Some Jesus Things

Free Shipping

Free Shipping is a marketing ploy designed to make people think they are getting a great deal. In reality the shipping cost is merely built into the product price. Hidden and not Free.

I know some of you are saying, “Duh.” While others are saying, “Really! Tell me it isn’t so.” Still others are saying, “That’s just wrong.”

Most people are not fooled by this obvious ‘shell game’ played with shipping costs. This does allow the keen shopper to know the item’s cost upfront. This can streamline purchases without having to log into a website, enter a shipping address; only to find out that the shipping cost is higher than the item up for sale.

The reality is; the shipping has to be paid before an item can be delivered. It costs time, fuel, and materials. Somebody has to pay the cost!

The Day Jesus Dreads

People all over the world are quite familiar with the Easter holiday and what is represents. Believers are especially aware of the enormous sacrifice that our Savior endured on the Cross at Golgotha.

And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. (John 19:17-18)

Believers also know that this was not The End. Jesus rose again triumphant over death as the way to eternal life.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. (John 11:25)

Another commonly know fact is that Jesus was in great agony in the Garden of Gethsemane before He went to the cross. Even to the point of sweating great drops of blood.

And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. (Luke 22:44)

Great drops of Blood

It is often taught that Jesus sweat blood because of His anxiety or trepidation over the pain of torture He would endure. While this is true; it is only a half truth. Jesus certainly knew the horrors He would face as evidenced in the book of John.

Wanted: Jawbone of an Ass for Israel

Uh oh here we go again! This time Obama is sending Israel in search of a ‘Jawbone of an ass’ to fight with. He has set up the modern-day Philistines in a position to regain wealth and weapons. Yea! This sounds like a great idea! ‘NOT’

He accomplished this with his Iran nuclear deal. It’s great that he secured the release of five American prisoners as a part of the deal. But, “Has he made a Deal with the Devil?”

How long did Jesus Preach?

The most widely accepted answer is, 3 ½ years. Another school of thought is that, according to the Jewish feast cycles; it could have only been 1 year from His springtime baptism by John during Passover, to His following springtime crucifixion at the following Passover.

Unholy Holy Water?

What comes to your mind when you think of holy water? Is it water to be truly reverenced as Holy? Is it water that is consecrated or set apart that has been infused with power from God? Or is it water that has been blessed to be used as a tool thrown on the demonically possessed for exorcism?

Ponder this as you read the rest of this article…. “Is there really any such thing as Holy Water today?”

There is only one place in the entire bible where water is referenced as being Holy.קָדוֹש Strongs H6918 Transliteration: qadosh Phonetic Spelling: (kaw-doshe’) Defined as: Sacred, Holy.

Striving or Strife?

There are those who thrive on strife. Constantly finding fault, nitpicking, bickering, starting trouble, making mountains out of mole hills, and trying to making their senseless issues yours. They live and thrive on the chaos. The more commotion going on the more they can spread strife and enjoy the adrenaline of the struggle.

This type of person has to constantly have some kind of issue in their life to feed their discontentment. This is how they hide the corruption that comes from within, so they do not have to face themselves.

These are the same ones who complain the most. Exclaiming, “It’s not my fault, woe is me!”

These people can not handle a peaceful, quiet, calm, and serene lifestyle. A lifestyle that seeks the peaceful rest of God. (Hebrews 4:9-11)

Strife can manifest its ugly head equally oppressing heathens, atheists, and Believers alike. For the Christian it is detrimental to the process of spiritual maturity and sanctification; requiring obedience to live in contentment and harmony with God or man.

Why Kick the Goads?

This begs the question… What are goads? A goad is made from a length of wood, blunt on one end and pointed on the other. A goad is used to urge reluctant animals into motion.

In bible times ‘to kick against the goads‘ was a common expression typically referring to an ox lashing out and kicking back against the herder’s prodding. The more the beast would kick; the greater the likelihood the goad would stab into the flesh causing pain.

Jesus stated to Saul on the road to Damascus, “It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” (Acts 9:5) Why would Jesus make such a statement and how was Saul kicking against the goads?

Spiritual Hard Drive

I was forced to replaced the hard drive in my laptop. The Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology or SMART for short, began reporting errors. Smart is a software diagnostic routine built into a hard drive’s firmware.

This ‘SMART’ technology monitors the health of a hard disk by running tests that can give indicators of not only the health; but also of impending failures inside the hard disk itself.

This little jaunt into replacing a disk drive sounds simple enough; but, this does not even begin to expound upon the fear and anguish of losing the countless daunting hours of work and information contained within my hard drive.

As you can deduce, I and my Data obviously survived the ordeal, as I am currently writing this on the same laptop. Now, with a new solid state hybrid disk drive.

You might be asking, “What does this have to do with God?” Why, Thank you for asking! My mind was quickened to this technology depended world we live in.

Without Hindrance

Abraham Lincoln said, “God must have loved the common man for He made so many of them.” I believe Mr. Lincoln was pretty close to the truth. I tend to think of people as uniquely individual with common traits.

It is the superstars and supermodels that are uncommon or abnormal. The world’s media and ‘BIG Money’ have unfairly idolized these individuals and set them upon pedestals built out of greed. Satan has set-up a fraudulent world value system, veiling the truth from actual reality.

The Serpent goes to Church

Most Christians think of church as a place where Christians unite in fellowship at specific times; a safe haven for the lost and spiritually wounded. A place of comfort and rejuvenation. Holy ground where one can find sanctuary from the malevolence of Satan spread to a malignant carnal world.

WRONG! Satan goes to church religiously. God, Adam, and Eve dwelt in Paradise; in a unity of fellowship in the Garden of Eden. Satan ‘in the form of a serpent’ nefariously slips right into the middle of this small congregation of three. This is where Satan launched his quest of relentlessly speaking lies of doubt, dissension, deception, heresy, blasphemy, and apostasy into the ears and hearts of mankind.

Look What Happened!

A broken window, a bent fender, or a dog loose from the yard. These situations can sometimes be attributed to accidental causes.

It is usually the person who is at fault calling it an accident; while the person effected would more than likely call it negligent disregard.

These perceived perspectives point the pathways which direct each persons moral compass of right from wrong.

For example an accidental gunshot victim caused by someone target shooting. Anyway you want to slice the truth up to dissect an answer. This fact will always remain constant. The shooter shot the victim.

A more common example might be; you go home and find the house a mess. The kids, dog, and spouse are nowhere to be found. What happened? Was it a burglary, kids rough housing, dog chewing up the house, or did your spouse go crazy?

Rainbow White House with Jesus Teardrop of Blood

America, a Not So Holy Land

Everywhere I turn, headlines in the news showcase another instance proving the moral and spiritual degradation of man.

It’s like a ‘one-two punch’ evidencing bible prophesy. The sad part: This new news is still old news that has been going on since the creation of man.

Here in America we have recently made Sodom and Gomorrah look like a romp through preschool. We have graduated, within all forms of sexual immorality and sins to the status of socially acceptable and legal unions of marriage.

That’s Just Too Easy

My wife and I love gardening. Not the work so much; but, the reward of all the beautiful flowers, foliage, and hardscape which creates an environment that enriches our lives.

Hard work is the vehicle through which our appreciation and nurturing love is fully comprehended. If all we had to do was just snap our fingers and ‘poof’ it was done; our adoration wouldn’t be as intense and real. That’s just too easy.

This is often how Christians expect their salvation experience to be. Thinking, “Now I live on Easy Street. God will take care of everything.” Many unwilling to put in the necessary work to realize maturity in sanctification.

Pleasures of Sin

Let’s face it! If there were not some sort of pleasure or immediate gratification in sin; nobody would do it. The reality of sin is that it starts off giving us what we want, while decomposing our health and happiness in the end.

There is no long-term joy or sustainable pleasures in sin. Sin demands that you keep coming back for more. Ultimately the pleasure found in the beginning passes forever, with no way to get it back. That first high, first drink, first sexual encounter, or the rush of doing something you know to be wrong and got away with.

Define Friend

In this age of social media the term ‘Friend’ has been severely watered down. The goal is no longer quality but quantity. Nowadays people run around bragging about how many Friends, Likes, or Followers they have. The underlying goal at these social sites is raw numbers for self-gratification not human connection.

Can a person really have tens of thousands of Friends, that are worthwhile? Can a person give the proper attention, respect, and love to that many?

It is impossible to honestly maintain so many quality relationships. This is not friendship. This is networking and self-indulgence. This is just simply acting friendly for personal gain.

For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. (James 3:16)

When I was growing up my parents taught me, “If you can count all your true friends on one hand, you can count yourself as lucky.”

A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24)

The Dead Tree Scrolls

Springtime in Colorado can be hard on trees. The sap rises as trees begin to leaf-out. The danger comes from the wet, heavy, springtime snow storms that add hundreds of pounds of weight to these moisture laden branches. Inevitably something has got to give; more often than not, it is the tree that yields to the weight of the snow.

This can spell disaster or opportunity, depending on the individual circumstances for the tree and also where they fall. This spring has spelled both for me.

Pressurized Faith

There was an ancient Greek inventor and mathematician named Ctesibius (Greek: Κτησίβιος; 285–222 BC). Ctesibius is credited with writing the first dissertation on the science of compressed air and its uses in pumps. Ctesibius is not only credited with inventing both air and water pumps, he even invented an air operated cannon of war.

His realization of air as a tangible substance with elastic properties earned him the title of “father of pneumatics.” I’d say this was some pretty phenomenal thinking for a man whose profession was really a barber.

Ctesibius was able to think “outside of the box”. He took a common unseen substance called air and put it to work in our lives. This unseen substance breathed to sustain life, could now be used in a way people could wrap their minds around. Air could be seen and used in a tangible way.

Air Your Faith

Now…wrap your mind around this: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

I challenge you to air out your faith. Realize that your faith has substance like the air you breath. God has given to each of us a measure of faith. Take it out and use it.

A Widow’s Oil Well

In the Old Testament, Elisha was Elijah’s student. Elisha is the prophet who seceded Elijah. His succession began when Elijah was taken up into heaven in a chariot of fire by a whirlwind into heaven (2 Kings 2:11). Elisha picked up Elijah’s mantle went and struck it on the waters of the Jordan River and said, “Where is the Lord the God of Elijah?” (2 Kings 2:14). The water parted and Elisha crossed over to embark on his service as a prophet of God.

Elisha, son of Shaphat, was a prophet from Abel Meholah in Gilead. He lived in the northern Kingdom of Israel during the reigns of Jehoram, Jehu, Jehoahaz and Jehoash.

Elijah called Elisha to be his apprentice in (1 Kings 19:19-21) during the reign of King Ahab 7th King of Israel. Elisha died in (2 Kings 13:20) in the reign of King Jehoash the 12th King of Israel 798 BC-782 BC. Elisha’s ministry lasted over 50 years.

Elisha is from the Hebrew name אֱלִישַׁע (‘Elisha’), a contracted form of אֱלִישׁוּעַ (‘Elishu’a) meaning “my God is salvation”.

Bad Things and Good People

It is often asked, “Why do bad things happen to good Christian people?” Many Believers struggle with circumstances seemingly beyond their own control. Looking hard into the mirror of their souls desperately trying to find an answer.

I am not talking about a situation such as Job’s tribulations. Job’s circumstances were a testing that proved Satan wrong. (Job 1:8,22)

I am, referring to those who are upright in character and obedient to the Lord. Those who honestly can not account for any unrepentant or grievous sin that warrants God’s discipline or invites an attack by Satan.

When sin is committed it is not only a sin against God but a sin against man. This means that sin has a ripple effect, touching more that just the sinner in the epicenter of the sin.

The Last Breakfast

Yes! You read it right. ‘The Last Breakfast.’ Most Believers are all too familiar with the Last Supper, but often overlook the importance of the ‘Last Breakfast’ the disciples shared on the shores of Galilee before Christ’s ascension to the Father.

Several apotheosized events happened during the Last supper. Jesus foretold of His suffering and crucifixion death for the kingdom of God (Luke 22:15-16). Believers everywhere faithfully observe Passover and Communion in remembrance of our beloved Savior. During this same meal Jesus revealed Judas Iscariot’s betrayal (Matthew 26:21-24), and foretold of Peter’s denial (Luke 22:34).

An often overlooked lesson learned during the evening of the Last Supper was when Jesus taught the principles of servant-hood as He washed His disciples’ feet: But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves. (Luke 22:26-27)

You might be asking, “What is; And what does this have to do with the Last Breakfast?” Keep this question in mind while I add some more ingredients to deepen the flavor of this spiritual food.