The Power Of little Things!

A drop of water, a grain of sand; how seemingly insignificant! Yet, without them, there would be no earth on which we stand. Our world is made up of little things. But little things, like molecules and atoms, make up the big things.
Jesus Christ affirmed the value of little things. He used little things to teach us. There was little Zacchaeus who caught the eye of the Master. It was Jesus who said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven." (Mt 19:14) He also said, "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea. (Mk. 9:42) A little boy with a few loaves and fishes, at the hand of Christ, fed thousands.

Jesus used little things for vivid visual aids to illustrate the approaching kingdom of God. Notice some of those little things; barn swallows, "the fowls of the air"; a small flower among the blades of grass, "Consider the lilies of the fields"; even a single human hair, "The very hairs of your head are numbered." Little things!
Christ declares the value of little things. Some things, true enough, are "mighty little", but some little things are ever so mighty. Words, for instance, are little things, but how potent is their power for good or for evil! A note or phone call to someone who is ill or hurting in some way can brighten and even transform that person's day.

Is prayer a little thing? The God of all creation is listening to our words as we pray. How then is prayer little? Yet not even our neighbor next door knows when we speak to God in prayer. An earthquake could rock our world and destroy our town, yet God would no sooner rush to that scene than He would to hear us when we pray. In prayer God, The Father fulfills His promise to meet with us, His beloved children.

Who but you can fill that seat in worship on the Lord's Day? Every rain that falls, falls one drop at a time. Every tear that falls is 'one' in its descent down that cheek. Yet together the tears tell of the dynamic emotions of that heart that sheds them.

A handshake is but a little thing, yet it can say more than ten preachers with eloquent speech. The embrace of two in love can mean more in that moment than six months of daily letters exchanged. The simple statement, "We understand," when meant and effectively communicated, towers far above the pretentious words of the friends of Job.

The total populace, from Adam to the last man to draw breath, will appear at the judgment seat of God, one at a time. Sinners have been coming to The Lord for centuries from every corner of the earth, but they have all come one at a time through endless lines since the day Christ's church began.
On the cross, they crucified man's greatest friend. He is only one, yet the One through whom the entire world has since been called, one at a time, to everlasting life. "Just as I am, without one plea" are very little words, but they speak of a mighty commitment. Though the quantity of a blessing may seem small, the effect is often beyond words. Genuine quality often comes wrapped in small packages. The intelligent goodness of God, like the ties that support the never ending rails of a railroad, comes to us moment by moment, one at a time.

Romans 11:33 "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!" (NKJV)
Do something 'Little' and watch God turn it into something mighty, something powerful. You may be little in your own eyes, but with Christ in you, you can accomplish much for His glory! Little things! They are clothed in absolute splendor! They are the mighty work of God!
                                                                    God bless until our next time

"Well, we believe."

In our world today, there are more than 600 denominational churches, each one teaching different man-made doctrines, with different forms of worship, different non-biblical plans of salvation, and wearing different religious names.  No man has any right, biblically, to teach others to follow this confusion, "For God is not the author of confusion" (1 Corinthians 14:33).

What does the Lord of all creation think about this? Certainly, He cannot pleased. The word "denomination" comes from the same root word as a denominator in mathematical fractions and means to divide. Religious division is sinful.
1 Corinthians 1:10 says, "Now I plead with you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." This does not happen as we look closely at the denominations of any generation.  Denominations are designed by man and have no scriptural authority to exist. Every denomination is in conflict with the one church which Jesus built.

Jesus Christ says in Matthew 16:18, "I will build My church."  The word "church" is singular, meaning one and only one and the word "My" is possessive, meaning it belongs to the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ built only one church; HIS. Jesus never promised to build even one denomination. The church that belongs to Christ, which Christ built, began some 2000 years ago.
There were no denominations in the first century and for hundreds of years thereafter. The Lord did not establish the denominations, man did. Every denomination we see today is less than 500 years old. The Lord never built any of the more than 600 different denominations giving men a choice of which church he wants to join. This is man's doing, not God's design. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of denominations, each with its own name, its own peculiar man-made doctrine and practice which contradicts the Bible. How can any of these differing doctrines be true? They can't. Anything that contradicts The Holy Word of God is false doctrine, designed by Satan to cause people to be eternally lost. Their divisive human creeds that govern them come from the minds of men and not from God. Their creed books hold their group together as a denomination. Methodist Churches preach the Methodist Discipline, Baptist Churches preach the Baptist Manual, Catholic Churches preach the Catholic Catechism, etc. The main reason any of these exist is because man will not accept God's Holy Word as the final authority.

Even their names do not claim to be the Lord's church. They seem to be ashamed of the Lord, not wanting to wear His name. Jesus says, "For whoever shall be ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of Him the Son of Man also will be ashamed" (Mark 8:38).

If the Lord is ashamed of people, they will be lost in Hell for eternity. Since they are not the Lord's church, they call themselves by names that give glory and honor to people, places, or things other than the Lord. The Lutherans honor their founder, Martin Luther. The Methodists who were founded by John Wesley give honor to the methodical way they do things. The Presbyterians founded by John Calvin give honor to the 'presbuterous' (Greek word for elders, pastors, shepherds). Baptists give their honor to John the Baptist while the Pentecostals give honor to the Jewish Day of Pentecost. The Apostolic Church give their honor to the apostles.  And the list goes on and on. Denominations are steeped in unscriptural practice since each denomination has a human founder and not Christ.  Denominations are plagued with division and conflicting creeds and doctrines, unscriptural worship, and false "salvation practices", which leave a person lost since it is different from what God requires in the Bible. They are more concerned with doing man's will and not God's will, therefore God will not save them in their ungodly practices.

When a church wears the wrong name, teaches the wrong doctrine, is organized the wrong way, worships the wrong way, and holds to the wrong plan of salvation, it cannot be the church The Lord had in mind. A denomination is a substitute of man's creation and has no authority from God to exist. What benefit is there in joining a man-made denomination? An individual will be eternally lost in doing so. As sad as it is, Jesus says, there will only be a few people in this world saved (Matthew 7:13-14). This is in spite of the Lord making a tremendous sacrifice for unworthy man to enable him to be cleansed from soul condemning sin so he can be saved. The division and confusion of denominationalism have paved the way for atheism, agnosticism, humanism, skepticism, modernism, and a denial of the Bible. This division contradicts the prayer of Jesus for all who claim to believe in Him, "that they also may be one in us that the world may believe that You sent Me" (John 17:21). Division and confusion have come from man and not from God or His Holy Word.

It is often the case that people do not want the truth. "In latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron" (1 Timothy 4:1-3). Denominations have their conscience so seared with false teaching that, for the most part, they are impossible to reach with the truth of God's word. Near the end of the first century the apostle John said, "many false prophets are gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1).  They are still with us and have had 1900 years to multiply.

Men have altered, revised, manipulated, rearranged, added to, and even ignored what God has said in the Bible into whatever they have seen fit. "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death" (Proverbs 14:12). I have found in speaking with different folks from different denominations, that three basic words will separate one from the other, and from God's Word; those words are "Well we believe..."

The confusion in denominationalism is guided by opinion, pride, prejudice, impulse, physical sensations, emotionalism, and assumptions.  Denominations give their allegiance to the authority of men over that of Christ. Since God's Word is true (John 17:17), all that disagrees or is different from it is false. Their sin is not in changing man-made laws, but in making their own religious laws and setting aside the laws of God.  All denominations are the result of the many departures man has made from the teaching of the Bible. God's Holy Spirit tells us in 2 Corinthians 6:17 "Therefore 'Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord.'"
                                                                God bless until our next time...

"Is the deity of Christ a biblical truth?"

Define Deity: 1. a god or goddess.
2. divine character or nature, especially that of the Supreme Being; divinity.
3. the estate or rank of a god:
4. a person or thing revered as a god or goddess:
    a society in which money is the only deity.
5. the Deity, God; Supreme Being.

In addition to Jesus' specific claims about Himself, His disciples also acknowledged the deity of Christ. They claimed that Jesus had the right to forgive sins—something only God can do—as it is God who is offended by sin (Acts 5:31, "Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. (NKJV);
Colossians 3:13, “bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.” (NKJV)
Psalm 130:4, “But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.” Jeremiah 31:34, "No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."

In close connection with this last claim, Jesus is also said to be the one who will judge the living and the dead. 2 Timothy 4:1 Paul says, “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:”
John 20:28 Thomas cried out to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!”
Paul mentions Jesus in Titus 2:13 and says, “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,” and he points out that before His incarnation Jesus existed in the “form of God” Phil. 2:5-8

Even God speaks of Jesus in Heb. 1:8: “Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever.” John 1:1 says “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word [Jesus] was God.”
Some examples of Scriptures that teach the deity of Christ are many.

Rev. 1:17, “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.”
Rev. 2:8, “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, 'These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life:”
Rev. 22:13, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”

1 Corinthians 10:4, “and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.”

1 Peter 2:6-8, “Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, "Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame." 7 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, "The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone," 8 and "A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense." They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.”

Psalm 18:2, “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”
Psalm 95:1, “Oh come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.”

1 Peter 5:4, “and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.”

Hebrews 13:20, “Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,”

Even one of these is enough to show that Christ was considered to be God by His followers.
Jesus is also given titles that are unique to YHWH (the formal name of God) in the Old Testament. The Old Testament title “redeemer” (Psalm 130:7; Hosea 13:14) is used of Jesus in the New Testament.

In Titus 2:13, “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,”

Revelation 5:9, “And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,”

Jesus is called Emmanuel—“God with us”—in Matthew 1.

In Zechariah 12:10, it is YHWH who says, “They will look on me, the one they have pierced.”

But the New Testament applies this to Jesus' crucifixion in John 19:37, “And again another Scripture says, "They shall look on Him whom they pierced.”

Revelation 1:7, “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him.”

If it is YHWH who is pierced and looked upon, and Jesus was the one pierced and looked upon, then Jesus is YHWH.

Paul quotes Isaiah 45:22-23 as applying to Jesus in Philippians 2:10-11 when he says, “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Even more, Jesus' name is used alongside God's in prayer “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:3; Ephesians 1:2).
This would be blasphemy if Christ were not deity. The name of Jesus appears with God's in Jesus' commanded to baptize “in the name [singular] of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14).
Certain actions that can be accomplished only by God are credited to Jesus. Jesus not only raised the dead (John 5:21, 11:38-44) and forgave sins (Acts 5:31, 13:38), He created and sustains the universe (John 1:2; Colossians 1:16-17).

This becomes even clearer when we consider YHWH said He was alone during creation. Isaiah 44:24, “Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, And He who formed you from the womb: "I am the LORD, who makes all things, Who stretches out the heavens all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself;”

Christ possesses attributes that only deity can have: He is eternal (John 8:58, “Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” He is omnipresent (Matthew 18:20, “"For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” Matt. 28:20, “"teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.”

He is also omniscient. Matthew 16:21, “From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.”

He is omnipotent. John 11:38-44, “43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!” Lazarus was raised from the dead by the power of Christ.

It's one thing to claim to be God or to fool someone into believing it is true, and something else entirely to prove it to be so. Christ offered many miracles as proof of His claim to deity. Just a few of Jesus' miracles include turning water to grape juice (John 2:7), walking on water (Matthew 14:25), multiplying physical objects (John 6:11), healing the blind (John 9:7), the lame (Mark 2:3), and the sick (Matthew 9:35; Mark 1:40-42), and even raising people from the dead (John 11:43-44; Luke 7:11-15; Mark 5:35).


Even more, Christ Himself rose from the dead. Far from the so-called dying and rising gods of pagan mythology, nothing like the resurrection is seriously claimed by other religions, and no other claim has as much confirmation outside the Bible.

There are at least twelve historical facts about Jesus that even non-Christian critical scholars have admitted:

1. Jesus died by crucifixion.
2. He was buried.
3. His death caused the disciples to despair and lose hope.
4. Jesus' tomb was discovered (or was claimed to be discovered) to be empty a few days later.
5. The disciples claimed to experienced appearances of the risen Jesus.
6. After that, they were transformed from doubters into bold believers.
7. This message was the center of preaching in the early Church.
8. This message was preached in Jerusalem.
9. As a result of this preaching, the Church was born and it grew.
10. Resurrection day, Sunday, replaced the Sabbath (Saturday) as the primary day of worship.
11. James, a skeptic, was converted when he also believed that he saw the resurrected Jesus.
12. Paul, an enemy of Christianity, was converted by an experience which he believed to be an appearance of the risen Jesus.

Even if someone were to object to this specific list, only a few are needed to prove the resurrection and establish the gospel: Jesus' death, burial, resurrection, and appearances (1 Cor. 15:1-6). While there may be some theories to explain one or two of the above facts, only the resurrection explains and accounts for them all.

Critics admit that the disciples claimed they saw the risen Jesus. Neither lies nor hallucinations can transform people the way the resurrection did. First, what would they have had to gain? Christianity was not popular and it certainly did not make them any money or fame. Second, liars do not make good martyrs.
There is no better explanation for the resurrection than the disciples' willingness to die horrible deaths for their faith.

It is true that many people have died for lies that they thought were true, but people don't die for what they know is untrue.

In conclusion, Christ claimed He was YHWH, that He was deity (not just “a god” but the one true God); His followers (Jews who would have been terrified of idolatry) believed Him and referred to Him as God. Christ proved His claims to deity through miracles, including the world-altering resurrection. No other reasoning can explain these facts. The bottom line, yes, the deity of Christ is biblical.