Hidden (Krypto) Treasures

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Tag: Abundant Life

Thanksgiving Series: Wise & Creator God

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On December 15, 2015

In Christian, Thanksgiving

Psalm 136 can be touted as the “The Psalm of Thanks” or the “Thanksgiving Psalm.” It is a Psalm that is rich in content, apropos the character of God and since each verse in the Psalm is suffixed with “For his mercy endures forever”, it is a Psalm that is easy to read and memorize as well.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, giving thanks for the ultimate reason of sending us his only begotten Son, we will be looking at each verse in Psalm 136 and glean out the character of God from these verses, which would be reason enough to be grateful and give thanks to our LORD God.

Today we look at Verses 5 and 6.
To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth for ever.
To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Not only does this verse establish the fact that, God is wise, but it also asserts that God is a creator God. In fact, only God is wise (Romans 16:27; 1 Timothy 1:17; Jude 1:25), for even our wisdom is foolishness before God (1 Corinthians 3:19). You could take the smartest of the smart in this world, even Solomon the wise, who when pitched against God in wisdom, would turn out to be a fool. Our God is a creator God. Out of nothing, he can create (ex nihilo bara). When the earth was formless and void (nothing), God’s Holy Spirit hovered it and God created everything by his wisdom (Genesis 1) 

Points to ponder:
Out of the barrenness / emptiness / voidness of our life, when the Holy Spirit of God hovers over our dark and tumultuous life, as the waves (circumstances) of life try to engulf us, God can speak fullness of life (abundant life) into us (John 10:10), when we believe and trust in him.  He can stretch forth his hand over those waters and command “Peace” (Mark 4:35-41); a peace that passeth all understanding (Philippians 4:7) given to those whose mind is fixed on Jesus trusting him (Isaiah 26:3; Hebrews 12:2)  and assure us to “Be still and know that he is God” (Psalm 46:10)

Psalm 136:5-6 (KJV)
5 To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth for ever.
6 To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth for ever.

 

Bring forth abundantly

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On April 3, 2014

In Christian, Genesis, Noah's Ark (and Jesus), Through the Bible

God blessed Noah and his sons and told them to be fruitful and to multiply and bring forth abundantly in the earth. Notice how God explicitly commands man to bring forth abundantly in the earth. Abundance implies that their is an excessive degree of plentifulness.

Points to ponder:
Just as Noah and his sons were commanded to bring forth abundantly, we are commanded the same as well. We need to bring forth the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), and bring it forth abundantly. With The Seed i.e., Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:16) who is sown in us, we must live a life that is pleasing to God, which brings forth, from within (Luke 17:21), thirty, sixty and a hundred fold (Matthew 13:23). Jesus said, that he had come to give life and to give it abundantly (John 10:10). He gave himself to us, so that we can give him to others, and bring many into the kingdom of God, abundantly. Are you and I bringing forth abundantly?

Genesis 9:7 (KJV)
7 And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.

Matthew 13:23 (KJV)
23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

The Ark rested upon a mountain top

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On February 12, 2014

In Christian, Genesis, Jesus Christ - The Ark, Noah's Ark (and Jesus), Through the Bible

Genesis 8:4 reads that after it had stopped raining for a hundred and fifty days, the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat. We do not know for sure if it was on mount Ararat or upon one of the mountains in that region, where the ark rested. However, that detail is not as significant as recognizing that the ark did rest upon a mountain top and from within it, came out life to worship God first (Genesis 8:20) and be entered into a new covenant relationship with God (Genesis 8:21-22).

Jesus was crucified upon a hill (mountain top) called Calvary, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha (Luke 23:33; John 19:17) and on the Cross, he commended his spirit into the hands of God the Father (Luke 23:46) and rested in the Father’s hands. From him came out life for all who believe in him, shall not die but have passed over from death to life (John 5:24), a life that is not only abundant (John 10:10) but eternal as well, to worship God (Matthew 4:10) and be restored into a new covenant relationship with God. Jesus is The Ark who rested upon a mountain top!

Points to ponder:
Has Jesus Christ, The Ark of God, rested upon your life and soul? In other words, have you believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, to find rest, upon the mountain top of your heart/life?

Genesis 8:4, 20-22 (KJV)
4 And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.
…
20 And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
21 And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.
22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

Jesus Christ – The Ark :: God’s Window

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On December 18, 2013

In Christian, Genesis, Jesus Christ - The Ark, Noah's Ark (and Jesus), Through the Bible

This article is part of the series, Jesus Christ – The Ark, where in we learn of Noah’s ark as a pre-type of God’s only Son, Jesus Christ, as The One and Only Ark to save mankind.

God told Noah to build the ark with gopher wood and make rooms in it, pitch it inside and out and then explicitly gave Noah the fashion (dimensions) in which Noah was to build the ark. Additionally, God told Noah that he was to make ‘A’ window. The dictionary defines a window as “an opening in the wall of a building, the side of a vehicle, etc., for the admission of air or light“. This window that God was asking Noah to make in the ark was to be a cubit in dimension and it was to be finished above (on top). Notice, not only the singularity of the window, but also its position and its completeness (finished). There was to be ‘A’ window and it was to be finished on top, implying that there was only one window, that was finished (complete) and it was made in a place above which would require Noah and his family (and the other creatures in the ark) to have to look up for their source of light and life (air). I also believe that God was making sure that Noah and his family (and the other creatures in the ark) looked up to him and not focus on the stormy situation around them during the flood.

Points to ponder:
Jesus said, if you have seen me, you have seen God the Father (John 14:9). He is the portal – the Window – the Only Window – through whom, we can see God. We should not focus on the stormy situations of our lives, but instead, we must look up at Jesus and through him to light our life and redeem it from all darkness (sin). We must look at Jesus for the very breath of life, for only in Jesus, is found life – not just abundantly (John 10:10), but everlasting as well (John 3:16). As the writer to the Hebrews state, we must be constantly “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (note: A window was to be finished above), who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and is set down (seated) at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus is God’s Window! Is Jesus on top of your life and mine?

Genesis 6:16 (KJV)
16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

John 14:9 (KJV)
9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?

John 10:10 (KJV)
10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

John 3:16-17 (KJV)
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Hebrews 12:2 (KJV)
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

I AM the Resurrection, and the life

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On July 28, 2009

In Christian, I AM, The Name

Auguste Comte, the founder of French sociology and the philosophy of positivism, once told British essayist and historian Thomas Carlyle that he was going to start a new religion to replace Christianity. ‘Very good’, replied Carlyle, ‘all you have to do is to be crucified, rise again, and get the world to believe that you are still alive. Then your new religion will have a chance.’

Jesus Christ said, I AM the resurrection and the life and if anyone believes in me, even though he is dead, yet shall he live (John 11:25). The Resurrection is fundamental and the most distinctive hope of all who follow Christ. Without resurrection, all hope is vain (1 Corinthians 15:19). Just as Christ rose from the dead, we shall all be resurrected as well. It is important to note that some will be resurrected to life while others (who have done evil) will be resurrected to damnation (John 5:29). Furthermore, the scripture records that the early church apostles and disciples, and this generation’s people such as Graham Staines and his children, Richard Wurmbrand (founder of Voice of the Martyrs) etc who refused to accept deliverance but were martyred for their allegiance to Jesus Christ, in the line duty will obtain a better resurrection (Hebrews 11:25). They chose death over life so that they may be experience a better resurrection.

Many today choose to live dead lives refusing to believe in Jesus. When we believe in Jesus, we are spiritually resurrected from death and a day of reckoning is coming when we shall physically be resurrected as well (1 Corinthians 15). Those who believe in Jesus have no reason to fear physical death (state of sleep) or spiritual death (eternal separation from God), and can be assured that there will be a translation of their ephemeral physical bodies into celestial bodies that will be eternal. Those who do not believe in Jesus have everything to dread because without Jesus there is no resurrection and no life. Jesus said, I AM the resurrection and the life and only in Him is life, abundant life.

Status Quo vs. God’s Quo

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On June 8, 2009

In Christian

In Latin, the pharase Status Quo literally means ‘the state in which’. Many a times, we find ourselves saying of our lives that it is just the way it is. It is the Status Quo. The Bible however counsels us not to be caught up with the Status Quo but instead be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2) and to look at God’s Quo.

If you and I are going to say that “Life is just the way it is, we are never going to see  how it can be different“. The Status Quo may tell us that the life we have been given is what we deserve, but God’s Quo does not want us to settle for life just as it is, because God’s Quo is not just about life, but life abundantly (which we can have only in Jesus Christ).

Status Quo may be about ‘the state in which‘ we live.
God’s Quo is about  ‘the God in which‘ is life, and that is ABUNDANT LIFE.

Which one would you never choose for your life – Status Quo or God’s Quo? Think about it!

John 10:10 (KJV)
10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Romans 12:2 (KJV)
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

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