Reproach of Men! Isaiah 51:7

“Listen unto me carefully that you understand to discern and know righteousness. For my people are those who know my heart and inner soul of my law. Fear not the shameful displeasure of men neither be broken or despaired of their sinful rebuke.” Comment: The true commentary is we all initially opposed God! Those that have repented understand His righteousness because they understand His forgiveness! Once you understand you have sinned against God you understand His righteousness! Your night brings His light into your life! Those that live in and promote evil do not understand their error and God’s standard! God’s standard is described in your Bible but those that reject His Word reject God Himself! As described in Isaiah sinners will try to shame you and rebuke you for taking the God standard! They will sue you and drag you into court as they did with the Colorado family who refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple! Since Jesus is not around to spit in His face, mock Him, plant a crown of thorns on Him, whip Him bloody and nail Him to a Cross they only have you His follower to persecute! Remember on the Cross Jesus asked His Father to forgive them for they know not what they do! Why could not Jesus have forgiven them? Jesus had not yet completed His redemptive work on the Cross! After Jesus death and resurrection the way was open for His persecutors to repent! It would not be smart to reject the only God who can forgive you your sin! I can suffer the reproach of men but I could never survive the reproach of God on Judgment Day unless my Judge was my Savior! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Look Up Zion! Jerusalem! Isaiah 51:6

Hebrew Translation: “Lift up your face, eyes, voice and soul and accept the census taken in Heaven! Look to my lofty Heaven where my rainbow defines my archway to my dwelling place! Look upon the earth that dwells underneath me and my people of Zion! The Heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment. They that dwell therein shall wither, decay and die an unnatural death because of sin! However my salvation of victory over death, prosperity, comfort and safety shall be forever! The forever that is hidden from your sight right now but was before the beginning of the world! Your vanishing point will be your new beginning where my righteousness of justice and honesty shall not be confounded, broken or despaired with fear!” Comment: Isaiah was preparing the Jews 650 years before the birth of Jesus Christ for their Messiah! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

One Week After Easter! April 14, 1912

Pastor John Harper was an accomplished Pastor out of Scotland with hundreds of congregation members in his home church! He had been invited by Moody Church in Chicago to participate with this ministry! He was excited and his young daughter and sister accompanied them on a brand new ship on it’s maiden voyage to New York! His wife had been deceased years earlier. The Titanic was promoted as the safest ship to ever sail. On the late night of April 14th the Titanic struck that rock of ice and began taking on water! As the tragedy unfolded Pastor Harper helped load the women and children into the life boats! He gave up his life vest to another who did not have one! A crew member warned him that without the life vest you are going down with the ship! Pastor Harper replied that he was going up and not down! Pastor Harper kept shouting to the crowds, “Do you know Jesus as your Savior?” He continued to shout, “No one can save you tonight but God!” Survivors said that Pastor Harper kept preaching the Gospel to the end especially after Acts 16:31. Are you saved was his continual cry to the people entering the cold icy waters of the North Atlantic! Pastor Harper found himself in the cold frigid waters clinging to a deck chair floating in the water! As people floated by him he would ask them if they were saved? Do you know Christ! Declare His name from your lips and enter into eternal life! You only have one chance tonight! Do not let the love of this world keep you from Christ! Christ loves you but not this world! Trust Christ not your own efforts! Whether here tonight or later we will all perish from this earth! There is only one name under Heaven in where you can be saved! Pastor Harper with over 1500 people perished that night and entered eternity either saved or lost! Are you saved! When we run out of time we run out of choices! The word time means, “To Honor.” Why not honor Him today with the rest of your life here on earth? Pastor John Harpers life can be seen by reading a book called, “The Titanic’s Last Hero”, published by Moody Adams. Do not let Easter slip away from you under the dark waters of death! Pastor Oscar Cope, Mount Vernon Baptist Church, Fairburn, Georgia.

The Joy Set Before Him! Hebrews 12:2

What is the difference between love and law? Jesus came to fulfill the law though love! If the only God you know is law then your attitude is I HAVE to obey and keep the Commandments! Even though you are miserable you have to do your duty! We must be in church on Sunday and keep the Sabbath! When we discover the love of God through Christ our attitude changes about worship! Now I WANT to keep the Commandments! I want to please God! He loves me and I do not want to disappoint Him! I love Him because He first loved me! I obey out of love! My attitude now is to love other’s as He has loved me! I take joy in suffering for other’s as He suffered for me! My present and future is in Him so I no longer have to store up stuff for myself! I can joyfully share what I have with other’s! I no longer have to store up anger, hate and worry to be released on other’s for He has taken it away and given me love to replace it! I am free now to do the Father’s will. Jesus endured the Cross with joy! Why? Because He loves you! He knew the return on His sacrifice would redeem billions of souls! However had the return only been you He would have done it! The same joy is available to you but you must forsake the things that are taking your joy away and take up your Cross and follow Jesus! Why not begin this journey by attending a Easter Service this Sunday! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Do Not Touch Me! John 20:17

Sounds like my old girl friend! This statement Jesus made is different in the Greek rendition than we have in the English! Here are some notes from the Greek notation in my Bible. The verb “hipton”, the present imperative of hipto(681), should be translated, “do not continue to touch me.” It is “do not touch me” in the commonly translated and should have been translated if this verb had been in the aorist imperative, hapsou. So does it matter? It means Mary has already touched Him! I think anyone would have to want to touch Jesus after his Resurrection with the human curiosity of is this the real deal? Remember Thomas later in this chapter would not believe until he touched Jesus and felt the scars of His Crucifixion! In regards to the four pillars of redemption which includes Jesus birth, death, resurrection and ascension Jesus even though human fingerprints were all over the first three pillars did not want human influence on Him after the resurrection before His ascension! The Greek word touch means to intentionally touch to modify with influence on! God wants to modify our behavior but God wants no human influence on Him! We are not going to take this flesh we are living in to Heaven! The only thing that influenced my behavior away from God is my flesh! We leave it the grave for a reason! After Jesus resurrection He walked through a closed door to see His disciples! No physical limitations of the flesh! Jesus has transformed my life but death will finish the job! We cannot enter Heaven in this flesh so we have to be transformed from the worm to the butterfly! We do not die without a purpose! We live with purpose in Christ and we die with purpose in Christ! Without Christ you live without purpose and you die without purpose! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

No Ghost’s but the Holy One! John 20:21-23

After Jesus Resurrection Mary Magdalene finally recognized Jesus at the tomb! But Jesus warned Mary not to touch Him for He had not ascended to His Father and your Father! A few verses later we see why Jesus said this! Jesus found His other disciples hiding out in fear from the Jews! Jesus instructed His disciples that they must go out into the world the same way my Father has sent me! Jesus told them they must receive the Holy Ghost! Must receive the Holy Spirit! Jesus breathed on them and His breath transmitted the Holy Ghost into them! Then Jesus told them as they went out into the world to preach the Gospel that whoever accepts my atonement for their sin will be released from their sin but whoever rejects me will retain their sin with judgment! After Jesus ascended to the Father He sent the Holy Spirit to His Church for power and authority over Satan! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Easter Thoughts!

The word compassion means to suffer with! Do you see the word passion in compassion? The first use of the word compassion used in our Bible is in Exodus 2:6. Pharaoh’s daughter saw the baby Moses drifting down the river in a basket! She had compassion on the baby and rescued him! The word used here means to have pity and spare! However there is another Hebrew root word used for compassion that really got my attention! This word is used in 1 Kings 8:50 and 2 Chronicles 30:9. The word means the tender mercies of the womb! Moses was a deliverer of his people and the fruit of the womb! Compassion was born! Just as Jesus death was an act of compassion so was His birth! You cannot separate Christmas and Easter! We were not born to die but Jesus was!  We die because of sin but Christ is sinless! So Jesus suffered for us and with us at birth and at death! He took our death upon Himself so that we could live! His resurrection nullified our death! Satan threw the yellow flag with the penalty of death for our sin but Jesus protested the penalty and threw the red flag reversing the decision! The penalty on the field of life is reversed! Our new resurrected life is a 1st and 10! A fresh start! Born again! A second chance at life! His blood defeated death and has won the day and life for us! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Is Jesus Just a Gardener to You? John 20:15

Just as with Mary at one time in my life Jesus was just a gardener to me! As long as you do not look for Jesus you will never see Him! Mary Magdalene was the first disciple to recognize Jesus after His resurrection from the dead! Death seems to close the door on our personalities but really it does not! Remember the rich man and Lazarus? One life carried on in Heaven and the other life in Hell. Jesus carried on after his death the same way He was before death! Jesus disciples wrote Jesus off after the Crucifixion! Peter and John had preconceived idea’s about Jesus before they entered the tomb! They looked around the empty tomb and saw the grave clothes then fled and went into hiding from the Romans and the Jews! What they saw confirmed what they believed! This whole thing is a hoax! Mary hung around the tomb weeping because there was no body there to anoint for burying? Mary had experienced Jesus power for He cast 7 demons out of her! Yet she let death close the door on her faith and thought the man speaking to her in the tomb was a gardener! Then the voice and light of Jesus opened her eyes! Rabboni! Rabbi! Master! Jesus is always present even if you do not see Him! Just as a blind man can feel the rays of the sun so you can feel Jesus love! The stars shine brightest in the darkness of the night! After Jesus delivered me from death I could only see Him and experience His love! My allegiance and devotion turned to Him! Rabbi! Master! Power over death! Jesus was no longer a gardener to me! The Resurrection took on a whole new meaning! It was no longer just a religious story I heard once a year at church! Do you want the reality of Jesus or just a once a year story? You do not want to wake up on the wrong side of death as the rich man did! Either a Heaven or a Hell? The reality of Christ will one day come to all the living and the dead! Just so it is not too late for you! Chance and choice only come once to every individual. Wise men and women still seek Him! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Your Best Friend Should Not Be You!

John 12:25 Greek Translation “He that has his best friend as his physical body shall be killed and destroyed eternally: and he that hateth his physical body in this world shall preserve it from danger unto life of the spirit and the soul apart from the physical body inheriting God’s life with eternal value and time.” Comment: Did you notice most of the advertising industry is based around your physical body? It is all about weight loss, hair loss, teeth loss, skin loss, ect. The cosmetic industry is a multi-billion dollar industry! Yet we will all physically die! Does that mean we do not care for our physical body? It means as Jesus said before the Cross do not let you physical body be your best friend! It will forsake you! It will be a corpse sooner or later with no value! We are the Temple of the Holy Spirit! God does not want us to pollute our bodies with sin and corruption! Love God and not your physical body! Jesus was saying death is the incubator for life! The eternal part of us is the spirit and the soul. We need to nourish this as the most valuable! Develop your soul as on a treadmill. Exercise your spirit and your soul! Practice Holiness! Use the time you have as a gift from God to lead other’s to Christ! Read and study your Bible daily! Pray daily! Spent time and money to reach the lost! Use your God given resources to support your local church! For those that make it to Heaven you will not be alone! Neither will those in Hell. Would you like to meet other’s in Heaven you had a part in reaching here on earth? Billy Graham is doing that right now and forever! There was a poem written in 1855 and later became a song titled, “What A Friend We Have In Jesus!” Who is your best friend? 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