The 3 P’s (lesson two)

This is lesson two of a four part series covering things about Jesus that was Prophesied, Planned, and Produced.

Isaiah 53:3-5 NASB (3) He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. (4)  Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. (5)  But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.

The rejection of Jesus was Prophesied, Planned, and Produced.  Isaiah is telling us that Jesus will come to the world and instead of being accepted as the Messiah, he will be rejected, mocked, beaten, and crucified.  Jesus being with God from the beginning willingly came to earth fully God and fully man to be the sacrifice to reconcile man back to God.

God planned it; Isaiah prophesied it and Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all record the production of it.

Tell someone about Jesus.

Happy New Year

The 3 P’s (lesson one)

This is lesson one of a four part series covering things about Jesus that was Prophesied, Planned and Produced.

Psalms 132:17 KJVR

(17)  There will I make the horn of David to bud: I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed.

Luke 1:67-69 KJVR

(67)  And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, (68)  Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, (69)  And hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;

The Ancestry of Jesus was Prophesied, Planned and Produced.  Luke gives the full ancestry of Jesus in chapter 3 verses 23 – 38.  This linage goes all the back to God and proves that God did make the horn of David bud and produced a savior to reconcile us back to God.

Now let’s read

Isaiah 53:6 KJVR All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Jesus came to die for all.  I ask that each of you take a minute and write down the names of people who are in your circle of influence.  Now, put a check by those who are in your circle who need Jesus in their lives.

You have five days until Christmas.  Make sure you tell these people about Jesus.  There is no better gift then to introduce someone to Christ.

Merry Christmas

I DID IT MY WAY Part 3

This is the third of a three part series covering the need for us to be faithful to God’s Commands.  This week we will look at answering God’s commands.

1 Samuel 15:32-35 KJVR

(32)  Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past.

(33)  And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.

(34)  Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.

(35)  And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.

Disobedient servants face God’s judgment.  Saul had to answer to God for his disobedience and it cost him the Kingdom.  People today seem to take no thought as to the consequences of their disobedience.  God takes our disobedience seriously.  One thing that was true in Saul’s day and it is still true today, is that unrepentant servants make shallow confessions.

Saul asked Samuel to pardon him.  He wasn’t sincere.  How many times do we see the same thing repeated today?  We have a form of Godliness but certainly deny the power that God has.  God withdrew from Saul and he was shocked.  People today wonder why they no longer have God’s blessings.  Could it be that due to our rebellious nature that God has withdrawn from us.

When we rebel against God we will suffer His wrath.  God withdrew from Saul and by the way, God didn’t forget about Agag.  He sent Samuel to kill him.

My friends we must always listen and heed God’s commands.  If we do not we will most certainly suffer His wrath.  

I DID IT MY WAY Part 2

This is the second of a three part series covering the need for us to be faithful to God’s Commands.  This week we will look at Subverting God’s commands.

1 Samuel 15:13-21 KJVR

(13)  And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.  (14)  And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?  (15)  And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.  (16)  Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.  (17)  And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel?  (18)  And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.  (19)  Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD?  (20)  And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.  (21)  But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal.

Foolish servants only partially obey.  Saul only killed the Amalekites that got in his way between Havilah and Shur.  Many escaped and they would cause problems for years to come.

Obeying God starts with a decision.  It is something we can do once we decide to follow.  Saul made a decision to only partially follow God’s commands.  I am reminded of an old saying “What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive”.

Deceitful servants give a partial report and God is hurt by our disobedience. Our Christian brothers and sisters are hurt by our disobedience. 

Guilty servants are exposed.  The bleating sheep told on Saul.

Trapped servants blame others and this is what Saul did.  He says the animals were kept for them to sacrifice and it was the people who urged him to disobey.  Saul over looked an important fact.  What God rejects cannot be sacrificed.

When we disobey God we will go to extreme measures to justify our disobedience.

Next week we will look at Answering God’s Commands.