Jeremiah, Daniel, and...Jesus? What's the connection between the three?

Jeremiah, Daniel, and Jesus? What’s the connection? Dare I say this generation too?

Good evening all:

God spoke something pretty intense to me today!  I thought I would share this with you, my friends of all states, nations, and ethnicities:


Daniel 9:24: “Seventy sevens are set for your people and for your holy city to throttle rebellion, stop sin, wipe out crime, set things right forever, confirm what the prophet saw, and anoint The Holy of Holies.”


To give you a little context, Daniel had just prayed a prayer asking what the truths and treasures were of Jeremiah’s prayer seventy years prior.  Since this prayer by Daniel was near seventy years since Jeremiah’s encounter with God, he was simply wanting to know the significance and what was about to come.  At the time, people were very content with the state of the temple and it was in fluxed with horrid sin, desolation, and other horrid connotations.  Daniel was looking for “a savior”.

Now that you have a little context,

This may blow your mind a little bit, but 490 years to the date of when this took place, Jesus was born.  Hmm, isn’t that fascinating?  Exactly Seventy sevens (70×7=490), Jesus was sent for Daniel’s people and for Jerusalem to stop sin, wipe out crime, and set things right forever.  Jesus was sent to restore the temple!  Jesus was sent to destroy the impact of sin.  Jesus was sent to wipe out all crime!  Jesus was the answer that Jeremiah and Daniel was looking for!


Okay, so now you understand what God’s futuristic intentions were for Jerusalem and for the eventual Church, now I beg the question:  Is the Church of today in the same state that the temple was in Daniel’s era?  Sin-filled, destructed, and desolate?  Dare I even say that we are…content like in the days of Moses, prior to Joshua?   I see churches all of the time today leading people to the ways of society or the way of conservatism, rather than the way that Jesus lived.  Jesus essentially displayed grace, love, and mercy to all people, not just the people of status.

Let me bring this home for you:  If you see a church that is content, sin-filled, destructed, etc.  I am here to tell you that a lot of non-believers look at the Church, the building (not the bride adorned for God), look at the church as a money grubbing business.  I am not making any accusations, assumptions, or anything, but I am making the statement for awareness:  Jesus is the ONLY ONE who can restore “the temple” and unless we are Jesus centered, Bible believing churches, we can never properly lead people to the ever-faithful God.  Jeremiah, Daniel, and our generation are looking for a savior to an ever content temple and peoples.

Let us not be content in our faith, but act out faith our in full-force and look to God for ALL things.  Let us brag on our precious creator and rejoice and give thanksgiving FOR ALL things, regardless of their nature.  As it is God who makes everything, every breath possible.

I thank you for taking the time to read:  I am a God loving person, who is looking to spread the truth out, and let everyone know that Jesus is the absolute truth and the only way that we can restore the church, and well….turn America and the world back to Jesus!


God bless!

A guide on how to study the Bible!

A Study Guide – “How to study the Bible” – Example

Good morning to all:

First and foremost, I love Jesus, I love all of the things that Jesus stood for on this planet, and most importantly I strive to live each day in the same way as my savior did.  As many of you know, this blog is read world-wide, and God continues to interact with people all over this globe that I could not even imagine attempting to witness to.  Yesterday I received a high number of views from people in the Philippines, which is pretty fantastic because in America, it’s literally impossible for me to be there and try to interact with those people and show them the ways of Jesus.


What does this even matter? :

As many of you may know, my motto is John 14:¹² Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.

My inspiration is knowing that Jesus, himself, states that we can do even greater things that Him, through God, because Jesus went to the Father and was sacrificed for our very sins.  It’s quite funny how God works, here I am behind a computer…typing away and understanding that through God because of Jesus…literally these words induced by the Holy Spirit will be read by anyone around the world.


Enough with the update!



Here is a sample way that I would encourage you to study before delving into a random passage.  The reason that we should not just jump into the middle of Luke or any book in the Bible and think we understand the context because of a paragraph…is because we do not understand fully and cannot maximize our true potential by limiting ourselves and our knowledge.

A Few Tips: I am going to use the book of Luke as the primary example

First, study who the writer is and what the writer was like as a person:  Luke was a very well-known doctor, HIGHLY educated in Greek, and did the fullest extent of research before writing his gospel.

Second, understand what language did the writer speak:  Luke is the classic example of this, Luke had an array of vocabulary I’m sure, but what’s extremely interesting about the book of Luke is that he wrote the book in Street Greek (Slang) rather than the level of intellect of himself.  Why?  Probably so that it would be much easier to understand by all of the people, so that it could be read by all of the people and not limit the entire population of who can or cannot read the Gospel of Luke.  Fascinating little tidbits like this will help you understand the book much better, it’s like getting to know the writer.

Third, did the writer only write this book or other books as well?  Luke also wrote the book of Acts, so it would be smart to read Luke and the read Acts, so that you can fully understand the writer and understand all of the idiosyncrasies that are associated with him, the writer.

Fourth, when did the writer physically write the passage?  Or in some instances, like Luke’s case, when did the events in the book take place?  The time frame of the book of Luke was between 6 B.C and 30 A.D.

Fifth, what was going on in the history of the vicinity of Luke?  Augustus Caesar became Rome’s first emperor and indicatively invented the ideology of Roman Peace, which coincidentally the peace came from war.  Augustus was thought to be, at the time, “the savior of the world”, but again the peace wasn’t peace, as tons of lived were spared so that the leaders could experience the “peace of Rome”.

Sixth, who did Luke associate himself with? Or what do we know about his personality?  Well, as previously mentioned, Luke is an extremely intellectual person, but also Luke was a very fond friend of Paul.  Luke met Paul through Paul’s ministry.




Now, is this is the perfect study guide to getting to know the writers of the Bible?

-No, it is not perfect, but this is definitely something that will get you on the right track.  I try to understand and make time-lines for each book of the Bible, in order to actually understand when the books were written, why they were written, and what are they written about.  Also…what are things like while the book is being written?

-Matter of fact:  I would highly suggest that you that add MORE things, as I do, when trying to fully understand the depth and the complexity of the circumstances of the writer.


I thought I would share with you a sample of what I do before I delve into books of the Bible.  In making the outlines, study guides, timelines, etc. it fully allows me to put events into place and see things they way that things used to be like.  I believe it’s essential to understand the context and understand the circumstances, if you FULLY want to comprehend and understand the Gospel.




I thank you for your time and consideration!  These are small little things that I believe are crucial to fully maximizing your time in the Word.  God is so good and has given us an amazing book that we can use in all aspects of life.  I thank God for all that He does, He is beyond anything I can even comprehend or grasp.  The magnitude of the Bible will never go unknown, it is truly mysterious, lovely, and awe-inspiring.

God bless!

God's love is unquanitfiable!

God’s love is not quantifiable.

I can’t emphasize enough how much God loves us. As you go through your Friday night and your weekend, truly consider God’s outlook on your actions. He sacrificed His own Son so that we could live and be forgiven of our consequential sins. Let’s not only celebrate the live of Jesus on Easter, Christmas or other holidays, but why not every single day?  Next time, don’t just blow off your sin like it’s nothing, like there’s some sort of justification that makes it’s societal apparatus “okay”, but rather allow God to sanctify Your being and allow Him to help you escape temptation to do wrong…exactly as He did for His son.  God bless you all.  I, along with our Father, love you dearly.

As always, please feel free to share this blog wherever you view this from.  This is not about me, but about reaching the lost from anywhere in the world! God is so good to all of us!

Generousity and where it plays a role in Christian living. This is coming from Jesus, himself.

Generosity and where it plays a role in Christianity: From Jesus himself.

Someone needs to hear this:
Jesus went on to tell a story to the guests around the table.  Noticing how each had tried to elbow into the place of honor, he said, “When someone invites you to dinner, don’t take the place of honor.  Somebody more important than you might have been invited by the host.  Then the host will come out and call you out in front of everyone saying, “You’re in the wrong place.  This place belongs to another man.  Red-faced, you’ll have to make your way to the very back, the only place left.  When you’re invited to dinner, go and sit at the last place.  Then when the host comes he may very well say, ‘Friend, come up to the front.’ That will give the dinner guests something to talk about!  What I’m saying is, if you walk around with your nose in the air, you’re going to end up flat on your face.  But if you’re content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.”
This next part is the kicker! So intense.
Jesus next turns to the host, “The next time you put on a dinner, don’t just invite your friends and family and rich neighbors, the kind of people who will retrun the favor.  Invite some people who never get invited out, the misfits from the wrong side of the tracks.  You’ll be– and experience — a blessing.  They won’t be able to return the favor, but the favor will be returned — oh, how it will be returned!  At the resurrection of God’s people!”  – Luke 14: 7-14.

– I heard a message last night by a very generous man who came to Western, the message was on acceptance, and how we should accept people as God has accepted us.  I believe this story by Jesus illustrates an opportunity for acceptance and an incredible way to reflect God’s radiant light amongst our peers.  If we start performing favors for others, who cannot repay us, it is there where true pure generosity will take place.  May God get all of the glory!

Feeling stagnant with God?

God will reveal His plan for your life, in His due time! Feeling stagnant? Maybe this is for you.

Good evening all:

Reading through Jeremiah, this is about to get real!

“Before I shaped you in the womb, I know all about you.  Before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you:
A prophet to the nations- that’s what I had in mind for you.”  …
But I said, “Hold it, Master God!  Look at me.  I don’t know anything. I’m only a boy!”
God told me, “Don’t say, ‘I’m only a boy.’ I’ll tell you where to go and you’ll go there.  I’ll tell you what to say and you’ll say it.  don’t be afraid of a soul.  I’ll be right there, looking after you.”   -Jeremiah 1:5-8

 

 

I’m not quite sure about you, but when I read that….I am in awe, I am in awe of the fact Jeremiah and God had that ‘moment’ where the vivid vision was pure and authentic!  So often you and I think that God is supposed to just magically show us our future and miraculously everything goes perfect.  It is as if we expect God to literally open our eyes and suddenly we can fulfill His will and everything is good. Perhaps, but it doesn’t quite work like that!

I have no clue where you are in your life, I know that there are people that view this blog in places like Uganda, Paraguay, Tanzania, Russia, etc.  so I cannot honestly speak to where you are:  But here is where I am,  God is practically revealing things in my life over short spans of times.  I am an extremely impatient person as I like to get things done in the most effective, yet most correct way possible.  I am a “time” management critique if you will, I attempt to maximize my time in all that I do.  With that being said though, when dealing with God I get this…urge to be impatient and wonder why God hasn’t given me some vivid detailed description of what my life holds.  So God always has to hit me upside the head and tell me over and over and over again that….it is not MY WILL, but HIS WILL and that it’s HIS way and no other.  When I am ready, He will reveal this to me.

Here’s the beautiful thing, lately God has slowly been revealing things to me and things that I could have never imagined.  God is opening doors that I could have never imagined been opened.  But God continuing to bless me isn’t the point I’m writing to you today, the point that I’m writing to you today is: God will tell reveal His Will in His due time.

Let me get a question in here:  How often do you find yourself making decisions that will infinitely impact your life?

 

 

 

- Consequently, each and every day we make decisions that literally alter our lives; whether it’s a good or bad infinite decision that is sort of up to us.  But it is very easy, because we have so much power, to do things without really considering the consequences.  Perhaps it’s something such as taking a drink of alcohol or maybe it’s even just binge eating.  These decisions will forever impact the detriment of your life.  Believe it or not, if turned habitual, they will impact generations forever that come after your life via your family.  God has given us enough rope to hang our selves with, so to speak, but the reality is that God is always at the end of the rope, God is always tugging back on us letting us know that our shortcomings are wrong.  This is called our conscious.  This innate instinctive fresh perspective that tells us from when we are children whether something is right or wrong.  It’s an amazing thing God programmed into our brain, isn’t it?  Or are you reading this and of the impression that there isn’t a God?  If so, why?  If so, how?  If so, explain how that a study was done that 95% of 12 month old children understand the concept of right and wrong by performing a play with stuffed animals and the children always chose the good guy to play with?  Explain how there’s this sense of what is acceptable by the majority of society and how it’s so defined that societies for generations used to actually live by those defaults!   You see, typically we make decisions knowingly or unknowingly based on this conscious that God has programmed into us…this is why cultures around the world typically have the same value system.  Here’s another nugget – have you ever noticed that worldwide we have the EXACT same facial expressions?  Have you ever noticed that every person when they’re sad…cries.  Every person when they’re happy…they smile?  When something tastes sour they scrunch their face?  These are literally things that are universal and that were built into our very being, I am sure God has something to do with that.  We’re able to communicate so fundamentally with every human based on our facial expressions, absolutely amazing.  I am not one to believe in coincidence, or one to believe that these multiple similarities could be that of a coincidence.

 

 

 

Here’s where I’m getting at!  God creates us ALL in His own image, God gives us power to do as we choose on this planet.  We have the freedom and liberty to do so.  But I bet that 99.9% your conscious tells you one thing and you do the other without even taking into consideration the consequences.  Have you ever thought that…well maybe God was speaking to you?  Let me rephrase that…would Satan ever tell you the morally correct thing to do?  It’s just a thought, well a rhetorical fact if you will.  Next time, instead of being disobedient, give it a shot and see God out.  After all, He is kind of control of everything, yeh?

 

 

 

 

In our obedience God lends opportunity, God lends support, and with true faith in Him God will forever love and be faithful to us to a fault.  God will always leave us speechless, although we cannot ever pay Him back for the sacrifice that He made for us, yah the one where He sent His only Son to the cross in order for us to have a relationship with Him.  The magnitude of that is surreal, it is…ridiculous, illogical, and unbelievable.  But God had a choice between His Son or His creation and remarkably He chose to save us forever.  So that our debt would forever be paid.  Now if that isn’t good news, I am unsure as to what is!

After showing such obedience and faith, God will begin preparing you for where He wants you to be.  It will be a process, it will be slow moving, but God’s Will is of the upmost importance…not our pride.  As you continue to follow the steps that God has laid out for us in His amazing Book, The Bible, He will slowly reveal in time what exactly He wants out of you.  But here’s what the difficult part happens and this is the part that I currently reside in.

Our view of persistence is God’s view of patience:  Let me clarify that for you one more time, the persistence (perpetual movement towards progress) is God’s view of patience (slow mowing faith).  You see we use patience as an excuse, ‘I’m just waiting on God to tell me what to do’.  Have you ever thought that in order to achieve faith that you must blindly walk right into what you are supposed to do?  Almost as if God moves you…for you, so that you do not have to?  Yeah, God is pretty crafty like that:  It’s the state that I am currently in, God is revealing very slowly what I am supposed to do in my life for Him, but blessed be known God ultimately will make that decision for me.  I will follow His commands.  I understand that more than likely I’m not going to have a moment like Jeremiah and God had, but I am sure that God will lead me and be my shepherd!   God will give me the strength, wisdom, experience, and the for thought of what it takes to do whatever He asks of me.

So my entire point of writing this peace was to give a logical progression of what it’s like to experience something like I am currently experiencing, rather than something as obvious as Jeremiah, because it is so easy to become discouraged when God doesn’t just flat out tell you all the details…it’s like He just leaves you hanging.  However, that’s just your pride and perception!  God is always using you in ways that you could never imagine.  Do not be discouraged God is always with you, friend.

 In His time, He will reveal to us: Do not lose sight of our one mission on this planet! -BRING GLORY TO THE ONE WHO CREATED US.

I continued to reiterate the same point over and over again, but only because it was intentional.  It is so vital that we not be discouraged and that we understand God has a plan for our life.  God is so good, to those who faithfully love Him.

Thanks for the constant support, God bless you all and I love you!

Dissecting Psalm 3, if you struggle dissecting the Bible...please use this as a credible guide! Context is everything!

Dissecting Psalm 3, assistance on understanding passages. Struggle comprehending the Bible? This is for you!

Good morning to all:

Yesterday I met with a very good friend of mine, someone who recently (a little over a month) made the decision to believe in Christ as his Savior.  Together we meet quite often to run through things and I attempt to answer any questions.  Yesterday, like many of you, his question was about dissecting a Psalm.  His response was, “Books like Matthew or Genesis, it just makes sense, but Psalm is just different and harder to understand.”


I appreciated the genuine feedback, so here’s how you dissect a Psalm.

1. Context, context, and more context is absolutely essential.
2. Understanding the writer, what was David like?  Why was he writing a Psalm?
3. Reading first from a broad perspective, then logically breaking down David’s words.
4. Prayer and mediation are everything.

This Psalm is from David, when he ran for his life and escaped from his son, Absalom.
Psalm 3:
God! Look! Enemies past counting!
Enemies are sprouting like mushrooms,
Mobs of them all around me, roaring their mockery:
“Hah! No help for him from God!”

But you, God, shield me on all sides;
You ground my feet, you lift my head high;
With all my might I shout up to God,
His answers thunder from the holy mountain.

I stretch myself out. I sleep.
Then I’m up again – rested, tall and steady,
Fearless before the enemy mobs
Coming at me from all sides.

Up, God! My God, help me!
Slap their faces,
First their cheek, then the other,
Your first hard to their teeth!

Real help comes from God.
Your blessing clothes your people!
(MSG)


At first glance, this Psalm seems pretty intense and you probably have zero idea as to what it actually means or represents, but let me guide you in the logical progression that takes place here.  Read through it a few times and really grasp conceptually what David is saying here.  Granted, I will explain below, but see if you cannot come up with the explanation on your own, it will hone your skills and help you be able to delve into the Gospel more frequently!


David in the first stanza is saying, look God I’m isolated…I’m all alone…everyone around me are enemies.  The mushrooms illustration is a good one, you know as well as I do…once of those bad boys begins to grow, pretty soon they are EVERYWHERE.  They are all around you and in increasingly high numbers. He’s saying there are mobs around me, they’re all enemies of you, Father!   Similar to the Christian lifestyle these days in American, few and far between surrounded by enemies who will not buy into the amazing grace God has to offer.

The second stanza, David is like look no worries because no matter how isolated I am…you’ve got my back on all sides from all angles.  You will always be there for me, my feet are grounded and my head is lifted high.  It is like our feet are concrete in our foundation of our faith and because of our audacious faith and not being the same as the mushrooms spreading everywhere, we can lift our head high as we are trying to get out the Gospel! And no matter how alone I feel, forever you’ll be there for me and I can always shout up and pray to you.

The third stanza, at the end of the day David understands that once he goes to get rest, he can be as comfortable as he wants because God will give him the proper nourishment that is essential for his daily living.  He understands that with God on his side, he will wake up ready and fearless because God will shield him on every side.  What a testament of audacious faith, my friends!

The fourth stanza is where this gets tricky, because if you just read the stanza you will not understand what the heck the purpose of it is:  When David says, “My God, help me!  Slap their faces, First this cheek, then the other, and Your fist hard to their teeth!”  But David isn’t actually suggesting that God go punch all of them in the face or slap them in the cheek, and if you see it that way, you really need to work on conceptualizing passages.  The Message Bible is a great translation, but if you do not fathom and comprehend the intricacies, I wouldn’t exactly suggest you reading it.  So here’s what David means, David is like My God, help me! Help me give them the reality check so they can see YOUR face father.  He wants God to wake up them out of their spiritual coma and see the light in which is God.  So David isn’t exactly suggesting God get in a fight with all of them, but actually that save them from their blind worldly living and show them the reality check they need!

The last little bit is pretty much common sense, but David is saying that authentic help only comes from God and that the blessings are what clothe us.  We wear our blessings on our sleeve and it’s what molds and brands us to be His.  It’s why we are so audacious towards Him for those of us who have that serious fire for our Father.

Jesus disproves Satan and religious scholars!

Jesus disproving religious scholars, who stated Satan was fighting against Satan:

Blessings to all:

Mark 3:20-30 :

Jesus came home and, as usual, a crowd gathered — so many making demands on him that there wasn’t even time to eat.  His friends heard what was going on and went to rescue him, by force if necessary.  They suspected he was getting carried away with himself.  The religion scholars from Jerusalem came down spreading rumors that he was working black magic, using devil tricks to impress them with spiritual power.  Jesus confronted their slander with a story: “Does it make sense to send a devil to catch a devil, to use Satan to get rid of Satan?  A constantly squabbling family disintegrates.  If Satan were fighting Satan, there soon would be no Satan left.  Do you think it’s possible in broad daylight to enter the house of an awake, able-bodied man, and walk of with his possessions unless you tie him up first?  Time him up, though, and you can clean him out.  “Listen to this carefully.  I’m warning you.  There’s nothing done or said that can’t be forgiven.  But if you persist in your slanders against God’s Holy Spirit, you are repudiating the very One who forgives, sawing off the branch on which you’re sitting, severing by your own perversity all connection with the One who forgives.”  He gave this warning because they were accusing him of being in league with Evil.

• Forever people will slander Jesus

How do we handle slander against God?

1. Quantifiably conceptualize their point
2. Assist in illustrating the importance of not having such strong tunnel vision
3. Emphasize the importance to recognizing premise
4. Contextualize any points they may believe they have – or have
5. Pray
6. Seek answers from our creator, as we cannot do this alone
7. Show them what God has given to you and do so respectfully
8. Lastly, understand that you are not them and you cannot control their being/thinking

Essentially this all boils down to the exact situation and exactly how Jesus would handle the given situation, but here in this passage in Mark is exactly how Jesus would and did handle the given situation.  Ultimately, we can only do so much in this life, but with the assistance of God and them accepting God, everything within the relationship between the two is insurmountable.  The reason that Jesus went with the logical, more cerebral, argument here is because at this time (even today) the people of the world were ”thinkers”, it was a time of great philosophers.  All philosophers had gatherers among them, Jesus was no different ‘hence the crowd’.  But in all instances, Jesus uses such great progressions to prove his point.  Another prime example to prove the logical nature of the beings (humans) would be earlier in Mark three when he heals the crippled hand on the Sabbath, which turned the people of the world against him…solely because religion said Sabbath was off-limits for work.  Quite ironic, eh?



The entirety of this lesson is just to let you know that there are a lot of people who cannot quantifiably illustration or understand God’s love.  But slander against Jesus or God, or His Spirit is one more thing thrown to fire, so here is how you handle those types situations.  Seemingly I see these type of situations come up in our daily lives and this is what has had the most success.  I ask that you not shove Jesus down their throat in attempt to like disprove everything they say, but rather gracefully speak factual knowledge.  I hope this has helped someone today!

God bless!  Feel free to like, comment, share, etc!