Until last night I always thought my faith was too small. My mistake was in thinking it was "My" faith. But I discovered last night what I have been calling "My" Faith is really "His" faith.
Heb 12:2 "Look to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith."
Do you see it? Jesus is the author of what we call Faith. The author of something owns it. I can write a book and give it to you as a gift, but you did not write it. The words are always mine. I own the copyright.
Jesus produced my faith and gave it to me as a gift. He never takes back a gift. It is everlasting and perfect. Everyone who believes in Jesus receives this everlasting gift.
What's more amazing is the nature of the gift. Not only does he give it to us, but it is an extension of his own faith. We receive Jesus's faith.
Php 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ.
Eph 3:12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Gal 3:22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
Gal 2:20 … and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Gal 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Rom 3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference.
Now when Satan shoots his flaming arrows of doubt at me. I do not quench them with my timid faith, for I have no faith of my own. I extinguish them with the Faith that Jesus gave me, a portion of his own faith, an all powerful invincible faith, the very faith that defeated and defeats Satan every time. My shield is the same shield of faith that Jesus carried, no different, ever powerful.
Eph 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
This is so exciting, Jesus’s Faith also becomes an additional coating on the breastplate of God’s Righteousness. My heart is protected. My mind is protected by the Everlasting Gift of the Hope of Salvation, my lower body is protected by the everlasting Truth of the Scriptures, My feet are protected by the Gospel of Peace, I have Jesus’s own faith as a shield. My strength comes from the everlasting gift of Joy, and my courage comes from the promises and oaths of God that give me confidence and a guarantee, it is the certain evidence of faith. My sword is the all powerful Word of God which I use to counter the lies of the devil.
I marvel when I realize that everything I need has been given to me. I brought nothing to the table. I was given all the gifts, and the faithful shepherd Jesus teaches me how to use them. Now that I know I have the faith of Jesus, I wonder what he will have me do to magnify the Father? I must decrease and he must increase.
I no longer see my faith as too small, it is much bigger than I realized, and Jesus is still putting the finishing touches on it. Allelu-Yah. Praise Yah. Oh Happy day!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
The Unbelievable Gift
2Co 5:21 For he hath made him (Jesus) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made “the righteousness of God” in him (Jesus).
This is so wonderful. When we become believers in Jesus we receive this everlasting “gift” that no humans could ever dream of. The father’s righteousness is given to us.
By faith, our unrighteousness is replaced with Abba’s own righteousness. Put it on as an invincible armor breastplate which Satan can never break through
This is so wonderful. When we become believers in Jesus we receive this everlasting “gift” that no humans could ever dream of. The father’s righteousness is given to us.
By faith, our unrighteousness is replaced with Abba’s own righteousness. Put it on as an invincible armor breastplate which Satan can never break through
Saturday, January 30, 2010
The Comfort of the Scriptures Leads to Everlasting Hope
The Comfort of the Scriptures Leads to Everlasting Hope
“For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that through patience and through the comfort of the scriptures we might have hope”. (Roman’s 15:4)
When we place our faith in Jesus, God sends a new Spirit, a Holy Spirit to birth us into his Kingdom and to protect us with an Everlasting New Covenant.
A Covenant is an agreement with God. Every Covenant was sealed with blood.
“Jesus picked up a cup of wine and gave thanks to God. He then gave it to his disciples and said, "Take this and drink it. For this is my blood of the new covenant that is being poured out for many people for the forgiveness of sins”. (Mt 26:27-27)
These are the Permanent Gifts We Receive When We Enter the New Covenant
EVERLASTING GRACE, meaning we are loved and saved by faith in Jesus and not by anything we do or don’t do
EVERLASTING RIGHTEOSNESS because we receive the righteousness of Jesus and not our own.
EVERLASTING JOY UNSPEAKABLE unspeakable knowing our destination is final and God has established us.
EVERLASTING PEACE that is beyond all understanding knowing all things work together for good for us.
EVERLASTING COURAGE and CONFIDENCE based on “The Two Immutables”
1.God’s EVERLASTING PROMISE and
2 God’s EVERLASTING OATH
God swore to never punish us but to give us salvation. ( Heb. 6:13-19) and (Isaiah 54:9)
EVERLASTING HOPE of SALVATION when we firmly realize this, it become an impregnable helmet to protect our mind from Satan’s attack of doubts.
EVERLASTING COMFORT is gained as we read the scriptures and realize these truths.
God (Yah) never withdraws a gift. His gifts are permanent. May he fill you with grace and his joy unspeakable and full of glory.
“For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that through patience and through the comfort of the scriptures we might have hope”. (Roman’s 15:4)
When we place our faith in Jesus, God sends a new Spirit, a Holy Spirit to birth us into his Kingdom and to protect us with an Everlasting New Covenant.
A Covenant is an agreement with God. Every Covenant was sealed with blood.
“Jesus picked up a cup of wine and gave thanks to God. He then gave it to his disciples and said, "Take this and drink it. For this is my blood of the new covenant that is being poured out for many people for the forgiveness of sins”. (Mt 26:27-27)
These are the Permanent Gifts We Receive When We Enter the New Covenant
EVERLASTING GRACE, meaning we are loved and saved by faith in Jesus and not by anything we do or don’t do
EVERLASTING RIGHTEOSNESS because we receive the righteousness of Jesus and not our own.
EVERLASTING JOY UNSPEAKABLE unspeakable knowing our destination is final and God has established us.
EVERLASTING PEACE that is beyond all understanding knowing all things work together for good for us.
EVERLASTING COURAGE and CONFIDENCE based on “The Two Immutables”
1.God’s EVERLASTING PROMISE and
2 God’s EVERLASTING OATH
God swore to never punish us but to give us salvation. ( Heb. 6:13-19) and (Isaiah 54:9)
EVERLASTING HOPE of SALVATION when we firmly realize this, it become an impregnable helmet to protect our mind from Satan’s attack of doubts.
EVERLASTING COMFORT is gained as we read the scriptures and realize these truths.
God (Yah) never withdraws a gift. His gifts are permanent. May he fill you with grace and his joy unspeakable and full of glory.
Monday, January 25, 2010
January 23, 2010 a Turning Point in my Life.
January 23, 2010 a Major Turning Point in my Life
Being raised as a Catholic had its pluses and minuses. On the plus side I heard about Jesus early and attended church 6 days a week. I went to Catholic schools for 16 years. On the minus side my religious training was about the need to never sin and obey all the rules set forth by the church. We learned very little about God’s love , forgiveness and mercy. We were taught to confess our sins to a priest or if we died before confessing we would probably go to a fiery hell full of demons, or if we were lucky we might only have to spend 15,000 years in a fiery place called purgatory.
Once it was ingrained into my head that my salvation depended upon me behaving perfectly it was hard to see it any other way.
I first heard that we are saved by faith and grace when I was about 30 and heard many preachers throughout the next ten years saying there is nothing we can do to gain or lose our salvation, it has all been done by Jesus. Somehow I thought they were off the mark and never could believe it. I then spent the next ten years among Mennonites who also worried that we might lose our salvation by bad behavior.
Here I am 66 years old and today January 23rd after about a 12 day illness during which I poured over the scriptures the page opened wide and there was the thing I had unknowingly hungered and searched for since I first started to seriously follow Jesus in 1977. I’m sure I had read over it many times but today there was Romans 4:8 illuminated before my eyes.
“Romans 4:8 Happy, How blessed is the person whose sins the Lord will never charge against him.”
I wept when the full import of it hit me. God made a promise and swore an oath that he would greet me and my memory of my sins without wrath or rebuking, but with mercy and deliberated forgetfulness of my evil deeds. Praise God almighty, free at last. My unrighteousness or righteousness played no role in this, it was because of God’s love mercy and grace and Yahshuah’s faithfulness that this exists; it is for everyone and those who believe it are the most blessed for they can live in joy and not fear. Thank you father for healing this blind man’s eyes. I once was blind but now I see.
Being raised as a Catholic had its pluses and minuses. On the plus side I heard about Jesus early and attended church 6 days a week. I went to Catholic schools for 16 years. On the minus side my religious training was about the need to never sin and obey all the rules set forth by the church. We learned very little about God’s love , forgiveness and mercy. We were taught to confess our sins to a priest or if we died before confessing we would probably go to a fiery hell full of demons, or if we were lucky we might only have to spend 15,000 years in a fiery place called purgatory.
Once it was ingrained into my head that my salvation depended upon me behaving perfectly it was hard to see it any other way.
I first heard that we are saved by faith and grace when I was about 30 and heard many preachers throughout the next ten years saying there is nothing we can do to gain or lose our salvation, it has all been done by Jesus. Somehow I thought they were off the mark and never could believe it. I then spent the next ten years among Mennonites who also worried that we might lose our salvation by bad behavior.
Here I am 66 years old and today January 23rd after about a 12 day illness during which I poured over the scriptures the page opened wide and there was the thing I had unknowingly hungered and searched for since I first started to seriously follow Jesus in 1977. I’m sure I had read over it many times but today there was Romans 4:8 illuminated before my eyes.
“Romans 4:8 Happy, How blessed is the person whose sins the Lord will never charge against him.”
I wept when the full import of it hit me. God made a promise and swore an oath that he would greet me and my memory of my sins without wrath or rebuking, but with mercy and deliberated forgetfulness of my evil deeds. Praise God almighty, free at last. My unrighteousness or righteousness played no role in this, it was because of God’s love mercy and grace and Yahshuah’s faithfulness that this exists; it is for everyone and those who believe it are the most blessed for they can live in joy and not fear. Thank you father for healing this blind man’s eyes. I once was blind but now I see.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Jesus Was an Optimist
When it came to father's protection, Jesus was an optimist.
He said no one could snatch us from his hands or Father's hand,
Joh 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Joh 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Joh 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
He said no one could snatch us from his hands or Father's hand,
Joh 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Joh 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Joh 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
Friday, May 1, 2009
I will be what I will be
Hi Tim,
"I am that I am" was a mistranslation by a monk named Jerome in the 4th Century who was translating the Hebrew phrase Eyeh Asher Eyeh. I will be what I will be. Ehyeh is the first-person singular imperfect form of haya. It refers to an action that is not complete so it is future: I will be.
The Tetragrammaton's meaning is lost in the mist of the past. God wanted his name published and commanded it to be published but by the third century BC it had been expunged from the scriptures and replaced with four letters Yod-Heh-Vav-He. These may have been an abbreviation or even a red herring to mislead the enemies of Israel from finding God's name.
I prefer how David said it YAH. It occurs 23 times: 18 times in the Psalms, twice in Exodus, and three times in Isaiah.
It is interesting to note that his name has been expunged from the New Testament also. In both the old and the new it was replaced by the word lord. This leads to confusion because the Greeks and the English have only one word for Lord whereas in Hebrew there are two adonai and adoni.
Adonai was used exclusively for Yah and adoni meant a human master. So when David says the Lord said to my Lord, he uses adoni for the second lord meaning Yah said to my Master (the messiah)
Hope this helps
Peace
Robert
"I am that I am" was a mistranslation by a monk named Jerome in the 4th Century who was translating the Hebrew phrase Eyeh Asher Eyeh. I will be what I will be. Ehyeh is the first-person singular imperfect form of haya. It refers to an action that is not complete so it is future: I will be.
The Tetragrammaton's meaning is lost in the mist of the past. God wanted his name published and commanded it to be published but by the third century BC it had been expunged from the scriptures and replaced with four letters Yod-Heh-Vav-He. These may have been an abbreviation or even a red herring to mislead the enemies of Israel from finding God's name.
I prefer how David said it YAH. It occurs 23 times: 18 times in the Psalms, twice in Exodus, and three times in Isaiah.
It is interesting to note that his name has been expunged from the New Testament also. In both the old and the new it was replaced by the word lord. This leads to confusion because the Greeks and the English have only one word for Lord whereas in Hebrew there are two adonai and adoni.
Adonai was used exclusively for Yah and adoni meant a human master. So when David says the Lord said to my Lord, he uses adoni for the second lord meaning Yah said to my Master (the messiah)
Hope this helps
Peace
Robert
Friday, March 20, 2009
The Nash Papyrus Fragments
In Egypt, in 1898, W.L. Nash purchased four fragments written in Hebrew. They are known as the Nash Papyrus fragments and are dated at 150-100 BC. They are the only fragments of the O.T. found in Egypt written in Hebrew. From this find we can deduce that the Egyptian Hebrew readers had a Torah that was different from either the Septuagint (the Greek version of the OT created for the Jews living in ancient Egyptian) or the Masoretes (modern Jewish OT). What is significant is that the four fragments record a mixture of commandments from Exodus and Deuteronomy and includes among the Ten Commandments an eleventh.
24 [0 Isra]el: Jahwe our God, Jahwe is one; and thou
shalt love]
25 [Jahwe thy G]o[d with al]1 t[hy heart ... . ].
We know that Yahshuah quoted from a version that was neither the Septuagint, nor the Masorah. This fragment may come from that missing Bible.
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