Tag: cross

Have a Rewards Card?

2 Samuel 22:21 The Lord rewarded me……….. Rewarded means to restore or repay! You are appointed benefits conveyed to you under God’s sovereignty! God rewards good and punishes evil! Jesus said in my house are many mansions! The word house here in the Greek conveys a meaning of a dwelling place in regards to a family! The word mansion in the Greek conveys the idea of a continual dwelling place! You don’t get thrown out if you cannot pay the rent or the mortgage payment! The payment for your stay was paid on the Cross! The Land Lord or the mortgage company will love you until you miss one payment! A continual dwelling means forever! A mortgage company will reward you only after 30 years of regular payments! Your debt has already been paid! This dwelling place includes Christ and His family! No others! You can never use up these reward points because they number more than the sands of the sea! In my house are many mansions! Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Goliath Attends Rock Concert! 1 Samuel 17:

The name Goliath is a verb meaning to uncover, remove or go into exile! It means to expose. The name does not mean giant so don’t name your kid Goliath! Whether to expose Israel’s weakness or Goliath’s false gods? Goliath cursed David in the name of his gods. Notice gods is plural. He was an idol worshiper! How can I please all the gods? If I please one will I offend the others? Will I anger some of my gods? Superstition follows this belief system! Idol’s are usually made of stone or wood. They are man made carved images. They represent the gods men make! They are made in the image of men! Man making God! David replied to Goliath by saying, “The battle belongs to the Lord!” The name is singular! The name Lord means the self-existent one! It is the name Jehovah the God of Israel. Notice David took five smooth stones out of the brook. Why five? Goliath had four brothers who were also giants! They were later slain in battles but not by David. No images were carved on these stones by men! You might say Goliath’s name was on one of these five stones! These stones in the brook were formed by water and the creator God! The stones Goliath carved his image on were defeated by the stone God created! Sin is an image breaker! Islam is founded on Idol worship! Mecca is known as the place of the black stone. There were 360 idol’s in Mecca so they chose their best idol and named him Allah! The Jews were not Idol worshipers however when they did fall into this practice they were exiled by God! They were not exiled by a physical Goliath but were exiled by the spiritual Goliath! God made man in His own Image! Christ expressed God’s Image perfectly because He was God! Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Do We Worship The Sacrifice?

In the Old Testament the blood animal sacrifice was never worshiped. It was used as a means to atone for the sin of man! Remember also that human sacrifice was never allowed! It had to be innocent blood and man was a sinner! The Jews used animal sacrifice for thousands of years looking forward when God would one day provide the sacrifice! I could do a good thing but I am still a sinner! I could kill a terrorist and you might applaud me but I just killed someone! Finally Jesus comes along! The Jews and the Romans did not look at Jesus as a human sacrifice but a criminal making crazy proclamations! The Jews could not comprehend Him even though their scriptures predicted Him hundreds of years earlier! Jesus was not a human sacrifice because He was God! Today we worship the sacrifice because He is God! Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Cast Your Vote! 1 Samuel 8:4

Samuel made his son’s judge over Israel when he was old. However his son’s took bribes and loved money more than God! Their judgments were perverted! The Jews got fed up and wanted a King! They were going to take their chances with a political leader rather than a Priest! So they got Saul! As elections loom over America we try our best to find someone better than the last guy! Every four years our hopes are dashed! Surely the next guy will be better? Hope and change? No thank you! I would remind our voters there is only one Prophet, Priest and King! His name is Jesus Christ! He has been running for election for 2000 years! There is only one who is both God and man! He is not a democrat, republican or dictator! He rules in love! He sacrificed Himself for you! Usually politicians sacrifice you for their gain! He went voluntarily to the Cross for you! He is returning to redeem this lost world! A vote for Christ will frame your eternity! A vote for the world will separate you from Christ for all eternity! Your eternity can begin today with Christ! The choice is yours! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Picture Worth More Than Thousand Words! John 1:1

The truth is all images or pictures are formed in the lens of your eye were created by the Word of God! His creative power is in His Word! God spoke the world into existence with His Word! He created to establish and sustain life! Prophesies fulfilled in the Bible are completions of His Word! His Word is hidden in our heart for application to deliver us from sin! What you see on earth was first in Heaven! Yes, both love and war! If you decide to follow Christ the world will oppose you! God is greater than the world because He created the world! Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by Satan! Satan tried to deceive Jesus by twisting the Word of God! Deception cannot live where God’s Word dwells! Political correctness is all about hiding the truth! All deception is accomplished with words! Bibles are being burned in the Middle East right now along with people! Hitler burned thousands of Bibles along with people! Not a pretty picture! If we ignore or reject God’s Word we do at our own peril! The final picture of your life will be determined by your acceptance or rejection of His Word! Believe it or not? You entered time so you could make a choice about His Word! You choose either Heaven or Hell? Life or death? Peace or war? Time is eternal and when it closes on your life you cannot turn back the clock! Eternity is a long time to live with your wrong choices! Time means to honor so you can choose right now with the now you have to secure your life with Christ! Jesus on the Cross is a picture worth more than a thousand words! It is the purpose and reason God came to redeem creation! The picture of the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation is displayed on the Cross at Calvary! God cannot make it any clearer than that! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Grave Yard Charm! India 1985

Sound appealing? Would any church leader surround his church with a grave yard? Probably would not be a draw for big crowds? Most people here in America today want a grave yard placed out of their sight! In our mission work in India I discovered churches completely surrounded by grave yards? It seemed foolish at first until I spent a few years there and then it made sense! What the British did in India for 200 years was take the Gospel to the people! One of the problems faced there was Hindu’s and Muslim’s taking over a church, desecrating the altar and erecting a temple or mosque over it. This same problem going on in Britain and America today. So the British surrounded the churches with grave yards especially in remote area’s of India! Halloween would have been a big hit there! The Muslim’s and Hindu’s were fearful of grave yards so they left those churches alone! So the British protected their central worship centers while reaching out to the community in evangelism. We discovered this first hand because we rented out an old fellowship hall next to the grave yard and no one would attend our meetings! So we moved our location from the church and Hindu’s and Muslim’s began to attend services! The fear of death is a bondage to men! This is why Easter reminds us and confirms to believer’s in Christ that death has been conquered! He is risen! He who also promises us to raise us from the dead! As I used to walk through the grave yard on my way to worship services I was reminded of my mortality and that Christ who I serve defeated death for me! My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Blood and righteousness! Jesus is more than a man He is God! Only God could achieve the miracle of the resurrection from the dead! O’ death where is thy sting? O’ grave where is thy victory? The opposite of fear is love! For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son! Christ will return to judge the living and the dead! No one escapes! Accept the judgment Christ took for you on Calvary! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

No Compulsion in Religion? Quran 2:256

If the Quran is true then why do Muslim’s kill those who convert to another religion? Is it a one way street? If you abandon Islam you will have to go to a court where Muslim Clerics will pronounce judgment on you! Do they not follow their own Holy Book? Many contradictions in the Quran! The Quran says Jesus was born of a virgin. It also says Jesus did not die on a Cross! It also confirms the validity of the scripture and the Bible yet contradicts the Bible with many other verses in the Quran? There are about 1.4 Billion Muslim’s in the world. Yet only about 20 percent of them have ever read the Quran! So the followers listen to these Imam’s in the Mosque’s for directions! So the followers get instructions without any reference to any written guide? I remember during the 3 years we spent in India we had an incident where a Hindu man was giving us a lot of troubles in the ministry. This young Muslim man came to me and told me he would take care of this Hindu man for me and kill him? I explained to him that our Bible says vengeance belongs to God alone! I believe that if every Muslim in the world would read the Quran they would abandon the religion overnight! Ignorance is not bliss but hell when it comes to the Quran! What is really challenging witnessing to a Muslim is that 8 out of 10 have never read the Quran so even if you are familiar with it as a Christian they will not have a clue! Show them God’s love and they will respond as we have to Christ’s love! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Israel Saved by a Prostitute! Joshua 2:1-3

This is one of the most fascinating stories in the Old Testament and carries over into the New Testament! This is a lesson for Christian’s to never write off a sinner! If we do that becomes a greater sin! Pride and self-righteousness! Rahab was a Amorite. The first part of her name, “RA”, is the name of an Egyptian God. The rest of her name means insolence, fierceness or broad and spacious! She was spacious and took everyone in! Rahab married Salmon one of the two spies she took in. She became the mother of Boaz, who married Ruth from whose son Obed, Jessie the father of David came, through whose lineage Jesus was born! In the New Testament Rahab is in the Hall of Fame when it comes to Faith! As Christian’s we need to remember God can use anyone and He does! The Bible says we are to confess our sin to one another! Mark Twain said if you do you will have no friends! He is right for I tried that once! If they were true friends they would still be my friend! What a friend we have in Jesus! Politics is the dirtiest occupation on earth! It got Jesus put on a Cross! However God is smarter than sin and nailed all our sin to the Cross! As we close out 2015 think about how we can think like God and look at the world through the heart of God! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Wonderful Councilor! Isaiah 9:6

God chose to make His dwelling place with men! A councilor is one who fixes problems! My dad was my best councilor growing up as an adolescent! He rescued me many times! Kids should learn important lessons in life from their parents!  With all those close calls I had growing up God never took His eyes off me! Today many youth are exposed to a flawed view of God! There are four basic views how people view God. 1. God is a troubleshooter! We do not bother Him unless we get in a crisis! 2. God is a distant power! God is not really interested in us. This pro-active disengagement leads to many problems in marriages and home life. 3. God is a grandparent. God wants what I want! God is an ATM machine to give me my every desire! 4. God is Lord and center of my life! God is the source of all wisdom and I submit to His rule over my life! Is God a wonderful councilor to you? Are you busy and distracted by the cares of this life? I will ask God council over every area of my life! We live in cultural chaos! There are competing voices for your life! Slow down! Take time to be Holy! Pay attention to Christ! A sheep only responds to the voice of his shepherd! He will ignore all other voices! Take time to listen to the Master’s voice! People that hear from God wait on Him! John 14:26 The councilor, the Holy Spirit will teach you all things! He will remind you of everything He has taught you in His Word! Jesus was the original home schooler! Teaching requires patience, diligence, and staying with it everyday! Teaching is not a lucrative occupation! Jesus disciples were slow and rebellious! Teaching requires kindness and being intentional! The Holy Spirit teaches us and reminds us of all things! We as a church recite the Nicene Creed because it teaches us and reminds us of very important things! What do good parents do for us from the cradle to the grave? They teach us and remind us! As we take communion this morning Jesus taught us and reminded us to do this in remembrance of Him! God is personal and interested in you! That is why He came to earth! God came from Heaven wrapped in flesh! Fully God and fully man! He told us He would be born of a virgin, die on a Cross, be raised from the dead and ascend back to Heaven! He taught His disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit! The original Passover meals took hours to prepare! It was not fast food! God has taken great preparations for us! All we do is just receive the gift! Christ was broken for you yet His brokenness heals the world! At Passover in Jewish tradition the Messiah’s cup was always displayed meaning one day He would drink with us! At the Passover Jesus took the ceremonial cup and drank from it saying I am the long awaited Messiah! Jesus invites you to His table this morning! Jesus asked the Father if He could take this cup away from Him! Let thy will be done! God’s will was very costly to deliver us from our sin! Drink with Him this morning. He is a wonderful councilor and much more! No one can crash this party because everyone is invited! Source; Excerpt from Pastor Brady Boyd, New Life Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado. His complete messages can be seen on his Podcasts. Go to NewLifeChurch.org