God Gave And Jesus Came

John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that HE GAVE His one and only Son, That whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." As we study this very familiar verse about salvation we might overlook that GOD GAVE His Son Jesus to all people. God sent His Son Jesus to earth with a specific assignment to address sin, salvation and eternal life. The old covenant established at Mt. Sinai created guidelines to live a life pleasing to God but did not address the three critical issues above.

Our message for this Holy Week will illustrate how Jesus, on assignment from God, CAME, obeying God and took part in the most important act in all of history. Hebrews 10:5-7 says,  "Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: 'sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, here I am - it is written about me in the scroll - I have come to do your will, O God.'" 

Jesus acknowledges HE CAME to do God's will; that God prepared His body to be sacrificed and that the offerings and sacrifices of animals did not forgive sins. 

Hebrews 10:9-10 says, "Then He said, 'here I am, I have come to do your will.' He set aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Again Jesus says HE CAME to do God's will; through His death and Resurrection He established a new blood covenant replacing the old blood covenant providing the opportunity for all, Jew and Gentile, to be sanctified. HALLELUJAH! 

JESUS CAME, obeyed and died on Calvary's Cross but God raised Him from the dead on the third day! How can we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and be guaranteed of salvation, forgiveness of sins and eternal life? Please pray this prayer with me: 

Jesus, I know I am a sinner and

that you died on the cross for me

and on the third day

God raised You from the dead. 

Please forgive me of my sins,

come into my life as my Lord and Savior

granting me eternal life.

Thank You, Jesus. Amen.

Make this Holy Week the most important week of your life. Bless His Holy Name,

Frank

   

"I Will Give You This Land"

Israel will celebrate 70 years as a nation this May 14th. A few weeks ago, we answered the question raised in Isaiah 66:8, "Can a nation be formed in one day?" Yes, Israel Was Formed In One Day! How could this happen? The answer is not difficult to understand. Whatever our Jehovah God promises to do He will do and He promised multiple times that He will give the current land of Israel and much more to His Covenant People.

In this week's message, we will share numerous scriptures that illustrate God's promises to give Israel to His Covenant People. The following examples are scriptures found in the book of Genesis:

God Said To Abram, "To your descendants I will give this land (Canaan)." Genesis 12:7

God Said To Abram, "For all the land (Canaan) which you see I give to you and your descendants forever." Genesis 13:15

God Said To Abram, "To Your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates."

Genesis 15:18

God Said To Abram, "Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan."

Genesis 17:8

God Said To Isaac, "I will give to your descendants all these lands (Canaan)." Genesis 26:4

Isaac Blessing Jacob, "And give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and your descendants with you, that you may inherit the land in which you are a stranger which God gave to Abraham." Genesis 28:4

God Said To Jacob, "The land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants." Genesis 28:13

God Said To Jacob, "The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you." Genesis 35:12

We can even take the promises of Jehovah God concerning the land He gave to His Covenant People a step further. Amos 9:15 says, "I will plant them in their land, and no longer shall they be pulled up from the land I have given them." This verse promises that God's Covenant People will never have to leave Israel again! Bless His Holy Name!

May The Lord Bless You This Day And Every Day,

Frank 

Mount Moriah

When people talk about the Holy City of Jerusalem, frequently the name Mount Moriah is mentioned including confusion as to where Mount Moriah is located. Is Mount Moriah part of the Temple Mount, is Mount Moriah part of all of Jerusalem or is Mount Moriah a mountain peak in the Jerusalem area? Our message this week is important and appropriate since it is just prior to our remembering and celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, True Son Of The One True God.

Jerusalem actually is built on Mount Moriah. When people travel to Jerusalem, they say they are "Going Up To Jerusalem." Jerusalem is on the top of a mountain - Mount Moriah. Moriah comes from two Hebrew words - Ra'ah which means "Revealed" and Yah which means "Name of God." As a result, Moriah means "Revealed of God."

The natural question now is - what of God was revealed on Mount Moriah? God Himself was revealed as He came to Moriah in the form of man to take away our sins and take our judgment upon Himself. Isaiah 53:3-5 says, "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed."

Why is knowing about Mount Moriah important? It revealed our God as a God of Love, The Greatest Love we will ever know. Our God performed the most important act of history on Mount Moriah so we can receive salvation, forgiveness of sins and eternal life. This period of Lent let each of us approach our God of Love with reverent and thankful hearts and share the love story of Mount Moriah with our Jewish friends and acquaintances. Bless His Holy Name!

May The Lord Bless You This Day And Every Day,

Frank  

Is War Close For Israel?

The following were part of news headlines coming out of Israel recently:

   Satellite surveillance finds Iranian missile base in Syria

Israel prepares for war in the north

Unofficial poll shows Arabs would back Israel in war against Iran

Iran to host festival celebrating Israel's demise

Israeli defense official warns Iran is playing with fire

Israeli ground forces to play a bigger roll in next war

Iranian official threatens to level Tel Aviv to the ground

Israeli Defense Forces simulate war in Lebanon

amid tensions with Iran and Hezbollah

All of these headlines have a similar theme - war appears imminent for Israel and if so, which will it be? The Word of God illustrates that Israel will fight at least three more wars - The Psalm 83 War, The Battle of Gog and Magog and the Battle of Armageddon. It appears we can immediately eliminate The Battle of Armageddon since this occurs at the end of the Tribulation Period. Most prophetic scholars believe the Tribulation Period is still an event in the future.

We also can probably eliminate The Psalm 83 War since verse 5 talks about Israeli's enemies forming a confederacy against Israel. Contrarily, recent news headlines actually show Israel working together with surrounding Arab countries to combat the common threat of Iran.

As a result and after observing the above news headlines, the threat of Iranian and Russian ground forces and missiles in Syria lay the ground work for an impending Battle of Gog and Magog. This battle is described in Ezekiel 38 and 39 and shows Russia and Iran plus a coalition of nations invading Israel. Could this war happen any day and is Israel prepared?

We who love and support Israel instinctively know our role in the above possible scenario and that is to Pray, Pray, and Pray Some More! Let me suggest a way to make our prayers more effective - pray to the actual Hebrew name of God, Yehovah. I recently read a book authored by Les Lawrence, founder of Elisha Vision Ministries, entitled "The Hebrew God Who Has No Name." The name for God Yehovah appears 6,828 times in the Hebrew Old Testament but it has been translated as Lord. This translation also takes place in the New Testament.

To Be Most Effective,

Let Us All Start Praying To Our God Yehovah!

May The Lord Bless You And Keep You This Day And Each Day,

Frank  

The Miracle Of Israel

"Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment?" Isaiah 66:8. This verse raises the question - can a country be born in one day? The answer is a bold YES when our Lord God causes this to happen! Israel was indeed born in one day - May 15, 1948 - exactly 70 years ago this Spring.

The British occupation forces of Palestine were so exhausted with the struggle that they turned over the "Palestinian Problem" to the United Nations. As a result, the UN Resolution partitioned the land and allowed the Jewish people to reestablish the nation and Jewish people around the world celebrated. United States President, Harry Truman, officially recognized the new state of Israel and the U.S.S.R eager to make sure the British never returned to the Middle East also recognized Israel as a nation. Indeed, This Was A Miracle Of God!

Our Lord God, when establishing the Abrahamic Covenant said to Abraham in Genesis 12:2-3, "I will make you into a great nation . . . and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." In establishing the Abrahamic Covenant our Lord God was laying the ground work for the establishment of Israel as a nation and also that this nation will be a blessing to the whole world. When we study the history of Israel, this prophetic word becomes very evident and books have been written validating these blessings.

The following are just two current examples of Israel reaching out to bless others even their enemies. The Israeli Defense Forces recently announced their Unit 8200, similar to the United States NSA, stopped an ISIS attempt to blow up a civilian plane traveling from Australia to Abu Dubai. The terrorist planned to kill all passengers through an explosive device in a suitcase. It is important to note this event shows an Israeli unit preventing an attack on the official airlines of the United Arab Emirates. Our next example shows a man from Gaza  crossing into Israel after being shot by Hamas forces. Soldiers of the Israeli Defense Forces did not hesitate to provide emergency medical treatment. An Israeli Major General said, "This was purely a humanitarian issue."

The founding of the nation of Israel was a miracle performed by our Lord God who also spoke through Abraham that this nation will be a blessing to the whole world. As God's people, we are extremely blessed to be witnesses of God's Word materializing in the past and the present. Bless His Holy Name!

May The Lord Bless You This Day And Each Day,

Frank