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Enter into the Kingdom by the Blood of the Lamb |
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Most Recent Post In many dissertations, parables, and examples Jesus, God the Son, declares the nature, reality and overshadowing presence of the Kingdom of God. From the time I received Jesus Christ as my Savior at the age of five and through the precious washing of the Lamb through baptism when I was twelve, I have been on a journey to find my mission, purpose and ultimate deliverance in God's ever present Kingdom. Beyond our primary purpose, which is to Worship the Lord our God in Spirit and in truth, there is for each of His disciples a mission. For those who have entered into the Kingdom of Light since 1948, the year the reformation of Israel as a Nation occurred, we have been hyper aware of the historical empires who have tried to take the Kingdom of Heaven by force, and even more aware in these "Last Days" of those minor empires and warring factions both domestic and abroad, who are burning down everything to take Heaven and make it their own. But even as Lucifer failed and was cast out of heaven, so are pagan emperors failing even as their lives are wasting away to nothing. Our last mission as the Church of Christ is to invite men and women to give up their own devices for creating a "Heaven On Earth," and come to the One who actually rules everything. Jesus is coming back. He may return in the next moment, the next hour or the next day. No one knows. But we are the generation that has seen the fulfillment of nearly all the prophecies that proceed His coming back for His Bride. To God, the Sovereign and all powerful God of the Universe be all praise, honor and glory. May God bless all those who read, understand and are putting into action the applications for life that may be found written in God's scriptures. "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which is indeed the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches." Jesus around the Sea of Galilee [Matthew 13:31-32 English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible.] Psalm 137:1 Psalm 137:1 There we sat down by the rivers of Babylon; also, we wept when we remembered Zion. 2 We hung our lyres on the willows in its midst. 3 For there our captors demanded a song from us; and our plunderers demanded gladness, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. 4 How shall we sing Jehovah's song in a foreign land? 5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget. 6 If I do not remember you, let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth; if I do not ...if I do not prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy. 7 Remember, O Jehovah, the sons of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, 'Make it bare! Make it bare, even to the foundation of it!' 8 O daughter of Babylon, O destroyed one! Blessed is he who will repay to you your reward which you rewarded to us. 9 Blessed is he who seizes and dashes your little ones against the stones. Next Entries |
The hum of mom’s Sunbeam mixer roused me from reading my Donald Duck comic book. It was a Saturday. Mom never baked on Saturday. It took me just five seconds to toss my comic and materialize in the kitchen. She smiled at me and gave me one of the beaters to lick. She took the other. The love for chocolate cake batter was something we shared. But I could not ever recall my mom baking on a Saturday.  Mom could always read my mind so she said with an unusual amount of tenderness, “I am making cup cakes for Reverend Foster’s memorial service. You remember we talked about the day he went to be in heaven?” I did recall the conversation. It had not occurred to me that there would be more to it than the sad prayer my father had made at dinner that night hoping that God would comfort Reverend Foster’s family and everyone in his flock. Amen. No one actually took me aside and talked about death and how it all works here on earth. But I had heard plenty about heaven. Growing up in a small town, it was the hottest topic in Sunday school. Thinking back on it now, I am not surprised. Many of my teachers and people we fellowshipped with at church had lost loved ones in World War II and the Korean War. One young couple’s child died with his aunt and uncle in a car accident. Heaven was a big thing when I was growing up, because in most towns in America in the sixties there were as many memorial services on a Saturday as there were weddings. The most classic teaching on heaven was done by Doc Withrow in my fourth grade Sunday School Class. It was from the book of Luke in the Bible. Jesus is talking to a lot of people who want to know what he is all about and he keeps deferring them to parables about this person or that person. Usually one gets the message and meaning of his teaching while the others do not. Doc Withrow always emphasized in his teaching that people could choose to accept a teaching or reject it. In Jesus’ day many applauded his teachings and came to know him as the son of God, many did not. Beginning in verse 19 in chapter 16 of the book of Luke, Jesus talks about heaven this way: There was a beggar named Lazarus and there was a rich man. They both die. Angels come and take Lazarus to be with Abraham, and as Doc Withrow explained, that means that the Angels took Lazarus to a wonderful place called heaven. There were many things to learn in this lesson, and, as Doc reminded us, Lazarus would have only been escorted by angels to heaven if he had received Jesus as his savior. So it became clear to me two things. First, there is a heaven where people who believed God’s promises to save them, are now living. Second, at the moment we take our last breath on earth, Angels come to take us directly to that place where Abraham now lives and that place is heaven. Jesus said in John 14:1-2 “Jesus said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God. And trust in me. 2 There are many rooms in my Father’s house. I would not tell you this if it were not true. I am going there to prepare a place for you." It is not hard to know that heaven is a perfect place prepared for those who have put their faith in the loving son of God, Jesus. He came to give us life and life eternal. For now the Kingdom of Heaven is a place where the believers who have passed from this life, now experience a holy, just, true and perfect God face to face. It all happens in a moment. I did not go to Reverend Foster’s memorial. But I did have two of mom’s cupcakes. To this day cupcakes remind me of heaven, the place where my mom now calls home. |
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