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
Tag: peter
Touched by an Angel? 2 Peter 2:4
What do we know about angels? From our Bible we know that there are 3 basic groups of angels. Gabriel (messenger angels), Michael (war angels), Lucifer (praise angel), who became Satan! We know that angels are created beings just like humans! We know we are not to worship angels. We know we were created just a little lower than the angels. We know Lucifer was the disobedient angel that rebelled against God and 1/3 of these angels were cast out of Heaven down to earth! We know angels can dwell in flesh. We know Christ was not a created being but was pre-existent and always was is and forever will be! What has all this to do with Christmas? A lot! Everything! Did you ever notice 1/3 of the earth’s population is Christian! One third of the disobedient angels were cast down out of Heaven to earth! Yet 1/3 of the earth’s population has been redeemed! We know that Satan can never be redeemed! However Satan dwelling in flesh or humans is his effort to destroy them! Remember Jesus has authority over demons and cast them out of people! At the mention of His name demons tremble! Jesus God’s Son incarnated into the earth was God’s plan to defeat Satan! Those that reject Christ continue to live under the control of Satan! The Christmas story is a lot bigger than tinsel, gifts and food! It is all about the defeat of the fallen angel in your life and the deliverance of your soul from the same plight that awaits Satan! The small baby in Bethlehem is God’s plan to deliver us from evil. Merry Christmas! Praise God and Christ for our praise replaces the praise in Heaven lost by Lucifer’s removal from Heaven! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
I Do Not Know? Proverbs 3:5
Nothing can be believed unless it is first understood, and that for anyone to preach to others that which either has not understood nor they have understood is absurd. Peter Abelard (1079-1142), French Theologian. Comment: Peter’s dying words were, “I don’t know!” Even though I have been a Christian for 44 years I am still learning about God! My Bible reveals new things to me everyday! We start by Faith continue in Faith and finish in Faith! Without Faith it is impossible to please God! Beware of anyone who says they know more about God than you do! We only understand about God what he gives us! We will never know everything about God because if we did we could control Him! What we do know about God is that He loves us! That is enough! We need to search and seek God through His Holy Scriptures! The Apostle Paul was a learned man yet far from God until Jesus revealed Himself to Paul on the Road to Damascus! The only way to God is through His Son Jesus Christ! If you know this much you know enough! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
A Miracle! Isaiah 7:14
King Ahaz was a wise King! When the Lord told him He would give him a sign he did not want to tempt the Lord! He did not want to put God to a foolish test! Ahaz was really telling God I do not question you! Mortal men do need to be questioned! Jesus will do that at the judgment! Men and women asked Jesus a lot of questions! Are you really the Son of God? Prove it! Come down from the Cross if you are God! The word sign means a miracle in the Hebrew! Jesus virgin birth is a miracle! After Peter witnessed the miracles he told Jesus you are the Christ the Son of the living God! The Lord gave Peter signs! The star over Bethlehem was a miracle! Christ’s resurrection from the dead was a miracle! Salvation is a miracle! Being born again is a miracle! These acts of God are beyond the natural and are supernatural. They are God’s Grace in that God does for us what we cannot do for ourselves! Miracles are the love of God towards men! Faith in God is living from miracle to miracle! It cannot be explained outside of God! Your life is a miracle! If you were not here you could not experience the love of God! No miracles! That is why abortion is so cruel. You kill a miracle! We need life to make choices! Could not wonder and awe about God? Could not see the slender of His creation! Could not experience His Power and Glory! Could not know His peace! Without Him no purpose! Only loneliness and emptiness! No hope! But surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life! Lord give me another miracle today! Not to prove who you are but prove I cannot live without you! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Trinity and the Soul Genesis 1:27
But these three, though they be distinct from one another, are, however said to be one, because they exist substantially in the soul. Peter Lombard (1096-1160) Comment: His writings influenced Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas, William of Ockham, Gabriel Beil, Martin Luther, John Calvin and Pope Alexander III. His tomb is Paris some 700 years later was destroyed during the French Revolution! Remember the French Revolution tried to de-Christianize France even by creating a special calendar (French Revolution Calendar), removing Christian Holidays and religious figures! The calendar lasted 12 years about as long as Hitler’s rein! An attempt was made to remove all religious influences from the culture! Prominent atheist were behind this effort much like today in America. The French Revolution and the American Revolution were very different with different outcomes! The American Revolution established the free exercise of religion with the trinity of three branches of government with Biblical values woven into our Constitution! The French Revolution was a rebellion to remove all elements of religion from their culture! The French Enlightenment was the darkest hour in French history! The light of any culture is Christ and to try to remove him politically, judicially, militarily and socially reaps disaster for any culture! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Lazarus Sleepeth! John 11:11 Greek Translation
The Greek word “Koimao” used here for sleep means deceased or dead! Jesus goes on in a later verse to emphasize that Lazarus is dead! There is another Greek word used for sleep in the New Testament which is “Katheudo.” This word means to lie down and rest but was not used in this passage of scripture. What may be of interest to you is this same Greek word used for sleep which means deceased or dead is the same word used in Acts 12:6. Peter was sleeping between two soldiers in chains! Verse 7; The Angel of the Lord came upon him and light shone in the prison and smote Peter on the side and raised him up, saying arise up! His chains fell off! Herod had Peter beaten badly! By definition of the word used Peter could have been deceased lying between the two soldiers! Peter may have been raised from the dead! The angel was probably Jesus Himself! The events recorded in our Bible are important to our Faith so I make an effort to go back to the original languages to see greater detail! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Two Kingdoms!
This world and the world to come are two enemies! We cannot therefore be friends to both; but one must decide which we will forsake and which we will enjoy! Pope Clement I (1-99 A.D.) Pope Clement I was successor to the Apostle Peter and was martyred by Emperor Trajan in Rome.
Pray For Our Leaders 1Timothy2:2 2Peter2:17
Did Paul and Peter pray for their leaders? I assume they did yet they were executed by Caesar! Some of their best works were written from prison! The authorities did not like to keep Martin Luther King Jr. in jail too long because he was working on his next speech! During the civil war Pastor’s and their congregations north of the Mason-Dixon line were praying for the north to win while Pastor’s and congregations south of the line were praying for the south to win! They were both praying for their leaders! A famous German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed by Hitler but I assume he prayed for Hitler. Some of our famous reformation leaders were burned at the stake by their King! I assume they prayed for them! Jesus called his political leader Herod a fox but prayed for him! He called the religious rulers of his day a generation of vipers but prayed for them! Do we pray for ISIS leaders? What would be your prayers to those who were about to behead you! Father forgive them for they know not what they do! Different from prayers of the west? Father give me a big house, big auto, big money and fame and fortune! Jesus taught us how to pray! I love this prayer because it is not a political prayer! I personally have one leader or ruler and Savior and His name is Jesus Christ! I am loyal to one Kingdom and that is the Kingdom of God and His Christ! It is so funny I have a friend in Colorado Springs who was my military boss back in the 1970’s. We are both retired and meet once a month and tell old war stories! I told Kenny we were praying that our house would sell so we could move back to Georgia. Kenny told me he was praying that our house not sell and we stay in Colorado! I told Kenny you are my friend but not my prayer partner! Our prayers should be in agreement with God! We usually pray for an outcome. Do we always get it? God’s will is often different from our will! To deliver us from evil means not to partake in promoting evil! We pray for our leaders but also knowing it is vanity to trust in man! Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Why Did Jesus Say Buy a Sword? Luke 22:36
I have probably read every commentary on this scripture! The words Jesus told His disciples probably have more meaning now that America is becoming more lawless ! The American Christian would have a different interpretation on this scripture than a Christian living in Iraq or Syria today! Ask the Kurdish Christian about this passage! Jesus also said those who live by the sword will die by the sword! Meaning those who use weapons for violence rather than self-defense! Peter has a knife and used it well but Jesus rebuked Peter? Why? Peter was trying to keep Jesus off the Cross! Some commentators say it is just an allegory? Like ObamaCare? The law does not really mean what it says so goes the Supreme Court! Jesus was preparing His disciples for their journey after His resurrection and ascension! They would be traveling into dangerous areas to take the Gospel! Interesting that earlier Jesus told them to take nothing on their journey? However, Jesus was with them! Now he is leaving but did promise them the Holy Spirit! Was Jesus for gun control? What would Jesus do? Question is what did Jesus say? We have that! Interesting that the cities and states in America that have the toughest strictest gun control laws have the highest crime rates! We have to interpret scripture within context and in context of other scriptures! The Bible interprets itself! Every Christian has to decide for themselves what Jesus meant when He said go buy a sword! Get provisions? Be prepared? I know what the scriptures mean for me and my house and you have to decide for your house! Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Good Friday Preparations! Genesis 22:2
The word offering in the Hebrew (Alah), means to ascend, rise up, lift oneself up, ascension to a higher place, to cause to burn (smoke ascends). It involves preferring one thing above another. This verb is used in relationship to a person’s appearance before God! Abraham was tested and asked to sacrifice his only son too God. When Isaac his son asked Abraham where was the sacrifice Abraham told Isaac God would provide one. Abraham built an altar and bound Isaac on the wood for the sacrifice! Abraham raised his knife to sacrifice Isaac! This reminds me of Peter raising his fisherman’s knife to take off the servant’s ear! Peter was protecting the sacrifice! An angel appeared and stopped Abraham and commended him for his Faith! God provided a Ram for the sacrifice. Remember by definition an offering is preferring one thing above another. What is it that you prefer above another? Is it God or something else? As we approach Good Friday it is only good because God preferred you above another! Yes, above His only Son! A sacrifice that was consumed that would only please God for you! Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com