I Am

Jesus claims to be everything that your heart is longing for.

John 8:28  So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man on the cross, then you will understand that I AM He. I do nothing on My own but say only what the Father taught Me.

John 10:30-33  The Father and I are one."  31  Once again the people picked up stones to kill Him.  32  Jesus said, "At My Father's direction I have done many good works. For which one are you going to stone Me?"  33  They replied, "We're stoning you not for any good work, but for blasphemy! You, a mere man, claim to be God."

John 18:4-6  Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to Him, so He stepped forward to meet them. "Who are you looking for?" He asked.  5  "Jesus the Nazarene," they replied. "I AM He," Jesus said. (Judas, who betrayed Him, was standing with them.)  6  As Jesus said "I AM He," they all drew back and fell to the ground!

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If your opinion of Jesus is that he is a good man and nothing more then you probably have not checked out the Bible for yourself. The Bible is crystal clear that Jesus is not just a mere man.

Jesus told us clearly who he is, in my study of the "I Am" statements made by Jesus it has became more clear to me than ever before, Jesus wasn't trying to hide his identity or his mission for being with us.
 

In all of the "I Am' statements Jesus is claiming to be everything that we have ever needed and everything that we will need for this world and for all of eternity. What an incredible thought, that the one that knows me, loves me and provides so abundantly for me!

You can have all this world just "Give Me Jesus!" I love that song, it sums it all up for me, while the world is begging me to find what I need in a thousand other places, I know that there is only one place to get it all.

I Am The Way, The Truth And The Life Jesus answers important questions that have eternal consequences. I Am The Gate There is only one way to get to the safe place of rest that God offers his sheep. I Am The Vine God planted a new vine and he tends to it so it will be fruitful. Light Of The World The Bible proves that Jesus is the light that we need. I Am The Good Shepherd Jesus provides outstanding care and protection for his sheep. I Am The Resurrection Jesus predicted the events surrounding his death to make it obvious that he is the promised Messiah. I Am The Real Bread Jesus came to satisfy our soul not our body.

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Who Do You Think That I Am? (gty.org)

Destroy The Devil's Plan

Easter means the Devils plan is finished.  

Genesis 3:1- 6 Now the serpent was the shrewdest of all the creatures the LORD God had made. "Really?" he asked the woman. "Did God really say you must not eat any of the fruit in the garden?"

2 "Of course we may eat it," the woman told him. 3 "It's only the fruit from the tree at the center of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God says we must not eat it or even touch it, or we will die." 4 "You won't die!" the serpent hissed. 5 "God knows that your eyes will be opened when you eat it. You will become just like God, knowing everything, both good and evil."

6 The woman was convinced. The fruit looked so fresh and delicious, and it would make her so wise! So she ate some of the fruit. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her. Then he ate it, too.

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In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and as He finished each day God said that His work was good. God made it all in an orderly fashion and it all worked together perfectly, that includes everything, even snakes, and yes even Satan. (Genesis 1:31 / 1 Timothy 4:4)

Satan must have been a part of God’s good creation but that didn’t last, Satan rebelled and he suffered the consequences but he isn’t content to suffer alone, he wants to get us to rebel against God as well. Satan put revenge on the top of his to do list.

The work of Satan is to tempt us to reject the authority of God and become like God ourselves. Satan works to nurture and cultivate the pride that puts its own desires above the law of God. Satan decided to go after the part of creation that was the most dear to God.

The man and woman that God enjoyed being with each day in the garden, the part of creation that was made just below the angels, the part of creation that God allowed to rule the other parts of his creation. And to top it all off, what Satan really doesn’t like about us, God made us in his image.

Satan knows that God is holy and cannot tolerate sin. He must have thought that he could make man detestable and undesirable to God. How could a holy God overlook these rebellious people since he didn’t overlook Satan and the angels that followed him?

At this point Satan must have thought that God would have to destroy mankind for their rebellion but he didn’t know that God has always had a plan to make us right with Him as if we had never sinned.

1 John 3:8 But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil.

Destruction was on the way but it wasn’t what Satan had planned, instead of man being destroyed, the plans that Satan made were going to be destroyed. Satan didn’t realize how much God loves us and that he would pay the price for our sin.

God loved us all so much that he gave his only Son, the only entry point back to God, the only one given by God so he is the only one acceptable to God. God’s love and mercy extended unearned favor to us through the death of Jesus as our substitute.

The vast majority of people rightly have a negative view of Satan but they don’t realize that they are doomed to share his fate unless they turn to the only Son of God that came to change our destiny.

Thank you Lord for destroying the Devils plans, he wanted you to destroy us but you had something else in mind, your love for us is truly amazing!

Rescuer

Oh how sweet the sound, Oh how grace abounds, We will praise the Lord!

Video: Rend Collective "Rescuer"

He's our rescuer He's our rescuer We are free from sin forever more
Oh how sweet the sound Oh how grace abounds We will praise the Lord our rescuer

There is good news for the captive Good news for the caged
There is good news for the one who walked away There is good news for the doubting
The one religion failed For the Good Lord has come to seek and save

He's our rescuer He's our rescuer We are free from sin forever more
Oh how sweet the sound Oh how grace abounds We will praise the Lord our rescuer

He is beauty for the blind man Riches for the poor
He is friendship for the one the world ignores
He is pasture for the weary Rest for those who strive
For the Good Lord is the way, the truth and life
Yes the Good Lord is the way, the truth and life

He's our rescuer He's our rescuer We are free from sin forever more Oh how sweet the sound Oh how grace abounds We will praise the Lord our rescuer

So come and be chainless Come and be fearless Come to the foot of Calvary
There is redemption For every affliction Here at the foot of Calvary

The Gospel Is My Rescue

Psalms 56:10-13 I praise God for what He has promised; Yes, I praise the LORD for what He has promised. 11 I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me? 12 I will fulfill my vows to You, O God, and will offer a sacrifice of thanks for Your help. 13 For You have rescued me from death; You have kept my feet from slipping. So now I can walk in Your presence, O God, in Your life-giving light.

What an amazing change of circumstances for the people that have become children of God! We have gone from absolutely nothing to children of the Most High King! The Gospel message is the greatest rescue story that had ever been told.

It is exciting to read the whole story from the beginning of trouble in Genesis to the ultimate hope that I have in the book of Revelation. There isn't any reason to get upset with the bad news that I see about how bad our world has become because this world is not the end of my story.

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Seeing My Savior

The Jesus that was here on earth is not the Jesus that we will see someday.

Revelation 1:9-16 I, John, am your brother and your partner in suffering and in God's Kingdom and in the patient endurance to which Jesus calls us. I was exiled to the island of Patmos for preaching the word of God and for my testimony about Jesus.

10 It was the Lord's Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit. Suddenly, I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet blast. 11 It said, "Write in a book everything you see, and send it to the seven churches in the cities of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea."

12 When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lamp stands. 13 And standing in the middle of the lamp stands was someone like the Son of Man. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across His chest.

14 His head and His hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And His eyes were like flames of fire. 15 His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and His voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. 16 He held seven stars in His right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from His mouth. And His face was like the sun in all its brilliance.

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Without a doubt The Alpha and Omega is coming back, he is all knowing, he is everywhere and he is all powerful, so I know that there isn't anything that can happen to make this fact not come true. That is the message that the early churches desperately needed to hear to encourage them as they endured persecution and they wrestled with the idea of how soon it would come to pass.

John was a very close friend to Jesus, he was in the inner circle of disciples and he was chosen by Jesus to care for Mary, but even John wasn't ready to see Jesus. The Jesus that John knew back then is not the same Jesus that he was about to see in his vision.

There is a lot of symbolism in the way that John describes the things that he saw in the Book of Revelation. John gets to see the risen and exalted Lord and try to find adjectives to help us know what we saw. What an incredibly difficult task that John was told to do, how do you describe such an amazing experience of sights and sounds?

The first sound that he hears is a loud voice that he didn't recognize, it was clear and loud like a trumpet sound, this isn't the voice of Jesus that John knew. John turned to see Jesus and the work that he is doing for the church.

Jesus is now full of glory, the glory that he has always shared with God, he is no longer the humble carpenter that could be ridiculed and rejected. This is the Jesus that everybody will immediately bow down and worship just like John did.

Jesus is coming and He's coming not in humiliation, to be scoffed at and mocked and killed again, He's coming in full glory. And when He comes He will deliver the world, He will deliver the universe from the wicked, from sin, from demons, from Satan and from death.

-John MacArthur

The details of Jesus' features describe him as having snow white head and hair, flaming eyes, a powerful voice and feet that are like refined brass. By this description we know that Jesus is pure, he has laser like eyes that see everything and he has feet that symbolize the elements of the temple that were related to the sin sacrifice. (Daniel 7:9-14)

John got to see the work that Jesus is doing right now while we wait for his return. Jesus is wearing the robe of the high priest and he is working in the midst of the churches (the seven stars according to Revelation 1:20). Our high priest is busy interceding for the church and empowering us for the work that he has given us.

2 Corinthians 3:18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord--who is the Spirit--makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image.

Jesus told us that when he goes away he is going to prepare a place for us but he is also preparing us for the place that we are going. He is preparing his bride and helping her be the light of the world. What an amazing sight that we will behold! (John 14:3)

I need to radiate his glory as I become more like him so that the world around me will be drawn to the light.

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The Greatest Words Ever: It is Finished!

God has done it all for me without my help.

John 17:4-5 I brought glory to You here on earth by completing the work You gave Me to do. 5 Now, Father, bring Me into the glory We shared before the world began.

John 19:28-30 Jesus knew that His mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture He said, "I am thirsty." 29 A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to His lips.

30 When Jesus had tasted it, He said, "It is finished!" Then He bowed His head and released His spirit.

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There is a voice that stands out above all the others, despite his weakness, it is a commanding voice that can easily be heard above the evil noise of Hell that is all around him. (Matthew 27:39-42) Satan was having his way with Jesus and and he was sure that he had won the war until Jesus told him otherwise.

When Satan heard Jesus words, “It is finished!” he knew what was finished and he knew it would always be finished. If you look at the word in the Greek you will see a picture of how finished it is. The word tetelestai means, “It is finished, it stands finished, and it always will be finished!”

He did not say, "I am finished," for that would imply that he died defeated and exhausted. Rather, he cried out "It is finished," meaning "I successfully completed the work I came to do."

-Ray Pritchard

Jesus completed the work required to bring us back into communion with God but Satan doesn't want you to believe it. He wants you to believe that there is something more that you need to do to help Jesus save you. Jesus work was of utmost importance so it is important that we know if it is a finished work or if we need to help him out.

Is It Finished?

Roman Catholicism denies the effectiveness of Jesus' finished work on the cross through the practice and observance of the mass. During the mass, through the unbiblically magical art of transubstantiation (Jesus literally becoming the bread and the wine), Jesus must sacrifice Himself again and again for sin. Jehovah's Witnesses deny the effectiveness of Jesus' finished work on the cross by denying Christ died on the cross and by insisting one must be a member of the Watchtower Society and obey the Law of God to receive their demonic brand of salvation. Mormonism denies the effectiveness of Jesus' finished work on the cross by adding their perceived righteousness and works to their ungodly salvation process. According to the Book of Mormon, salvation is by grace, plus works. Islam denies the effectiveness of Jesus' finished work on the cross by seeing Jesus as nothing more than a prophet, second to their false prophet Muhammad. They also believe it was Judas (a treacherous false convert), not Jesus, who died on the cross. -It Is Finished! (carm.org)

Satan loves to distort the facts. If the death of Christ satisfied God, then what more can the sinner do to try to satisfy God more than he already is? The answer is nothing. The only thing a sinner can do is receive the free gift of righteousness that God offers.

We could never mend our relationship with God and make it right. Everything has been done by God, he draws a man to him to a knowledge of the fact that he is a sinner and that his sin debt is in the way of having a relationship and then God provides the way to make our relationship with him possible.

Hebrews 10:10-12 For God's will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time. 11 Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. 12 But our High Priest offered Himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then He sat down in the place of honor at God's right hand.

It is finished! It is very arrogant for a mere man to think that he could do anything to change his standing before God. It is even more arrogant or mistaken to think that you are a special man that has been appointed to be a priest with the power to grant forgiveness or conduct a Mass and re-sacrifice Jesus all over again. It is finished and Jesus meant what he said.

What was finished?

• I am redeemed
• The law with it's priest, temple and sacrifices
• The curse of the law
• All of the prophecies concerning the first coming of the Messiah, his work and his death
• Satan has been defeated
• The separation of the Jews and the Gentiles
• The work required so that I can be born again and become a child of God

It is finished! So that I will hear the sweet sound of heaven someday! Jesus did what I could never do for myself. Since I was born into sin and I am a sinful creature right from the start, I would never be sinless and could never have any hope of being righteous before God.

Thank you Lord for paying the debt in full! Thank you for seeing me as if I had lived your son's perfect and sinless life.

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The Sweet Sound Of Heaven

Music is a small taste of heaven that we get to preview down here.

Revelation 5:9-14 And they sang a new song with these words: "You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For You were slaughtered, and Your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 And You have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth."

11 Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living beings and the elders. 12 And they sang in a mighty chorus: "Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered--to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing."

13 And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang: "Blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the One sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever." 14 And the four living beings said, "Amen!"

And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped the Lamb.

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One of the greatest gifts that God has given to us is music, it is beauty that you can hear, there is a style for everyone to enjoy. Music is just a small taste of heaven that we get to preview down here. The sound of music is a delight that you will only get to hear for eternity if you are prepared to spend eternity in heaven.

The only sound that hell knows is noise, the evil noise of hell can be heard all around us. The sounds of evil come from the satanic forces in our world and are heard everyday, there are screams, crying, cursing and gun shots, that should disturb us. There isn't anything pleasant about it and there isn't any harmony to the sounds of evil.

In contrast to all of this noise down here is the sounds that we will enjoy in Heaven. It will be loud from the very beginning, a shout from the archangel and a trumpet call is the next sound that a follower of Jesus wants to hear. We won't have to hear the noise of evil ever again as we enjoy the sweet sound of Heaven for eternity.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17  For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.

If you think your neighbors are noisy in this world just wait until you hear how loud eternity is going to be. Heaven and Hell will both be very noisy places to live but the sounds will be much different.

The Apostle John gives us a peek at the glory of God and a listen to the reaction of those that have see his glory. John tells us that he "heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living beings and the elders." The Book of Revelation is filled with songs of praise (Revelation 4:8, 4:11; 5:9-13; 7:12-17; 11:15-18; 12:10-12; 15:3-4; 16:5-7; 18:2-8; 19:2-6)

Four reasons why we worship Jesus:

Because of who He is (Revelation 5:5-7)
He is the "Lion of the tribe of Judah," he is the “Ancient of Days.” and he is also the "Lamb."

Because of where He is (Revelation 5:6)
He is not in the manger, in Jerusalem, on the cross, or in the tomb. He is ascended and exalted in heaven.

Because of what He does (Revelation 5:8-10)
When the Lamb came and took the scroll (Dan 7:13-14), the weeping ended and the praising began.

Because of what He has (Revelation 5:11-14)
All of heaven’s praise came because the Lamb took the scroll from the Father’s hand. God’s great eternal plan would now be fulfilled and creation would be set free from the bondage of sin and death.

- Warren Wiersbe Commentary

The sounds of this world can be so discouraging, the meanness, the brutality and the chaos all around us can wear on us. We need to attend worship at least once a week and listen to worship music everyday so that we can get a little glimpse into the sweet sound that is waiting for us in our eternal home in heaven.