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The following material is provided for information purposes only. Any conclusions or opinions formed should be based on the principles as outlined in Acts 17:11. The material is intended for use as a witnessing tool and to keep you informed so you will not be unaware (Luke 21:34) of what is happening according to Scripture’s” However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find any faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8b)
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INTERESTING INFORMATION ARTICLES
2 TOUGHEST TRUTHS IN THE BIBLE
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
The truth of the gospel is as clear as a bell, but it isn't always tolled! – OUR DAILY BREAD
SUMMARY OF ARTICLES
"Does It Pay to Serve Jesus?"
McLaughlin, Heritage Church, McKinney, TxThis is a wonderful Message. Don’t miss it, you will be blessed! Pass it on to your Homebound Family and friends
Koenig’s Int’l News -- Perhaps you or someone you know has said, "I cannot believe in a God who allows people to go to Hell." But rarely if ever will you hear someone say, "I cannot believe in a God who would send His only Son to endure the agony of crucifixion in order to save sinners."
I believe those are the two toughest truths in the Bible, with the toughest truth being the crucifixion of Christ. The Messiah suffered six hours of agony on the cross after already having the flesh torn from His body when He was flogged. In The Case for Christ, Lee Strobel provides in graphic detail this description of flogging from Dr. Alexander Metherell: "The soldier would use a whip of braided leather thongs with metal balls woven into them. When the whip would strike the flesh, these balls would cause deep bruises or contusions, which would break open with further blows. And the whip had pieces of broken bone as well which would cut the flesh severely." Metherell continued, "The back would be so shredded that part of the spine was sometimes exposed by the deep, deep cuts. The whipping would have gone all the way from the shoulders down to the back, the buttocks, and the back of the legs. It was just terrible. A third century historian by the name of Eusebius described a flogging by saying, 'The sufferer's veins were laid bare and the very muscles, sinews and bowels of the victim were open to exposure.'"
Jesus foretold His suffering with these words: "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock Him, insult Him, spit on Him, flog Him and kill Him. On the third day He will rise again" (Luke 18:31-33).
When it was time for Christ to be crucified, nails were driven into His wrists and feet. The weight of His body was on the nails through the wrists. This caused compression on the lungs, which prevented Jesus from inhaling. In order to take a breath, Jesus had to push upward putting all the weight on His feet, causing unbearable pain. Try to imagine doing that for six seconds, let alone six hours.
The toughest truth in the Bible is that the Son of God left the perfection of Heaven and bore such relentless and excruciating pain in order to redeem us from sin, death, the devil and eternal punishment in Hell.
This brings us to the second toughest truth in the Bible. Jesus described "the end of the age" this way: "The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 13:40-42).
Those words came straight from the mouth of the One who would go on to suffer flogging and crucifixion for our salvation. It has been said that Jesus spoke more often about Hell than about Heaven. The Lord lovingly warned people that there are only two destinations in eternity.
Jesus said, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it" (Matthew 7:13-14).
So, why did God create Hell in the first place? Jesus described this horrible place of suffering as "the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41). The reason so many people end up in Hell is because they reject the Savior and refuse to come to Christ to have their sins forgiven. Breaking God's Law is what ultimately sends people to Hell.
Jesus described Hell as a place where "their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. Everyone will be salted with fire" (Mark 9:48-49). The Lord announced that unforgiven sinners "will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life" (Matthew 25:46).
Which of these two truths in the Bible do you find tougher to believe? The flogging and crucifixion of the sinless Son of God, or the fact that many people, such as the rich man in Luke 16, have already entered Hell to begin their sentence of eternal punishment? Luke 16:19-31 is not a parable because Jesus used the actual names of the participants in this true story.
The Lord's sacrificial death is the agonizing price Jesus paid in full so that we who believe in Christ would be redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. (see 1 Peter 1:19) The prison of Hell, on the other hand, is reserved for lawbreakers who refused to "repent and believe the good news" (Mark 1:15) during their life on Earth.
You and I are lawbreakers. The only way we can be forgiven of the many times we have broken God's Law is to come to the cross in repentance and faith.
https://www.heritagechurchmckinney.com/messages/Does%20It%20Pay%20to%20Serve%20Jesus.mp3
12 WAYS GOD'S KINGDOM RUNS OPPOSITE TO THE WORLD
The Christian Post At its core, Christianity is an invitation to enter an entirely different Kingdom — one whose values, priorities, and operating system are often diametrically opposed to the spirit of this world.
The Kingdom of God is an inverted Kingdom.
This is one reason Christianity is so difficult for the natural mind to understand and why authentic discipleship is so challenging.
The following are 12 paradoxes of the Christian faith.
1. We find strength in weakness
The world teaches us to hide our weaknesses and project strength. The Kingdom teaches us that surrendered weakness can become the platform for divine power. Paul consequently declared that when he was weak, then he was strong (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Hence, our greatest usefulness to God does not come through self-sufficiency but through dependence upon Him.
2. We find joy in tribulation
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The world assumes joy comes from the absence of trouble. Scripture teaches that mature joy can exist in the midst of trouble.
James writes, “Count it all joy … when you meet trials of various kinds” because the testing of our faith produces steadfastness (James 1:2–4).
We do not rejoice because suffering is pleasurable. We rejoice because suffering, when surrendered to God, can become transformational.
Trials expose what comfort conceals. They reveal our idols, deepen our faith, develop endurance, and form Christ within us.
3. The way up is down
The world teaches self-promotion. The Kingdom teaches self-humbling.
Peter writes, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you” (1 Peter 5:6).
In the Kingdom, we do not climb over people to reach the top. We humble ourselves before God and allow Him to determine our place.
Jesus descended before He ascended. He took the form of a servant before every knee bowed and every tongue confessed that He is Lord.
In God’s Kingdom, the safest way up is down.
4. The way to resurrection is through crucifixion
There is no Easter Sunday without Good Friday.
Jesus demonstrated that the crown of thorns comes before the crown of glory. The way to resurrection power passes through the cross.
The cross is the ultimate inversion of worldly power. Rome believed the cross was an instrument of humiliation and defeat. God transformed it into the instrument of salvation and victory.
The Christian life is cruciform. Something in us must die for something greater to live. Our ego, pride, selfish ambition, and demand for control must continually be brought to the cross.
The way to power is through death. The way to resurrection is through crucifixion.
5. We overcome our enemies by loving them
Perhaps nothing contradicts the spirit of this world more radically than the command of Jesus to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).
The world says, “Destroy your enemies.”
Jesus says, “Love them.”
This does not mean tolerating injustice or refusing to confront evil. It means we refuse to allow hatred to transform us into the image of those who oppose us. The Kingdom does not overcome evil with evil. We overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21).
6. We find our life by losing it
Jesus said, “Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25).
The more desperately we cling to our lives, our plans, our reputations, and our personal agendas, the more imprisoned we become.
You never truly find yourself by making yourself the center of your existence. You find yourself when Christ becomes the center.
7. We are saved by grace, not by works
Every human religious system is naturally tempted to say, “Do enough, achieve enough, perform enough, and perhaps you will be accepted.”
The Gospel says the opposite. We are “saved by grace through faith … not a result of works” (Ephesians 2:8–9).
Christianity begins not with what we do for God but with what God has done for us in Christ.
Good works do not produce salvation; they proceed from salvation. We do not obey to earn God’s love. We obey because we have already received His love.
8. We labor to enter rest
Hebrews gives us one of Scripture’s most fascinating paradoxes: “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest” (Hebrews 4:11).
We labor to rest.
Kingdom rest is not passivity. It is the internal condition of a person who has ceased striving in the flesh and learned to operate from trust in God.
It takes faith to relinquish control. It takes intentionality to live from God’s presence rather than from pressure.
The mature believer works from rest rather than for rest.
9. The greatest in the Kingdom is the servant
The world measures greatness by how many people serve you.
Jesus measures greatness by how many people you serve. He said, “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant” (Mark 10:43).
Jesus, the King of kings, wrapped a towel around His waist and washed His disciples’ feet.
Kingdom leadership is not about titles, platforms, entourages, or personal privilege. The higher we rise in responsibility, the lower we should bend in service.
10. We meet our earthly needs by seeking the Kingdom first
The world says, “seek money, security, possessions, and comfort first.”
Jesus said, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).
When we make provision our god, anxiety becomes our master.
Jesus promises that when our priorities are rightly ordered, our Father knows what we need.
11. We increase by giving away Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given to you” (Luke 6:38).
The world’s economy says accumulation produces abundance. The Kingdom teaches that generosity opens the door to increase.
This principle goes far beyond money.
Giving encouragement, wisdom, showing mercy, giving of your time, love and your abilities and you become a conduit through which God’s abundance can flow. In the Kingdom, we are not reservoirs. We are rivers. 12. We become successful by committing ourselves to the success of others The world teaches us to use people to advance our own success. Jesus teaches us to use our lives to advance the divine purpose of others. Kingdom success is not merely measured by what you accomplish, but by what others accomplish because you invested in them. In conclusion, the Christian faith cannot be lived successfully according to the operating system of this world. At the center of all these paradoxes stands the cross.
Giving encouragement, wisdom, showing mercy, giving of your time, love and your abilities and you become a conduit through which God’s abundance can flow. In the Kingdom, we are not reservoirs. We are rivers. 12. We become successful by committing ourselves to the success of others The world teaches us to use people to advance our own success. Jesus teaches us to use our lives to advance the divine purpose of others. Kingdom success is not merely measured by what you accomplish, but by what others accomplish because you invested in them. In conclusion, the Christian faith cannot be lived successfully according to the operating system of this world. At the center of all these paradoxes stands the cross.
A CHRISTIAN'S RELATIONSHIP AND RESPONSIBILITY TO ISRAEL
Charisma News –Jesus is one of Israel's own. He was born in Israel. He lived in Israel. And on Passover in Israel (Nisan 14), Jesus gave His life on the cross for the sins of the world. He resurrected in Israel. He ascended to Heaven from Israel. His first followers were descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And He is returning to Israel to establish His Kingdom.
A Christian is a follower of Jesus the Messiah of Israel, the promised Davidic King of Israel who is the Savior of the world!
As a generation witnessing ongoing attempts to discredit, devalue, dismantle and destroy Israel, we need to answer the question: What is a Christian's relationship and responsibility to Israel?
Here's a short-list:
1. A Christian is a Bible believer who stands on the Biblical promise that God gave the land of Israel to the Jewish people, and that in fulfillment of the prophetic Scriptures God is behind Israel's regathering in the land of Israel after nearly 2,000 years of dispersion. God keeps His promises and cannot cancel His character.
Standing with Israel today means standing with the unfolding plan of God in Israel's existence. Zionism is the belief that Jews have a right to a national home in Israel! Those who try to destroy Israel are in opposition to the very purposes of God (1 Chron. 16:17-18; Ez. 26:24; Rom. 9:1-5; Joel 3).
2. A genuine Christian fights against the ignorance and madness of anti-Semitism. There is no greater friend of sinners, of man, or of Israel — than Jesus. Yet tragically, history attests of unspeakable acts that have been done against Jews by those who have worn a "mask of Christianity." Genuine Bible-believing Christians denounce these acts! (Zech. 2:8; Deut. 7:7-9a) 3. At the heart of the Christian faith is the belief in the New Covenant of Jeremiah 31, which was promised to Israel and inaugurated by the death of Jesus on the Cross. This New Covenant is celebrated and remembered today in what is known as Communion. The Hebrew word for New Covenant is "brith Hadasha"—from which the phrase "New Testament" comes.
What is the meaning of the New Covenant that Jesus inaugurated by His death on the cross? The answer is a dynamic five-fold promise: That the law will be internalized in the hearts of believers (1 Cor. 3:16); there is forgiveness of sins available to all who believe (Heb. 8:12); Israel will be reconciled to God, just as He promised to Abraham (Rom. 11:25); all of humanity will know the Lord (Jer. 31:34); the Jewish people will be preserved throughout the ages (Jer. 31:35–37).
At a Passover Seder with His disciples just before His crucifixion, Jesus took the striped and pierced unleavened bread known as the "bread of affliction" (symbolizing the sobering cost of redemption and the new beginning out of enslavement in Egypt) in His hands and said with revelatory authority over the divine calendar and Jewish tradition, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." Then Jesus took the third cup in the Passover meal, known as the Cup of Redemption or Deliverance saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you" (Luke 22:19-20).
To participate in Communion is to engage in a Christ-centric covenant affirmation of the New Covenant with all of its benefits.
And, therefore, at the heart of a Christian's faith is the belief in the redemptive plan of God from eternity past to eternity future. A plan promised to, and unfolding through, Israel and the Messiah of Israel. A plan that the nations are invited into! Paul said "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes" (1 Cor. 11:26). 4. Jesus is coming back to Israel and to a Jewish Jerusalem! (Matt. 23:37-39) In the context of the Passover Seder prior to His crucifixion, Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God" (Mark 14:25). In other words, at His second coming when Jesus sits on the throne of David in Jerusalem and establishes the Kingdom of God while restoring planet earth to wholeness with Israel at the center, the "Jesus and Passover connection" will continue in the celebration of its divine completion (Ez. 45:21).
5. A Christian believes in the whole Bible and the prophetic significance of the biblical calendar from Passover, which prophetically speaks of Jesus' death, to Tabernacles, which prophetically speaks of the final in-gathering of the nations of the world. Therefore, the Christian faith sprang forth from the Hebrew Scriptures and from the city of Jerusalem — not Rome. A Christian believes in the whole Bible and calls both Jews and Christians back to the study of the Holy Scriptures (Zech. 14:16-19; Rev. 7:9; Lev. 23:40). 6. A Christian's highest expression of blessing "Israel" and the Jewish people is demonstrating unconditional love toward Jews and helping Jewish friends (as well as the rest of the world) to know and believe in the hope and salvation of the Messiah of Israel, the Lord Jesus, one of Israel's own.
The Gospel of Christ "... is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek" (Rom. 1:16). Paul wrote this verse in the present tense which means that if the gospel is still the power of God "for" salvation and is still for "everyone who believes," then the gospel is still "to the Jew first." It is important to note that the term "first" does not merely speak of sequence, but priority.
In fact, Peter when speaking to a first-century Jewish audience in Jerusalem, underscored an "eschatological link" to Jewish evangelism by saying, "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began" (Acts 3:19-21).
This coincides with Jesus saying, "For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord'" (Matt. 23:39). And Revelation 1:7 reads, "Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen." The reality is, before the world "sees Him," Jerusalem will "turn to Him" (Zech. 12:10)! "And so all Israel will be saved..." (Rom. 11:26).
You can see then that there is a great spiritual battle over Jewish evangelism that we need to be aware of. Because, if Jerusalem will not see Him until she welcomes Him back, then no eye will see Him until Jerusalem receives Him! 7. A Christian believes that the Lord is a covenant maker and a covenant keeper. Israel is called God's "Firstborn" and are recipients of God's covenant with their fathers (Rom. 11:28; Ex. 4:22). God is fully committed to Israel with His covenantal love.
One day there will be national repentance in Israel, an awakening and resurrection through Messiah Jesus, and "all Israel shall be saved." The salvation of Israel means the return of Jesus, the resurrection of the righteous, the revival of the Church, and the restoration of the earth. For further readding: https://www.charismanews.com/world/94387-a-christian-s-relationship-and-responsibility-to-israel
GOD’S BLESSING TO NOAH: A NEW BEGINNING
The blessing of God on the family of Noah provided a new beginning for Mankind. The word “Blessed” expresses the idea of God’s smile, the warmth of His pleasure. In a way, the promises that God has given to the first people were now restarted for Noah, a “New Adam” the new population of the earth by Noah’s family means that human society began again with a shared understanding of earlies human history, including the creation and the Flood stories. (Gen. 9:1; Footnote to the Nelson Study Bible, NKJV)