Jesus - CHRISTIAN REP

The Key To Everything

Rose — Wed, 11 Nov 2015 03:32:48 +0000

Christ is the key that unlocks the mystery of history.

Poetic, isn’t it? The quote above, in part, is from a German theologian. After writing more than 17,000 pages on the Bible and Christ these are his concluding thoughts.

The key to everything is Jesus Christ. If you leave him out the box remains locked, the mystery still a mystery, the reason for our existence still uncertain.

Jesus himself told the religious leaders, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;” That’s either the most arrogant thing ever said or the most profound truth ever revealed.

Your response to Christ is the most important decision you will ever make.

Years ago I spent some time with the great Major Ian Thomas. He was a wonderful man of God, crusty to be sure, but he loved the Lord. Once, before he spoke, I made the mistake of asking him, “What are you going to talk about tonight?”

He replied, with a bit of irritation, “I’m going to talk about Jesus, what else is there to talk about?”

And he’s right.

In the last book of the bible these words begin the text, “The revelation of Jesus Christ.” In five words we get a hint to the theme of this last book, to the entire bible, and in this book revelations about Jesus are in nearly every chapter. It’s about him. He’s the key to everything!

Without Christ, without knowing him, life remains a mystery. Without him we have no purpose, no meaning, no reason for being.

Jesus Christ is the key to everything. Do you know him?

Visit Mike at Finishing Well.

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Insulting Muhammad

Mike Messerli — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 04:01:17 +0000

I’m a Christian.

I believe that Jesus is God in flesh, the only savior, the only provision of God for man’s sin.

Islam would tell me I have committed shirk. It’s the unpardonable sin of associating anyone with God.

I get that. But I truly believe the bible teaches that Jesus is God, the second person of the Trinity.

On many theological issues I disagree with Islam dramatically. I know the issues. I have taught courses on Islam. I have read much of the Quran and studied it to know what Islam teaches.

I really love the Muslim people. They are, for the most part, sincere passionate people of faith. To the best of their ability they are living for and obeying the God they know.

So why would I, a Christian, insult Muhammad? Why would I say something negative about a man my Muslim friend considers a prophet of God? How would those statements help me relate to another person I believe God really loves?

I wouldn’t! I couldn’t insult their prophet. It serves no helpful purpose except to inflame and divide even more. I truly believe that God loves the Muslim people and many millions are finding Christ as savior each year. God is working with these sincere God seekers…he’s drawing them to him.

For me, a Christian, to insult a man they revere would only grieve the God I serve. Instead, can I tell you more about my wonderful savior, Jesus Christ?

He is so amazing, so wonderful, he loves you and cares more for you than you will ever know. And, as the Quran says, one day he is coming back to judge the world.

Can I tell you more about my wonderful Jesus?

Visit Mike at Finishing Well.

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Peace, Peace….Oh For Peace

Rose — Tue, 16 Dec 2014 00:51:08 +0000

The world we live in is filled with anger, rage, violence and pain.

We look for peace, long for peace, but fail to find it.

We call for tolerance, but it eludes us.

How can we find that one thing we all want, desire and need….peace?

As I’ve watched the events in my own country in the last weeks I grieve over lost lives, broken hearts and bitterness of soul that has made peace, forgiveness and love more elusive than ever.

But, there is a passage of scripture that offers the solution to all of this. It’s a difficult passage, in fact it’s impossible. It means we have to set our own desires, our own wishes aside and put others ahead of ourselves. It’s impossible without the help of God.

It’s impossible unless we humble ourselves and put others first.

Here’s how Jesus described this life that can change everything,

“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic.

Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that.

And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full.

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Can you imagine how our world would change if we treated each other in this way? But it goes against all that is in us. We each put ourselves first, we each want “our rights”…we all want what’s fair, but this is an invitation to a way of life that sets all that aside and says that you are more important than I am.

Without God’s help that’s impossible, but imagine a world where this is the way everyone lives…..

…..I think you might call it heaven.

Visit Mike at Finishing Well.

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Baggage

Mike Messerli — Fri, 10 May 2013 15:28:15 +0000

“Life is largely a matter of luggage.” -Frank Boreham, The Luggage of life

I’m always amazed at how much we are willing to carry with us that is completely unnecessary.

We are masters at gathering baggage.

The burden of the load slows our journey, distracts our minds and confuses our relationships.

John Bunyan wrote about baggage in his work Pilgrim’s Progress.

George Carlin talked about it in a comedy routine.

No matter who we are we find a way to carry our lives around with us. Often it’s emotional baggage we have accumulated over the years. Unforgiveness. Anger. Hurts. Old memories of wrongs done. Pain. And the list could continue for pages. But have you noticed that it’s always the negatives that become baggage? It’s all the hurts of life that weigh us down. The pain that handicaps us.

The good that God intended has no weight at all. Joy is light as a feather. Happiness lifts us up rather than weighing us down. Peace carries its own load and helps us along the way. Kindness refreshes the weary traveler. Love makes the impossible possible once more. Mercy energizes. Grace empowers. The things God wants us to put in our backpacks help us on the way and have no weight to load us down. It’s only when we carry the results of sin that the weight and struggles begin.

That’s the invitation Jesus extended. “Come unto me….” It’s found in Matthew 11-12 if you want to read it. His invitation is to make the journey without all the baggage of the world in tow. When will we realize that this journey was meant to be a wonderful adventure with God instead of a grueling journey to be endured? When will we get rid of all that weighs us down and pick up the things that make the journey a joy?

I wonder sometimes about our fascination with baggage. It’s as if we have to hold onto something. I even see it in death. We are so reluctant to let go of this life. We want to hold onto all the junk we have accumulated, but find in the end that it’s just that….junk. I wonder if we will ever realize we have become a race of junk collectors….glad to carry the burdens of our trash instead of enjoying the blessings God provides.

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Cornerstone – Hillsong

Rose — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 01:56:42 +0000

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes’? – Matthew 21:42

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Alone

Mike Messerli — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 13:59:27 +0000

One of the grim realities of life is that we are alone. In the middle of a busy city with others all around we are alone.

…

This “aloneness” is one of the results of the fall, but is mostly ignored by writers. We simply don’t talk about it. Man, designed to be in constant relationship with God who made him is now thrust into the world empty, alone, isolated. Even with thousands around us we all have sensed this truth…we are alone.

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In God’s amazing plan of redemption his intentions were to deal with more than one problem in the cross. Clearly the Christian world knows about his resolution of the sin issue. Without a doubt we all know about God’s redemption accomplished by Christ, the forgiveness of sin, the restored relationship, the promise of eternity, but what we don’t talk about is the resolution of man’s isolation problem.

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Part of God’s plan in redemption was to bring us back into a relationship with him. We use those words so easily, but don’t realize what they mean. One of our major problems caused by sin is our isolation. We are alone! God’s plans included the restoration of how he designed us to be. His plans included the repair of this breach. Here is what Jesus says about this plan,

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John 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.’ 22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, ‘But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?’ 23 Jesus replied, ‘If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

…

“We will come to him and make our home with him.” Did you see that? In God’s amazing plan of salvation he also plans to resolve our aloneness. He resolves it by coming to us and living with us. Suddenly, we are no longer alone. In a moment of time the great ache of the heart is resolved. Human beings, designed to be in constant fellowship with God, through Christ, are restored to that relationship. God with us, living in us, our hope of glory. This truth is profound and immensely important. If we miss this we miss all that God has done. No longer alone….what an amazing and wonderful part of God’s redemptive work.

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Hell’s Best Kept Secret

Rose — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 04:15:49 +0000

Hells Best Kept Secret by Ray Comfort This message was first preached in August 1982.

Use this for inspiration and equipping you to be a Christian who is fulfilling the Great Commission!

Matt 28:16-20

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Download (PDF, 80KB)

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Let The Children Come

Rose — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 21:56:29 +0000

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14

As Jesus said above, let the children come. I believe He also meant for them to be born…and so does the Brown family.

Watch this inspiring video about their incredible daughter, Pearl, and her daily challenges to beat the ‘odds’ the doctors gave her before birth.

Also, visit the family website at Pearl Joy Brown to follow their journey of faith in their baby girl and in Jesus!

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Hope In Emptiness

Marie — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 23:26:58 +0000

I love that with the Resurrection there is hope in hopeless situations.

I love that even though it looks like things will end, that the beginning is right there in Christ, A new beginning in Christ. I love that when I feel that all is lost, the SONrise will remind me that the day can be even brighter when I choose to focus on HIM.

I love the joy we have in knowing that the gift of the cross is open and available for anyone who seeks peace that passes all understanding.

As we follow Jesus all the Way, This is my prayer for each of US

Lord, help us not to:

Focus on those that hurt me or use me for their gain. Even when I “thought” they were true friends. (Luke 6:28 Bless them that curse you and pray for them which despitefully use you)

Focus on how it looks like I’m not reaping from the goodness I’ve sown, when I’m so very blessed even though it’s not financial.

Focus on the impossibility because I know that with God all things are possible.

Focus on the why’s, the doubts or fears because I know to do so limits the good that I can do for the Lord.

Focus on the pain that engulfs my heart sometimes because in doing so, it blinds me from noticing and helping others that are hurting.

Focus on the famous because when I do, I lose sight of the forgotten ones that you bled and died for.

Focus on being powerful and mighty and just simply remain available for anything that you have for our life.

Focus on our inefficiencies but rather wrap my heart around the fact that I can do all things through Christ because HE strengthens me.

Focus on the past, because it will bog down my future with guilt, shame and keep me from pressing towards the great things God will do through me….right HERE, right NOW.

Lord, do help us to keep our eyes on YOU and to remain hopeful right in the middle of the impossible, because of the Empty Grave.

Remember:

Because of the empty grave, there is hope in emptiness.

Keep your eyes on the Lord. Hopelessness will try to consume you at some point in your life, but look to the empty tomb, and the hope in the Resurrection of Christ and know that He loves you enough to take on death, hell and your fears for you.

Don’t focus on fear or failure. Focus on the Father.

Yes, I will
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWm5QmjXKyo

In Christ Alone
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rInAgpnmMnA

I will Follow
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0myWuADYea8
Marie Wikle the Founder and President of Spreading Joy Corporation wants to empower everyone to make a difference and give without guilt.
Here is a personal Warm Welcome to Spreading Joy. You’ll find links to interviews, no cost ways to make a difference and other things that are guaranteed to bring a smile to your heart.

We want to rise above the discouragement of high prices, the obstacle of dead ends and the disappointment of our comfort zone. We want to be the change that is so desperately needed.

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Kissed By Jesus – Rick Pino

Rose — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 01:16:46 +0000

You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you.

Song of Solomon 4:7

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