Hebrews 3 ~ Share in a Heavenly Calling +

Artist Wolk Kahn

Hebrews 3

1 Therefore, holy brothers,a you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, 2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house.

3 For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. 4(For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) 5 Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, 6 but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. 

And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.

7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,
“Today, if you hear his voice,

8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
on the day of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your fathers put me to the test
and saw my works for forty years.

10 Therefore I was provoked with that generation,
and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart;
they have not known my ways.’
11 As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest.’”

12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. 15 As it is said,

“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

16 For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? 
Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 
17And with whom was he provoked for forty years? 
Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 
18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 
19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

We are all building. Something.

And. We all tend to get stuck in a rut.
Stuck in a rut.
Stuck in a rut.


Ok, then we will think outside the box. Our self talk is building what?
When we think of Heaven and the walls.

And don't we tend to see Heaven as if it is a Disney copy?

This Heaven is the Kingdom of God!
This Heaven was given in Goodness to Father God Almighty by His Only Son, Jesus the Christ.
A gift of Righteousness and Salvation. A Gift of Grace and of Justification in the Name of Jesus.

Where the Throne of God is Heralded by Shining Water leading to His Throne.



Revelation 21
19 The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; 20the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst.


A lot of these stones have vast variations in color.

You could see this:

Or This!:

Jackson Pollock might have been a visionary. This is the Eternal Dwelling of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.
Why wouldn't the wall look like this???

Now with Heavens roads of real gold, the shining water leading to the Throne of God Father Almighty,

Why would this be so unusual?


Father God is the author of Life.

The Creator pleased with His Creation.

The Great Almighty, Ancient of Days, created Time.


The God of all the earth and Heaven, knowing all the Heavenly Host
is not stuck in
The Bronze Age.
Romanesque: Like the Paradise Gates in Florence

Renaissance.
Empire.
Gothic.
Colonial.









Heaven pictures are sometimes a little scary:

 Like Bad Mushrooms!






And why would Heaven use walls?


I think we are placing and resorting our lives with God's Help. Coming to an understanding of our life as part of the Body of Christ and caught up in tender, loving care to Father God and His Plan. Part of His Book of Life.

 The stones in the walls represent seeing our lives in His Plan.

Looking from a different more eternal perspective.

 Maybe areas we were red, ashamed, or just blue.

All this will be part of resorting our lives and placing this as part of the Plan of God.
God making order and beauty of something more complex than we could fully understand on earth.


At this point we truly learn and all of our being, our soul grasps this great truth:

Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.


Revelation 7

He who sits on the throne
will shelter them with his presence.

16‘Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.

The sun will not beat down on them,
nor any scorching heat.

17For the Lamb at the center of the throne
will be their shepherd;
‘he will lead them to springs of living water.
‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.




And really if we consider our lives in new directions - we find out, how God has helped us.

How the darkness would want to push us and Father God helped us. We find out how we grew up in times of trouble and stress. Where God placed growth points. And we see a picture forming of Father God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit never leaving us, never forsaking us.


Today is the day, reassess at least one time in your life and see God is truly watching over you.

Take courage, take comfort, take joy in His Guidance. And in doing so, be renewed Today.

WK

And if I am challenged to remember. I remember the day that I rode my bicycle (tricycle) in France upon a narrow place in our yard and I dreamed that God said, "Yes you can handle the highs and I will keep you safe." My mother and I had begun to debate that. And my mother said she had the same dream. This gives me courage to go on in life. And I remember the night I returned a video and found that I had prayed for a safe place and had gone home, when a young woman in the parking lot had disappeared. I've had 4 benign tumors removed since I was 17. One Disappeared.


And dramatically we visited Niagara Falls in about 1977 and the platform we had viewed Niagara fell that night and we remained. I remember being lonely in my second High School and when I went to college, we had the nicest people on our dorm floor. My difficulties in 5th grade math gave me a tutor and I made "A"s in college math. Sometimes I have seen 4 decades before I saw the good in what God had done, but I see He has a Plan and His Working, On Going, Certain Plan is for His Glory and this is where I will stand.

 Artist again Wolf Kahn

Father God,
In Jesus the Lord. His Plan for His Beloved is Good

Because of the Goodness of Jesus and His Grace, His Salvation, His Gift, we will strive each and every day to remember God's Love and for the people we love and pray for. 

Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

Psalm 118 ~ This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118

1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!

2 Let Israel say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
4 Let those who fear the Lord say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”

5 Out of my distress I called on the Lord;
the Lord answered me and set me free.
6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear.
What can man do to me?
7 The Lord is on my side as my helper;
I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.

8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in man.
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes.

10 All nations surrounded me;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
11 They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
12 They surrounded me like bees;
they went out like a fire among thorns;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
13 I was pushed hard,a so that I was falling,
but the Lord helped me.

14 The Lord is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
15 Glad songs of salvation
are in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly,
16 the right hand of the Lord exalts,
the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!”

17 I shall not die, but I shall live,
and recount the deeds of the Lord.
18 The Lord has disciplined me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.

19 Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous shall enter through it.
21 I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
22 The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.

23 This is the Lord’s doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.

24 This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.

25 Save us, we pray, O Lord!
O Lord, we pray, give us success!

26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
27 The Lord is God,
and he has made his light to shine upon us.
Bind the festal sacrifice with cords,
up to the horns of the altar!

28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God; I will extol you.
29 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!


John 8:12
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.



Billy Graham was having a good day in Dallas. Graham showed the crowd in the State Fair of Texas Colosseum the Light of Christ is always visible. He had the lights turned off and held up one mere candle and asked to the darkened Colosseum if the one candle could be seen.


The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.


Hank Erwin believed Jesus and set off on a journey to end racial violence in a terrible time in Birmingham, Alabama. The true story is in the movie, "Woodlawn."


Today. This is the day the Lord has made.

Jesus said
Matthew 19:26
Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."




Today. This is the Lord's doing.

Genesis 18:14
Is anything too hard for the LORD



Today. The Lord is God,and he has made his light to shine upon us.

Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.




Today. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

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



Today. You are my God, and I will give thanks to You!

Luke 1:37
For no word from God will ever fail.




Today. Jesus is the Cornerstone.

1 Samuel 14:6
Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.


Today. The Lord answered me and set me free.

Jeremiah 32:17
"Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you."




Zechariah 8

"Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Behold, I am going to save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west; 8and I will bring them back and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God in truth and righteousness.'"


Father God,

We give thanks to God always for Jesus.


We give thanks for the people in our prayers.

We will remember before You, God our Father, the living parables in our lives of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are thankful for the Beloved of God, chosen because the Gospel came to them not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. Y

The Lord God, our Father knows those who receive the Word of God in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit. And like David, our LORD God will look on affliction and return good instead of the hand of woe.

We pray for the Word of the Lord to go forth in faith in God and to to forth everywhere. We turn to You, Father God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for Your Son from Heaven, raised from the dead. Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. Alleluia.

Now may the God of peace, Himself sanctify us completely, and may our whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He who calls us is faithful; He will surely do it.

Brothers, pray for us. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Thank You, Father God, for answered and fulfilled Word of God and Your willingness to give Grace, Mercy, Forgiveness, Joy, Love and Answered Prayer. Amen Jesus.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

1 Corinthians 13 ~ Love never ends

 

1 Corinthians 13

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away.

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love!

 



So many people tell me today they watch the Hallmark Channel.

Don't we live in an interesting entertainment age. Different from before. Like the politics of this Nation looking ling historical politics. A different flavor.

Really we see more positive trends in the movie industry people pay to see:

The movies are less disgusting. Unless you went to see "Deadpool" rather over the top ommm. The movies are not as crowded. Fewer movies make it from production to the large cinemas. They end up on the Hallmark Channel and have even very famous actors and good plots.

But also the Movies run in themes. Zombies. Right after Ebola rises again.

Election year? Batman against Superman. Space Aliens from Independence Day are coming back. And the Avengers are in a huge argument.

Cartoon movies tend to do well and there is not the stigma to go to one of those as an adult as they have some zingers. 98% Rotten Tomatoes.

Oddly enough the movie theaters now cater to Christian movie goers who are loyal and willing to arrive to see the movie. God's Not Dead 2 was good. Especially the credits listing the actual trials. And I'd bet a lot of those trials went in Christian favor.

Television at home. Now the shows are rather crass and we avoid a lot of them. But watch a movie? Wow some of those movies we have seen more than some of our family. 400 Channels show the same 15 things.


Now the Hallmark Channel. Is nice. But not all of real life is as pretty. Or as real. Or meaningful."

One of the greatest love stories in my life is my paternal grandmother. This isn't a Hallmark card or movie. One of my favorite movies has a scene, Peggy Sue Got Married, the main character goes back 20 years to high school, the most meaningful scene, she goes to see her living grandparents. Tears me up, tears me up. What a privilege.

My grandmother has 4 great-grandchildren. 3 are named after her. My husband loves to recall my Mississippi Grandmother and her beautiful, gentle voice and aristocratic talk and ways. Such a gentle woman, believing life should be accomplished with a lot of Christian ethics.  Having wonderful supportive, loving parents. Her love for her house - being one of the few not burned down "in the War of Northern Aggression." The Waaaaaarrrr of Noooorthrn Aggggresssionnnn, say it with me, there is no twang in this.

Grandmother was born in the Mississippi Delta, in the era of Eudora Weldy, and she never belonged to or joined the popular racist club. She adored Veelma, her maid, for over 30 years. Veelma was the underprivileged, unacknowledged, illegitimate, half black, daughter of one of Oxford's doctors. She and grandmother stood and swept, yet all of Grandmother's old antebellum house looked a lot like Miss Haversham's, minus the wedding cake.

Her perfect childhood, her grandmothers she loved - living with her parents, her father's affluence, her loved remembered, discussed childhood home, her brothers she loved, her sister who annoyed her, her father saving from her from her mother's wrath when she ruined the car bumper and Pop secretly paid for the $16 ruined bumper.

 Falling in love with her brother's roommate from College; meeting the most handsome man in the world and marrying the man you can't live without. He was from a family with another fine house. He writes his aunt Hattie to say he is giving up alcohol to marry her. 

Alcoholism can take many years to sink you down.
Alcoholism and alcoholic families have several courses; beat it, join it, enable it or leave it. Grandmother, being the gentle soul she was, joined it. 

We had a Thanksgiving one year, she became angered - this from the most dignified, gentle loving woman in the world - and took off her wig and threw it on the table & thundered about her new marriage (my grandfather had been dead for 15 years) to her new husband, an Episcopal priest. Robin Williams would say we were pretty Southern Episcopalian.

So.

This being said. When the great Chapter of Love is read or said, I never forget my Grandmother. 

When I grow old, I want to be the example of love she was to us. She found in us, absolute delight. Every time we saw her, she made sure to say, "I love you and I am so proud of you." Sincerity rang out. Sometimes she did without, to make sure we had something she wanted to give us. Grandmother knew we were parented, so she didn't parent us; she asked us what we thought and she would honestly discuss it. 

Grandmother wanted to know what interested us and she never encouraged us to be lawyers or doctors. Grandmother was interested in friendships and boyfriends. Her message was to forgive unkindness and to always remember the people the people who have been kind and loving to you and never to push them down. My Grandmother paid for my college education when my father scorned it. Grandmother was always astonished I had a job and flew all over the country. We grinned about it a lot.

At our Rehearsal Dinner, my Grandmother began her blessing of my marriage by saying she was, "As old as God". Really, Grandmother's love was a dress rehearsal for God's love.

What do you do with the "commenter" the one who never knew your birthday. Never thought that your talent was that great, always said, "You should try harder. Do more extra credit and just present this to the teacher. Worked for me." The one when you say, "It might be cancer" does not skip a beat.

Or what do you do when some in your life says a family member is "just disgraceful" or "Pathetic". I have news for us all, even the President's had brothers who didn't smell pretty.

Mostly, you cannot change people. You can change engaging in their mess at their emotional temperature.

Really difficult to do when life isn't rosy.  This is our complain point. Walk on with Joy with the desire to bring peace. Easier to pick up the argument when you need something to slam at. We can put the argument down. Easier to do when we feel happier.

We need to be real. Have sincerity and say not all people are going to be right on the line. God says we pretend to be right on the line. Even when we think we have all our lives wrapped up neatly to please even Father God, we have to realize the law condemns us. Our attitudes of revenge, or pride, or jealousy. Pettiness.

Does the person who is the "commenter" deserve loyalty. In family, to a certain extent, yes. We are supposed to pick up our cross. We are supposed to unite the people at the edges. Now are we supposed to not gossip? Get real, if someone is telling you what an awful person you are, you need someone to pray for you and support you. If you lie to tell the story, well that is really wrong and a different occurrence is happening. If the story is a string of petty events, oh man that is boring.

Truth telling is sharing life.

Do we need a Bible verse telling us that we share stories of Life?

Mary tells us something memorable in Luke 1 about the rich and their unkindness. Mary was obviously stung as a child. Except Isaiah said the wealth of the country would be horribly divided. Her son James continues the telling of life events about the cruelty of wealthy people. They have talked. A few times.

James goes on to say, value all people. Not to use them, but to let them know we are the Body of Christ. James tells us of his process. Growing up a descendant of David and becoming a Brother of Jesus in completion.

John tells his coming to Jesus with much thought, he is prolific. John begins by telling us of the Light of Christ in all of mankind.

Still, among ourselves in our daily lives, are we to be so loyal as to be silent? Telling the truth, is not a bad thing. Lives are formed with truth telling.

If the offender is a friend after years of refusing to do unto others - Jesus tells us to speak honestly and not invite them to dinner. Jesus did not run around sniping about old stories when He was Victorious. He moved with what was good. Jesus forgave many, many people and appeared to 500. Multitudes found Him later.

Love one another is a Joy. A Burden. Something to divide out goats and sheep. Not designed to ruin us. One of my cousins was telling me she was almost killed with constantly caring for her invalid mother. But she chose to not re-adjust finances to get help to care for her. That massive house, on the hill quit blessing them. We have to strive for the balance. Joshua did. Hard to see the balance when we are physically, mentally, and spiritually pressed. Hard to sell home, when home is what is left of the people passed on.

My experience is seeing in my Church, we are the Church of parents living to be in their 90s. Like the man who made a fortune finding Christians to insure, far less claims and he was financially made. This framework - works. And seeing their parents live independent lives well into their mid 90s. Framework of God - is astonishing.

Love one another is a Responsibility. You have to love yourself. Not accept what is not acceptable. If this eequires pressing charges for being beaten and abused. To affect positive change, then this should happen. This is still putting Jesus first. And requires bravery. Jesus told people, "NO."

Jesus told us we have to love God first. Because if we do not look to the Lord to be the Head of our lives, eventually the water running over the rocks has changed the direction away from Jesus. The Way, the Truth and the Life. We have to keep Jesus as God in our lives and avoid the push away from His Goodness. With prayer and honesty. Going in the true direction Jesus grows us to be. His Good Plan.

We cannot push our values upon people, but to stand for our values when they are needed, if they are too dusty and unused causes us to make excuses instead of staying in the Body of Christ.

All the Bible is really about making life work with brokenness. Reality.  Abraham was broken, we all are. Lead a responsible life. The Gospels start out like this:

Mark 1:3 Isaiah 40, Proverbs 3, Matthew 3, Mark 3, John 1
"A voice of one calling in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'"

Sometimes the difficulty is being polite, to be unable to work the connection from goodness to polite to goodness. Completing the the thought requires some diligence. We have to not just to the platitudes, but the work of the Scriptures why sometimes we say, "No."

Keeping Jesus in charge, doing things His Way, Truth, Life keeps us from raising children who beat their wives. Do terrible drugs. Keeping our children from abusing their siblings keeps our children compassionate and able to raise their own family.

Speaking up, making each other accountable.

We need a realistic balance. Today our Minister Craig Heenan's Sermon was on the ship sinking during training in the Navy. With a realistic balance, we learn from our mistakes and help others. Speaking of our mistakes to make life reliable and real. We gain the strength to tell our family, "No" so that they are able to rise up in their own Jesus Strength. Polite yes just to keep the peace isn't always what is needed. But Grandmother surely told the truth when she said, "Look for the goodness in all of us." Find reasons to be proud of the character of one another. Encourage, Pray, Rejoice.

Jesus loved to fish.
John started by saying all of mankind has the light of Jesus Christ.

Jesus believes He has given us fortitude to do our lives. We can find good in all people.

Fishing - diligence, endurance, hope. Lag times. Days where the catch is slim.

When you fish with Jesus, suddenly the net is full. And there are people with you in the journey to help pull up the net. Jesus provides.

Fishing can be solitary. Time to think. Jesus loved these quiet times. And made a path to find these times.












Hello Father God,

I am praying for my arm today. I had a lump in September that looked like a mosquito bite. And it went away. And was gone in January, I remembered to look. Now the lump is back and was 2 inches by 1 inch. The Lord is Good, the next thing I knew I had a spider bite right on the lump. Today the lump is 1 inch by an inch. Isabelle was born and her arm stopped right at this point. My son realized his arm has a place at this point too. My cousins in Baton Rouge have an arm that quit like Isabelle's. A child was born to them without a left hand as well.

My son and I both had Ganglions on the wrist that were troublesome. People have witnessed Ganglions move like Diplomas.

I believe all things are possible in Father God, and I am hoping for a complete healing. The thing went away before.

We lift up Edward, that he might have all his facilities, and end very well. Like Isabelle did with her beautiful, "I see Jesus" smile. We all have a day in the Book of Life called the Day of the Lord, our day to have eternal life and go Home. I pray for Edward that he gets to see Heaven not as an invalid, but as a man blessed to have his brain fed from his soul.

We pray for the people we Love to have the joy of this coming Life. God's framework feeding them on this journey, helping us to understand when the winds of life howl, when life has lag times calling for endurance - the framework of God is like the Exodus, we have to have the faith and do the work of presenting our soul back to God. Father God, cover those I love with Your name and Your guidance. That Mississippi River of Life is steady and reliable, and then is not. Help us to have loving, wisdom inside of us.

Bless the people You have given us. Let us communicate with diligence and joy.

Bless our work places to become meaningful life opportunities where God is loved and goodness happens daily. Bless our children's school with the same Joy. Let our light for Christ Shine.

We pray for Your willing favor and direction. For our Churches, communities, neighborhoods, city, counties and states. The Light of God be welcomed. Come Lord Jesus. And give You thanks for the strength You give Your people to do their lives.

Thank You God we do not beg for You to act, we know that Your Will and wisdom are amazing. In Jesus. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †