John 1 ~ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

A newly found mosaic, probably of Alexander the Great. In a fifth century Synagogue in
Huqoq, Israel. Found a week ago.

Dang. We could entitle this post what my son Alexander did last summer. Last summer, Alexander, my youngest son, was in Yaquq known to archeologists as Huqoq, Israel. And Alexander found a 4th century coin with his professor Nathan Elkins, from Baylor, with a team from the University of North Carolina.

Tyre was an Island - Before Alexander the Great decided to make more mainland.

In 332 B.C., Alexander besieged, defeated and created Tyre into the mainland from formerly being an island and Gaza in his march toward Egypt. During this campaign, he turned toward Jerusalem. This had been recorded in Scriptures. Alexander had already demanded men and supplies from the Jews, who were under the rule of Alexander's mortal enemy, the Persian king Darius. The high priest hesitated, saying that while Darius lived they would honor their pledge. Alexander was angry and began a move on the city.

Well aware of the danger, Jaddua asked the people for prayer to God for His mercy and protection. Then, says Josephus, Jaddua had a dream as to how to entreat the Macedonian king. He and the other priests dressed in their priestly robes and, accompanied by others dressed in white garments, formed a procession going out of the city to a carefully chosen place to meet the Alexander the Great.

Alexander then did the unexpected. Alone, he approached the high priest and members of the procession and greeted them. He bowed down.

Alexander said: "I did not adore him, but that God who hath honoured him with his high priesthood; for I saw this very person in a dream, in this very habit [garment], when I was at Dios in Macedonia, who, when I was considering with myself how I might obtain the dominion of Asia, exhorted me to make no delay, but boldly to pass over the sea thither, for that he would conduct my army, and would give me the dominion over the Persians; whence it is, that having seen no other in that habit, and now seeing this person in it, and remembering that vision, and the exhortation which I had in my dream, I believe that I bring this army under the divine conduct, and shall therewith conquer Darius, and destroy the power of the Persians, and that all things will succeed according to what is in my own mind" (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 11, chap. 8, sec. 5, William Whiston translation, 1981).

Josephus records Alexander accompanied the priest into Jerusalem and Temple, where he "offered sacrifice to God, according to the high priest's direction, and magnificently treated both the high priest and the priests."

Alexander's visit was capped by a briefing from the book of Daniel, written several centuries earlier, which foretold the rise and conquests of Alexander. "And when the book of Daniel was shewed him, wherein Daniel declared that one of the Greeks should destroy the empire of the Persians, he supposed that himself was the person intended; and as he was then glad, he dismissed the multitude."

What Alexander the Great encountered was, of course, the Living God. This is what we hope for our children and our loved ones to realize about Jesus.

 


The Apocrypha is debunked frequently.

Josephus would have said this is a mistake to debunk the Apocrypha. Without the history lessons from the Apocrypha, we would not have miraculous Hanukkah recorded. We would not have Biblical explanations for more miracles of God that led to Zeus not being sacrificed to in the Temple. We would not know of the heroism of Judas Maccabees. We would lose the understanding Jeremiah fully Knew to hide the Ark of the Covenant sealed until God unseals the Ark from Mount Nebo (from the Greek word ἀπόκρυφος, apókruphos, meaning "hidden"), where Moses stopped and did not enter the promised land. Without the Apocrypha, history wouldn't explain the Herods easily, we wouldn't know the coins of Israel / Judah depicted and image the first time of a non-Davidic king declaring majesty over the Children of God. The time had come for the Messiah.

Until 1534, the Apocrypha was  recorded as part of Scripture. St. Nicolas risked life and limb to meet with Bishops to agree what the Holy Spirit would call Scripture for a Church Jesus was prophetic to say existed.

Among the Dead Sea Scrolls were a number of manuscripts of the Apocrypha.

And yes,  parts of the Apocrypha are unlikely seeming, or as if they appeal to Asian worshipers.  Scripture is factual - and - God's Word appeals to - the intended people of God.

Yes, the language was merely of the written, spoken words of the people of God. Greek. How unlike God? God did not say He sent His only begotten son to the Hebrew speaking world. God sent His people into the second exile (why they were returning well treated from Emperor Darius) and to the people like Alexander the Great.

Why? GOD was on a mission. A God sized Mission - to save - the - World.

Where?
The Huqoq Excavation Project is excavating a fifth-century A.D. synagogue at Huqoq, an ancient village in Israel’s Lower Eastern Galilee located three miles west of Magdala (home of Mary Magdalene) and Capernaum Jesus' hometown.

Because?
In reality, God is reaching to all of His Creation. To discover, just as Alexander the Great, God is is found when He is sought.

Because... Because?

John 1 says something very profound about this Discovery TODAY.

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


Alexander was told about what Daniel had to say about Alexander the Great. Because they wanted Alexander to believe. They probably forgot to tell Alexander the Great what was said about making Tyre into a rubble.

Ezekiel told about that prophecy.

Ezekiel 26 announces the destruction of Tyre (Ezekiel was the prophet who announced a head of time what Nebuchadnezzar would do) , Ezekiel 27 asks for a prayer for the beautiful Tyre. Combine the two chapters, you have a wonderful example of God's mercy.

Ezekiel 27:1-4

1 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
2 Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus;
3 And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty. 4 Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty.

Tyre, Lebanon today - the coast and southern half are devoid of population and are in ruins.

Ezekiel 26:1-14 ~ (Revised Standard Version)

In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:
"Son of man, because Tyre said concerning Jerusalem, `Aha, the gate of the peoples is broken, it has swung open to me; I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste,' therefore thus says the Lord GOD:

Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves. They shall destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down her towers; and I will scrape her soil from her, and make her a bare rock.

She shall be in the midst of the sea a place for the spreading of nets; for I have spoken, says the Lord GOD; and she shall become a spoil to the nations;
and her daughters on the mainland shall be slain by the sword. Then they will know that I am the LORD.

"For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will bring upon Tyre from the north Nebuchadrez'zar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, and with horsemen and a host of many soldiers.

He will slay with the sword your daughters on the mainland; he will set up a siege wall against you, and throw up a mound against you, and raise a roof of shields against you. He will direct the shock of his battering rams against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers. His horses will be so many that their dust will cover you; your walls will shake at the noise of the horsemen and wagons and chariots, when he enters your gates as one enters a city which has been breached. With the hoofs of his horses he will trample all your streets; he will slay your people with the sword; and your mighty pillars will fall to the ground.

They will make a spoil of your riches and a prey of your merchandise; they will break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses; your stones and timber and soil they will cast into the midst of the waters.

And I will stop the music of your songs, and the sound of your lyres shall be heard no more.

I will make you a bare rock; you shall be a place for the spreading of nets; you shall never be rebuilt; for I the LORD have spoken, says the Lord GOD.

God laments Tyre. 

And Today. Today. Today. God still has Tyre as a desolation explaining the Word of God goes on forever.

Why say John 1 contributes to the Passage?
The Word of God points to the same message from the Father. The tributaries run to the streams, the streams to the river, the River becomes the Ocean.

Jesus did not stay on as a Warrior King. Jesus Christ, Messiah, instead Jesus fought for all of us.

God defended Hezekiah - and his God seeking, earnest nation against the Assyrian Empire.
God defended returning Judah freed slaves as the wall surrounding Jerusalem was made safe.
God defended Judah from Alexander the Great after fulfilling the Word of God as told by Daniel and Ezekiel in the Holy Spirit.

Luke 2:14
"Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."


Father God, let me be one of Your numbers, when the saints go marching in.
And my family. For the Churches of Jesus Christ. My loved ones and even the people we wait upon in prayer for His favor to create harmony. When a man loves the Lord, even his enemies are at peace with him. We ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves  †

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Luke 19:45-48 ~ a house of prayer

The Shepherd, by Greg Olson

Luke 19:45-48

 And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, 46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.”

47 And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, 48 but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.



Jesus said that we, in our bodies, are the Temple, yet it came with a caveat:

1 Corinthians 6:19
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own

Jesus went into the Temple (not just His Body, but the physical location) at least 26 times, recorded in the Gospels; And Jesus entered Synagogues at least 12 times. Every day, Jesus acknowledged mercy over sacrifice.



Mark 10:27
Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."

Matthew 5:14
You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.

Philippians 2:1-11
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of JESUS every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that ..... Jesus Christ is Lord! To the glory of God the Father!

♔ Lord Jesus Saves  †

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Psalm 121 ~ help comes from the Lord

3D Photoshop of Starry Night, by Vincent Van Gogh

Psalm 121


1 I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
8 The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.

Where are we going?

To our Father God.

Are we there yet?

No, we have miles to go before we sleep.


To whom shall we answer?

In 1875, British poet William Ernest Henley published the poem, called "Invictus" with these famous lines: "I am the master of my fate / I am the captain of my soul."

Master Whom?

The Shepherd and Guardian of our Souls.

1 Peter 2:25
He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. 25For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.


Master of our Fate?

Luke 10
Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.

Our Fate is Sealed. In Jesus Christ. For a long time. And God called us by name...

Psalm 139
Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.

13 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.

How shall we go for all things for Victory in Jesus?

1 Corinthians 14
Therefore, my brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak in tongues. 4 0But all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner.


1 Corinthians 14:33
For God is not a God of disorder but of peace--as in all the congregations of the Lord's people


1 Corinthians 13:7
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things



Father God, Help us to be cheerful givers, allowing grace to abound in us. That we might be found sufficient in You. For all things at all times in every good work. Help us to rely upon You, Your Righteousness endures forever. In Jesus. Amen.




 

♔ Lord Jesus Saves  †

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Romans 8:38 ~ the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord

Romans 8:38

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Each day, Father God, we seek You, Your love. Lead us away from temptation and deliver us from evil. To Your Glory. Let us live in Your grace and truth. As our sins are forgiven, let us live mercy, truth and forgiveness to the sins done to us. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Titus 3
Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

8 The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. 9 But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. 10 As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, 11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.


1 Thessalonians 4
16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Jesus Christ is coming again.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

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Matthew 7: 12-14 ~ So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them

Matthew 7

12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

The narrow way to the gate or the hard way. Not the wide path of a freeway.

1 Thessalonians 4:9-12
Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, 10 for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, 11 and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, 12 so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.

How should we proceed? Go with ease and in the ideas of the crowd. Agree politely with everyone?

Pick the High road. And let God be Sovereign in all things. God of all things.

Let Him pick our opportunities and worry less.

Matthew 6
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

If we trust Father God with all things, why fuss? God is so vast, He works well in the quiet.

Father God, let us be on Your path. Keep us centered on You. In Jesus. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

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Philippians 3 ~ Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord

Unresting, unhasting, as silent as Light, nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest with might.

Philippians 3

Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.

2 Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. 3 For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— 4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.


Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained. 17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. 18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Life promises white water, defining moments.

Paul tells us of sarcasm from Greek sarkasmos, from sarkazein - to rend the flesh. How severe is this criticism? A dog tearing off limbs. Loss of things. Loss.

We will
all
face
loss in this life.
This Scripture is about how extreme life can be.



Ephesians 6
Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

Spiritual armor never has to be removed. The Word of God stands firm.

Matthew 24:35
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

1 Peter 1:25
The word of the Lord endures forever." And this is the word that was preached to you.

Isaiah 40:8
The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.

Once we are properly equipped with this prayer, how will we face Loss?


Worship by the Spirit of God 
Glory in Christ Jesus 
Our confidence in Him
Not our own righteousness
Gain Christ and be found in Him
 
Faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith 

I want to be known by Jesus, for the power of His resurrection

Romans 10  I will confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead,  and I will be saved.


I am not perfect. I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 

In Hope, I will be straining forward to what lies ahead

I  will press on toward the goal for the prize 
the upward call of God in Christ Jesus

Hold true to what we have attained

Isaiah 44:24
"This is what the LORD says-- your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, the Maker of all things, who stretches out the heavens, who spreads out the earth by myself."

Ecclesiastes 11:5
As you do not know the path of the wind,
or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb,
so you cannot understand the work of God,
the Maker of all things.


He will unite all things
  All things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.

  With God all things are possible
   I can do all things through him who strengthens me
  All things are possible for one who believes

John 1:3
All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

John 3:35
The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.

John 13:3
Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God

John 14:26
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

God bless the trees, flower and fauna. All the animals. As well as mankind. God looks upon His creation and sees good. Today. Father God, You bless us with transparency - letting the continuing blessing of Your mercy rest upon us in Peace. We are privileged to pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

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