A Lion And A Lamb- Part 2

"And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb." Revelation 6:16

Yesterday we talked about Jesus being a Lion and a Lamb. The first time He came to earth He came as a Lamb to take away our sins by being the sacrifice and satisfactory payment for our sins-- He paid the price, the wages, of our sins, which was death; and He paid it in full! 

The first time He came, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the will of the Father by being crucified on a cross for our sins. He allowed Himself to be taken and nailed to a tree by the hands of evil men. He did not fight, He did not call angels to take Him down, He did not come down from the cross, His life wasn't "taken" from Him, He laid it down in order that we would have the opportunity to receive eternal life. Had He not died on the cross we would be eternally lost with no hope of escape from an eternity in hell. 

But the next time He comes, He is coming as the Reigning King of kings and Lord of lords. He will not submit Himself to sinful men's hands. He will not carry the cross again. He will not be crucified again. He will not be mocked, spit upon, slandered, falsely accused, rejected or blasphemed. He will come in all His glory! (We shall see Him as He is.) He will come with a sword in His mouth! He will come as the Conquering King to execute judgment. He will come and sit things in order. He will put down all evil. He will separate the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the tares, the true from the false, the righteous from the unrighteous. 

When Jesus comes this time, it will not be at all like the last time. Mankind shall see Him as He is. They will be crying out to the rocks to fall upon them and hide them from the wrath of the Lamb. They will be weeping and gnashing their teeth. Jesus will be revealed as He really is---- KING! JUDGE! RULER! He will no longer be the sacrifice but the One that all mankind, past, present and future will stand before and give an account to. The Bible says it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God. It's fearful to those who have mocked, rejected, blasphemed, denied, refused and rebelled against Him. 

The day that He will return and make all things right is quickly coming upon us. Are you ready for His coming? Is it right between you and Him? Are you being religious yet have no relationship with Him? If you aren't born-again and living your life for Him, you are not ready. Therefore, you better get ready. This is not a time to be playing games with your eternal soul. 

Have a great day. When Jesus comes again, it will be totally different than when He came the first time. He won't be taking away your sins, He will be punishing you for your sins. 

"A Lion And A Lamb"

"The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." John 1:36

I have noticed over the last few days that the wind has been picking up. All my life I have heard March winds compared to a "lamb" or a "lion". I have heard that if the month starts out windy it is like a lion, and if it starts off calm it is like a lamb. I have also heard that if it starts off one way, it will end the other. The month started out calm but is now becoming windy. My husband and I were talking about the wind yesterday. I told him, it came in like a lamb but is going out like a lion. When I said this, I saw a spiritual analogy in it.

 

When Jesus came to earth, He came as a baby in a manger. He didn't come in showy fashion. He came quietly, revealing Himself to only a hand full of people. He was to be the sacrificial Lamb that would take away our sins by His death on the cross. When Jesus came, He entered as a "Lamb". But, oh, when He left, He went out like a "Lion". The Bible calls Him the Lion of the tribe of Judah. In His death and resurrection, He was a Mighty Conqueror. He left this earth in victory and triumph. He left having conquered sin and death. He left a trail of glory behind. He left having defeated His prey, the enemies of mankind-- the devil, sin, sickness, death, hell and the grave. 

 

Each year when March rolls around, it will be the same-- calm or windy, windy or calm, a lion or a lamb. Just as the month of March returns each year, there will be a return of Jesus one day. Only this time He will not come again like a Lamb-- that Lamb has been slain. That Lamb rose in victory, once and for all, and has become eternally the Conquering "Lion". When He returns, He will return as the Lion. He will put an end to sin, sickness, the devil, etc., once and for all. When He returns the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and He shall reign forever and ever. 

 

Have you received Him as the Lamb who died on the cross to take away your sins? Are you looking for His return as the victorious Lion? He is coming a second time are you ready to face Him?

 

Have a great day. Jesus came to earth the first time as a "lamb" to take away our sins. He will return again as a "lion" to rule and reign eternally. 

 

For further reading:

Revelation 5:5; 1:18

Colossians 2:10-15

1 John 3:8

John 17:1-5; 14:1-3

Hebrews 9:26-28

 

"Committed Or Surrendered?"

"Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also]. Matthew 16:24 - (Amplified Bible) 

Years ago, I was listening to a radio program and the host was interviewing a missionary who had been overseas for so long. The host asked the missionary a question-- what is the biggest difference that you see in the church after having been gone for so long? I will never forget his answer-- commitment. He went on to say that the church has become committed to God but not surrendered to Him. Then he proceeded to elaborate on what he meant. He said commitment places "I" in charge. Surrender places "God" in charge.

 

Let me further clarify what he meant. The dictionary defines the word commit as: to give in trust or charge to someone; to pledge oneself to; to entrust especially for safe keeping. It defines the word surrender as: to yield to the possession or power of another; to give oneself up to another; submit or yield. 

 

There is a big difference between the two. Commitment reserves its rights. If I entrust myself to the Lord and I feel He has not been faithful, then I have reserved the right to walk away from Him. If I pledge myself to Him, it is conditional. Therefore, if I feel He has let me down I no longer feel obligated to Him. This is why we see so many people turning from God. They have committed themselves to Him instead of surrendering themselves to Him. So, when things don't go the way they wanted, or God doesn't do what they thought He should do, they are no longer committed.

 

When you surrender to something or someone, you lose your rights. Just ask those who have been prisoners either of war or because they committed a crime. (A prisoner can't just walk away-- he has to escape.) When we come to Christ, we surrender to Him. We surrender to His will, His plan, His ways, His desires for our lives. We lose our lives- they no longer belong to us. They belong to Him. We are bought with a price- the blood of Jesus. He is now the "owner" of our lives because He bought and paid for them. When I own something, I decide what I am going to do with it. When He owns us, He decides what to do with us... and we surrender, yield, submit to it. 

 

Are you simply committed to Him today? Are you following Him but keeping one hand on the "wheel" just in case He wants to go a different direction than you had planned? Or are you surrendered to Him, letting go of the wheel and becoming the passenger who goes wherever He drives you?

 

Have a great day. Are you surrendered to Christ or just committed to Him? There is a difference. 

 

For further reading:

Philemon 1:1

1 Corinthians 6:20

1 Peter 1:18

"Present Suffering, Eternal Glory"

"He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn." Matthew 9:24 

"And they laughed Him to scorn." Not much has changed. People laughed at Jesus when He was following the Father's will. They laughed at His faith. They laughed at Him when He went against earthly thinking. They are still laughing at Him and laughing at His people. 

 

"Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also." (John 15:20) We shouldn't think that it is strange when we are laughed at because of our faith in Jesus. We shouldn't think it is strange when we are mocked for our faith. We shouldn't think it is strange when we are persecuted for our stand for Christ. Neither should we think it strange when we are mocked and labeled as being fanatics, intolerant, ignorant, etc. We should think it is normal because they did the same thing to Jesus-- if they did it to Him, they will do it to His followers. He was despised, rejected, mocked and ridiculed. They called Him names-- prince of the devils, glutton, drunkard, blasphemer. They lied about Him. They tried to kill Him. They finally crucified Him. 

 

I guess I haven't painted a very lovely picture. Seems pretty gloomy and hopeless. Why would we want to follow Jesus if this is what we have to look forward to? This is just one side of it. We need to know that this is part of being a Christian so that we won't be disillusioned when the times come that we are ridiculed for our faith. So, what do we have to look forward to then? Things that the eye hasn't seen, the hear hasn't heard of and things that haven't even entered into our hearts-- blessings here and now and in the eternal future. In the now, we have a relationship with God the Father. He daily loads us with benefits. We have abundant life, wisdom, grace, joy unspeakable and peace that passes understanding. In the world to come we will have life everlasting. The privilege of hearing the Father say, "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of thy Lord". We have a home prepared for us in heaven. We will forever be with the Lord where there is no more suffering, no more pain, no more sickness, no more rejection, no more ridicule. 

 

"The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us." (Romans 8:18) Suffering for your faith is a part of this world. They did it to Jesus so they will do it to us. But what we go through here is not even worthy to be compared to what we will receive in eternity if we hold fast to our profession of faith and endure to the end.

 

Have a great day. We will suffer for the cause of Christ while on earth, but the glory that we will experience in eternity will make it all worth it.

 

For further reading:

1 Corinthians 2:9

Matthew 25:21,23

John 14:1-3

1 Thessalonians 4:17

"Dressed Or Naked?"

"Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;" Colossians 3:12 

I would never dream of leaving my house naked. I always put on clothes before I go anywhere. Sometimes it takes me longer to get dressed than it does at other times. If I know I have to go somewhere the next day, I will pick out what I am going to wear the evening before. If I want to wear a particular outfit, I make sure it has been washed and ready to wear ahead of time. If I have to attend a special event I will spend hours, even days, looking for the right outfit. 

 

More often than not we are too focused on dressing our bodies than we are dressing our spirit. The Bible tells us to "take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?" (Matthew 6:25) That doesn't mean that we are not to care about our appearance and make sure we look presentable. It means that we shouldn't be anxious about it and make that the most important thing. 

 

Do you get dressed "spiritually" each day? Are you more concerned about what you wear on your body than having your spirit dressed? The words "put on" means "to be clothed". God's word tells us how we are to be clothed/dressed spiritually. Each day we are to make sure we don't face the world "naked". God has provided "clothing" for us. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, God provided them with clothes of animal skins to cover their nakedness. He has provided us the same clothing of salvation through His Son Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Adam and Eve's bodies were dressed in the skins to cover their physical nakedness. We "wear" Christ, the Lamb, to cover our spiritual nakedness. 

 

The Lord has also provided us with additional clothing to wear every day. We are to be clothed with mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness and longsuffering. We are to be clothed with the armor of light. (Romans 13:12) Also we are to be clothed with the full armor of God. (Ephesians 6:11) And we are to be clothed with charity. (Colossians 3:14) He has provided us with not only clothes, but the right clothing for the right occasions that come our way each day, but we have to make sure we have put them on.

 

Have a great day. Have you put on your "spiritual clothes" today? Or are you walking around "spiritually naked"?

 

For further reading:

Galatians 3:27

Ephesians 4:24

Colossians 3:10

John 1:29,36