Who Are You?

 "Jesus said, I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven."  Mark 14:62

"I AM"

God said these words to Moses in Exodus 3:14, "And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”  God established His identity to the Israelites at that time.  They would forever know that "I AM" means the sovereign Lord, Yahweh, Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  No mortal could make such a statement, a claim of divinity, as to declare equality with the Father.  

Yet, in Mark, as well as Matthew 18:20, 28:20, and John 8:58, Jesus claims this very thing.  It ends up being the final straw that condemns him to the cross.  Standing before the High Priest, Caiaphas, with Pharisees and Sadducees all around, they point-blank asked him, and in his response set his fate.  Their claims of blasphemy resounded through the halls that night, and without haste, they moved to have him judged by Pontius Pilate.

Pundits will say Jesus never claimed to be God.  This argument is empty, though, because they don't take the time to study the completeness of the scriptures.  Jesus made claims throughout his ministry that were relevant to the audience at that time.  These Jewish leaders knew without a doubt that Jesus was claiming to be the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God.  In their understanding, this meant he was claiming to be equal to God the Father, and have the authority of God the Father.  Yet, they knew him as a humble man, from a small fishing village in the north, Nazareth, and the son of Mary and Joseph.  They could not in their simple minds, piece together the fullness of God's plan of redemption through this humble man.  They had seen him turn over the tables, argue pointedly with the Pharisees on the temple mount, and call them all hypocrites in the public square.  They despised him in his ministry for accomplishing miracle after miracle to the point that their authority had been challenged.  

When Jesus claimed I AM, they had one of three thoughts.  1) He was truly who he claimed, and they had been accused justly, therefor he was a threat to their authority, or 2) He was a deceiver, a con man, and therefore a threat to the children of God, or 3) He was crazy, insane, and needed to be removed.  Because of his wisdom of scriptures and his previous preaching in the temple, they knew he wasn't insane.  We all know they pressed in to have him crucified, claiming option 2 as their reason.  There must have been some concern amongst them, though that option 1 was a real possibility.  They had witnessed his miracles, they had witnessed his parables, they had witnessed his preaching, they had taught him in the synagogues as a young man, and were astounded by his wisdom.  They had respected his faith right up to the point that he started accusing them of unrighteousness.

I feel many of us are the Pharisees of today.  We believe we know the heart of God and what God would say in any situation, based on our understanding of the scriptures.  But, do we really?  There is only one authority over heaven and earth, and we are not it.  Jesus claimed to be the great I AM.  When he returns, he will judge the righteous and unrighteous.  Until then, we are to live by his words of truth and love our neighbor as ourselves.  Condemnation is the Lord's; we are here to serve and love.  Let us not fall into the trap of the Pharisees by allowing our perception of right/wrong and righteousness to become a judgment over our neighbor.

Woe to You, Hypocrite

Click Here: Read Luke 11

“But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.” – Luke 11:42

How big is your world?  Your sphere of influence?  There are over 7 billion people in the world, gearing up to celebrate Christmas this month.  How many of them do you know?  How many Christmas cards will you send?  Do you realize that over 2/3^rds of the world celebrate Christmas as nothing more than a day to exchange gifts with those you love.  No Messiah, no Christ child, no Nativity, no salvation, no wise men, shepherds, inn keepers or angels.  It’s just another Tuesday that they don’t have to go to work.  Our world is much, much bigger than your circle of connections.

Based on your microscopic perspective of what’s really going on in this world, do you really think you know what’s going on?  Who are your sources for information?  CNN, MSNBC, FoxNews, HBO, Yahoo, Google, Huffington Post, Instagram, Facebook, Tweets and neighborhood gossip?  Come on.  Do you really think that you are getting the real story about the world through these biased, agenda driven sources?  You see what you want to see, you hear what you want to hear and you turn off the news that doesn’t align with your perspective in life.  If we take off the blinders and really see what’s going on in this world, would we change our actions?  We are driven by the instantaneous data we receive from the worldly sources we have chosen to listen too.  Consider the motive behind their decision to share that information with you and others.

I am so tired of the media, the junk and the elevation of worldly idols.  They want to set your agenda of thought and discussion for the next week.  Gossip on the latest celebrity that has come out of the closet, worrying about ISIS, arguing over Political views, collusion, email scandals or the wall, what the Kardashians are up to, buying the latest diet craze or who got the highest score on Fortnight, Candy Crush, Township or Wordscapes.  There are real problems in the world folks and we waste the majority of our waking hours worrying about what they want us to worry about, rather than what’s really going on. 

When it all comes down to it we are brothers and sisters fighting the same fight.  That fight is to survive one more day and accomplish something with the time we are given.  From the rising of the sun to the midnight hour we are just trying to make this a better place.  I sure hope you’re not waking up each day trying to destroy the world around you and those that live in it.  No, I believe you are like me, and wish to make life a little better each day.  The problem is, we are so focused on making our life a little better with little or no consideration as to making someone else’s life easier. 

While you read this there are 100’s of girls under the age of 12 being raped, sexually abused and sold into the sex trade.  While you read this there are 100’s of babies being aborted because two individuals were irresponsible and let their physical desires get the best of them one night.  While you read this there are 100’s of young boys stealing and/or murdering in inner cities all over the world.  While you read this there are 100’s of single mothers contemplating suicide because they feel all alone after being deserted by a dead beat dad.  While you read this there are 1000’s of young men and women injecting, snorting, inhaling and swallowing some sort of drug that will kill off brain cells and alter their cognitive ability for life, and as of rhis writing, 39 states in the US have legalized it.  While you read this there are 1000’s of college students all over the world being educated that there is no God and that we have all evolved from a primordial soup over billions of years.  While you read this 100’s of Senior Citizens waking in nursing homes to spend another day completely alone in this world.  While you read this there are 100’s of individuals are taking their last breath in hospital beds all over the world, having never heard about Jesus Christ’s love and salvation.

Reality is that there are horrific things going on in this world every minute of every day.  While we go about our normal routine shopping for the latest gadget for our kids, or decorating our home to stand out above all of neighbors; there are millions around the world suffering just to find food and survive.  We don’t hear about that on our televisions, Facebook, Twitter or in the coffee shops because that would be a buzz kill, depressing and most of us truly don’t want to get involved.  We tune it out because it’s depressing, it’s sad, it’s remote to our lives and therefore it’s someone else’s problem.  This is a very self-centered excuse and represents the single biggest problem we have in this world.

God sent His Son to be born, humble, live selfless and to die on a cross for your salvation.  Why? Why does God want to save you?  Is it for you to enjoy your life even more, or for you to help make a difference in others’ lives, so that in turn they may find salvation?  I believe it is the later, yet most of us live as though it is the former.  Many of us believe, “Once I have been saved, I can go back to living my life with the peace of knowing that I am destined for heaven” and we feel very sorry for those who haven’t likewise found salvation, but we leave it to them to figure it out on their own.  The realization that if someone dies, not knowing about Christ’s salvation, that their eternity is in Hell, should cause all of us to act, to do something to help them.  But, often times what I hear is “yea, it’s really sad, but hey it was their choice to make.”  I believe we have a responsibility to those we claim to love, befriend and care for to let them know about God’s love, mercy and grace.  Can we alone solve world hunger, stop prostitution, stop the sex trade, drug trafficking, abuse, murder, theft and so on and so on?  No, not by ourselves.  But, we have the ability to share God’s love with those we know, those we meet and those we have communications with to ensure that through His love and peace this world is made a better place for all.

Christmas should be a time to stop being the hypocrite and begin being the selfless, humble servant minded Christian that you have been called to be.  The decision sits on your shoulders, but I would hate to have Christ point the finger at me and say, “Woe to you Hypocrite….”




© Sondove Enterprises, 2018
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Under Warranty

Read It, Learn It, Live It, Share It

“Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”  The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”” – Luke 7:48-50

Authority is abused and often times overstated in the world in which we live.  We look to our politicians, bankers, our teachers and leaders for answers to today’s difficult questions regarding the economy, peace, cultural, moral and ethical problems facing our world today.  Why?  Why do we believe that these men and women are more adapt at solving the problems we face than we are?  There is an assumed authority that is given when an individual rises to a certain level in the hierarchical ladder of society, but often times it is not warranted.  There was a point in time when we could actually look up to our leaders with respect and trust that they had our best interests in mind when they made decisions.  Unfortunately, the moral fabric of our society has fallen so dramatically, that it is expected that our leaders will lie to us, mislead us and pursue their own personal interests at the expense of the masses.  There is a belief that they are above the rest and thereby unreachable and beyond reproach, when in reality they are often at the heart of the decisions causing the strife and unruliness we live by.  The real question we must ask ourselves is why are we trusting man-kind rather than the Lord of all Creation.

When you have a new car and something goes wrong with it, who is the first person you call?  Most likely the dealership or manufacturer of the car, to ensure that the repair is covered under warranty and done right.  They have all of the right parts, they know the design of the car better than anyone and they can put it back into original shape because they are knowledgeable about it’s original design.  It’s only logical that you would trust them to fix it correctly.

So it is with this woman in Luke 7.  Jesus is dining with a Pharisee, Simon, who by the standards of Jewish culture held themselves in high regard as more knowledgeable, studied and educated than the common folk of Israel at the time.  Simon had invited Jesus to dine with him, in hopes of trapping Jesus and demonstrating to those present just how unholy and unjust He was.  A prostitute entered the home of Simon and knelt at Jesus feet, representing her heart felt desire to submit to the true authority in the home.  She proceeded to weep over his feet and wash his feet with her tears and dry them with her hair.  She poured very expensive perfume over his feet to cleanse the dirt and dust away.  All the while, she did not even acknowledge the owner of the home, Simon, who had vaulted himself into an artificial position of authority.  This woman realized who the original manufacturer was and took her life, her pain, her sins and returned to be repaired, forgiven, healed and made whole again.  By approaching Him uninvited, she truly stated what had been revealed to her within her heart, that this man alone could forgive her unrighteousness.

It would have been considered blasphemy for Jesus Christ to say what He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”  He knew this.  He knew that the people would question his authority and challenge it accordingly.  In making this statement, He is stating to all of them present that He is the Son of God, the Messiah, sent to take away the sins of man.  He also clearly leveled the playing field between the prostitute and the Pharisee, who by old testament law would have damned this woman to eternal Hell for her actions.  The grace and love shown by Jesus through forgiving this woman, demonstrated openly that despite our unbelievably sinful lives, His grace is sufficient.  

Your sins are no worse than hers in the eyes of the Lord.  The world will tell you that you are inadequate, incapable and undeserving; yet the grace, love and mercy of the Father will tell you – “Your sins are forgiven, go and sin no more.”  Seek your authority from the Creator for He knows exactly how you were built and can restore you back to your original cleanliness and purpose.

             

© Sondove Enterprises, 2013
For more Daily Thoughts go to: http://sondove.blogspot.com