Month: May 2010

Whatsoever Thou Hast Given Me…

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We are already at Memorial Day of 2010, and there are many things which can concern and worry us.  What is dear to you?  What do you cherish more than anything else?  Is it health, family, your children, your grandchildren, your spouse, your career?  There was something dear and cherished by Jesus, and He shared them with those He knew and loved.

“Now they have known that all things whatsoever Thou hast given Me are of Thee.  For I have given unto them the words which Thou gavest Me; and they  have received them, and have known surely that I came out from Thee, and they have believed that Thou didst send Me”  John 17:7 (KJV).

If you look at the first sentence of these two, you must ask the question “What has the Father given the Son?  That question is quickly answered by the following statement.  God’s Word is a very precious item to the Lord.  Jesus lived to glorify the Father/God by living according to His Word, preaching it, and giving it to those who followed Him.

Giving the Word of God to others is still a priority of God’s people.  It must be given.  We must ask ourselves the begging question, “Have I received the Words the Father gave the Son?”  The disciples did, and it was  His disciples for whom He prayed, “They have received them”.  It is because they had “Received them” that they were able to know, “Surely I came out from Thee, and they have believed that Thou didst send Me”.  If you are a follower of Jesus Christ; you are His disciple, and this prayer is for you too.

When you want to know the Personal Truth personally you will hear, and receive His Word.  It will be precious to you.  Jesus Christ, the Living Word; will especially be precious to you.

-Tim A. Blankenship

Mark Twelve – Thirteen through Seventeen

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“And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words. 14 And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? 15 Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it. 16 And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar’s. 17 And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marvelled at him.”  Mark 12:13-17 (KJV)

THEY TRY TO TRICK JESUS CONCERNING TAXES.

“Shall we pay taxes to Caesar or not?”  That is a question many still ask this day and time.

Is it lawful, is it right, is it godly to pay taxes?  Jesus said, “Render to Caesar, the things which are Caesars, and to God the things that are God’s”.  What kind of society did Jesus live in?  Roman rule was the law.  Did Jesus protest taxes because the Romans were unjust, wicked, and boisterous?  No!  He said, “Pay your taxes”.

Jesus asked for a “penny”, and He looked at the image on the penny.  He asserted that since Caesar’s image was on the penny then it needed to be given to Caesar.  Whose image is on man?  God’s.  Therefore, give to God what is God’s.  That means yourself.

Jeremiah the prophet told the people how they were to live as captives in Babylon, and under Babylonian captivity.

“Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon; 5 Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; 6 Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished. 7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.”  Jeremiah 29:4-7 (KJV)

Also consider Romans chapter 13:1-7

Whether we as Christians want to admit it or not; like it or not; makes little difference if we are subjects of our Lord.  We submit to Him, and the laws of our captive land.  We are “captives” of a sort in this world until our redemption in Jesus Christ is completed at His coming.

-Tim A. Blankenship

…Which Thou Hast Given Me…

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We continue looking at our Lord’s Prayer as He was nearing the day of giving Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.

“I have manifested Thy name unto the men which Thou gavest Me out of the world: Thine they were, and Thou gavest them Me; and they have kept Thy word.”  John 17:6 (KJV).

The very thing that Jesus came to do was to reveal the Father unto men.  Of course, the men of whom Jesus is speaking are those who were following Him that we know as the disciples.

Jesus had told Phillip, “If ye have seen Me, ye have seen the Father” (14:9).  Everything which Jesus did He did to glorify His Father, and do the works which the Father had sent Him to do.  He had called these men to follow Him, and He recognized that the Father had given them to Him.  When the men looked at Jesus they were seeing the works of the God of all creation.  They had been extremely blessed by seeing first hand  His power over the elements.

Only God could cause the storms at sea to cease.  Jesus had merely spoken, “Peace; be still”, and all was calm – immediately.  Three of them had seen Him speaking; and in His glory ; with Moses and Elijah on the mountain.  It is a personal longing desire that I have to see my Jesus face to face and behold Him in His glory.

Jesus prays, “…and they have kept Thy word”.  They have taken the things which Jesus has said, held them in their hearts, and they would one day, by the presence and power of the Spirit come forth in written words for all to read, and hear.

Let’s be thankful today, for those men who were faithful to follow the Lord Jesus.  No!  They were not perfect.  They were people just like you and myself.  They stumbled and fell, but my oh,  my; to have Jesus pray so for us.  This prayer is for all who will follow Him.

God bless you.  Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me; bless His holy name.

-Tim A. Blankenship

His Glory… Before the World Was

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Today we will look solely at the glory of Jesus.  It is His glory for which we live and move and have our being.

“And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine Own self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was”  John 17:5 (KJV).

Notice the faith and confidence in Jesus’s praying.  He is eternal with the Father.  He possessed glory before the world, or the universe ever was.  His glory is His greatness, His power, His strength, His song, His priority. His Father’s glory.  Where I have fallen short; where you have fallen short of His glory; Jesus is the Father’s glory.

Jesus is praying for His own glory.  It seems quite clear.  This is His High Priest prayer, and He has come to accomplish His Father’s glory by the sacrifice of Himself for all the world.  The task He came to do required that He lay His creation glory aside, take on the flesh of man, and die.  How can God die?  He cannot.  Becoming flesh He could become sin, paying the price of sin, being put to death – the penalty for sin – and then rise again victoriously over death.

The glory is seen by His resurrection from the grave.  The Father restores His glory in the resurrection, and He is alive for all the world to see.  Did the Father answer His prayer; this prayer?  Most assuredly He did

Jesus is alive and in His glory.

-Tim A. Blankenship

Mark Twelve – One through Twelve

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“And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. 2 And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. 4 And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled. 5 And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some. 6 Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son. 7 But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. 8 And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. 9 What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others. 10 And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner: 11 This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? 12 And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way.”  Mark 12:1-12 (KJV)

In the fifth chapter of Isaiah, the prophet likens the nation of Israel to a “Vineyard”.  It to is a parable.  It is the story of a man who plants the vineyard, builds a fence around it, cleaned up the rocks, even built a tower for the vineyard, but then the vineyard does not produce anything but “wild grapes” – that is “worthless grapes”.  The vineyard brought forth no useful fruit for its owner.

It seems that these religious leaders were reminded that they were the vineyard.  Jesus is showing them as a prosperous vineyard, producing much fruit, but not giving the “Owner” what is due Him.  In this parable Jesus speaks of a “Landowner” who prepared the vineyard, and then “leased” it out to others.  The idea was that the “Owner” would collect his due when the harvest was over.

The story is really one of Israel, and their trek down through about 1500 years – from the time of Abraham.  They had had prophet after prophet come to them with the message of God and His Word, but would often refuse the word of the prophet, and beat, abuse him and drive him from their presence.  Just as the people leasing the land would not give the “owner” his due, these so called “People of God” would not yield to the “Messengers” which God sent them.

The message Jesus gives through this parable is that since they would not give God what was due Him, then the Kingdom would be given to others.

We might should pause and think about that.  Have we heard God and surrendered to His Word and His will?  Have we sent away His “Messengers” without even a thought of what He said?  Are we making a mess of God’s kingdom?  Have we sent His “Messengers” away empty handed, injured and bleeding?  Maybe not physically, but spiritually?

Jesus tells us in the parable that these “Husbandmen” would do the same with the “son” when he would come to collect his due.  The prophets of God were rejected, and ultimately the Son would be rejected and put to death on Calvary’s cross.

-Tim A. Blankenship

Glorify The Lord

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Glorify the Lord.  Now that is a grand statement, and it is one that describes how our lives are to be.  The Bible tells us in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”  How can we who are born sinners, then, glorify the Lord?  Of ourselves we cannot.

“I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do.”  John 17:4 (KJV).

Now that is a bold statement coming from a man who some would say, and are saying that He is not deity.  No mere man could make such a claim, but Jesus does in His prayer to the Father.  How could He make such a claim were He not equal with the Father?  He could not.  It would be the height of pride and arrogance for anyone else to say such a thing.  It would be next door to blasphemy.

To glorify the Lord would be to be obedient to Him in all things, and fulfill every thing that God has for you and me to do.  There would be no disobedience.  There would be no mistakes.  There would be a life completely “Sold out” to doing the Father’s business.  Jesus has lived a life of complete obedience to all the Father had for Him to do, and all the way to Calvary; the cross of sacrifice.

The desire of every Christian is to live for the glory of the Lord.  The only way of doing that is to live the life of Christ in you, the hope of glory.  We do that by realizing that it was by the sacrifice of the life of Jesus that God has reconciled us to Himself, and given us means to glorify Him in Jesus.

Tim A. Blankenship