, preacher, bishop, pope, or any other person on this earth that can save you but JESUS. 

Take a look back at Acts 17:31 again, and you will see that the man whom he hath ordained for us to be judged according to righteousness is JESUS. For Jesus died for us and was raised from the dead.

So, as you continue to watch the rest of the NFL draft, think about God as the only team drafting. His roster is not limited, but only limited to those that fit the requirements. And all God wants is for us to get to know His Son and receive Him as our Savior.

Amen. Praise the Lord and have a blessed day!

Mysterious Ways

God works in mysterious ways.

You've probably heard this phrase before plenty of times. Maybe your grandmother used to say it when you were a kid and it just stuck in your mind. No matter where you've heard it, perhaps the only way sometimes that you can describe something so impossible, something so coincidental, or something so terrible is to say that, "God works in mysterious ways."

Well, He does.

Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.
-Isaiah 45:15

Hmm...why?

Oh, I don't know, does God want us to be confused, lost, angry, or bitter with Him? Oh no, God forbid!!! That's something the Lord would NEVER want for us. The enemy however, well, that's a totally different story.

If you believe in Heaven, then you have to believe in hell. And if you don't believe in hell, please don't be mistaken...the Bible clearly states that it is REAL. Hell is the Second Death as described in The Book of Revelations and it is said that the only way to escape death is through Jesus.

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
-Romans 6:23

Therefore, God is not looking to make it any harder for us to get to Heaven...God is granting us the grace and the mercy to enter into eternal life with Him - but under ONE condition. You must believe in JESUS.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
-St. John 3:16

But how? If it's that easy, why aren't more people doing it? Why are there so many people unwilling to bring JESUS into their lives. Are they scared? Afraid? Do they feel like they don't need JESUS? Oh God forbid. We all NEED HIM.

It's not so much a matter of money, careers, relationships, residence, location, or anything of this Earth - it's a matter of life and death. One famous phrase I hear all the time is that there are two guaranteed things in life: death & taxes.

Well, thanks to JESUS, death is not a guarantee if you repent and look to Him as your Savior. But again, that's hard for some people. People are raised differently. We're all from different backgrounds and cultures and it's just not that straightforward...it's kind of a mystery.

Ah, yes, a mystery. There's that word again - or part of it. God working in mysterious ways. I'm here to share a belief of mine regarding this that I'm pretty sure lines up with everything God seeks to teach us. If we are to fully understand and fully comprehend how God works and why He does certain things...then we must exercise FAITH.

Faith in what?

Faith in God. In what He's doing. He's working and He's not giving up on ANY of us!!! Think about what you put your faith in everyday. I'll give you an example of some of the things that people put their trust in...

1. The chef
2. The pharmacist
3. The doctor
4. The engineers that built King de Ka
5. That website that you weren't sure you should give your info to but did anyway

Sometimes you have no choice but to just believe...and have faith. Sometimes, if you don't exercise your faith - you'll never be able to do anything. Do you really stand there over the guy inspecting your car at the autobody and see if he's checking everything he should be? I'd say more than half-the-time, "No." It's impossible to live life without some faith. So if you can faith that your Baconator from Wendy's is actual beef and not some other strange meat, then you can surely believe in God. After all, it only takes a little bit of faith...

And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.
-Luke 17:6

Might sound ridiculous but let's face it - that chef isn't going to kill the cow in front of you. And God isn't going to show you His tool kit and blueprints all the time. Sometimes, I see what God is doing. I can literally point out and see the direction God is taking me in. When I left my college satirical publication early last Fall, I was not oblivious to what He was doing. He wanted me to leave and He said my time had come to invest my writing elsewhere. God won't always tell you ahead of time why...but he's going to surely make it work for your benefit in the end - IF you have FAITH in HIM.

Who?

JESUS. THE FATHER. THE HOLY GHOST. GOD.

God is not going to let you down if you put your faith in Him. I have seen things that I believe are miracles happen in my life through prayer and through belief. And through understanding of the gospel and the Word of God, I have seen so many new great opportunities come one's way.

So if you lose your job tomorrow and you thought it was the right plan for you - remember, God has a better one in mind. Maybe the plan is to get that job back, or maybe it's a new one just around the corner. But as long as you are trusting in God and seeking Him for the solution, you will NEVER be disappointed. Perhaps, you'll see it as a bit of a mystery at first - but keep your eyes on JESUS my friends, and soon enough that mystery will be revealed.

God bless and have a wonderful day!


***All scripture is taken from the 1611 Authorized King James Verison of the Bible / Red Letter Edition (Jesus' words in RED)***

***Edited for content on 3/24/13, 12:57 PM

The Two Covenants and Christ Revealed

I was having a conversation with my dad the other night and we began talking about the Old Testament and it occurred to me that reading it was just as important as understanding the Gospel.

Have I read the entire Old Testament? No. It's pretty long and I can't say I've hit every single chapter and verse that I would've liked to. But I have a very good understanding of it and the first covenant that God made with mankind. An understanding of this covenant can lead to revelations of JESUS within the Old Testament.

Let's start with the first several books, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. These books comprise the Torah which is the backing behind Judaism. And in case that confuses you, YES, Jews and Christians are not too different. The only difference would be that Christians receive JESUS as the Savior.

So looking at these books, we learn the story of Creation, Noah's Ark, how Moses freed his people, and the 40 years of wandering in the desert searching for the Promised Land. Additionally, this is where we find the Ten Commandments and the rest of the Law. Ah, but what is that? The Law? The Law is the First Covenant that God made with mankind. He provided His people, the Israelites with a set of laws that are acceptable to God. Most of these laws can be found in the last book, Deuteronomy.

And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.
-Deuteronomy 4:13

The Law, which contains over 600 commandments, is to say the least...a lot.

It relied on mankind following ALL of these commandments to obtain righteousness. And if you recall back to Genesis, we learn that we're all sinners through the story of Creation. The minute Adam disobeyed God, he was cut off from Him. So basically, we're all bound to mess up eventually. So, how are we supposed to keep the Law?

For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
-Hebrews 8:7

Well, we're not. We can't. It's a lot. With sin residing in our flesh, righteousness might as well be as far away as Pluto from the Sun. Ahhhh, but that...that right there...the SUN. I mean...the SON. The Son of God is a game changer. He knew no sin but became sin so that He may take our sins from the Earth to the cross. Then from the cross to the grave. And by His resurrection, the Gates of Heaven are opened for us! This is why the Son of God came. He is the second covenant that God made with man. And what is that covenant? It's a blood covenant, which God cannot break.

And almost all things by the law are purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
-Hebrews 9:22

So with JESUS, we are saved completely from sin! Hallelujah! What a great reason to stand up and shout! If you can cheer for your favorite baseball team then you can cheer for CHRIST!!! Amen. But some might still be left wondering what JESUS has to do with anything? Where do you find JESUS in the Old Testament?

Well, that's what my dad and I were discussing. In the Book of Exodus, God brought plagues unto the Egyptians so that the Pharaoh may set the Israelites free. One of the plagues was death to all the firstborn in the land. But there was a way out! The Lord instructed Moses to take a lamb to sacrifice for the Lord's passover.

Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts, and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.
-Exodus 12:5-7

JESUS was free from sin = a lamb without blemish.
JESUS walked among the people and was loved, and mourned = the lamb would be kept a part of the family for two weeks.
JESUS was killed by His people = the lamb would be killed by its own people.
JESUS' blood covers all those that receive Him = the blood of the lamb covered the homes of those that received it (by eating it)

Therefore, it can be said that God hid Jesus in the Old Testament to foreshadow what would one day come to pass. There are other instances as well where you find Jesus in the Old Testament such as:

I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
-Daniel 7:13

ISAIAH 53:1-8  = JESUS HIDDEN IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?

For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

JESUS TALKS ABOUT JONAH

For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

-Matthew 12:40

All this being said, what does it all add up to?

It means that the Jesus is and always was. It means Jesus is God. Before Jesus even came to save us, He was with God, He was God. Perhaps there is no better verse in the Bible to describe this then the beginning of the Book of St. John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

-St. John 1:1

It means the first covenant was never meant to save us. It was meant to show us that there is no way to earn your righteousness. It means that the only mediator between God and mankind is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. No priest, nor holy man of any kind, but CHRIST alone can save you. 

The first covenant was meant to teach us that it is impossible to keep the Law. God needed to intervene. When the people were ready, JESUS came and He finished what needed to be done. There's nothing else left for us to do now but wait upon JESUS to come again and to take this time to receive Him as LORD and SAVIOR.

When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

-St. John 19:30

Praise God for it is finished! Be blessed and have a wonderful day.

***All scripture is taken from the Authorized King James Version - with our Lord's words in RED

Just Take It

"I'd burn up and burst into flames if I walked into a church."

"I'm sure that Bible would be hot to the touch if I tried to open it."

"No thanks, I'm not close enough with God for that."

Oh, the excuses. If you would rather be a friend of the world and not a believer, then just be honest! God would rather you be honest than a liar. To put it simply, if you call yourself a believer but find it hard to go to church, trust God, and live righteously (or at least make your very best effort to) then you shouldn't be caught quoting anything listed above.

God's mercy and his grace are for everyone. God loves creation and all that He made. Mankind was created for God's pleasure.

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
-Revelation 4:11

It hurts God to see His children suffer, which is why He sent Jesus to take our place. And in case you're a newbie, Jesus is the Son of God. A Father put up His own Son to take our place. How beautiful and amazing is that when you think of it. Not to mention, God is almighty and all powerful...He did not have to watch Jesus suffer and die at the hands of sinners - He was thinking about us the entire time!

Therefore, as it has been revealed to me before, I shall tell it like it was taught to me - Jesus died so we can be forgiven and you don't have to earn it. You just have to take it.

So just take it, why not? What are you waiting for?

I used to think I wasn't worthy enough to talk about God, go to church, and preach His name to others and let's face it, I still battle daily with it...but that's okay, because God is bound by the Blood of Christ. The Blood, that was spilt for us, that is what covers us from sin and protects us from having to earn anything - we just have to simply take it.

So once again, um, what are you waiting for? Just take it, God said so, it's okay.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9

Let's give it a shot - if you believe in God and want to be saved and know that you need JESUS in your life today then pray this prayer:

Father, I repent of my sins and I ask you forgiveness, that through the Blood of Christ, I can be cleansed and healed of my transgressions. Thank you for your mercy and love, for it endures forever. JESUS come into my heart, make me a new creature in Christ, I make You my Lord and Savior - Amen.

Well, good news, if you just prayed that prayer and truly meant it, you are indeed saved by God. As Jesus told those who he had healed - Go and sin no more.

But of course, it's hard to sin no more. After all, we sin everyday, whether we know it or not.

And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
-Romans 14:23

Keep in mind though, despite sinning, you are still covered by the Blood Covenant. God is bound to forgive anyone that calls upon Jesus as their savior - so keep calling upon Jesus!!! Don't stop! Take your forgiveness and move on.

If you're a bit lost, I can understand why and that is because I was too. Here is an example to better help you understand just how exactly you are forgiven.

-----

I was inspired to write this blog after feeling down in the dumps one day. I was thinking about all that I had done against God and that I am surely a believer in Christ and have been baptized in the Holy Ghost. But there were so many unrighteous things I had done. Even what seemed like small things such as gossiping or cursing bothered me. I just kept thinking how I had to do more for God to get back on an even playing field.

NAH - AH!!!!

God stopped me cold in my tracks and told me that was not the case! I had pleaded the Blood of Christ and I was forgiven. END OF STORY. If I had tried anymore to earn my forgiveness, that would be to spit on the Blood and tarnish what JESUS did for us all. So what did I do right after?

I just took it. I said, "You're right Lord, thank you. Thank you for your mercy, grace, and love for it endures forever."

I am not trying to sound like a broken record here but folks, just take it. Even if you have a morsel of faith or have the slightest desire to get back on that level playing field with God, just do yourself a favor and read about Jesus. Read about what He did and why He did it. He will love nothing more than to see you spending time with Him. And He'll love it even more if He sees that what He did for you was not a wasted effort - it certainly was not for me! Or for the many believers that there are on this planet.

So, once again, here is the sinner's prayer. Pray it if you feel that you are ready to accept God's love into your life. 

Father, I repent of my sins and I ask you forgiveness, that through the Blood of Christ, I can be cleansed and healed of my transgressions. Thank you for your mercy and love, for it endures forever. JESUS come into my heart, make me a new creature in Christ, I make You my Lord and Savior - Amen.

God bless and have a wonderful day.