Walking Through The New Testament

Forgive others and Peace will come quickly.

John 20:19-23 (NIV)

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Peace and Forgiveness. Forgiveness brings Peace, and Peace brings Forgiveness. That is the word of our Father, and His Son Jesus Christ.

The ultimate act of forgiveness was acted out through the gift of Jesus to us. He lived and died as a man. He now is our great advocate in Heaven, seated next to the Father. In this position, Jesus speaks on our behalf every day of our lives. He speaks to the Father in order that we can walk in freedom. Freedom from sin.

As He breathed the Holy Spirit onto the Disciples, He gave us the power of God. We were given all of His abilities and gifts, plus more. With this gift of the Holy Spirit, we are to walk empowered and righteous. We are not to walk in fear.

Our knowledge of this world does not matter. It is only the knowledge that we know not of God’s plan that brings us Hope, Faith, and Love.

Everything rides on Hope now.
Everything rides on Faith somehow.
When the world is bringing me down,
Your Love sets me free. #JesusSaves

Amen
DK

Let go of the flesh…

John 20:11-18 (NIV)

11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

At this time, Jesus had not yet ascended. His instructions were not to hold on to Him…yet. Once He ascends, we are then to hold tight to Him. That time is now!

We are to hold on to Jesus with all of our sttength. A strength built through Faith in the Risen Son of Man. The risen Son of God. He was instructing us to not hold on to the flesh. Instead, the Holy Spirit is what we should hold on to. The Risen Son seated at the right hand of the Father. The great arbitrator for us. The great communicator to God as to who we are.

It was Jesus that cane down from Heaven to rescue us from sin. That work was done when He gathered all of our sins and removed them from is forever. It is Jesus that commands us to let go of not only His flesh and bone, but our own. We are to release and surrender ourselves to Him. It is His great gift by which we are redeemed and made whole and pure through the belief in His death and resurrection.

He knows it is hard. He sits with us as we wade through the long tangly weeds of sin. He understands our pkight. He went through the thickest of it and has come out the other side with wounds to prove it. This is not an easy life. It is a life filled with equal measures of pain and blessedness.

Hold on to His instruction. Hold on to His gift. Hold on to our Savior Jesus Christ. His work is finished. Carry the burden as He did, forever knowing that His plan is perfect and tailored made for each of us. Believe that….#JesusSaves

Amen
DK

He is Risen…

John 20:1-9 (NIV)

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

Running. Running to see what had happened at the tomb of Jesus. The questions must’ve been bouncing in their heads as they ran to where He was laid to rest. We cab be sure that doubt was accompanying them on their way.

Jesus had told them, but was it true. As men, as mere humans, they doubted. They did love Jesus with all of their hearts, but could this actually be? Could Jesus truly have been the Messiah. All through their walk with Jesus they had questions and made mistakes. The Disciples had stumbled and fallen, tripped and fumbled, doubted and cried, yet could this have really happened?

I can see them scratching their heads standing at the tomb, staring at each other in amazement or perhaps dumbfounded. Who knows truly what they felt. God does.

The plan was being fulfilled right before their eye. The stone rolled away not for Jesus to get out, but for man to believe. Sight is a powerful thing for us you see. Sight can rule us, if we let it. You must know, however, that Jesus did not wok in the rational human world. Jesus was active in the strongest faith to ever exist. He was God on earth. Creator in the flesh. His plan is perfect. 

Jesus is Risen! He lives now. He sits at the right hand of the Father, in preparation for His coming. He is coming. As this world edges closer and closer to His arrival, it will begin to fall apart. But do not be afraid and do not let your sight deceive you. The Son of Man returns for all who believe. #JesusSaves

Amen
Dk

Are you ready to help?

John 19:38-42 (NIV)

38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.[e] 40 Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

The special care and preparation of Jesus’ body for burial is amazing. Even more amazing, it was done and taken care of by two men who secretly loved and believed in Jesus. Two men strategically placed around Jesus at this very time to ensure that the Son of Man would be taken care of properly in accordance with prophecy.

These two men, Joseph of Aramatheia and Nicodemus must have felt inadequate, unqualified, less than sure and pure believers in Jesus, and a bit wretched that they dizzy nothing to tey and stop what had just happened. Yet, they were chosen for one the most important jobs in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. These two men, ordinary men who struggled with belief and faith in Christ. Men who questioned the motives and truth of Jesus, we’re chosen by God to be a part of the most amazing event ever recorded in history.

So, let’s shift our attention to you and your job in the life and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Have you ever felt inadequate? Unqualified? Like a wretch? Join the club. We all have. But here is the beauty of that feeling. It means that Jesus has plans for you. That He is ready to use you to spread Kingdom Love. Ultimate and infinite forgiveness for all sin, provided you repent and believe in Him. It’s that easy. Joseph and Nicodemus did it, and they were under far more pressure than we could imagine. You ready?  #JesusSaves

Amen
DK

John 19:28-37 (NIV)

28 Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 35 The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. 36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,”[c] 37 and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”[d]

The scene is incredible. In order for us to truly believe, we have been given accounts. We have been given the testimonies of those that saw Jesus die in the cross. The testimonies come from all walks of life. Family, friends, and onlookers have played a part in this life saving act performed by Jesus Christ. Jesus is dead at this point. His body lifeless hangs on the cross.

In order for prophecy to be fulfilled to the letter of the Word contained in the Old Testament, Jesus had to die. He knew exactly what would happen, and where it would happen. He knew how it all would start. He knew how it would end. What a great Finisher Jesus is. He went through with it. Temptation after temptation were thrown His way, and He prevailed. He prevailed for all of us.

The only requirement…is our heart. We must love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind. We must love ourselves, and we must profess that love for ourselves through the way that we love our neighbors. That is the requirement. Love.

As we love and believe in Jesus, He takes us and leads us for the rest of our lives. He will bring people to help you and for you to help. You are to be a conduit of His love for you. You become a mighty link in the Christian chain of human existence. You then have real purpose. Begin today to walk with the love of the Father through Jesus Christ. He gave His perfect life for you and me. #JesusSaves

Amen
DK