February 28th 2021
This Lenten Season Let Us Be Sure To Honor And Be In Awe Of The One And Only God!
Luke 14:15-18a (NIV)
When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, "Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God." Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ "But they all alike began to make excuses.
Are you too busy with your mortal worldly life to allow time for you to build wealth in preparation for your journey to the kingdom of God? Do you allow time to connect with God every day? Are all your connections with God limited to going to Him in prayer? When you do pray, are you usually asking Him for something you want in this mortal lifetime? Do you ever wait for God to respond after you say amen? Most people reading this commentary have a cell phone that you carry with you all the time! Do you have a constant connection with God? Paul has suggested that followers of Jesus should “Pray Continually!”
Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:15-23).
If you pray continually most of the time your prayer will be done to give thanks to Jesus for a blessing you just received. When something good happens to you, or for you, it should elicit a prayer coming to your mind. If you only pray a canned prayer when provoked to do so, then such praying will usually be concentrated on asking God for some “thing” desired in this lifetime. Have you received an invitation from God to attend “a great banquet?” If you have been born again then you have been invited. During this season of Lent we are again reminded of Jesus’ perfect sacrifice offered for all of mankind. A place at that great table in the sky has been prepared for you and many others. Will you accept this invitation, or will you be one of a large group who are too busy and thus “they all alike began to make excuses?”
Back when Jesus still walked this earth, and He was the promised Messiah He was not recognized as such by the religious leaders of the chosen people, the Jews. It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. "Here is your king," Pilate said to the Jews. But they shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!" "Shall I crucify your king?" Pilate asked. "We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered. (John 19:14-15). This was the cry even of the religious leaders during His life here on Earth, and it is little different today.
John wrote about why Jesus was not accepted by the people of His day, as they did not know who He was. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. (John :10-13). Jesus performed many miracles on this earth, yet most people did not recognize the fact that He was God or at least a god. It seems many of His followers were just taking in the show and enjoying the free food. It seems amazing that having seen all those miracles, that there would have been more people who came to believe He was the God/man.
The rejection to Christ today is often more subtle, but it is just as real. Rulers, industrialists, scientists, educators, and commentators all say in deed, if not in word, that “they will not have this man to reign over them.” Many people will claim that seeing is believing, but our Bible tells us even then people will choose to not believe. I would gladly explain this, but I do not have a clue as to why so many people doubt. Most of the religions on this earth today do not believe that Jesus Christ is or was the God/man and thus they direct their followers toward another god or gods. Therefore, most of the people on the earth today do not follow Jesus Christ.
So, if you are a Christian you are likely a member of the largest minority group there is! It seems many people today believe they know more than God does, and thus they question everything they do not understand. Many people believe they are good enough to go to heaven when they die. They believe God owes it to them that they should go to heaven if there is such a place! God once explained to Isaiah that we cannot fathom how God thinks or reasons. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9).
It has always amazed me how members of mankind can easily come to think of themselves as being God-like when they come into a position of some power or authority. We can read about how the Egyptian Pharaohs believed they were a god, because of the power they had at their commend. This is true yet today, whenever a person becomes powerful in their own mind, then they may think they have become a god. From the book of Daniel, we can read about how Nebuchadnezzar had Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego thrown into a furnace to kill them because they refused to honor his gold statue.
Even when they survived this attempt to kill them, then Nebuchadnezzar realized that the God they served was the real God. Then Nebuchadnezzar said, "Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way." (Daniel 3:28-29). However, it does not indicate that Nebuchadnezzar then changed and worshipped their God. It seems he still thought of himself as a god!
We know that this same God came into this world to die and rise from the dead as the Savior of this mortal cursed world! During this Lenten season let us be sure to honor and be in awe of the One and Only God and worship Him because He is the great, I Am!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
Luke 14:15-18a (NIV)
When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, "Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God." Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ "But they all alike began to make excuses.
Are you too busy with your mortal worldly life to allow time for you to build wealth in preparation for your journey to the kingdom of God? Do you allow time to connect with God every day? Are all your connections with God limited to going to Him in prayer? When you do pray, are you usually asking Him for something you want in this mortal lifetime? Do you ever wait for God to respond after you say amen? Most people reading this commentary have a cell phone that you carry with you all the time! Do you have a constant connection with God? Paul has suggested that followers of Jesus should “Pray Continually!”
Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:15-23).
If you pray continually most of the time your prayer will be done to give thanks to Jesus for a blessing you just received. When something good happens to you, or for you, it should elicit a prayer coming to your mind. If you only pray a canned prayer when provoked to do so, then such praying will usually be concentrated on asking God for some “thing” desired in this lifetime. Have you received an invitation from God to attend “a great banquet?” If you have been born again then you have been invited. During this season of Lent we are again reminded of Jesus’ perfect sacrifice offered for all of mankind. A place at that great table in the sky has been prepared for you and many others. Will you accept this invitation, or will you be one of a large group who are too busy and thus “they all alike began to make excuses?”
Back when Jesus still walked this earth, and He was the promised Messiah He was not recognized as such by the religious leaders of the chosen people, the Jews. It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. "Here is your king," Pilate said to the Jews. But they shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!" "Shall I crucify your king?" Pilate asked. "We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered. (John 19:14-15). This was the cry even of the religious leaders during His life here on Earth, and it is little different today.
John wrote about why Jesus was not accepted by the people of His day, as they did not know who He was. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. (John :10-13). Jesus performed many miracles on this earth, yet most people did not recognize the fact that He was God or at least a god. It seems many of His followers were just taking in the show and enjoying the free food. It seems amazing that having seen all those miracles, that there would have been more people who came to believe He was the God/man.
The rejection to Christ today is often more subtle, but it is just as real. Rulers, industrialists, scientists, educators, and commentators all say in deed, if not in word, that “they will not have this man to reign over them.” Many people will claim that seeing is believing, but our Bible tells us even then people will choose to not believe. I would gladly explain this, but I do not have a clue as to why so many people doubt. Most of the religions on this earth today do not believe that Jesus Christ is or was the God/man and thus they direct their followers toward another god or gods. Therefore, most of the people on the earth today do not follow Jesus Christ.
So, if you are a Christian you are likely a member of the largest minority group there is! It seems many people today believe they know more than God does, and thus they question everything they do not understand. Many people believe they are good enough to go to heaven when they die. They believe God owes it to them that they should go to heaven if there is such a place! God once explained to Isaiah that we cannot fathom how God thinks or reasons. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9).
It has always amazed me how members of mankind can easily come to think of themselves as being God-like when they come into a position of some power or authority. We can read about how the Egyptian Pharaohs believed they were a god, because of the power they had at their commend. This is true yet today, whenever a person becomes powerful in their own mind, then they may think they have become a god. From the book of Daniel, we can read about how Nebuchadnezzar had Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego thrown into a furnace to kill them because they refused to honor his gold statue.
Even when they survived this attempt to kill them, then Nebuchadnezzar realized that the God they served was the real God. Then Nebuchadnezzar said, "Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way." (Daniel 3:28-29). However, it does not indicate that Nebuchadnezzar then changed and worshipped their God. It seems he still thought of himself as a god!
We know that this same God came into this world to die and rise from the dead as the Savior of this mortal cursed world! During this Lenten season let us be sure to honor and be in awe of the One and Only God and worship Him because He is the great, I Am!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak