Child

Being A Disciple Of Jesus Christ

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And there went great multitudes with Him: and He turned, and said unto them,
“If any man come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple.  For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?  Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,  saying, ‘This man began to build, and was not able to finish.’  Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?  Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.  So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple.”
Luke 14:25-33

Jesus left a place of wealth, glory, and power to come earth to become a lowly human baby.  To then grow into the Man who would give His life a sacrifice to pay our sin debt to God.

Since He did that for us then, we ought to give ourselves to Him, and be His disciple. There is something we must do to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, and that is surrender our wills to doing  His will.  Comparing our love for Jesus  Christ to our love for family should seem like hatred for family; we love Jesus so much, we lead our family to the saving grace  of God through faith in Him, and even being willing to die for Christ. Even to the point of watching a child die for the name of Christ because you will not deny or betray Him.

As I read  the text, and what I have written above I  am  writing to myself and asking myself the question;  Is there anything that I love more than Jesus?   Nothing comes to mind.

 

The First Shall Be Last

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And He came to Capernaum: and being in the house He asked them,
“What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way?”
But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest.  And He sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them,
“If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.”
And He took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when He had taken him in His arms, He said unto them,
“Whosoever shall receive one of such children in My name, receiveth Me: and whosoever shall receive Me, receiveth not Me, but him that sent Me.”
Mark 9:33-37

The Greatest

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“Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest. And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by Him, and said unto them, ‘Whosoever shall receive this child in My name receives Me: and whosoever shall receive Me receives Him that sent Me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great.’” Luke 9:46-48 (KJB)

Within the world in which we live there are many who seek to be seen, and known as “The Greatest”.  This notion even fell upon the disciples of Jesus; and in many cases; it still does.  Jesus was dealing with this in the above verses.

When I was a child there was a man in the sports world who liked to see himself as the greatest; he was the one who used the poetic phrase, “Float like a butterfly; sting like a bee”. He is no longer the greatest, neither was he ever the greatest.  He met death as well; and just as every human being will.

Who is the greatest? Jesus answers that question above.  Whoever receives a child in His name receives Him, and whoever receives Him receives Him (God the Father) who sent Him.  The least among us is the same who shall be great.

Let us think on that one for awhile, believe it, receive it, and do it.

The Humility of the Kingdom

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The Humility Of The Kingdom

“And Jesus called a little child unto Him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, ‘Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in My name receiveth Me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in Me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.’” Matthew 18:3-6

Matthew 18:1-35

Five things we can learn from Matthew 18.

This is the fourth of five sermons which Matthew records of those which Jesus preached. The first is the Sermon on the Mount chapters 5-7; the second is in chapter 10 which is the the Commissioning of the Twelve; the third was the Parables of the Kingdom; now the fourth which is the Sermon on a Childlike faith.

There are five qualities of humility which we see in chapter eighteen:

I. TRUSTING THE LORD BECAUSE WE HAVE NO RESOURCES OF OUR OWN (vv. 1-5).

II. HARMING OR OFFENDING ONE OF THESE HUMBLED ONES IS A SERIOUS OFFENSE (vv. 6-9).

III. CARING FOR THE OFFENDED ONES AS A SHEPHERD DOES HIS SHEEP (vv. 10-14).

IV. DISCIPLINE AND RECONCILIATION OF AN OFFENDING OR OFFENDED BRETHREN (vv. 15-20).

V. THE HUMBLED CHILD; A FORGIVEN CHILD; A FORGIVING CHILD (vv. 21-35).

-Tim A. Blankenship

Hallelujah

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“Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the name of the LORD; praise Him, O ye servants of the LORD.” Psalm 135:1 (KJV)

The servant of GOD.  The child of GOD.  The people of GOD.  These are the ones who are to “Praise the LORD”.

Those who are of the Lord Jesus Christ are to Praise Him.  Brag of Him.  Lift up His name.  Glorify Him in His power, His honor, His glory.  There is nothing which we know of God which we should remain silent about.

He loves you.  He loves me.  Let us not be ashamed of that grace, that mercy, that love that comes solely from the GOD who created all things.

Hallelujah simply means “Praise the LORD.”  So, let us Praise the LORD.

Praise Him in Song. Praise Him in prayer.  Praise Him in word; with tongue, lips and mouth.  Praise Him with your life.

Peace In the Kingdom of Christ On Earth

/ Tim A. / 3 Comments

People of earth long for peace.  Even those who are fighting in wars have a longing for peace, yet peace seems so far away.

Many people wonder if peace is possible, and also wonder about animals and the future of the earth.  The nations of the world are trying to bring peace to the Middle East, and fail; particularly with peace concerning Jerusalem.  The nations want things their way; not God’s way; and until the Prince of peace is come there will not be peace on earth; except as we find peace in our own hearts and lives through the cross of Jesus Christ, His death, burial, and resurrection.

What will peace look like when Jesus comes to earth again?  We must realize that when He comes again there will first be a reckoning with all that is evil.  It will be put away.  The poor will be judged with righteousness the wicked bankers, financiers, CEO’s of big corporations  who have labored to fill their pockets, and rob their employees will destroyed.

What about the animal kingdom?  We can see the results of the “fall of mankind” by watching the animal kingdom, and that of the kingdom of men.  With animals we have meat eating beast, flying, and non-flying; and they feed themselves on the lesser sized animals.  In most situations that I have witnessed a cat and dog cannot dwell together side by side without the dog growling, or attacking the cat; there are a few exceptions, but rare.  My brother used to have a dog that would allow an old yellow cat to lay on his back while he was resting.  Rare indeed.  In Isaiah 11 we find these verses concerning our Lord’s coming reign on earth and animals…

“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.   And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.   And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.   They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.”  Isaiah 11:6-9 (KJV)

If you will notice these animals listed are from the gentle, meek type to the ferocious, meat eater and poisonous kind.  The wolf, the lamb, the leopard, the baby goat, the calf, the lion cub, the fatling; and not to leave man out; a little child “leading them”.  The child leading them would probably mean that it would not be uncommon in that day to see a spontaneous parade of these animals together with a child in the lead.  “Fiction” you may think or say.  Not if God says it.  Nor do I believe it to be allegorical of a general peace on earth.  To make this allegorical you would need to make the rest of prophecy, even that of the first coming of Messiah, as allegory; and that just would be a lie, and deception.

The wolf and the lamb dwelling together!  Is this really possible?  It happened one other time following the “fall of man”.  At the flood [believing what God says in His Word] God brought two of every kind of land animal to the ark; two wolves, two sheep, two leopards, two goats, two bovine, and two lions and two bears; and there was peace while they were coming to the ark, getting on the ark, on the ark, and getting off the ark.  When they disembarked from the ark the sin nature of humanity affected them once more.

The millennial kingdom or our Lord fascinates and excites me.  I long for that day when I will look into the eyes of my Master, then fall at His feet, and worship my Lord and Savior.  Then will spend the Millennium with Him, serving those who populate the earth and worshipping Him for all eternity.

If you want to be assured you will be there too check this out.

-Tim A. Blankenship