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
Tag: testament
Transubstantiation! Matthew 26:29
Perhaps you will say, I see something else, how is it that you assert that I receive the Body of Christ?…Let us prove that this is not what nature made, but what the blessing consecrated, and the power of blessing is greater than that of nature, because by blessing nature itself is changed… For that sacrament which you receive is made what it is by the Word of Christ. But if the Word of Elijah had such power as to bring down fire from Heaven, shall not the Word of Christ have power to change the nature of the elements?… Why do you seek the order of nature is the Body of Christ, seeing that the Lord Jesus Himself was born of a virgin, not according to nature? It is the true Flesh of Christ which was crucified and buried, this is seen truly the Sacrament of His Body. Before the blessing of the heavenly words another nature is spoken of, after the consecration the Body is signified. He Himself speaks of His Blood. Before the consecration it has another name, after it is called Blood. And you say Amen, that is, it is true. Let the heart within confess what the mouth utters, let the soul feel what the voice speaks. Saint Abrose of Milan (340-397 A.D.) Comment: This doctrine has been a Catholic doctrine for hundreds of years! We have to look at two words used in verse 29. The word kingdom in the Greek can include both Heaven and earth! That is it can mean God’s rule over the earth and His rule over the Spiritual eternal Kingdom in Heaven! Remember part of the Lord’s prayer is on earth as it is in Heaven! The other word used in this verse is the word new! The word means qualitatively new! That is the old man has become a new man! The Old Testament has a new quality! It has become the New Testament! The old Heaven has a new quality! It has become the new Heaven! The old earth has a new quality! It has become a new earth! Everything changed at the Cross! A change took place in me when I came to the Cross! The changes are still taking place in me some 45 years later! It is a continual work! A daily reformation! Are we going to take Communion in Heaven? How about at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb? Some say well we will not because we will be with Jesus! Is Jesus not with you right now? Jesus said this do in remembrance of me! Do we need to remember what He has done for us in Heaven? When I take Communion here on earth what do I remember? I remember how bad I am and how good God is! I remember the price He paid for my sin! I remember I deserved death and He gave me life! I remember how hopeless and lost I was and He rescued me! Will I forget these things in Heaven? No way my friend! You see His love for me changed everything! His love for me caused me to love others! If I am that valuable then others must to valuable too! My same motivation to worship Him on earth will be the same motivation in Heaven! Ever Communion Service renews my relationship to Him! It is like being born again again! Paul warned us not to crucify Him again! We are to examine ourselves before Communion! Paul meant we are not to continue sinning after Communion! Whether the elements of the Communion are the actual Blood and Body of Jesus is not the issue with me! We can reject Christ even while taking Communion! Our heart can be somewhere else! Away from Him! So how can we test any Theology? Does the Theology move us closer to Christ or farther away from Him? If Communion causes me to feel free to sin because my slate will be clean at the next Communion Service then we have a license to sin! Does your love for Christ want you to please God and forsake your sin? Why did Lucifer rebel against God? Lucifer a created being like us that was the Praise Leader of Heaven and forsook his position and was cast out of Heaven with 1/3 of the Angels who became Satan? Lucifer looked at his job as a position only not in relationship to God! It was just a job and love was absent from his relationship to God! So self moved on the throne of his heart and rebellion followed! We attended a large church in Colorado Springs for 3 years. Pastor Brady Boyd had the congregation take Communion every week! This was a lot of work for there were about 5 thousand members! So what did this do for me? It brought to my remembrance more often what Christ had done for me and what He is doing for me today! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Only One Way to God! Isaiah 43:11-12
I, even I, am the Lord and beside me there is no savior who can free you and secure you in victory! I have declared confessed and proclaimed and have saved you, and have listened and heard there is no strange foreign god among you: therefore you are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God! Comment: The word saved and savior used in the Hebrew language is the same word Hosanna used in the New Testament! Remember the crowd shouted this word when Jesus made his triumphant entry into Jerusalem! The God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament! The Old Testament points to the New Testament but remember Jesus pointed us back to the Old Testament as He quoted this Book often! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Prepare You a Way! Isaiah 40:3
“Prepare a physical pathway for the Lord, make upright and just in a wilderness a highway for our God.” Comment: This Old Testament prophecy was also quoted in the New Testament in several places! In (John 1:23), John the Baptist quoted this scripture to the religious and political leaders explaining what he was doing and why! The word “way”, used in the New Testament means a road in which one travels. Here is the real deal. We as believers had a way prepared for us to find God! The message you received about Christ may have come from a Evangelist, Pastor, teacher, Priest, prophet, elder, parent, grandparent or a missionary! They prepared a way for you to find Christ! We are to return the favor! You are preparing the way for others as you preach His Word! You may be doing a Bible study, prayer group, web site, Blog, audio or video tracts, prison ministry or a Pastor of a local church. You may be a missionary in a foreign land! You may distribute Bibles, Gospel tracts or do hospital and nursing home ministries. You may be doing a food kitchen or clothing distribution for the poor. Just like John the Baptist you are preparing the way for people to find Christ! At Jesus first coming John the Baptist prepared people to receive Christ! However today Christ’s second coming is even more important to prepare people’s hearts because His second coming will not be as Savior but as Judge of all. This makes our mission very important! John sacrificed his life for his mission but today the stakes are even higher! Even more is on the line today! At Christ’s second coming there will be no more choices available to you! Your eternity will be locked in forever! We cannot afford to play church! We must play for keeps! No business as usual. Each day that slips by begs the question what did I do today to prepare the way for others? Will we be able to answer Christ at the Judgment Seat with confidence and assurance that we did all we could to reach the lost? Was our heart in the world or in Heaven? If our destination is Heaven then think about Heaven! We cannot work our way to Heaven but we can prepare a way for others! Go out into the whole world and preach the Gospel. At marriage we say, “I do.” When we join the military we say, “I do.” Then the sacrifices begin! Jesus on the Cross said, “It is finished.” May the God of Heaven give us the grace to finish the highway to Heaven for others and receive the rewards Christ has promised us! Nothing could be more rewarding than to be in Heaven and witness others coming in after us who we have helped to prepare the way for them! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Truth & Christmas! John 14:6
But truth is greater and stronger than all these things. Everyone on earth honors truth; Heaven praises it: all creation trembles in awe before it. There is not the slightest injustice in truth. You will find injustice in wine, the emperor, women, all human beings, in all they do, and in everything else. There is no truth in them; they are unjust and will perish. But truth endures and is always strong; it will continue to live and rule forever. Truth shows no partiality or favoritism; it does what is right, rather than what is unjust or evil. Everyone approves what truth does; its decisions are always fair. Truth is strong, royal, powerful, and majestic forever. Let all things praise the God of truth! 1 Esdras 4:35-40 (Apocrypha) Comment: The apocrypha was never canonized in our Protestant Bibles but in the Catholic Bibles. There are some good things in the apocrypha for even Christopher Columbus discovered the New World because of it! So what do we mean by truth? According to the Hebrew Old Testament truth means someone trustworthy, faithful, certain and foundational for support. Like the foundation for a building. The foundation is there to build you up. According to the New Testament Greek truth is someone who is open not concealing anything. Someone transparent not hiding anything. Jesus said I am the truth! The way and the life! Truth is embodied in a person! The man/God Christ! There was no sin in Him so nothing concealed or hidden! The strength of sin is it’s secrecy! That is why we are to confess our sins and He is faithful and just to forgive our sin! Truth is not an immaterial quantity of something! It is a spirit embodied in a person by Jesus Christ! If Christ is not embodied in us then there is no truth in us! We must be born again as Jesus commanded us! The second birth! As you worship his first birth this Christmas ask Him for His second birth to be born in you this Christmas! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Christ Prophecy Old Testament (Part 1)
Isaiah 11:2 (Hebrew Translation) “And the breath of the Lord shall rest on Him, the spirit of knowledge, intelligence, insight, judgment and prudence, the spirit of advice and might, the spirit of understanding and perception and reverence and worship to the Lord.” Comment: Does it get any better than this? Isaiah wrote this scripture about 600 years before the birth of Christ! Yet Jesus fulfilled this scripture to the letter! The word “Spirit” in the Hebrew Language translates “The breath of the Lord.” Remember at creation God breathed the breath of life into us! We were created in the image or imagination of God! Albert Einstein said that intelligence is not measured by the acquisition of knowledge but by imagination! God’s imagination is consummated by His breath or words! In the beginning was the word——- At Pentecost His breath as a mighty rushing wind swept over the disciples. You will do one of two things with the breath He has given you! You will either praise Him or curse Him! Many curse Him but a remnant praise Him! God’s patience is beyond measure and without His patience I would have been lost! The Old Testament made the New Testament possible! God never changes but we need to change! People can change but God never does! He is the same yesterday, today and forever! That is why we can trust Him! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Prayer! Matthew 21:13
Some people think that prayer means asking for things, and if they fail to receive exactly what they ask for, then they think the whole thing is a fraud! Gerald Vann (1906-1963), British Catholic Theologian, Author of 24 Books. Comment: Prayer is really fellowship with God! Fellowship with the Father through His Son! You remember some of Jesus words! Father forgive them for they know not what they do! Father if possible let this cup pass from me nevertheless not my will but Thy will be done! We can pray for the stuff but it will perish one day! I can pray for the sick which is good but they will die one day! The fellowship with our Father through Jesus will last forever! We pray expecting but according to the will of God! All Jesus disciples were martyred except John who was boiled in oil and sentenced to a slave labor camp stone quarry on the island of Patmos where he wrote the Book of Revelation! Some in the church today might think they were out of the will of God because they did not die rich with a lot of stuff? Success is more than stuff! The Gold Standard for success with God is to love others and sacrifice yourself for their benefit! What are our prayers like? Lord I am a sinner forgive me as my Savior! Lord forgive them and forgive me! Do we continue to fellowship and worship God through prayer in Heaven? What is Jesus doing right now in Heaven? He is interceding for the Saints here on earth! Satan has no prayer life and is separated from God! The Old Testament Hebrew word for prayer means to intercede for someone else! Jesus is following this pattern in Heaven today! One of the Greek words for prayer in the New Testament means to ask for a specific benefit from God! Send your Holy Spirit and dwell in me! Whatever the benefit it is to benefit others! Pray more for souls and less for stuff! What will be our prayer in Heaven? Praying for those here on earth! Why not start today? An American Pastor Charity and Ruth Harris ministered to us in a church in Denver Colorado back in the 1970’s for two years. They have spent over 40 years on the Mission field in Africa! They build hundreds of Tabernacle churches in the remote villages of Africa! Charity is now old in a nursing home legally blind. What is he doing today there? Praying for others including my family and preparing himself through prayer for Heaven! No one on earth can bestow a greater honor on you than to lift your name up to the Son and to the Father! Jesus said my House shall be called a House of prayer and not a den of thieves! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Psychics in America! Isaiah 8:19
Annual Psychic Industry Business Revenues in United States: $2.1 Billion Dollars. Source; Statistics of the American Federation of Certified Psychics and Mediums on the Profession of Psychics, the Business of Divinity Arts, and their clients. 2015-2016. Comment: What got my attention to research this is the flood of psychic adds on major cable news channels lately! This takes millions of dollars to run these ads! The 1-800 adds are on your screen for us to call about our future! It is obvious Americans are not taking the advice of Isaiah the Old Testament Prophet? How many Christians are visiting psychics? I shutter in my boots when I hear a Christian tell me, “Ya, but that is the Old Testament and the New Testament has done away with the Old Testament!” Then why did Jesus quote the Old Testament so much? Did He quote something He did not believe? Let us in brief cover the words used in Isaiah 8:19. A familiar spirit or spirit of divination is the act of trying to conjure up spirits from the dead to predict future events! This is an occult practice and sometimes is referred as sorcery. Wizards are of the same spirit and this word actually means to howl. These acts involve chanting, howling to try to call up dead spirits! Sometimes while living in India I would walk past Hindu Temples and Mosques and would hear this chanting and howling while beating drums and tambourines as these Hindu Priests would try to mesmerize their victims! Remember the witch at Endor that King Saul inquired to about his future? Israel was ready to go into captivity and Isaiah tried to warn them! Isaiah asked the Jews a simple question! Why would you seek the dead instead of the living God? The same question needs to be asked to America today! Why would you worship death instead of life? As Halloween approaches there is not a more appropriate question to be asked! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Subterranean Retreat!
It sounds like a termite colony? The word is describing a time share property that has a lot of rooms, accommodations and permanent guests! It is a place where people are in agreement with each other! No debates about good and evil! However there is a lot of buyers remorse there! It is also described as the place of the dead! It is the Hebrew word “Shehole” (hole) from where we get our English word ‘Hell.” There are 31 verses in the Old Testament and 22 verses in the New Testament on this word. Funny of the Hebrew description is a subterranean retreat! It is interesting in the Greek of the New Testament there are four different words used! Will discuss later. So why bring this up? Every Pastor that prepares any sermon must consider two things! What are we saved from and what are we saved for? Most of the early fire and brimstone sermons of early America are gone? Heaven is not talked about much so what is left? The here and now! However the here and now is temporal! Heaven does begin here on earth after we receive Jesus Christ as Savior! Jesus talked more about the Kingdom of God than any other topic! If the reality of Heaven and Hell are not taught from the pulpit then people have a hard time understanding why they need to be saved? Saved from what and for what? James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Are You a Minister? 1 Chronicles 16:4
King David appointed these ministers to serve before the Ark of God! They were to record and give thanks to the God of Israel. They were to write down their experiences and record them! That is how we got our Bible! Notice they were appointed by a higher authority! They were not self-appointed! You can never be in authority unless you are under authority! The word minister used here in the Hebrew means to serve a higher rank! Much like in the military. An example would be Joseph managing all the affairs of Potiphers house. Not his wife’s affairs! So who is the General or highest rank? God Himself! If you examine God in the scriptures we find that He is also a servant! Who is the lowest rank? Satan yet because of sin he runs most of the world! You should not serve him because all of creation out ranks him including the snake! Jesus exposed the good nature of a servant when he said he who is greatest in the Kingdom of God is servant of all. You will discover in the New Testament that the word minister and servant come from the same Greek word, “diakonos.” This definition can range from a waiter of tables to running errands to a teacher or a Pastor! Satan is not a servant! In fact he enslaves people so they do his bidding! God gives but Satan takes! God has given us life but Satan has taken life through death! So we have givers and takers! Our Bible says give and it will be given to you pressed down and overflowing! It also says the wages of sin is death! Remember we minister to the highest rank when we serve others! God will enable us to do this if we will humble ourselves! Pride will cause us to want to be served! Two different attitudes with two different outcomes! As Easter is approaching let us remember God sacrificed Himself for us! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com