Category: Jesus

Christ as King

 In ancient times, kings, priests, and prophets were often anointed with oil to signify God’s choice for a special role. The word Christ means ‘the anointed one’ and for Jesus it is a title signifying his divine anointing to redeem humanity, fulfill prophecy, and establish God’s kingdom.* During Jesus’ time you can understand why the King of Rome and Herod, the Roman Jewish king of Judea, were concerned about being overthrown. But God had other plans.

Power over people seems to be infusing our world today with horrific displays of violence spurred on by unrelenting activism. This power grab is intentionally driven by terrorists. And, too often it is the leadership of Western governments who don’t understand the folly of their policies which select winners and losers for their social experiments thereby inflicting pain in other ways.

I’m done with the violence and these experiments! When Jesus was preaching the gospel to his apostles and disciples he was saying this, that God is done with the powerful who actively work to make you surrender your soul to their will. It’s God’s will be done, not an emperor’s will and not a terrorist’s will. Jesus Christ was born to affirm God’s love for all people. The power hungry always ignore this message because it undermines their control.

There is hard terrorism that uses guns and other weapons of violence against unsuspecting people. But there is also a soft terrorism that uses government policies and court systems to unleash inconsistencies that destabilize peaceful environments. Both are used to adopt a message of fear. God would never envision this for his creation. Jesus knew this.

Consider the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples:

The Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13 / Luke 11:2-4) 

  • “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”: (Praise & God’s Sovereignty) 
  • “Give us today our daily bread.”: (Provision & Daily Dependence) 
  • “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”: (Forgiveness & Mercy) 
  • “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”: (Guidance & Protection) 

Key Themes for Disciples 

  • God-Centered Focus: Start with God’s glory, not just your own needs. 
  • Trust & Dependence: Rely on God daily for everything, like needing “daily bread”. 
  • Forgiveness: Acknowledge your need for forgiveness and extend it to others. 
  • Surrender: Pray for God’s will to be done, showing surrender to His plan. 
  • Spiritual Warfare: Ask for strength to overcome temptation and evil.*

No king of Rome or of the Jewish state needed to be concerned about Jesus assuming their power. Jesus understood that his power was the Word. The only control Jesus had was the ability to ease mankind’s souls. His teachings did this. God anointed him as Jesus Christ. We bow only to God. Is Jesus a king? Perhaps. I would much rather consider him as God’s disciple. This means that each of us can be God’s disciple too.

Happy birthday Jesus. May we understand your love for us all.

*found with the help of Google 🙂

Birth

The process of birth is transformative. Three elements must be involved: (1) conception, (2) delivery, (3) animation. Humans can birth an idea, birth a product or (with the help of the opposite sex) birth another human. Because humans can create in this way, we are said to be created in God’s image. No other mammal, insect, fish or bird can create in all of these ways.

The critical point for us is always at conception. Without this there can be no resulting idea, product or human. Conception is the spark, the Big Bang, the beginning of creation. All of nature is this way, even to the smallest atom. But is there always intention? Think about it!

Intention implies commitment. All of the natural world acts in this way because there is no other way of being. Humans on the other hand may have intention yet can lack commitment and hence give up on their plan after conception.

Our human nature separates us from all of nature. Or does it? Could this be why Christ was born? This birth is a powerful example of God’s commitment to humanity. From John 3:16…King James Bible
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Jesus immortalized God’s plan for us. His birth and message remains our great hope that no matter who you think you are, God can deliver you (birth you) to an eternity of great Love for all that is, all that will be, and all that can be. Are you open to this Love? Commit to the humility and you can deliver this Love too by animating the grace of forgiveness to yourself and others that is now and forever found in your heart and soul. God’s gift to you. May it be so this CHIST-MAS.

Godly Principle vs Humanism

WHY do humans exist? Humans exist precisely because they can ask THE WHY. The universe is vast and the questions in it are infinite. This realm of infinity is anxiety provoking to most humans which is WHY humans should desire a sincere connection to their Creator.

Jesus preached that we all have the ability to connect directly to God (our Creator). We simply need to practice consistent humility with our words and deeds before Him and to acknowledge that our fellow man should be treated with the same humility (do unto others as you would have them do unto you). Moses received the blueprint for living a humble life by conveying God’s Ten Commandments, and Jesus lived this honest relationship while further relaying the Word of God. Neither man had to fight a war to give the lessons, yet both men suffered greatly to pass the lessons forward. Honoring their suffering is WHY WE EXIST, because without their example our earthly mistakes would be even more tragic. These men used Godly principles to teach effective self governance.

Think about it…No kings of man would personally suffer to that extent. Instead the king would send enforcers to implement the king’s rules and dictates. In the United States this method of governing is no different from a bureaucratic system enforcing dictates that are not specifically voted on by Congress. Who or what gives these bureaucrats their authority? Probably a law set in place by Congress who represent us. However, Congress’s power of oversight has been diminished by an ever expanding bureaucracy. Representation and the unalienable right to the self governance of WE THE PEOPLE is therefore diluted. This diluted representation allows the ideology of humanism to take control.

From Merriam-Webster.com : humanism – a doctrine, attitude, or way of life centered on human interests or values. especially : a philosophy that usually rejects supernaturalism and stresses an individual’s dignity and worth and capacity for self-realization through reason : secular humanism. humanist.

As you can see from the definition above, an individual’s ability to use reason to actualize self-realization (of one’s worth, dignity and character) is the preferred ideology for a humanist rather than using their inherent belief in God (supernaturalism) and His natural law. The rejection of His natural law, however, makes it difficult to comprehend any unanswerable WHY.

No one can know everything. No one can know themselves completely let alone another person. An understanding of God’s natural law along with God’s commandments and Jesus’ teachings help to provide an anchor for effective self governance and morality. A successful constitutional republic demands that we have this knowledge. Without it, the governed become susceptible to tyranny and oppression because humanists always attempt to impose their created versions of “moral” values.

Our standards for scientific research, education, governance and economic development are anchored in God’s natural law. To dismiss these standards as antiquated is absurd. We must resist the postmodern humanism that relies too heavily on social activism to force its unreliable and shifting standards.

God help us to see THE WHY and THE WAY.

Unto You Is Born This Day…

We all must bear some burden. What is your burden? Is the weight so heavy that your soul is unable to lift your spirit thereby causing literal physical or emotional pain? It’s okay…a baby told us so.

At Christmas time the daylight increases and metaphysical relief is revealed to us, but we must be present to accept the gift. Three wise kings may have had their physical gifts to give, yet only one King could give the Gift of most value. And so it was revealed!

Jesus needed to live a pretty full life before even he understood the meaning of this Gift. His Jewish brethren were responsible for teaching Jesus many truths about human nature as revealed by God through previous decades and centuries. These truths are the basis for spiritual enlightenment which is why religion must always have its place in our physical world. Why would humans ever remove God from our common understanding? Jesus knew the answer to this riddle, and the government of his time definitely didn’t want the answer known.

Truth: history repeats itself! “This Day” is like “That Day” in ancient times when the Roman king wanted no other king but himself. Today we understand that kings, like governments, wholeheartedly enjoy their “privilege” of giving and removing rights for those they “rule”. However, natural rights are God given which means that no human, no matter their perceived “privilege“, can give or remove them. Jesus didn’t die because the Roman king made it so…He died to show us all that our human suffering is limited to the physical world. God has more for us when we understand our metaphysical nature. AND more importantly, Jesus was born to be the ultimate example of a human life lived in the physical world with the liberty of an individual possessing divine worth that is separate from kings or governments and the happiness as expressed by one’s God given talents.

Let there be no doubt about it, Jesus is the reason for Christmas. His Gift is our Blessing. Let’s fulfill this promise by continuing to live humbly in God’s grace. On This Day He shall lift all darkness!