Thursday 111424
Don’t let me or my writings influence or scare you in any way, instead, allow me to be used as a vessel to open the Word, just a little bit, and hopefully, together we are going to read and study His Word, and let God teach us what He wants us to hear.
So, as we work through our study, we MUST remember the two ground rules:
1st we’re only going to read and follow the words that we can find in the Holy Bible that are meant for us today.
2nd we’re only going to take away from this study, what we put into it. We need to open our Bible and read it every day. We need to teach ourselves what is the truth and arm ourselves against all the lies that we are confronted with every day.
Here are the verses we will be using in tonight’s study:
Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 5:17, 15:24-28; Ephesians 2:1-22.
So, let’s begin …
This study tonight is going to be an arm-wrestling match. Let me explain. When Jesus walked this earth, He came to fulfill the Old Testament promises.
Here are some readings …
Isaiah 7:14 ‘…Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel…’ KJV (King James Version.
Matthew 5:17 ‘…Do not think that I came to do away with or undo the Law [of Moses] or the [writings of the] Prophets; I did not come to destroy but to fulfill…’ AMP (The Amplified Bible)
This verse in Isaiah has been estimated to have been written somewhere in the 7th century before the birth of Christ, between 640 and 609 BCE.
The Old Testament is full of the prophesy of Jesus.
Matthew 5:17 is part of the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus spoke around 28 A.D.
God’s promise of GRACE to us Gentile’s didn’t happen until Saul was on his way to Damascus to capture the early church believers and take them prisoners and back to Rome.
Our promise of GRACE from God to us Gentile’s, was after Jesus was crucified.
The dating for Jesus’ crucifixion is estimated to be around 28 – 29 A.D.
The dating for the stoning death of Stephen was 32 – 34 A.D.
The Date of the vision when Jesus came to Saul on the road to Damascus was 34 – 36 A.D.
Our promise for GRACE has been estimated to have been made between the years 34 – 36 A.D.
Jesus did not come to save us Gentile’s, but He did come to teach us all, Jews and Gentile’s about FAITH.
In these next verses, we can see that Jesus came, only for the House of Israel, the Jew; but by continuing to read, we can see how Jesus healed the Gentile woman because of her FAITH, and it didn’t matter what her religion was.
Matthew 15
vs24 ‘…But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel…’
vs25 ‘…Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me…’
vs26 ‘…But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs…’
vs27 ‘…And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table…’
vs28 ‘…Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour…’ KJV (King James Version)
Taken from a newer version …
vs24 ‘…But He answered and said, I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel…’
vs25 ‘…Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, Lord, help me…’
vs26 ‘…But He answered and said, It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs…’
vs27 ‘…And she said, Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table…’
vs28 ‘…Then Jesus answered and said to her, O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire. And her daughter was healed from that very hour…’ NKJV (New King James Version)
We have been given GRACE by God Himself, to allow us entry into an Everlasting Life for eternity.
The entire chapter 2 of Ephesians is a joy to read.
vs1 ‘…Remember how you lived before. You did wrong things and bad things. As a result, you were dead in your spirits…’
vs2 ‘…You lived in a bad way, like the people who belong to this world. You were obeying Satan, who rules the powerful spirits in the air. Those spirits are working now in everyone who refuses to obey God…’
vs3 ‘…At one time, all of us lived like those people. We did whatever bad things our bodies wanted to do. If our thoughts made us want to do something, we did it. Because we were like that, God was angry with us. He should have punished us, just like everyone else…’
vs4 ‘…But God is very good and kind! He loved us very much…’
vs5 ‘…Because of our sins, we were dead in our spirits. But God gave us a new life, because we are united with Christ. Yes, God has saved you because he is so kind…’
vs6 ‘…Also, God raised us up with Christ, so that we now sit with Christ in heaven. God has done this for us because we are united with Christ Jesus…’
vs7 ‘…He wanted to show, for all future time, how very kind he is. He has helped us so much because of what Christ Jesus has done…’
vs8 ‘…When you believed in Jesus, God saved you because he is very kind. You could not save yourselves, but that is God’s gift to you…’
vs9 ‘…He has not saved you as a result of any good things that you have done. So nobody has any reason to be proud about it…’
vs10 ‘…It is God who has worked in us to make us what we are. He has given us a new life because we are united with Christ Jesus. He saved us so that now we can do good things in our lives. Those are good things that he has already prepared for us to do…’
Christ has brought Jews and Gentiles together
vs11 ‘…So you who were born as Gentiles should remember what you were like before. Jews insulted you because nobody has circumcised you. They themselves are proud that men have circumcised them as God’s people…’
vs12 ‘…At that time, you did not know about Christ, God’s special Messiah. You did not belong to the nation of Israel’s people. You did not know about the good things that God had promised to his people. You were living in this world with nothing good to hope for. You were living without God’s help…’
vs13 ‘…You were far away from God. But now, God has brought you near to himself, because you belong to Christ Jesus. That is possible because of Christ’s death on the cross as a sacrifice…’
vs14 ‘…It is Christ himself who has brought peace between Jews and Gentiles. He has brought those two groups together, to be one group. He has destroyed the things that made them separate. As a result, they are no longer enemies…’
vs15 ‘…When his body died on the cross, Christ took away the power of the Jewish laws and rules. In that way, he made the two groups join together as one new group of people. As a result, he caused them to have peace…’
vs16 ‘…As a single group, Christ brought Jews and Gentiles back to God. He stopped them from hating each other. He did this by his death on the cross…’
vs17 ‘…When Christ came, he told people God’s good news about peace. He told that message to you Gentiles, who were far away from God. He also told it to us Jews, who were near to God…’
vs18 ‘…Now we all have received the same Holy Spirit, because of what Christ has done for us. As a result, we can all come near to God the Father…’
vs19 ‘…So now, you Gentiles are not strangers among God’s people any more. You belong to the group of God’s people that he rules. You belong to God’s family, as all God’s people do…’
vs20 ‘…You are like a house that God is building for himself. God’s apostles and his prophets are like the foundation under the house. Jesus Christ is like the most important stone in the house…’
vs21 ‘…He makes the whole building stand together strongly. In that way, all God’s people together become like a special house that belongs to the Lord…’
vs22 ‘…Because you belong to Christ, God is building you all together to become his house. That is where God lives by his Spirit…’ EASY (Easy English Bible)
The arm wrestling in study is from the Bible itself. There are writings in the Word that were meant solely for the House of Israel, the Jews (the Old Testament). There are writings in the Word showing that Jesus came only for the House of Israel, the Jews (the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), however in these books there are lesson showing us Gentile’s the strength of having FAITH in Jesus. And then finally, there are the writings of Paul, the apostle chosen by Jesus Himself to teach us Gentiles.
Paul is our teacher (us Gentile’s). He is the apostle that Jesus chose for us Gentile’s. The remainder of the Bible is there for a purpose, but it isn’t for us to follow since we are not from the House of Israel. I have used the analogy that the Old Testaments and the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), are to us Gentile’s, a road map, a guide through this world’s history. It is to teach us about the poor decisions made by earlier generations of people and to help keep us from following their bad decisions.
It is kind of funny to me, the history of the United States is being torn down and destroyed by individuals that do not even know what knowledge is available from documented facts in history. This knowledge is NOT meant to be destroyed; it is there so the bad is NEVER followed again.
It would have been amazing to me to have been on the face of this earth back when Jesus’ ministry was here on this earth with us; but, because I am a Gentile, in Jesus’ day, I would have had limited access to Him.
But today, in the Days of Grace, given to us by God Himself, I am free to spend my entire day in His Word searching those mysterious messages that have been left for those of us that continue to inquire them.
Open your Bibles and study the Word that God has made available to us. Jesus came to this earth to destroy the religion that prevented His chosen, LIFE because they listened to what other men chose to be everyone’s future. Learn from the past and don’t allow someone else to control your life; don’t allow someone else to keep you girdled into walking a line that they want followed. Open the Bible for yourself and learn what Jesus has done for you. Be a witness for Him and help others see what has been written down, documented history is only revealed when it is seen with our own eyes.
I love you all. Jesus loves you ALL.
Jesus, I pray that those ears and eyes, either listening or seeing this message today would be opened to the very fullest and allow Your love to come inside their lives and comfort them. Teach us Jesus. Protect us. We love You. Amen.
InHIM. ><)))o>