Wonderful Jesus!

Tag: Jesus

• Mustard Seed Faith-Part 2-R&R

  Posted at 1:00 pm by wonderfuljesus8, on December 16, 2019

  In my previous post, I wrote how I don’t believe that Jesus was referring to size in Matthew 17:20 when He spoke to His disciples about mustard seed faith. Let’s look at that verse again:

  Matthew 17:20-So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

  I don’t want to leave the impression that I don’t believe in mountain moving faith, because I do. I just think you need more than a “little faith, the size of a mustard seed” to move it.

  The Word of God does not share much with us about Jesus being impressed with people, but when it came to great faith, He did not hold back His praise!

  Matthew 8:10 – When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!

  Earlier in this chapter Jesus was asked by a Roman centurion to heal his servant. And Jesus told him that He would come and heal the servant. “The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it. ” (Matthew 8:8-9) Jesus marveled at his faith and said it was “great faith” and his servant was healed. Jesus marveled, meaning He was impressed by this man’s faith in His ability to speak the word and his servant would be healed!

  Matthew 15:28 – “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.”
  This is another beautiful account of Jesus being impressed with someone’s faith. And it was great faith that got her daughter healed, not a little faith. If you are unfamiliar with the passage, let me paraphrase and you can go back and read it on your own: The woman came to Jesus and wanted Him to heal her daughter. He didn’t acknowledge her presence. She continued to plead with Him, and then He said something that would have totally offended the average person, “But He answered and said, ‘It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.’ (Matthew 15:26)
  This woman came to Jesus for a healing for her daughter and instead of getting offended she replied that even the dogs get to eat the crumbs which fall from the master’s table. In other words, she dared to believe that she would get the thing she desired and she wasn’t going to let ANYTHING hinder her faith! It is at this point He makes the above statement from verse 28- “great is your faith!”

  All you need to do is read Hebrews 11 to see that the people mentioned in the “Faith chapter” had great faith! Mustard seed faith means something other than the size of our faith. If we want to move the mountains in our lives, we are going to have to understand that “little” faith won’t get it done! Wonderful Jesus!!

   

  Posted in Believers, Christian, Faith, Matthew 17:20, Victorious Living | 0 Comments | Tagged Believer, Christian, Faith, Jesus, Matthew 17:20, miraculous

• Mustard Seed Faith! Repost and Revised!

  Posted at 3:56 am by wonderfuljesus8, on December 14, 2019

  With all of the end of the year things going on, I thought I would repost a blog I enjoyed writing in my early days when no one was reading my blog! LOL! Hope you enjoy this blog!

  What did Jesus mean about mustard seed faith? While I cannot say with certainty what He meant, I can say with certainty, what He didn’t mean. Traditionally, we have been taught that mustard seed faith was having just “a little faith, the size of a mustard seed” to move a great big mountain. Well, I don’t think so!

  Matthew 17:20-“So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “move from here to there’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”NKJV

  In the Young’s Literal Translation, this verse reads, “And Jesus said to them, ‘Through your want of faith; for verily I say to you, if ye may have faith as a grain of mustard, ye shall say to this mount, remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible to you.”

  As I have already mentioned, Jesus is not talking about the size of the seed. In both of the above versions, size isn’t even mentioned  But we have taught faithfully that Jesus is talking about the size of the seed comparing it to the size of our faith. Let’s look at what Jesus thinks about “small” faith:

  Matthew 6:30-Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” (This doesn’t read as a compliment!)

  Matthew 8:26- But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea and there was a great calm.” (In this verse they were both fearful and had little faith, no wonder they couldn’t rebuke the storm!)

  Matthew 14:31- “And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” ” (Peter walked on water, but “little faith” caused him to doubt and sink). How can little faith move a mountain when it couldn’t handle a storm or keep Peter on the surface of the water?

  Matthew 16:8-But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?” (Again, little faith is not being applauded as a wonderful thing by Jesus.) Just the opposite!

  These four scriptures of truth, spoken directly by Jesus, confirms that the size of the mustard seed is not what Jesus was referring to in mountain moving faith. Many Christians have been disappointed in the results of their “little faith” not producing mountain moving results. I believe it is time to get rid of this myth in the Body of Christ and that is why it was my first post and I have chosen to repost it! I thought it was a very valid point and yet it had gone unseen!

  Think about the times you have been disappointed in not seeing faith produce for you what the word promised when you knew that you didn’t have great faith, but you had a little? Well, that’s because little faith didn’t produce anything for the people in Jesus’s day and it won’t produce anything today! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in Believers, Christian, Faith, God’s Blessings, Matthew 17:20 | 0 Comments | Tagged Believer, encouragement, Faith, Jesus, Matthew 17:20, Prayer, testimony

• From Darkness to Light!

  Posted at 3:36 am by wonderfuljesus8, on December 8, 2019

  1 Peter 2:9 – But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

  All good things must come to an end, and tonight I am going to end my study on 1 Peter 2:9. I trust you have enjoyed it as much as I have. I’ve written about who we are: a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a treasured possession, and about proclaiming His praises. In this blog, I will end with being called out of darkness into His marvelous Light!

  Skotos! A place of spiritual and moral darkness. Sounds like the world in which we currently live although Peter wrote this about the society in which he lived. We have been called out of skotos, or out of spiritual and moral darkness.

  I don’t need to elaborate on the state of society today, where right has become wrong and wrong has become right in our world. But I could! Neither do I have to point out that the things associated with Jesus and the Word of God have become unpopular in this day and time while we laud and applaud and are entertained by the things that represent darkness. It’s a well known fact!

  But what I do want to bring out is this: salvation through Jesus Christ is a spiritual translation that cannot be duplicated in any other “religion”. This translation from darkness to light, from being a people who have not obtained the mercy of God, to becoming a people who have experienced His mercy is parallel to none.

  Once, many years ago, I experienced a translation. I was riding in a station wagon, with my young niece in the car, and it was pouring down raining. There were two problems to this scenario. First, the car I was driving didn’t have windshield wipers and second, it was dark and the roads were constantly curving in the hilly terrain. We were both frightened and I truly could not see. I had unknowingly placed our lives in a dangerous situation because I knew the windshield wipers didn’t work, but I had no sense about weather patterns and this was prior to weather apps and even cell phones.

  It got so bad that I finally said to the Lord, “Father, I may as well close my eyes and drive for all the good they are doing for me in this situation.” Immediately, I was in my parking space in front of my apartment with the car in park. What happened? We were translated out of that life threatening situation into a place of safety. Out of the blinding rain wrapped in darkness into the a lit parking lot with a drizzle of rain. We looked at each and said something like, “How did we get here?” Neither one of us knew how it had happened, but we realized that God had done it. We took off running into the apartment and fell on our knees and prayed. We never talked about it. She could even be reading this now and be remembering that night. But we never spoke of it because it was not something we thought anyone would believe. But it happened!

  Salvation is just like that! You are heading down a road that you have no idea how you got on it. You feel like things are out of control and you are hopeless to do anything about it. You see your life spinning out of control, and darkness is all around you. No way to survive it. You are going through the motions. Then you cry out to God! You acknowledge that there is absolutely no way of you surviving the darkness, you can’t see, and you give up trying! You acknowledge that you need help from another source, One bigger than you, more capable than you! One who operates in the miraculous and you hope He has one more miracle left with your name on it! And guess what? He does! For you, for many others!

  Then Light explodes on the scene, pushing away the darkness! Bringing clarity to your life, hope to your soul, purpose to your today and your tomorrow. You’ve been translated. You don’t know all that has happened, but you know God did it! You know you were translated out of darkness into His kingdom of light, of salvation. And you fall before Him in worship! In absolute heartfelt gratitude for what He has done!

  Peter understood the magnitude of a changed life, a changed heart, a changed destiny. He understood what translation was and how it felt. Miraculous! Supernatural! Impactful! That’s the kind of experience we are to have. Not just saying words after someone, but having an impactful, meaningful, translation out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. Wonderful Jesus!!!

  When that part is taken care of, experiencing the first part is much easier. What a wonderful and loving God we serve! Nothing is small, mediocre, irrelevant or unimportant in Him! He does Big things! Marvelous things! Earth shaking things! And He does it that we might tell others about His glorious acts on our behalf, that they too might experience the glory of His grace! If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior and have been translated out of the kingdom of darkness into His marvelous light, then I know you have much you can add to this! But if you have not, don’t wait another minute! Bow your heart, your will, your life to Him and allow Him to translate you out of darkness into the light! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in 1 Peter 2:9, Believers, Christian, Salvation, Victorious Living | 6 Comments | Tagged 1 Peter 2:9, Believer, Christian, encouragement, Jesus, miraculous, Salvation

• Show Forth His Excellency!

  Posted at 4:11 am by wonderfuljesus8, on December 2, 2019

  1 Peter 2:9 – But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

  This verse is packed with the wonderful benefits afforded the believer. I’d like to remind you once again what Peter is saying to us about who were are:

  • A chosen generation-as such, we get the benefit of His protection and access to His kingdom. We are also share the same status with the Father that Jesus has.

  • A royal priesthood- a kingly priesthood. We’ve been elevated to not only sonship, but royalty that identifies us as being kings. And in our kingly status, we offer up sacrifices to the King of kings.

  • A holy nation-we are holy because His holiness comes into contact with us (after we are redeemed) causing us to be holy. And because He is holy, He places a demand on us to also live a life that exemplifies holiness.

  • God’s own special possession-acquired by our Heavenly Father with the precious Blood of Jesus and made to be His treasured possession.

  Now we get to the good stuff! Why would He do all of this for us? Why would He take “a wretch, a dirty ole sinner, a good for nothing slouch” and place him or her in His wonderful kingdom, giving us the status of a king priest, the status of Jesus, and call us His holy, treasured possession? Well, first and foremost because He loves us.

  Many people say they found the Lord, when in actuality He was never lost. We were the ones lost, and He sent Jesus to give His life’s blood at Calvary to redeem us because of that love. So that’s the first and most important reason. And although I have brought that point out before, it needed to be made again. Oh how He loves you and me!!

  But according to this verse in 1 Peter, chapter 2, He did all of this that we might show forth His praises! Even if I didn’t do a word study on this part, I think it’s pretty clear what is being stating in this verse. But let’s check it out anyway!

  The Greek word, “exangello” is used in this verse and literally means “to tell out, proclaim abroad, to publish completely”. The Greek word for praise is “arete” and doesn’t mean praise as we think of it; but it means virtue, or excellence.

  We weren’t given this citizenship in the kingdom to just go around saying praise God, although that’s fine; but all of this was done that we might spread abroad or publish completely God’s excellency. One commentator wrote that this word “arete” is better translated “wonderful deeds”. Looking at it from that perspective, our very lives are to be a proclamation of the wonderful deeds of a loving God, our Father!

  Another thing about the Father, is He reigns supreme over all, and His Excellency has a lot to do with place or position of power. We proclaim His greatness, His power, His wonderful deeds, His excellency. I love to read Christian historical fiction, and I am most drawn by the era of the aristocrats: dukes, earls, lords and ladies. The finery, the social system, the status and power of the aristocrats, when they weren’t the villains, is quite impressive. But more impressive than that, is the excellency of our God. Isaiah said it like this, “They shall see the glory of the Lord, the excellency of our God.” (Isaiah 35) How? Through us proclaiming it!

  So if you’ve been one of those whiny Christians that have spent time saying, “You never know what God will do!” Or, “I was better off when I was in the world!” Or any of those negative things that make it sound as if being a Christian is boring, difficult, a hardship, or not worth it, you need to stop it! And then you need to get acquainted with His Excellency King Jesus so that you can experience the God that loves you so deeply!

  In my next blog I will complete this verse! You don’t want to miss it! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in 1 Peter 2:9, Believers, Christian, God, Victorious Living | 0 Comments | Tagged 1 Peter 2:9, encouragemnt, Jesus, praise

• His Treasured Possession

  Posted at 3:18 am by wonderfuljesus8, on November 27, 2019

  1 Peter 2:9 – But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

  We’ve learned thus far that we are a chosen people, a priesthood of kings, a holy nation, and tonight we are going to look at the last phrase that Peter uses to identify God’s people…an acquired people, a treasured possession!

  Now I grew up on the KJV bible and it states that we are a peculiar people. The LEB states that we are God’s possession. YLT states that we are a people acquired and the Amplified states that we are a special people for God’s own possession. While they all give us insight into what Peter was trying to convey, I believe that the Amplified gets the job done!

  When I looked “peculiar” up in the Vine’s it immediately referred me to “possession”, so apparently this verse isn’t talking about us being peculiar although many think that we are. As a matter of fact, whenever someone tried to make me feel bad about being “different” because I am a Christian, I would boldly tell them that I was okay with that since I was called to be “peculiar”. Now, because I am taking time to really look at what this verse is saying to me, Peter isn’t calling me strange, he’s saying I am God’s own purchased possession. For my studious readers, the Vine’s state that this word is “peripoiesis” in the Greek and is rendered “an obtaining, an acquisition”.

  I looked up “acquisition” and the Oxford online dictionary defines it as “an asset or object bought or obtained, typically by a library or museum.” An asset is a useful, valuable thing, person, or quality. These words help me to get a fuller meaning of what is being said. So basically we are valuable people bought by the Father for His own possession.

  In Exodus 19:5, God told the children of Israel “you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine.” Again in Deuteronomy 7:6 and Malachi 3:17, He told them that they would be His treasured possession. Peter, in this verse is telling us that we are His treasured possession. It was His heart’s desire in the Old Testament and in the New Testament it became His reality. We are, not shall be!

  When I shared the definition for acquisition, remember it referenced obtaining something for a museum. I immediately thought of all the valuable treasures in a museum, how they are cared for and put on display for the world to see. They remind of us different periods, people, and events in times gone by. They are special and people go to great lengths to preserve them, to see them. Then I thought of us.

  As God’s possession, His treasured possession, we are extremely valuable to Him. We were purchased with the Blood of His Son Jesus, immediately letting us know the great valued He placed on us. He trusted no one else and nothing else to redeem us, so He did it Himself. And we are on display for the world to see. (I’ll go deeper into this next time).

  I remember Rick Renner describing the auction block of hell, and how nothing would do but the Blood of Jesus! He talked about the stench, the filth, the shame, the repulsion of that auction block and yet God purchased us with His Blood, removing us from those terrible conditions of sin. As a matter of truth, His love was so great towards us that while we were yet sinners, He died for us (Romans 5:8). And He did all of that so we might be His treasured possession.

  I want to share Malachi 3:17- “They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him.” Malachi prophesies that God will make up His treasured possession, and they would belong to Him. But this is the other part I wanted to mention, God also said through Malachi that He would spare us as a man spares his son who serves him!! Now that’s some shouting stuff!

  Too many of us have believed a lie, that you never know what you going to get from God. Some even believe that the evil they receive is at His hand. But nothing could be further from the truth. He said His treasured possession would be spared. And yes, I went to the Vine’s and it didn’t help me, so I went to the reference. Verse 18 really helps us to understand what was written for us in verse 17: “Then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.”

  With this verse I am reminded of the Land of Goshen. When the plagues were going forth, there came a time when God “spared” His people from experiencing what the Egyptians were experiencing. God made a difference between them, showing the Egyptians that His treasured people were spared, simply because they were His treasured people! Even more so today! God has some special things up His sleeve, reserved for us, but we can’t experience them because we don’t understand the magnitude of His great love for us!

  Can you comprehend this? Can you get this? Can you visualize the truth of what this verse is saying to us? I am beginning to, and it’s exciting! As God’s treasured possession, there are just some things that He is not going to allow you to go through! I know it’s hard to believe in a world where it seems as if no one is exempt from trouble. But the word of God to us is that we are special to Him. We belong to Him and we are His treasured people. And when I think of a treasure, I think of something that is highly valued and protected. And that’s us!! To our Heavenly Father! Wonderful, wonderful Jesus!!

  So it’s time for us to stop seeing ourselves as a wretch. Yes, we were, but we aren’t! It’s time to stop seeing ourselves as just sinners saved by grace; because we were sinners and we were saved by grace, but nothing could be further from the truth as us being just sinners saved by grace! We are valuable to the Heavenly Father. We are His treasured possession bought, obtained, acquired with the precious Blood of Jesus Christ! This was and is no small matter! This is the most exciting truth in the word!! Redeemed by the Blood!! And He said if He did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32) Jesus was not spared so that we would be! That’s deep! This holiday season, take some time to give thanks to the One who treasures you and calls you His own! Love you! Have a blessed and Happy Thanksgiving! Wonderful Jesus!!

  Posted in 1 Peter 2:9, Believers, Christian, Victorious Living | 0 Comments | Tagged 1 Peter 2:9, Believer, Christian, encouragement, Jesus, Victorious Living

• A Holy Nation!

  Posted at 1:10 am by wonderfuljesus8, on November 24, 2019

  1 Peter 2:9 – But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

  This has been an awesome study for me. I hope it has been for you also. Today’s blog is on “a holy nation”. Holiness is not a feel good topic for most people, but after today I hope you have a richer understanding of it.

  Holiness has taken on such a negative connotation in today’s society. I can still remember being in high school and having a classmate challenge my holiness. She wore her dresses long, no make up, and she fasted. In theory. But when she got to school, she would change into pants, put on some make up, and if she was fasting, she would watch the clock so that she could eat. (If she was truly fasting, since she wasn’t true to anything else.) But this was holiness being misunderstood and therefore an unpleasant experience for her.

  The first mention of the word holy in the Bible just happens to be the verse that Peter is quoting from in the above scripture. It is found in Exodus 19:16- “And you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.” The word “holy” denotes that which is devoted or dedicated to a particular purpose, such as oil for anointing, water for purifying, objects in a temple. It also means holy by your relationship to the “holy” God, according to the Vine’s Dictionary.

  Scriptures repeatedly tell us of the holiness of God. In Isaiah 57:17, the prophet wrote that His name is Holy. Samuel wrote in 1 Samuel 2:2 that there is none as holy as the Lord. The angels surround the throne and cry, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord!” I need a whole blog on the holiness of God.

  So according to the Hebrew word, “qados”, which is translated to mean holy we see that holiness has absolutely nothing to do with the way we dress, the make-up we do or don’t wear, or any external thing. We are holy because we are dedicated to the service of the Lord as kingly priests; and because of our relationship with the Holy One! He just rubs off on us!

  Now in the Hebrew, the word for holiness is “hagiasmos” and means “sanctification”. When the term is used of individuals it refers to those who are devoted to God and involves divine demands upon the conduct of the believers. As a matter of fact, in the Vine’s the word denotes “more than that which is outwardly associated with God..something more than worthy or honorable, something more than pure… it is characteristically god likeness.” Now that is absolutely mind-blowing!!

  Could it really be that Peter is declaring that we are a nation of people with godlike qualities. One who is holy in all manner of conduct and behavior because God is holy and therefore, just like Him, we are holy?

  There are two things that strike me about holiness. The first thing is the “divine demands upon the conduct of believers”. This means to me that if we are the people of God, then it is expected that He places a demand on our conduct. My clothes don’t mean I am holy, but because I am holy I will take care with my clothing. I’ve had this conversation with some younger women and they absolutely don’t like the idea of being told about their clothing. But here’s the thing: if we didn’t make association with clothing then that would be okay. But because we do make associations with clothing, then that’s not okay! Some think they can watch anything on television, listen to anything on the radio, go anywhere they please because of liberty, but God has a right to place a demand on our conversation, our dress, our relationships, our words, and our thoughts. It’s His prerogative! And I have learned that what He tells one person to give up, He may not necessarily tell another to give up. For example: when I first started where jeans to Bible study, He rebuked me and told me not to. That was over 25 years ago. But recently I felt a peace in my heart to wear jeans again. I know why He told me that. He didn’t want me to be casual about how I viewed Bible study. I must’ve passed the test because He gave me peace about it. Now He didn’t tell me to tell everyone that, it was just for me. So it may be just for you that He reveals something to you, obey it!

  Then there is the second thing that stood out to me, the god likeness. It would seem to me that if we are going to be like God, then we must be holy. He doesn’t ever lose character or presence. He is always God, He is always holy, He is always the same. To be godlike for me means that He is calling me to holiness, to be the same person at work that I am at church that I am at home. My conversation, my thoughts, my habits, my movies, my music, my relationships, even the way I spend my money, all is holy. All is devoted to Him. All stems out of a relationship with Him. Wow! This was His dream in Genesis, a people in His image, after His likeness. Just like Him! And when He saved us, He was returning us, His holy nation, to our original state. His image!!

  This is something else! And I know there is so much more to this being a holy nation. But just for tonight I will try and absorb what Peter is telling me about who I am. I am so much more than a dirty rotten, no good, unworthy, sinner saved by grace. Far from that lowly, wretched mind-set. I am a member of a holy nation, a reflection of God Himself! That puts me and the way I live, in a whole new arena! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in 1 Peter 2:9, Believers, Christian, God, Victorious Living | 2 Comments | Tagged 1 Peter 2:9, Believer, Christian, holiness, holy, Jesus

• A Royal Priesthood!

  Posted at 2:41 am by wonderfuljesus8, on November 19, 2019

  1 Peter 2:9 – But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

  What does it mean to be a royal priesthood? Most of us sing about it and even quote this scripture, but we don’t really give it much thought. I’d like to explore it a little bit with you today.

  Let’s look at the term royal. The Hebrew word “basileios” is rendered “a king” in this verse and is not the word “basilikos” which means “belonging to a king, or royal”. So it is more fitting to say that Peter was saying that we are “a kingly priesthood” or a priesthood made of kings. In Revelation, John said that He made us “kings and priests…” Both had a revelation from God the Father of the marvelous truths of what became our inheritance in Christ! This is deeper than I have time or space to cover. Just wetting your appetite!

  Then there is priesthood! Without going too much into historical detail, Aaron began the priesthood. He and his descendants served as priests in Israel, ministering in the Tabernacle of the Wilderness until the first temple was constructed. Their primary function was to serve as mediators between God and man, and to offer up offerings and sacrifices to God. Are you getting excited yet?

  As believers we actually can go to God and be mediators for others. When you lead someone to the Lord, you are a mediator between the sinner and the Father. Of course, we know and understand that Jesus is the Ultimate Mediator for all of us, but He allows us to mediate on others behalf. When we pray for others, our intercession is an act of mediation. We are given the awesome responsibility of going to God and asking Him to move in the life, situation, or circumstance of another individual. And because we are priests, we don’t have to go to a priest, pastor, prophet or anyone else to get God’s attention! I am not knocking the wonderful men and women of God who stand in the ministry gifts, I’ve been truly blessed by many of them, but I don’t have to have them go to God for me, because I have access to go on my own. And so do you! But then, I am pretty sure you understand that already!

  Then there is the responsibility of sacrifices. What kinds of sacrifices are we responsible for as priests. A few come immediately to my mind. First, we are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to Him, holy and acceptable (Romans 12:1)! And then there is the sacrifice of praise that we are to offer to Him (Hebrews 13:15). Another sacrifice is offerings to the Lord! Did you know sacrifice and offerings are paired together frequently in the Word, especially in the Old Testament? We are to give offerings to the Lord as part of our priestly duties. Have you ever made the connection before between offerings, praise, worship, and a life submitted to the Lord as priestly? Well, it is! And if you are already doing these things, keep up the good work!! And if you are not, get busy king-priest, your assignment is waiting for you!

  One last thing about the priesthood. In verse 5 of the same chapter, Peter refers to a holy priesthood. So the priesthood of kings is to be holy before the Lord. As a holy priesthood we offer spiritual sacrifices before the Lord, but as a royal priesthood we show forth the Lord’s excellence. I once heard Joel Osteen share a testimony about a king. He said that a certain king enjoyed playing golf and had invited a celebrity golfer (don’t remember the name) to play golf with him in his kingdom. They played golf together and it was an enjoyable experience for both. Then the king told the golfer he wanted to do something for him. Well, the golfer was thinking that maybe the king would buy him a new set of golf clubs, but the king purchased him an entire golf club! The place, not the sticks!! The point, if we are kings, we need to start thinking like kings!!! Our King is great and greatly to be praised. There is none like Him. He’s no wimp and He doesn’t think small!!

  Both the Old and the New Testaments reveal the position that God desires of His people. We’ve fallen short of who we are, and just like the Israelites we have shunned our position of king priests and allowed others to stand in our place! Shout, “No more, Father! I am willing accept to accept the call to king priesthood!” I know I am! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in 1 Peter 2:9, Christian, Jesus, Victorious Living | 6 Comments | Tagged 1 Peter 2:9, God, Jesus, king, praise, priest, Victorious Living, victory

• A Chosen Generation!

  Posted at 3:49 am by wonderfuljesus8, on November 15, 2019

  1 Peter 2:9 – But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

  But you are a chosen generation! I have always been moved by this verse in 1 Peter. It is as if Peter looked through the portals of time and knew God’s people would need reminding of they are. So he does just that by saying, “But you are a chosen generation…” My next few posts will look into this verse in depth. I hope you join me as I share about them.

  It is implied and validated in the remaining of this verse, that we are not chosen by just anyone, but by God. What would it feel like to be chosen by Bill Gates to be a recipient of some of his wealth? It would be amazing! What would it feel like to be chosen by Oprah to work on her staff? It would pretty exciting! Or what would it be like to be chosen to be in ministry with your favorite evangelist? For me, it would be it would be mind blowing. And yet, when we think of being chosen by God, it doesn’t provide us with the same level of excitement. And in truth, it shouldn’t! We should be even more excited, amazed, dazed, or our mind blown to understand what it means to be chosen by God!

  As a people chosen by God, we have the benefit of His protection, His provision, access to inhabit His kingdom, and access to His throne. It also suggests that we, as God’s chosen , are to share in the blessings of God’s chosen people, the Israelites. This is echoed in Galatians by Paul when he states that we are blessed with faithful Abraham.

  This being chosen also means that we are to share in the privileged status of Christ Jesus. Again, Galatians 3 states that we are heirs and joint heirs with Christ. And in the same chapter of Galatians, we are told that the blessing of Abraham comes upon us as a result of what Jesus accomplished on Calvary. And if that isn’t enough, John 1 states that those of us who have believed on Jesus and received Him were given the right to become children of God. Are you grasping the scope of being chosen yet?

  Now, put chosen with generation and you get an even richer viewpoint of what Peter is stating. You are a chosen generation, or race. Just as God chose the Israelites to be His people, He has chosen you, us, who have been redeemed by the Blood of Jesus to be His. We belong to Him. We didn’t just choose Him, but He chose us to be His. We are as special to Him as the Jewish nation is to Him. Any reader of the Bible can see that He was fully engaged in the lives of the Israelites. As a matter of fact, He hasn’t stopped being involved in Israel’s protection and the blessing of the Jews. They are still a blessed people!

  He provided them with deliverance from Egypt in a magnanimous way. Even unbelievers have heard of the parting of the Red Sea! Our spiritual deliverance pays eternal dividends and opens the pathway for earthly deliverances. The testimonies I could share! He provided them with His glory to guide them, and we are welcomed to experience His glory today! Anything that He did for Israel He can and will do for us on a greater scale because our covenant is built on the Blood of Jesus and not on bulls and goats.

  It’s overwhelming to the natural mind the scope of being chosen by God, but it is true. The devil wants you to be afraid of embracing God, to believe He is out to get you, to keep things from you, to stifle your life, or is waiting to reject you when you sin; but nothing could be further from the truth!! God Himself has chosen you to be His out of the depth of His great love for you! His hands are stretched out still. Open your heart today and dare to believe that you, as a believer, belong to Him because you are chosen! Wonderful Jesus!!

  Posted in 1 Peter 2:9, Believers, Christian, God’s Blessings, Jesus | 2 Comments | Tagged 1 Peter 2:9, Believer, Christian, encouragement, Jesus

• Where Are All the Miracles?

  Posted at 2:20 am by wonderfuljesus8, on November 11, 2019

  Judges 6:13 – Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”

  If you haven’t read the account of Gideon in a while, or never, you may not remember that during the discourse between him and the Angel of the Lord that he asked this question, “If the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about…?”

  The thing is, people are still asking the same question today! They may not know that Gideon asked it of the Lord many centuries ago, but it is a question many have asked; if not verbally, than certainly in their hearts. I know that I asked it!

  The Angel told Gideon that the Lord was with him, and Gideon responded, “if the Lord is with us?” I can imagine that the thought that the Lord was supposed to be with him was too much for him to take in at the time, so he included others in his question. He couldn’t believe that in his present circumstance that God was with him because the proof of God’s presence to Israel was always demonstrated through miracles. And since he was in hiding from the Midianites trying to scrape up enough wheat for food, he wasn’t buying it! No miracles, no God, no brainer!

  People are so confused today about miracles. Does God perform miracles today like He did in the Old Testament and the New Testament? If so, where are they? This is a legitimate question that needs to be answered in the Body of Christ! After all, how can we say that we serve the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God who sent His Son Jesus through a virgin, the very God whose name conjures up miracles in our mind, and yet we have never seen a miracle?

  Jesus’ ministry was validated with miracles. John asked, are you the Messiah? Jesus said, check out all the miracles! (Luke 7:19) The miracle working power of God had to be in the life of the Messiah! And the Son of God would definitely have to operate in miracles, since the Father did!!

  Before Jesus left the earth He gave what we call the Great Commission in Mark 16:15-18. And in this commission He stated that if we believed in His name, signs would follow us; and He named a few—they would cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues, they will lay hands on the sick and the sick shall recover! People who believe God, see miracles. He fully expected His church to operate in miracles as He did. Remember He even said the Church would do greater works than He did! (John 14:12)

  In Acts the disciples were threatened and told not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus, but they prayed that God would stretch forth His hand to heal, and that signs and wonders (miracles) may be done through the Name of Jesus! They absolutely expected miracles to be with them!

  But today, we have a problem with wondering if miracles are for the church. We argue about the validity of any miracle that we hear, calling it hype, fake news or anything else to discredit it. We would rather look for any explanation we can come up with than to believe that God would intervene on our behalf. But He does, and He will!

  Gideon did see the miraculous, once he began to trust God. God told him that he would deliver Israel, and with 300 men that’s exactly what he did! As a matter of truth, God gave Him several miracles before that one. He was and is the God of miracles!

  So where are all the miracles? Well, what are you believing? Do you believe that God doesn’t care enough about you and your circumstance to give you a miracle? Or do you believe that miracles are not for today? Or maybe your believe that miracles happen but only when God wants them to! Well, therein lies your problem! None of this junk will produce a miracle! Faith produces miracle!! Not a little faith (read my post on the mustard seed), but great faith moves the hand of God!

  I have seen God move miraculously in my life. I’ll only share one. It’s at the forefront of my mind because of a song I heard this morning. The song my husband and I sang to each other on our wedding day! “Only God Could Love You More!”

  As a young woman I watched many of my girlfriends get married. Always the bridesmaid and never the bride. But when I began to pray for a husband, I asked God to give me a love story in the process. Well, one day, out of nowhere, He told me to join the Navy. I didn’t really have an interest in the military, but I obeyed. After I did, He told me that I would marry an officer.

  I shared this with friends and one told me that it would never happen. But I want you to know that one day I was sitting in an airport in Sicily waiting for a flight to the States when he walked in and spotted me. A naval officer, single, saved, and handpicked by God was sent to say hello! And the rest, as we say, is history! A miraculous meeting, a call to a phone booth in a military barracks in Italy, and a date to meet in Florida ended with a wonderful love story, an amazing friendship and a godly marriage that demonstrates there is no area of our lives that is unimportant to Him! He’s just good like that! He gave me a miracle love story that I can’t tell in its entirety, but you can believe me when I say it was so!

  I encourage you today to stop asking “where are the miracles” and start trusting Him to do the miraculous in your life! You don’t have to continue a humdrum life. Find out what the word says about your situation and what God has promised to do. If it is your finances that need a miracle, He has one for you! If it is your body, your relationship, your children, your job, or whatever, He cares and He can and will perform a miracle for you! Read Pastor Brannon Carnes miracle on my blog-“Tell Me Your Story” to get another witness to the miracle working power of God! It’s true! He’s true! Then share your miracle with me. I would love to hear it! Wonderful Jesus!!

  Posted in Christian, Faith, miracle, testimony, Victorious Living | 0 Comments | Tagged Christian, Faith, Jesus, miraculous, testimony

• Reconciled to Bring Reconciliation

  Posted at 12:30 pm by wonderfuljesus8, on November 7, 2019

  2 Corinthians 5:18 – Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,

  Reconciliation, according to the Vine’s, is what God accomplishes with His grace towards the sinner through the Blood of Jesus! To be reconciled means to be changed from an enemy of God to a friend. It also means to change our attitude and to accept the provision God made through the cross!

  God, out of a heart of love, provided the only means by which we can be reconciled to Him, His Son Jesus. This plan of salvation, by which all of mankind can be saved, is and was His idea. He is always the one offering reconciliation to mankind through Jesus.

  Sin was a major obstacle to reconciliation. After all, when Adam sinned, sin entered the world creating a great gulf between mankind and the God of the Universe. But even then, in His anger, His love prevailed causing Him to extend grace and mercy through Jesus. All barriers that were erected through sin were destroyed through Calvary. This is the message of the gospel, this is the message of reconciliation.

  Reconciliation doesn’t involve God being reconciled to us, but us being reconciled to Him. We were His enemies by the mere fact that we weren’t His sons. He was never our enemy. Our attitudes need adjustment, He needs no adjustment. So reconciliation to God is a beautiful and humbling experience.

  Then God handed over to us, the believers, the ministry of reconciliation. It is our responsibility to preach, teach, share, or sing this gospel message to the world, that God provided a way that mankind could be reconciled to Him. No longer do we have to be slaves to sin, burdened with the guilt of our past, separated from God, because reconciliation has been provided to all who accept it. No longer do we have to be an enemy to the Father, but we can have friendship, sonship, through His Blood!

  People every where need the Lord. They need to know that God isn’t mad at them, waiting to catch them in sin to send them to a Christ-less eternity. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth!! He provided the perfect sacrifice for our sins, the perfect mediator for our trespasses. The perfect answer to the question: “What must I do to be saved?”

  If you haven’t received reconciliation from God, through the Blood of Jesus and the forgiveness of your sin, allow me to be your reconciler. Choose Jesus today! Ask the Father to demonstrate His grace towards you as pour out your heart before Him in repentance. Then get up, dust the past off your person and become a reconciler; reconciling others to the Father! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in Christian, God, Jesus, Salvation | 2 Comments | Tagged Attitude, Christian, Jesus, reconciliation, Salvation

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