“He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed. . . . Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” ---(Luke 4: 18, 21 (NIV)--[recommended that you read LUKE 4: verses 14 thru 30)--
We understand what it means to be in bondage physically, to be locked up, shut in, chained, to not have the liberty to come and go or make choices. We understand the opposite of that, freedom, to be unrestrained, unchained, to have liberty to come and go and make choices. Just as certainly as there is a physical component to bondage and freedom, there is a spiritual component; and the spiritual forces in your life are far more powerful than any lock that could confine you to a room.
--There are spiritual forces that can take every appetite, every desire, every part of the human experience and cause it to become a kind of bondage. Many things that are familiar parts of life under the sun―food, money, possessions, alcohol, sex, etc.―are not inherently evil or wicked. But when they are misused they can become compulsive and controlling because there are spiritual forces that want to see you shackled and unable to fulfill the purposes God has for you. But we are not without hope! This is one of the reasons Jesus came: “to proclaim freedom for the prisoners . . . to release the oppressed.” Let us not be naïve about the spiritual forces that try to keep us in bondage. But neither should we underestimate the power of God that is ours to live in freedom.
**THINK ABOUT IT Is there anything in your life that is not inherently evil but has become a point of bondage for you? Consider the power to live in freedom that God has already supplied for you.
**PRAYER -"Heavenly Father, I thank You for the Holy Spirit who is my helper and for Jesus Christ who is our Advocate and Mediator. I am grateful for Your Word, which is a light unto my path. Please reveal anything holding me back from the spiritual freedom You desire for my life. Thank You for Your great deliverance through the Cross of Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ name, amen."~~
**Blessings, ***Pastor Allen Jackson **Intend Ministries [Please read (Isaiah 61: verses 1-2). Also read (Luke 4 verses 18 thru 21) = We see Jesus read these exact words in the Synagogue when He began his Public Ministry. However He added, "To Proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." (Sadly, the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; and they tried to throw Jesus down the cliff. But, passing through their midst, He went His way. Jesus Christ is the Messiah! )+ --"PROCLAIM THE GLORY OF THE LORD"/ Steve Green / (Speakers Needed, Words not on Screen~ Praise the Lord, the Messiah has come!)<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k54cQ85CGj4> ---------- -------
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." [John 14:6]
--"Behold the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold his reward is with Him, and his work before Him.
"And they shall call them The Holy People, The redeemed of the LORD; and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken." ~~ --"Prepare the Way" / Paul Wilbur~~
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Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." [John 14:6]
-"See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands." --(Isaiah 49:16)--
-IN CHARLES SPURGEON'S many years at his London church during the 1800s, he loved to preach on the riches of Isaiah 49:16, which says that God engraves us on the palms of His hands. He said, "Such a text as this is to be preached hundreds of times!" This thought is so precious that we can run over it in our minds again and again.
Spurgeon makes the wonderful connection between this promise of the Lord to His people, the Israelites, and God's Son, Jesus, on the Cross as He died for us. Spurgeon asked, "What are these wounds in Your hands?...The engraver's tool was the nail, backed by the hammer. He must be fastened to the Cross, that His people might be truly engraved on the palms of His hands." As the Lord promised to engrave His people on His palms, so Jesus stretched out His arms on the Cross, receiving the nails in His hands so we could be free of our sins.
If and when we're tempted to think that God has forgotten us, we only need to look at our palms and remember God's promise. He has put indelible marks on His hands for us; He loves us that much.~~
-"Lord God, how vast is Your love for me! You keep me ever before You. I know you'll never leave me, and I'm eternally grateful. Blessed be Your Holy Name. You truly are the King of my heart."~~
"For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority." ---(Colossians 2:9-10 NIV)--
---We do ourselves a disservice when we talk about Jesus as having only a message of love. Love is a part of His message, certainly, but it’s not the whole message. Sometimes in our desire to make Jesus a nice person we can relate to more easily, we diminish His power and His authority. But Jesus was “the fullness of the Deity . . . in bodily form.” His life was an introduction to what God’s Kingdom is like and what it means for us to be children of God and heirs of all that He promises.
-We don’t fully understand this Kingdom yet, but Jesus showed us who we are in Him now and who we can become. I serve Him because He is God’s Son and there is no one else like Him. When you read the Bible, ask God to give you a revelation of our Lord, Jesus of Nazareth. He is love, yes, but so much more.
THINK ABOUT IT Great strength and gentleness often go together. What examples of those qualities can you recall from the life of Jesus?
**PRAYER --"Heavenly Father, I am so aware that Jesus came to fight the battle against the enemies of God on my behalf because of His great love for me. He exchanged places with me for all eternity while I was yet alienated from Him. I thank You that because of Jesus I can enter into the Kingdom of God as a child of God and inherit all of God’s promises. Give me a greater revelation of Your Son, Jesus of Nazareth. In Jesus’ name, amen."
**Blessings, **Pastor Allen Jackson **Intend Ministries ----- [**Please note Colossians Chapter 1 verses 13 thru 20] --THE INCOMPARABLE CHRIST~~
--"For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, ..in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens, and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him.
He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. "He is also head of the body, the Church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.
For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His Cross; through Him I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven." --**Please allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you through these italicized verses. In these verses we read that Jesus is God. He has always existed. God the Father, used God the Son to reveal His Word to us, through the Holy Spirit. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are the 2nd and third Persons of the Trinity = ONE GOD. (Triune God). This is sometimes difficult for us to comprehend, yet is by FAITH, that we accept Jesus is God. **Notice what Thomas said in reply to the Lord Jesus, after our Lord said to Thomas, "Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing." -(verse 28) Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" --"You Are God Alone"/ By: Phillips, Craig and Dean~~
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Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." [John 14:6]
"Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands." (Hebrews 2:7)--
---We cannot comprehend what it meant for the infinite Creator God to become finite man, even coming "in the likeness of sinful flesh" (Romans 8:3). Nevertheless, we can, and must, believe it, for "every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God" (1 John 4:3).--
The Scriptures have given us a glimpse of the "emptying" that His incarnation required—the setting aside of certain outward aspects of His deity. He had been "so much better than the angels" (Hebrews 1:4), but He had to be "made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death" (Hebrews 2:9)—"put to death in the flesh" (1 Peter 3:18).
The eternal Word "was God" (John 1:1), but it was necessary that "the Word was made flesh" (John 1:14). "The world was made by Him" (John 1:10), but "the princes of this world . . . crucified the Lord of glory" (1 Corinthians 2:8).
He, "being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God" (Philippians 2:6). That is, He was not fearful of losing His deity and, therefore, did not have to cling to His divine nature and attributes as He became man. Thus, He "made himself of no reputation" (emptying Himself of the outward form of God), "and took upon him the form of a servant" (Philippians 2:7).
Yet that was only the beginning. "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Because He was willing to be so humiliated, He will one day be crowned with glory and honor. "God also hath highly exalted Him, . . . that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord" (Philippians 2:9, 11). --ICR/HMM--/--Jesus Messiah/ Chris Tomlin <https://youtu.be/QmY3jSugNBU>
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." [John 14:6]
"Concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead" (Romans 1:3-4). -- --How Christ could be both man and God is a great mystery, but the fact that He is both man and God is certain, both from Scripture and from history. This "hypostatic |substantive| union" is set forth in many passages of Scripture, including this one. He was "made" to be a man, by placing the body of flesh "prepared" for Him by God (Hebrews 10:5) in the womb of the virgin, who was herself descended from David. But then He was "declared" to be the Son of God by His mighty resurrection from the dead, an event beyond the power of any but God Himself to accomplish.
--A similar testimony is found in Galatians 4:4: "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law." As deity, He was "sent forth" from God in heaven. In His humanity, He was "made of a woman." His "being in the form of God" preceded His taking upon Himself "the form of a servant" (Philippians 2:6-7). As the eternal Word, He "was God," but He "was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:1,14).
-The same truth is found even in the Old Testament Messianic prophecies. "For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given" (Isaiah 9:6). As a child, He must be born, but as God's Son, He would be given. Furthermore, that human child would also be the "mighty God" and the "everlasting Father." "A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel" ("God with us" -- Isaiah 7:14).
Christ has eternally been God; He will eternally be Man. He is, forever, the God-Man -- man as God intended man to be and also the one true, eternal God. ---ICR/HMM
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." [John 14:6]
--WE MUST DO ALL WE CAN TO SPREAD THE WORDS OF JESUS- -----JEHOVAH YAHWEH'S WORD!
--We Must Do All We Can to Proclaim the Gospel ---By Franklin Graham
--I believe the Lord has given us a very brief window in this country to repent from our wicked ways, confess our sins—personal and corporate—and thank Him for His fresh mercy and grace that forgives, heals and restores when we humbly turn to Him.
In this moment, we must do all we can to proclaim the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to as many as we can. While the door is open, it’s imperative that followers of Christ take maximum advantage to bear witness to the Good News of God’s saving power and grace.
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order safeguarding religious freedom. “Federal law protects the freedom of Americans and their organizations to exercise religion and participate fully in civic life without undue interference by the federal government,” the order said.
--- It is urgent, then, that Christians turn out in record numbers in next week’s midterm elections and vote for candidates who further the cause of Christ, who wholeheartedly support the work of religious liberty and who have pledged to do all they can to continue the amazing advances that have been made on this front in such a short period of time.
The Bible says that “the night is coming when no one can work” (John 9:4) … Let’s lift up the Name of Jesus and never be timid or embarrassed to share the true and lasting hope of the Gospel. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). ~~~~~~~~~ -"No ONE Like Jehovah/ Kelanie Gloeckler~~<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFi6TobuVOg> -----------
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." [John 14:6]
---RELIGION VS RELATIONSHIP ~~ --(PLEASE READ/ Matthew 16:11-12 / (NIV®)
“Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
The Pharisees and Sadducees were two sects of Judaism that were active during Jesus’ lifetime. The Pharisees were laymen who believed that God’s revelation consisted of two parts: the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament) and the oral tradition that evolved and grew as various rabbis interpreted those writings. The Sadducees were the priests responsible for the daily activity in the Jerusalem temple, which was the spiritual center of the nation. Because of that, they were wealthy people of great financial and political influence. Both groups were religious, but they could not recognize the Messiah when He came because He did not fit their preconceived notions.
We too can be outwardly religious and not believe in God. We can sit in Church, wear all the right clothes, carry a big Bible, and know the words to every song, but still not have a relationship with Jesus.Let’s examine our hearts to make sure that our desire is not to put on a religious show, but to be a friend of Jesus.
**THINK ABOUT IT --Are you sometimes tempted to focus on the outward expression of your religion rather than your personal relationship with Jesus? What can you do to keep your focus on Him?
**PRAYER
"Heavenly Father, be a light in my life to search my heart and see if there is any unclean way in me. I cannot always see clearly, but I trust You to know my true self and reveal to me through Your Holy Spirit how I need to change. I will be quick to confess and seek to walk in obedience, for I want to please You above all. Thank you our Lord, Savior, and Redeemer, the Great 'I AM', the true MESSIAH"~.
**Blessings, **Pastor Allen Jackson ***Intend Ministries---"GREAT ARE YOU LORD" --/ Phillips, Craig, and Dean -- \o/ <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AS26JvF125c> --------------
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." [John 14:6]
---- --Friends, All over this forum, you can read "Who is Jesus?", "Who is Christ", "Who is the Creator", "Who is Our Savior?", etc, etc.
--ALL OF THESE PEOPLE ARE JESUS! WHO IS GOD? JESUS IS GOD! We can not figure this out nor understand this with our finite minds, but we accept this by 'FAITH', because that is exactly what the Holy Bible teaches us. There are many religions in the world, but you will never get into Heaven without Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Please accept Jesus as your Lord today, we are not promised tomorrow. JESUS LOVES YOU! JESUS DIED FOR YOU! When Jesus died on the Cross, He died with all the sins of the entire sins upon His shoulders and nailed them to the Cross. Father God sent his Son to be our Savior. (Read John 3: verses 3 thru 21), Ask the Lord Jesus to open your 'spiritual eyes' so you may see HIM, please. He never turns away a sincere seeker. Remember, this is 'SPIRITUAL'. "The natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit because they are foolishness to him. The wisdom of this world is foolishness before God." -(1 Corinthians 2:14, 3:19).
You will not find the Savior of all mankind in this world, nor in many Church buildings. Many do not even speak the Name of Jesus. Many teach Jesus as one of many other ways to get into Heaven. No my friend, Jesus said, "I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (See John 14:6)~~ "I and my Father are One." -(John 10:30) ---------- ----Exact Representation~~
--"The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven." ---(Hebrews 1:3 NIV)
--The Bible is a collection of sixty-six books written by many authors who lived during a span of over a thousand years. The first four books of the New Testament----Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John―are known as the Gospels. They are those writers’ personal announcements of the good news about Jesus and the significance of His life. But the gospel is more than those four Bible books; the gospel is Jesus. Jesus didn’t come to give us a message; Jesus IS the message. Jesus didn’t come to give us a revelation; Jesus IS the revelation. Jesus is the exact representation of God the Father, and He is sitting at the right hand of His Father even now. So if you want to know God the Father―His attitudes, His thoughts, and His responses―get to know Jesus. That endeavor will be well worth the investment of your time.
***THINK ABOUT IT -'What does your knowledge of Jesus the Son tell you about God the Father?'
**PRAYER "Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us Jesus so that we can know who You are. Your plan for mankind is so personal and so fatherly that I can begin to understand how Almighty God has related to a finite being like me. I am filled with so much hope just by knowing Your character and provision for Your creation. All praise and glory to the One who died for me. In Jesus’ name, amen."
**Blessings, ***Pastor Allen Jackson **Intend - Allen Jackson Ministries
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." [John 14:6]
-"I trusted in the LORD when I said, "I am greatly afflicted."- ---(Psalm 116:10)--
---TWO MEN convicted of drug trafficking had been on death row for a decade. While in prison, they learned of God's love for them in Jesus, and their lives were transformed. When it came time for them to face the firing squad, they faced their executioners reciting the Lord's Prayer and singing "Amazing Grace." Because of their faith in God, through the power of the Spirit they were able to face death with incredible courage.
They followed the example of faith set by their Savior, Jesus. When Jesus knew that His death was imminent, He spent part of the evening singing with friends. It's remarkable that He could sing under such circumstances, but what's even more remarkable is what He sang. On that night, Jesus and his friends had a Passover meal, which always ends with a series of Psalms known as the Hallel, Psalms 113-118. Facing death, that night Jesus sang about the "cords of death" entangling Him (Psalm 116 verse 3). Yet He praised God's faithful love and thanked Him for salvation . Surely these Psalms comforted Jesus on the night before His crucifixion.
Jesus's trust in God was so great that even as He approached His own death--a death He had done nothing to deserve!--He chose to sing of God's love. Because of Jesus, we too can have confidence that whatever we face, God is with us.~~ EMMANUEL! ~~
"Lord God, strengthen our faith in You so that when we face trials, or even approach death, we can sing with confidence about Your love. Thank you, Lord Jesus for dying so we can live eternally." ~~
--ODB/AP---"Confidence"--/By: Sanctus Real ~
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Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." [John 14:6]
"For from him and through him and for him are all things." --(Romans 11:36)---
--WOULD YOU LIKE to cultivate a greater sense of gratitude? George Herbert, a seventeenth-century British poet, encourages readers toward that goal in his poem "Gratefulness": "Thou that hast given so much to me, give one thing more: a grateful heart."
Herbert recognized the only thing he needed in order to be thankful was simply an awareness of the blessings God had already given him.
The Bible declares Christ Jesus as the source of all blessing in Romans 11:36, "For from him and through him and for him are all things." "All things" encompasses both the extravagant and the mundane, everyday gifts in our lives. Everything we receive in life comes directly from our heavenly Father (JAMES 1:17), and He willingly gives us those gifts out of His love for us.
To expand my awareness of God's blessings in my life, I am learning to cultivate a heart that acknowledges the source of all the joys I experience each day, but especially the ones I often take for granted. Today those included a crisp morning to run, the anticipation of an evening with friends, a stocked pantry so I could make French toast with my daughters, the beauty of the world outside my window, and the aroma of freshly brewed coffee.
What is the "so much" that God has already given to you? Opening our eyes to those blessings will help us to develop grateful hearts. Let's spend more time counting our blessings rather than finding fault. We are so blessed by all our Creator has given to us. Thank You, Jesus! You are my King! ~~
--WHEN YOU THINK OF ALL THAT'S GOOD, THANK GOD.~ --ODB/LS--/(There may be a brief advertisement. Patience and be blessed with the song. Thank you. )"Jesus, You are My King"/'Amazing Love'/ Candi Pearson -/https://youtu.be/zOAkTff3J1g ------
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." [John 14:6]
THINK ABOUT IT
("God with us" -- Isaiah 7:14).
It is urgent, then, that Christians turn out in record numbers in next week’s midterm elections and vote for candidates who further the cause of Christ, who wholeheartedly support the work of religious liberty and who have pledged to do all they can to continue the amazing advances that have been made on this front in such a short period of time.