Are You Stoned? Ezekiel 28:13

Lucifer had it made! The praise leader of Heaven! He had every precious stone in his covering! Sardius, topaz, diamond, beryl, onyx, jasper, sapphire, emerald, carbuncle and gold! Lucifer was equipped with praise instruments! He had the tabrets and pipes like a pipe organ to make music to the Lord in worship! Lucifer was a created being like us! That is why we are not to worship angels! Pride entered Lucifer and rebelled against God and was cast down to earth with 1/3 of his followers! When he impacted the earth his precious stolen stones from Heaven were scattered throughout the earth! So when you find a precious stone in the earth think where it came from! According to verse 13 Lucifer had been in the Garden of God, Eden! That is where he met Adam and Eve the first humans on earth! You might say Lucifer had a touch of heaven for in heaven the streets are paved with gold! It is not rare stuff up there! So why do we labor for the stolen goods Satan left here on earth when the jems and gold are as common as dirt in the earth up there? Some humans have worked for them but others have stolen them committing evil sins against God and man! Worship of God by humans involves the precious elements of the earth! Let us look at the Ephod Breast Plate in Exodus 28:18-29. The 12 tribes of Israel each had a precious stone of a significant color representing each of them before God! These stones represented earthly people. Most of these colors are in the rainbow across our sky! The rainbow has 7 colors! This sign in the heavens reminded us of God’s covenant to never completely flood the earth as in the days of Noah. It is interesting it takes water to activate the rainbow! It takes sin to activate the blood! When we look at the breastplate the tribe of Judah was represented by an emerald. The green emerald stone is used in engagement rings representing fidelity, harmony and loyalty! In Revelation 21:19-20, we see these precious stones appearing in the New Jerusalem! In the 4 entry gates of the city! Our Messiah came through the Tribe of Judah! God’s engagement to man began here and was consecrated in marriage which produced a Son named Jesus Christ! Remember Jesus always existed before creation and was incarnated into the earth as a human! The church today is the bride of Christ! My Bible says he is more precious than silver and more costly than gold! Why? Because he created this stuff! Remember the Ephod Breast Plate was for judgment! Judgment begins at the House of God! If you let Christ take your judgment then you are saved from it! Christ the eternal judge will not condemn his own! Another notable here is the eastern gate of the mobile tabernacle was guarded by the Tribe of Judah! When the Muslims controlled Jerusalem centuries ago they heard that Christ would re-enter the city through the eastern gate! So they sealed the eastern gate closed with brick and mortar to try to stop Christ at his second coming! The eastern gate is still sealed today and it looks like the Muslims believe some of the scriptures! In the New Jerusalem the eastern gate will have a green emerald stone on the gate representing the Tribe of Judah! If you have accepted the offspring of Judah Jesus Christ you will be able to enter this gate! Only God who created us is able to deliver us from sin! You cannot save yourself! It takes the God who never sinned to deliver you from our sin! He sacrificed himself for us! In the New Jerusalem there will be 12 gates, 12 angels, 12 tribes, 12 foundation stones, 12 names, 12 apostles, 12 thousand furlongs (dimension of city), 12 stones, 12 pearls and 12 fruits! This is going to be a fascinating place to live! Can I wait to see the mansion he has for me? Not really! It will certainly beat this stone age earth! There are a lot more scriptures available describing the New Jerusalem! Isaiah 54:11-12 is a good one! The windows are dressed with agates which are of every color representing the induction of every race into heaven! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Easter Commentaries Luke 23:43

“And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee. Today thou shalt be with me in paradise.” Comment: So where is paradise? The Greek word means Eden, the future place of happiness! The Hebrew equivalent means a forest or fruit orchard. So the word paradise describes the Garden of Eden! Remember when Adam and Eve sinned against God they were cast out of the Garden of Eden! Then an Angel with a flaming sword was placed at the east entrance not allowing any human to eat of the Tree of Life! We know that sin and Eternal Life cannot co-exist together! Everyone will chose one but without the other! Only Jesus could make this promise to the thief on the Cross because Jesus was the Tree of Life! He was hung on a Cross to provide you an entrance back into the Garden of Eden for an eternity! A garden with no sin because of His sacrifice for our sin on the Cross! The entrance fee has been paid with His own blood! Adam and Eve sacrificed animals in the Garden to try to cover their sin! But the blood of animals was not enough! The blood of God’s only Son was the only blood that would atone for our sin! The thief on the Cross might have been the first human to re-enter the Garden of Eden! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Hear It and Practice It ! Matthew 7:24-27

Here Jesus gives the final benediction. Jesus demands and compels us to take the narrow gate, produce the right fruit and make the right choice! He required of us that we build on the right foundation. We are to examine ourselves and practice Holiness. Jesus repeats these requirements a second time because they are so important. Jesus was talking to believers not non-believers. The rain, wind and storms will come to us all. Good and bad days are ahead. The wise build on the rock and the foolish on the sand. If we build on the right foundation we will thrive through the storm. We have great days ahead! We can feel His Blessings! The disciples were passionate. They did great things! There were glorious days and there was also trouble. Eleven of His disciples were martyred! One was imprisoned on a remote island in a cave. John 16:33 — Peace and Tribulation? Jesus has come to give us peace. The world gives us trouble. Jesus has overcome the world! Stay strong and keep the Faith. Nothing shall shake you! The place of stability in Christ leaves no terror. The unstable world leaves us with fear. Love and fear are opposites. How do we practice words? We practice them by doing them. Action! Breath in His Holy Spirit. Get saturated with the Gospel! Breath out and go do His Word. Are you receiving but not giving? Gandhi said,” I like your Christ but not His followers! ” Christ’s followers cannot save Gandhi but Christ could! James 1:27– Pure religion is to take care of widows and orphans. Also keep your heart pure. Find some widows and orphans! Get busy. Do! Act! Along life’s path do His Word. Do you have a vision? That vision will deceive you if you are not doing His Word! A medical doctor is useless unless he is practicing his knowledge! Luke 8:15– There are four types of soil. The seed is the word. Good soil is a pure heart. Hear His word and do something about it. Hear it, retain it, talk about it and do it. Cares of the world will choke the word. Know the will of God and cooperate and do it. Good work does not earn our salvation. But the good works help to mature us. Put your hands and feet to His Word. The Bible is a living, breathing document. The Holy Spirit puts boots on the ground through you! Live out your revelation. Matthew 7:28– Jesus taught as one having authority. It is not about Plan A or Plan B. Make disciples teaching them to obey me! Christ will be with you always even to the end of the ages. Have a secure place and build on the right foundation. What are you building your life on? What and who is shaping and forming your life right now today? Source: Pastor Brady Boyd, New Life Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Message given Sunday, September 15, 2013. Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

What Did Jesus Say About Following Him? Matthew 7:13-14

Jesus had a radical message! You can only enter in at the narrow way, narrow passage or narrow gate to follow me. A narrow gate would only be about the width of your shoulders. You cannot carry any baggage with you when you go through it. Following Jesus through the narrow gate requires focus with no distractions in the way. The broad road or gate leads to destruction. Jesus does and did not go this path. It is a dead end road. Few people choose the narrow gate. American culture is more Christ resistant than anytime in our history. To follow Christ today is more costly than in previous generations. We are considered radicals by our culture and ridiculed. We are considered on the outer fringes like space cadets. Did you ever notice the on-line surveys always give you a way out. You are never committed to a yes or no answer. Kind of like politics today. Christ gave His disciples no third choice. It was either Heaven or Hell. The same holds true for us today! Yes or no? Easy or difficult. Matthew 5:1-2. Jesus real audience was more than the crowds it was His disciples. They had already made up their minds to follow Him but their trust level was low. It takes time to figure out if you can trust someone. Jesus told them the Kingdom of God is right now! It was not yesterday or tomarrow. Living right now is Monday through Saturday working, school and difficult schedules. Jesus said let Heaven break into your boring day to day world. Jerusalem has 12 gates. The wide gate is the most used gate. Examples today are convenience stores, shopping malls, fast food, ect. We like the best paved roads with the fewest traffic lights. They even have drive through churches today. Just hear a message on the internet or television. Why go to church? Studies have found that women like to shop on the internet after 9:00PM. Why? Convenient! We like to choose the easy way over the difficult. Going through the wide gate we can take along as much baggage as we want. No constraints, no sacrifices, easy choices, no boundaries, no commitment applies to all who travel the wide gate. Taking this path leads to ruin. Jesus took a narrow path from The Judgment Hall to Calvary. It was also a steep climb carrying your Cross! He took your unforgiveness, hurt, pain and all your sin. Jesus was a teacher of virtue. Creativity exits between boundaries. Whether it be inventions, music, poetry, sciences, discoveries or even the work of a humble farmer. All great work is done within constraints and boundaries. Jesus had to be sinless to fix your sin. Because of the discipline of constraints and boundaries we have very few great people. People do not like boundaries. Live together why get married? Why study? Why work? Get on welfare. Pregnant? Get an abortion. Vote for the political party that offers you no constraints or boundaries. Revelation 7:9. Heaven is not sparsely populated but has a great multitude. Salvation belongs to our God! It is a free gift like a Christmas gift under a tree and is easy to find. Jesus is easy to find but very difficult to follow. Weddings are exciting but then the couples have to learn to live together. Marriage goes from easy to difficult. The wide gate is to get a divorce or just live together unmarried. To remain in covenant is a miracle from God and requires His Grace. To stay married is hard work and a challenge. Getting pregnant is easy but raising children is hard work. The family under the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman is God’s only plan and design for relationships and for the security of future generations. Worship even requires constraints and boundaries. All people will make one of the following four choices in their life. 1. Secularism- autonomy, it’s my life, live for yourself, no boundaries, no restraints. Not Jesus way. No! 2. Moralism- Follow the rules and get the life I deserve. Entitlement. Steeped in religion that says it is all about me. I deserve to be rich and famous because I am a moral person. 3. Religion- I owe my life to God. Obligation. Things better go right with me because I am serving God! Bad exchange. Problems come! Death and disease comes to all! 4. Grace- Jesus says your life for my life! Wonderful exchange! Great Exchange! My nothingless for His everything. Give God your life and He gives His life back to you! Stop living for yourself. It is a dead end. Let Christ come in. Welcome the Holy Spirit! You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. What needs constraint in your life? Do you eat food for comfort? Do you have a drug or sex addiction? Do you feed your senses to no avail. Let Christ increase and you decrease. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and He will add to your life that will help you to victory. Source: Pastor Brady Boyd, New Life Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Message given Sunday September 1, 2013.