John 11:8-10 "Jesus, Aliens, and Ghosts, Are You Serious?"

John 11:8-10

8The disciples say to Him, “Rabbi, [just] now the Jews were seeking to stone You, and You are going there again?” 9Jesus answered, “Are [there] not twelve hours in the day? If anyone shall be walking about in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10But if anyone shall be walking about in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 

Good Day Child of God! "Father? We are asking you, as we open our hearts and minds, to teach us and show us your ways and your will. Amen" Many things have happened to those that reach to gods and God over the centuries, so many things in fact, that it is almost unbelievable that Jesus is believable as the Messiah. How can I say that as a Christian? I say this not so much for me, but I am included as the Scripture itself has told us that in the end, whatever end we want to attach the word "end" too, our life, or the world's end, because so many people do not fear what they put their faith in, nor do they fear what they do not know.

Sound confusing? It isn't, and here is why. Jesus tells the Apostles, not some guys standing around that just met him a couple of days ago, but the Apostles, that He is going to do something that seems on the outside to be dangerous for all included. They question Him. Have they not just spent so many days and weeks, even months and years, watching Him get Himself into corners where there is no out, yet He walks out? Have they not seen miracles that would make any man believe everything He says, yet they doubt? We all doubt at times if we are truthful. But worse, so many believe in the things that are not Truth, are not shown to us through the Scripture, especially from Jesus and more so from the Apostle Paul, who adds you and I, Gentiles, by invitation or asking, into the Family of God, we all should be confused. Let's see what the Spirit is trying to tell us.

Today's easy lesson:  If you take a quick look into the past, as far of the past as we can get a clear look at, we find mankind worshiping stuff. By stuff, I mean collections of stars, sculptures of many kinds and types, animals, the moon, the sun, even other men and women. There is no Spiritual God in the mix, none. It wasn't until Abraham that the idea of a single God, an only God came to be introduced to what was then modern times. Yes, you can go before the flood and see differently, but you see this is the point. There was a reset with the Flood, a restart, even most hard core scientists will agree with that, but we silly Christians don't think, we do. By we do, I mean we do have some Christians, so called, leaders and pastors, who portend to read the Bible, but they continue to take texts out of place, put them together with other texts taken out of place and tell us this is Truth. And we buy it! That is why there are so many sects in Christianity today. 

Let's for a moment go outside Christianity. Do you have any idea how many people believe we are heading to the end of time here on earth, that the world indeed is ending very soon, but it is not Jesus coming, on the contrary, they will argue, the people He left behind believed He would return during their lifetime, even the Apostle Paul, and so He is not the One He said He was. No, we were planted here by aliens, and in all seriousness they see signs more and more every day that they are watching to save our world from ourselves.

Then there are the groups of people who believe that the ghosts and those types of, well whatever you want to call them, are actually beings watching over us, just like the aliens, and they are watching to stop man from ending the human species, because we are so wonderful.

How in this world can this help you in your daily walk with the Father?  When you read those things above you want to laugh and call them strange people. Yet there are so many of them you would be shocked. They believe Christians have completely missed the point, and why shouldn't they? Can you look at the Christian Religion as the only way to claim the ONLY God as theirs alone and they do this in a way that boggles the mind? Some sing and dance, others cling to rules, regulations and rites as though they were God, others pay homage to leaders that are larger sinners, if that were possible, than the rest of the world, and in the end there is no community. There is no family, there is jealously, anger, greed, stupidity, and excuse to do nearly anything and everything from invading countries to invading babies bodies in the womb because it is the Christian thing to do. In the mean while the world watches as many go about checking off the calendar that they made it church this week, others go and sing and wave their arms and dance and spend a couple of minutes listening to some sermon they don't want to hear and don't remember when they leave. The number of serious Christians can be counted easily, and when you take into consideration that they are the ones finding the narrow gate, we all need to become more serious about what in this world is going on. It doesn't get more serious, it isn't that it is a matter of life and death, oh well, yes it is! Unless perhaps you know something you should have read in the Bible or heard from an honest teacher. One last thing. Notice, Jesus waited, Jesus chose the day and time to go. Jesus did not do this on His own. He followed the Father's lead. He told everyone that, and then along come the Apostles spouting human wisdom on God's watch. We still do that today. If you want to go to Children's Church for your entire life, go ahead, but you have to wonder if our Father will say "Well done good and faithful servant," when you meet Him. And make no mistake, we are all going to meet Him. Do you believe that? No? Have you read Revelations? Is that a misunderstanding of what it says? Stay close to your Father, follow, do not do and ask for Blessings for your work planned or done. You will have peace, love, joy and more if you follow. That is the Father's way to prove and secure your Faith, your Trust, and it is the way the Love your Father has for you plays out. The others? Good luck with that. Have a Grace Day!

Brother Glenn 

Complete New Testament Grace Studies link: http://gracehouseministry.blogspot.com/

John 11:1-7 "How To Find Good In The Confusion Of Some Scripture"

John 11:1-7 

1Now was a certain being sick, Lazarus from Bethany, of the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2And it was Mary, the one anointing the Lord with ointment and wiping His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was being sick. 3So the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, listen! Whom You affectionately love is sick.”             
4But Jesus having heard, said, “This sickness is not to death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God shall be glorified through it!” 5Now Jesus was loving Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6So when He heard that he is sick, then indeed He remained in the place in which He was two days. 7Then after this, He says to the disciples, “We shall be going again to Judea.”

Good Day Child of God! "Father? We open our hearts and minds to your instruction. Please make it plain and teach us. Amen." This is one of the times that when you read the Scripture you are apt not to take it too seriously because it is hard to fully understand what is going on. Generally speaking, Jesus is going to raise Lazarus from the dead, it will be evident very quickly.

On the other hand the story seems to be told backwards, and I am not sure why. For example we learn of Mary and Martha and Lazarus' relationship later on, after the introduction. Thus, only then do you understand why the Apostles questioned Jesus' notion to go back to a place of danger to Himself, well, and for them as well. Let's see what the Father has to say.

Today's easy lesson: At this point, there is not much to know except that if you are new to Christianity, the Bible, and more, studying the Bible alone, not realizing how much there is to this story is all you will get out of it. The reality is that Mary, Martha and Lazarus are old friends of Jesus, even more, close friends, almost family. Yet you would not know that at this point, so why John decided to put this section of his Gospel the way he did is a mystery. It makes me think that either someone tinkered with it, someone else was talking at the same time, or John was dictating and remembered he forgot to put the important fact of Lazarus up front. OR, it doesn't really matter who the man was that Jesus would bring back from his death. I know the thought is there that Jesus says in one place "sick", and in a very short sentence or so later uses the word "dead", and many come to the conclusion, "comatose". Not so. When you look up the words from the original Greek, it could have simply been stated correctly as dead, as I read it, but it wasn't. Keep in mind that at one point Lazarus was sick, he died, the timing is unclear, the relationship between the four of them is left open at this point as well, and all in all this, being a very familiar and necessary part of Jesus' Life, is not clearly stated at the start. It will become clear, in fact the whole Chapter is about this story, but at this time we can only pull one item that is important to know for all Christians.

How does this affect your daily walk with your Father? The Truth is, this is a very confusing read, but Jesus pointed out something very subtly that is True for you and I in our relationship with the Father. Jesus said Lazarus' situation is for a reason. So that the Father could verify the Son, and in turn the Son would verify the Father. Both getting what was needed at this time and in this place. For what reason? So that Jesus could continue to do the work the Father sent Him to do, and to prove that God exists, by the facts, not just by Faith alone. You see, by you allowing the Father to live and love through you, you accomplish things similarly. Every time the Father does something you know He had a hand in, your Faith did not do that, He did that so that your Faith could be factual, not fanciful. This is the reason you should try to stay close to your Father as much as possible, so that when the stuff hits the fan, or something that is needed by you, or someone you know or not, you are sure that your conversations regarding these issues, answered or not, are for the good, and nothing less; Both for you and for the Father. That is the basis of our relationship with God, and why we follow and He leads. Have a Grace Day!

Brother Glenn 

Complete New Testament Grace Studies link: http://gracehouseministry.blogspot.com/

John 10:40-42 "On Being Worn Down"

John 10:40-42

40And He went away again beyond the Jordan River to the place where John was first baptizing, and He remained there. 41And many came to Him and were saying, “John indeed did no sign. But all, as many as John said concerning this One were true.” 42And many in that place believed in Him.

Good Day Child of God! "Father? Our heart and minds are open right now to your teaching. Please fill them with YOUR wants and desires. Thank You Father. Amen" I wish to start today with something that will help you understand why I wish, if you are a serious Student of God's Word, that you get a Transliteration from the Greek to English New Testament, a Hebrew to English Old Testament, and at least Matthew's Gospel from Hebrew to English. The reason for Matthew's Gospel, is that it was the only Book of the New Testament that comes to mind that was written in Hebrew. If you really want to dig deep, there is a great disagreement among scholars as to whether or not all the original texts, Old and New Testament were written in anything but Hebrew, Aramaic, or a combination of languages. For simplicity, do as I recommended, if you are not planning to make your life's work Biblical Translation.

Our two short verses above are a great example. After Jesus left the Jews at the Temple, He came to, that is He went to, the place John the Baptist was teaching and baptizing. In the last few words, it says, "42And many in that place believed in Him." In our common English we would say, "And many put their trust in Him."  Less words, more to the point, more accurate. They didn't just believe, they trusted. Going back to the size of the lexicon, that is the number of words able to be used to explain, then and now. Makes good sense doesn't it?

Today's easy lesson: Why do you suppose Jesus went to the place He did, John the Baptists home ground, so to speak after He walked away from His contentious Judaism zealots? Jesus and John were cousins, it is speculated that both of them were very close, both interested deeply in the Will of God, and both attended a School, a.k.a. small college, known as the a place of an option to the tradition of Judaism schooling. It was supposed to be a school of more freedom and understanding of God's Word. Whether the later is true or not is conjecture, but one thing is sure. Jesus was tired of fighting. After you spent the lions share of your time arguing with a group of tough minded and solidly religious leaders, wouldn't you want to go to a place where it all began and remember the Truth, where you and your close friend and relative worked together to begin to instruct those that wanted to understand in the righteousness God? Once Jesus got there, He found listeners ready, willing, and wanting to have the Faith the Father was looking for, and I am certain this made Him very relaxed and pleased. He taught, they listened, they became Faithful to Him. A wonderful refueling that arguments take from any human being. He knew His limits and knew what to do to renew. Many call this a retreat, it was not a retreat, it was reconstituting the needed Spiritual Food that keeps feeding the will to continue on. Not unlike eating a good meal after a hard days work.

How does this affect our relationship with our daily walk with the Father? I have noticed that what you and I should do as a loving, encouraging and moment to moment walk with the Father, can become draining when out among those that don't Believe, or that care only about themselves and what they can get out of you. Whether it is your clients, your work, your boss, and oftentimes your church and pastor that wear you down, listening to sermons that are actually wrong in their interpretation, and to that end there is a constant fight to keep close to your Father which is tough at the very least. Yet, when we meet with a group of like Believers, your guard is down, your Life is exposed and happily so, and so you sing praises, eat, drink, Study, and enjoy. At the end, no one wants to leave, it is so wonderful, and once again your cup is filled to the full, even the brim spilling over at times. This gives you confidence and a Spirit of Love to smile and keep on, the reason the Apostle Paul told us not to stop meeting one with another. I know as you all do that even though we don't have to be concerned about sin and rules, rites, and rituals, like attending church every Sunday, it is more difficult to live the Life of Love the Father would like us to live. So, He is there for you too, always, never taking His eyes off of you, never condemning you, concerned for you, laughing with you, and all the time securing you for that time when you sit at His table and drink from the cup of goodness, which is, peace, love, joy, calm, gentleness, kindness, patience and self-control. That is the freedom you will enjoy among so many others when are are face to face with your...Daddy. Have a Grace Day!

Brother Glenn

Complete New Testament Grace Studies link: http://gracehouseministry.blogspot.com/

John 10:31-39 "The Unfathomable Understanding Of Jesus And God." PART 3 The Reason

 30"I and the Father are one!”

John 10:31-39

31Therefore, the Jews again took up stones so that they should stone Him. 32Jesus answered to them, “Many good works I showed from my Father. On account of which work of them stone Me?” 33The Jews answered Him, saying, “Concerning a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a human being, are making Yourself God.” 

34Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in Law, ‘I said, are gods?’ [Psalm 82:6] 35If He called those ones “gods” to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture is not able to be broken), 36whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, do say, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, ‘I am God’s Son?’ 37If I am not doing the works of My Father, do not believe Me. 38But if I am doing, even if do not believe Me, be believing the works, so that shall know and believe that the Father in Me, and I in Him.” 39Therefore, they were seeking again to seize Him, and He went out from their hand. 

Good Day Child of God! "Father? As we open our hearts and our minds to hear your lesson today, please teach us fully, truly, and in a way we can keep it in our heart. Amen" It has been awhile since the last lesson and I was concerned about it. Now I see why the delay. I thought this had to do with me and my inability to do a good job, but in fact I now understand that the Father had in mind that I must learn a few more things about Him, the Bible, and what is to come. 

This is not to say I have a new revelation for anyone in this Study, but to tell you that it is time to be as serious as you can be in your relationship with the Father. At least take the time to learn what you can so you won't be as those above in Psalm 82, blindly holding on to the earth as though it is what is important in life.

Today's easy lesson: First we are going to take on the misconception that nearly every Christian has, that the Bible they hold within their fingers are inerrant. Take a look at the underlined Scripture above. If you read it, I can tell you that you cannot reconcile what Jesus is saying against what you understand. Do you really get what He is saying? I doubt it, the translation is wrong. Why? Because the copies from which they were taken were characterized as we are all gods, when in fact in the Hebrew it does not say that. To make it short, what it does say, and Jesus is misusing it to prove a point, to the so called Jewish knowledge base, that we were not meant to be just people, but we are, and in the end, we will all die, which it says in the verse that follows the one above, yet gods do not die. This does two things for Jesus. He misquotes, they don't pick up on it, he mis-uses, prophesying His death, and Resurrection. He indeed in a God. Yet, they still have not picked up on His intention, which is proof they are the blind leading the blind. Read Psalm 82, it is short, and you will see that is what it speaks about, the blind leading the blind, but you will have to look for a Hebrew English Transliteration. They are available and free to boot! Then you will begin to understand what all this has been about, Grace, God's intentions, Truth and so on. You might even find it interesting, if not, at least you will know that the Bible in its original language is inerrant, but not in the mistranslated verses we read today.

How does this help you in your daily walk with the Father? The end is near! The Apostle Paul said that, many more times over the last two thousand years this has been said as well. About two hundred years ago, the Rapture was discovered in Scripture, perhaps better said, someone had decided it was there. In any case many things have to happen before the very end, many of which could have happened already, there is proof of that, in fact, all of them may have happened already, and here we are. Jesus said it will come on us like a "thief in the night", and "if it were possible even the saved would be fooled." End Time teachings are going on right now that so many Christians are spending so much time and money on, and have for at least the last four decades and more! How is that working out so far? Lots of people have been wrong? No, they have all been wrong, my mistake. All of the people have become embarrassed, lots of people have become rich, more have become poor and all together the whole group is more or less useless to the end game, which is to build two things. The size of the Family of God, and the ability of closeness we should have with the God of Gods, the God of Love, the Creator, the Only True God, our Father, our Daddy, our God. The end is nearer than any of us like to think. We have a whisper of time here on earth, and all of a sudden we are no more. I have seen friends pass, people I know and I am only familiar with die as well, and it doesn't seem to make anyone realize it is now time to settle down and recognize Who and what is important in this life, or in your Life. It is knowing your Father, leaning on His leading, and Loving. Loving Him by following not leading Him, and Loving your family, your friends, neighbors, even enemies, so that whatever comes of your life or mine, one thing can be said at your end; That was a Godly person who loved others and cared for them as much as themselves. Isn't that what you want to hear? And when you see the Father and Jesus, don't you want to hear, "Well done good and faithful servant." We all do, we all fail at times, but that doesn't matter when you are a Child of God. Please take this last series lesson seriously. It may be your last chance to do that. None of us really know when, only He knows, and believe it, He cares about you. If nothing else, worry not about your sins, but work more on talking directly to your Father and listening for His plans for you. That is all good, nothing bad at all, for you, and for Him. Now you know the reason Jesus came, not to be lead by people, or by Law or rite, ritual or rule, but by Him alone. Have a Grace Day!

Brother Glenn
http://gracehouseministry.blogspot.com/