The Forever Glad Tidings

"Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. Luke 8:1 NKJV

The message we received from Jesus Christ the Lord is the joyful, glad, and exciting tidings of the kingdom of God. The message of the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is given to us freely, in order that we might have eternal life. The glad tidings of the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ is still spreading out every city and village around the world even in this troubled and perverted generation through the ordinary and obscure Christians who were called and sanctified by the Spirit in every corner of the world.

Our Lord Jesus Christ brought the glad tidings by the coming of Himself to the earth with humility and lowliness. The Son Jesus Christ obeyed the Father to the point of death in order to deliver the fallen race from the bondage of evil darkness. What our Lord Jesus preached was the truth and reality of life. He revealed the secret of life how to handle pressures and stress in our midst. In fact, Jesus Christ is the key to life. His name is the Bread of Life (John 6:35). He upholds all things in the universe (Hebrews 1:3)

In Him, there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). He is the Light of the world (John 8:12). He is the life, the truth, and the way (John 14:6). He is the resurrection (John 11:25). Whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). Whosoever thirsts and comes unto Him shall flow out of his heart rivers of living water (John 7:37-38).

Most of all, Jesus Christ the Lord obeyed the Father unto death, the death in Calvary. After three days, Christ Jesus rose again and seated in the highest of heavens. No power could hold of Him in the cold tomb. Jesus Christ broke the iron shackle of the devil and set free His chosen ones. He gave His life with blood in order to impart eternal life to anyone who believes in Him.

The good news is not that He died but that He lives now in us. He is the glad tidings for us not only at the time we receive Him as Lord but at all times in our lives and ages to come. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). His arms are always wide open for anyone to come unto Him and find refuge and shelter. The message of Christ Jesus the Lord stands forever!

“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.” Psalm 91:1-2 NKJV

The Son Can Do Nothing By Himself

We have many problems facing day after day and one after another. Some linger for a while with no hope of ending. I believe that's life, even the essence of life. It is common to everyone, without any discrimination. “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV)

Moreover, there is another problem, even more serious one. What is it? In the midst of troublesome lives, we might get lost the address of God. Have you encountered the point that you have no idea where to start? Pressure is ever tremendously hammering you from within and without. Yes, stressed out!

But there is a good news for Christians who are in Christ Jesus the Lord. A way out of tumult and deadness is offered for us in Christ Jesus. What is it? It is the mystery of Christ which had been hidden for generations and ages but these days disclosed through the Son Jesus Christ. That is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27) The eternal life of Christ Jesus is available to the believers now, not in the future after death.

The new arrangement of living for Christians is given by the Son Jesus Christ. In fact, we are made so, even before the creation of the world. That’s what we are supposed to operate and function on that basis. What does it mean? Well, we don’t have what it takes. So, we can only live by depending on God wholly and completely. There is nothing we can contribute for life. Everything is coming from the Father in heaven. That’s where we always start because we are under the new covenant: “Everything coming from God, nothing coming from me.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated the perfect life on the earth for us to live His life. What was the key for life? It was complete trust and dependence on the Father in heaven. The Son Jesus Christ was in God the Father and the Father in the Son (John 14:11). The Father God and the Son Jesus Christ were one, even one totally united life. So, the Son of Man handled the most stressful and pressured life consistently and beautifully. He demonstrated the perfect balanced life. He always fixed His eyes on the Father and obeyed Him. When the Son asked anything, the Father answered immediately and faithfully and abundantly.

Here is the account uttered by Jesus’ own lips:

“Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him. “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. John 5:19-24 NKJV

This is the good news. The relationship between God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ applies to our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." (John 15:5 NKJV)

Just as Jesus can do nothing by Himself, so also we can do nothing by ourselves. It is also true that we can do everything in Jesus Christ the Lord. This is what exactly Paul said in the Epistle to the Philippians. "I can do everything through him who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:13 NKJV)

The strength we received is the resurrection power. We have such an incomparable power to cope with daily lives. Remember that the resurrection power was demonstrated at the tomb where our Lord Jesus Christ was laid. So, when we failed badly, we don’t lose heart because it’s an opportunity to experience the resurrection power.

How can that happen? We can experience the resurrection power only when we died on the cross where our Lord Jesus Christ gave His life in our place. That’s the message of cross. Our old life must die first in order to impart the resurrection life of Christ Jesus. “No cross, no crown! No death, no gain!” our old life is nothing but selfishness, self-centeredness, and self-sufficiency. We cannot have the new life unless we died of old life.

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. John 12:24 NKJV

Storms Come to Pass

"That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” Mark 4:35-41 NKJV

Storms are coming one after another in everyone's life. Some are huge and serious, or mild. It comes not only physically but also mentally and spiritually. It comes and affects our lives a great deal at times. But thank God that the storms never stay but will pass and be remembered no more. It may take a while but will pass for sure.

What’s the point? The point the Lord Jesus Christ teaches is that we may hang tight during the storms' attack. Just hang in there! How can we do that? Is it possible to hang tight as if nothing happens? Yes, it is possible not in us but in Jesus Christ our Lord. As Hebrews tells us, we fix our eyes on Jesus Christ, the pioneer and perfecter of faith in the midst of storms. That's it! We fix our eyes on Jesus Christ who endured the cross for the joy that was set before Him (Hebrews 12:2).

We have hope and anchor in Jesus Christ the Lord because we know that the storms we go through teach us something that we may not learn otherwise. What did the disciples learn through the furious storm? When they witnessed that the violent waves and winds obeyed immediately to the command of Jesus Christ, they were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” They were gripped with fear and trembling unto Jesus Christ.

In this way, our Lord Jesus Christ impressed His unforgettable image into their hearts, even bones. Just like the twelve disciples, we are very slow to learn. I am not an exception at all. Through many stormy events in my life, Jesus Christ the Lord has taught that I do not have what it takes in me and I am not my own but was bought at a price. The greatest truth the Lord Jesus Christ has taught me is "Christ in me, the hope of glory."

I may get hold of the fact that Jesus indwells within me by means of the Spirit. So when I am subject to Him completely, He let the appropriate power loose to fulfill His promise through me. It means practically the death of me (denying myself). Then the new life empowered by the resurrection of Jesus Christ is made loose to overcome the storms of life. The dependence and reliance through full submission to the Lord Jesus Christ is the key to life. So, we continually deny ourselves to fix our eyes on Jesus Christ who overcome the world.

The Lord Tested Job by Means of Satan

“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. And the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. Job 1:6-12 NKJV

Three things we can observe out of the account recorded in Job’s first chapter. First, God allows troubles and difficulties in our midst. Without God’s recognition and permission, nothing can happen no matter how it seems trivial and commonplace or serious and large-scale in our lives. All things are from God, even sufferings and tribulations. God puts us into tests through which He molds and disciplines us to be fully equipped for His good work. “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:6-7 NKJV)

Next, notice God initiated the testing of Job and permitted the devil to strike Job. So, the devil could only harm him within the boundary of God’s approval. He is not an independent agent, working for him. He is fully and completely submissive to God. It is a significant fact for us to remember, especially when we are tried and tested. Our God knows what He is doing simply because He is in control fully and completely. “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV)

Lastly, it is noteworthy to understand the fact that what is seen is not everything. What is seen is temporal but what is unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18). There is the invisible kingdom of God just as there is the visible universe. In fact, what is seen is the manifestation of what is unseen. What is unseen is true reality. You see that God talks to Satan just as we talk to others. The existence of the devil is not illusion or fantasy but reality. Although it is real that the devil exists in our midst, he has already been judged on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” (John 16:8-11 NKJV)

Faith Avoid Not But Face Obstacles

“…who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Romans 4:18-22 NKJV

Faith faces obstacles. Faith doesn’t try to avoid or escape difficulties. Abraham faced the fact he was about a hundred years old and the deadness of his wife’s womb. The promise of God was given to him that he would become a father of many nations. He did not waver at the promise of God by the circumstances of his own body and of his wife’s. He faced the fact that he would not able to reproduce with their physical conditions.

However, he was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and fully convinced that God was able to perform what he had promised. This is called a living faith. Living faith is accompanied by the deeds and actions of faith. Living faith is practice the faith into action on the basis of the promise of God. Living faith is demonstrated by the people who are strengthened in the faith of God’s promise and put it into practice. Faith without putting into practice is dead (James 2:17). Living faith never stops growing. Faith grows through the obstacles and difficulties which open doors for the faith to be perfected.

“But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.” James 2:20-24 NKJV

The Fullness of Christ

"Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live." Galatians 1:4 NKJV

Jesus died for not only the forgiveness of all our sins and faults we made, are making, and will make, but also the salvation (rescue) from this evil world in the evil days in which we now live. Is it not good news? How has Jesus Christ rescued us from this evil world? Through the cross! The cross is the place of death of the evils that is within. Jesus Christ died in our place, so we died with him on that cross. Since we died with him, we now live his life, a marvelous life of the resurrection that overcomes the power of sin and condemning death.

But then, why do we have ups and downs experience every day in the Christian living? Well, it comes not in vain but purposely and deliberately from the Father as the marks of loving discipline. That’s the very reason we come to the cross of Jesus Christ again and again. The death of the evils must come first, and then resurrection and life shall follow. In this way, we always and completely rely on Jesus Christ our Lord. It is the new arrangement of Christian living in Christ Jesus the Lord.

Christians are privileged to live His life in full measure, the fullness of Christ, just as God intended us to live, before the creation of the world. We live Christ’s life since we accepted Him as Lord and Savior. So, we are not our own, we were purchased at the price of the cross of Jesus Christ. He is the commander-in-chief for all the believers of God. He continually forgives and provides power to live normal and sanctified lives in this wicked world. Having such a marvelous life continually in our midst is the pleasure and joy of the Father.

How is it possible? It is possible for all the believers who continually believe and obey Jesus Christ, following His commandments. In fact, it is Christ Jesus within us who obeys the Father when we submit ourselves to the Lord by denying ourselves and following Him. No human by nature can obey God. That is why God gave his begotten Son for our humanity as planned. We need Christ Jesus to live this marvelous life and we have Him within us.

How can we be sure that He is now in and among us? He promised us to do so. “Lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20b NKJV) He also promised that He is able to deliver us from any power because He is stronger than and far above all principalities and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named (Ephesians 1:21). “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33b NKJV)

Read the remarkable exhortations from Jude:

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
To God our Savior,
Who alone is wise,
Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power,
Both now and forever. Amen. Jude 1:24-25 NKJV

No Distinction between Us and Them

“On that day I will raise up
The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down,
And repair its damages;
I will raise up its ruins,
And rebuild it as in the days of old;
That they may possess the remnant of Edom,
And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,”
Says the Lord who does this thing. Amos 9:11-12 NKJV

The famous quotation from Amos was uttered by James in the Jerusalem Council in A.D. 50, which was held after the Paul's first missionary journey (46-48 A.D.). The Church Council was met to discuss and decide whether the Gentiles should keep the Law of Moses, especially like circumcision, in order to be saved. Having been discussed quite a while on the issue, Apostle Peter stood up and talked quite convincingly that the Gentiles were saved by faith just like the Jews. Paul and Barnabas testified what had happened during the missionary journey in Asia Minor. Finally, James concluded the meeting by quoting the words uttered by Prophet Amos. What a wonderful meeting that must be! The apostles and elders gathered together and talked freely in the Spirit and unanimously made a decision fully and completely guided and inspired by the Spirit of God and the Son Jesus Christ. Here is the full account recorded in the Book of Acts.

“Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: “Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.”
Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles. And after they had become silent, James answered, saying, “Men and brethren, listen to me: Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written:

‘After this I will return
And will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down;
I will rebuild its ruins,
And I will set it up;
So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
Even all the Gentiles who are called by My name,
Says the Lord who does all these things.’

“Known to God from eternity are all His works. Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood. For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath. Acts 15:8-21 NKJV

Called to Preach the Unsearchable Riches of Christ

“Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. Ephesians 3:7-13 ESV

The mystery of Christ has finally been disclosed when the time was fully mature through Person, the Son of Man, in the first century. This is the good news of great joy to the all peoples on earth as the angel of the Lord shouted out at the birth of Christ Jesus. The mystery of God which had been hidden for ages and generations is "Christ in you, the hope of glory." That we are co-heirs with Christ, of the same body and the partakers of the same promise in Jesus Christ the Lord. Apostle Paul was called to dispense the mystery of Christ according to the gift of God's grace by the working of His power. The gift of grace is available to all the saints not only in the first century but throughout the ages.

The mystery of Christ is what our humans has desperately been longing and yearning to know since the fall of the race. Paul calls it the unsearchable riches of Christ, the exceeding glory of Christ. The mystery of God is now known to the saints in Christ Jesus that through the church, the body of Christ Jesus, the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

Who are the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places? They are the angels including the angles of darkness. They are staggered, literally eyeballed, at being known the mystery of God that the gospel was preached to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. The angels are silenced at the revelation of God’s love that not only reached out to the fallen race but also awakened them to respond back to love the invisible God in return. This is not a second thought of God at all, but was planned and designed before the foundation of the world according to the eternal purpose.

Therefore, we now have boldness and confidence to access to the throne of grace. Practically, the throne of grace is within the believers’ heart. Having access is not all, but taking His grace boundlessly is all. Jesus Christ invited the people at the end of the Feast of Tabernacle that anyone who thirsts let him come unto Him and drink out of the rivers of living water [the Holy Spirit] (John 7:37-38). That’s the mystery of God. We are not left alone anymore in Jesus Christ. He is in us and we in Him. This is the new arrangement of living for anyone who confesses Jesus Christ is Lord.

On the Cross

On the cross, I find myself as a completely and totally unrighteous, powerless, helpless, defenseless, inadequate, lost, forsaken, alone, guilty, and condemned man.

On the cross, I see God's love which demolishes my unrighteousness, powerlessness, helplessness, defenselessness, inadequacy, loneliness, guilt, shame, despair, and condemnation completely and totally.

On the cross, my Lord Jesus Christ was crucified in my place, because God made Him who had no sin to be sin for me, so that in Him I might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).

On the cross, I see the hope of glory that I am dead to sin and alive to God with confidence and boldness.

On the cross, just around the corner, I see the empty tomb, the evidence of our Lord Jesus Christ's resurrection.

On the cross, I enter the cessation of my old self in order to have a new, glorious, vital, exciting, vibrant resurrection life of Jesus Christ my Lord.

On the cross, I learn how and why to stop behaving like a man who is under curse in the name of Adam and begin acting like a man who is under grace in the name of Jesus Christ my Lord.

On the cross, God the Father vividly and plainly demonstrated His unchanging and unconditional love for me by giving out His only begotten Son Jesus Christ just as He promised in the Scripture.

On the cross, I see the hope of glory for humanity to be saved from the bondage of sin and death and condemnation.

This is my prayer all the days of life now and forever. "For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." (1 Corinthians 2:2 NKJV)

Chosen To Be Whole And Blameless In Jesus Christ

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved." Ephesians 1:3-6 NKJV

Is there anything in want from what we have received from God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ? Nothing! Paul, the authorized spokesman of the Lord Jesus Christ, said in the Epistle to the Ephesians that we have received every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Yes, God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

What is every spiritual blessing? Let's see what it is. First, He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world [the creation of the universe] that we should be holy and blameless before Him. The God’s pronouncement makes us be eyeballed with full of awe and wonder in hearing such a breathtaking statement that God chose us in the Son Jesus Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. It is almost impossible to believe. But it is true. That is what God the Father did for us. Why? The answer is "in love." Our Heavenly Father delights the high calling for His beloved children to be holy [whole, fully acceptable] and blameless [sinful yet handling sin rightly through repentance, knowing the fact that we died to sin and alive to God], even before the creation of the world. That is the love of Father which is unchanging, glorious, just, fulfilling, overflowing, and pouring out eternally.

Our Father, in love, also predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself. Why did He do that? Again, it is His delight and glory to accept us as His sons according to the good pleasure of His will to the praise of the glory of His grace by which He made us accepted in the Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. The Father delights His children to have the eternal inheritance as sons in Christ Jesus. It is His pleasure and will for us to be what He is. The adoption as sons by Jesus Christ wonderfully demonstrates the praise of the glory of His grace. Our God is forever praiseworthy of His glorious grace that he made us fully and totally accepted in the Beloved Son.

Although we do not feel it what has happened for us in Christ Jesus, it is true. Yes, it is really given for us as the gifts of God when we entered into His grace and mercy in Jesus Christ our Lord. Verse 3 says every spiritual blessing is in the heavenly places. What does it mean the heavenly places? It does not indicate some remote place in the universe or some faraway location in space. No. It indicates the place where the Almighty God is in power and authority in the visible and invisible realms. There is no place else in heavens and on earth and under the earth where God does not reign. So, we are living in the heavenly places now.

That is what our Father God did for us in the heavenly places. Is there still anything in want? He chose, predestined, adopted, and made us holy and blameless and accepted in the Beloved Son Jesus Christ. That is what we are in Jesus Christ. We contributed nothing to earn it. All these glorious riches of being chosen and predestined and adopted as the sons of God are the gifts from the hands of living God through the faith in the Son Jesus Christ whom the Father sent. Are you deeply appreciating the full riches of inheritance of God in Jesus Christ? Or are you not?

How Close Are You To The Lord Jesus Christ?

“…and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”Matthew 28:20b NKJV

That is our Lord Jesus Christ’s promise that He is with you always, even to the end of the age. Is it not the most wonderful promise of all for you and me and all believers in Him? Jesus Christ is with us now and forever. Prophet Isaiah revealed the mystery of His name as Immanuel which means God with us. “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14 NKJV) This is the triumphal, joyful shout of confidence and boldness of the children of God according to Paul, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31b) Hebrews further comforts us to be totally and completely sure of his presence in our midst. “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5b NKJV)

These are not mere encouraging and comforting words that God is trying to help us out in time of stress and troubles. Those are facts and reality and truth! So, do not take it lightly. Use your intelligent mind to digest and understand what it means to you in the very midst of troubles and heartaches and difficulties right now. The Person Jesus Christ who walked on the streets and villages in the first century is with you in your midst right now.

Just a few hours before His arrest and trial and death, Jesus Christ our Lord comforted His disciples in the Upper Room. “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” (John 14:1-4 NKJV)

Jesus Christ told His disciples not to lose heart because even if He died on the rugged cross as a helpless victim of sin God would raise Him again from the dead and He would come back and receive them where He is. Is it not the good news? Our God cannot lie but only tell the truth forthrightly and bluntly all the time. God is just, true, and real, so what He says is just, true, and real to our lives. When He says that He is with us and never leaves us nor forsakes us, He means it. It’s not just merely soothing words. We have that kind of God who is forever true and real.

That’s the genuine hope of God to those who are being justified by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So, we glory Jesus Christ crucified, through whom we have peace with God. “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2 NKJV)

Jesus Christ was with His disciples during His earthly ministry physically. But now He is with the children of the Father in the Spirit. The mystery of God which kept in secret for ages and generations has now disclosed. That is, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Christ Jesus the Lord of glory indwells within the children of God the Father in the Spirit. “…the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:26-27 NKJV)

Therefore, the true and genuine children of God are those who shine the light of the Lord Jesus Christ on the earth this age and time. The world cannot see Christ Jesus the Lord but can do through the children of light. We are that much close and intimate to our Lord Jesus Christ. “We are in Him, He in us.” We are totally and completely united with Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected.

What Do You Do With the Lord Jesus Christ?

“For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles— if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power. Ephesians 3:1-8 NKJV

Finally, yes at last, the mystery of God has been unfolded, the mystery of Christ, which in other ages and generations was not made known to the sons of men. But now it has been revealed by the Holy Spirit to His holy apostles [The Twelve, Paul, others] and prophets [Luke, Mark, James, others]. The long preparation for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ has been fulfilled by the Son Jesus Christ Himself and so has the mystery of God unlocked.

What is the mystery of Christ? This mystery is something that all human beings are desperately searching yearningly and longingly for ages and generations. The mystery of God has been revealed by the Son Jesus Christ who was born in Bethlehem, crucified and buried, and resurrected from the dead according to the scriptures. The mystery of God is that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise [of the Holy Spirit] in Christ Jesus the Lord.

First, the Gentiles are joint heirs with Christ. We are the heirs of Christ that all the Christ’s is ours as well. We do not yet see that everything is subject to Christ Jesus. Hebrews 2:8 says, “’You have put all things in subjection under his feet.’ For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him.” All things are Christ’s and all His ours. Paul said to the saints in the church of Corinth, “For all things are yours: whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours. And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” (1 Corinthians 3:21-23 NKJV)

However, we do not yet see what we ought to be. Although we’re getting old and wasting away, simply dying, we have the infallible assurance and hope of being renewed day by day, not the outer man, but the inner man [human spirit] in our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:16). The resurrection of Jesus Christ guarantees that we are joint heirs with Him because He is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Corinthians 15:20).

Next, we are of the joint members of the body of Christ Jesus the Lord. Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection has already demolished the hostility and enmity between the Jews and Gentiles (Ephesians 2:14-18). Apostle Paul explains the mystery of peace in the Epistle to the church of Ephesians. “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.” (Ephesians 2:14-16 NKJV)

Again, we do not yet see that peace fulfilled in our world, but since the coming of Christ Jesus the true peace has already infiltrated into our humanity that we can forgive one another, even our enemies, love the unlovable, accept the unacceptable, embrace the repulsive, and achieve the unachievable. Christ Jesus is the ultimate solution for peace in heavens and on earth.

Furthermore, we are joint sharers [partakers] of His promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Since the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit has come into the hearts of the people who confess and believe Jesus Christ the Son of God as Lord. We all received the gift of the Spirit who indwells within us eternally. Paul explains this truth in the letter to the Colossians. “…the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:26-27 NKJV)

The mystery of God has been disclosed and given to us through the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The mystery of God shows, leads, teaches, guides, and reveals us how to live in this age of perverts and crooks. One question rings our ears, “What do you do with the Lord Jesus Christ?” The answer is obviously to accept Him personally as Lord now.

Absolute Nothingness To Trust In Ourselves

"For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us, you also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many. 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 NKJV

Sufferings and tribulations in Christian experience are inevitable and essential because through which we learn that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead. They are designed for us to trust in Him only, in this age and ages to come because there is nothing to trust in ourselves. We inherently try to depend on ourselves instead of relying upon the Other Person, the Lord Jesus Christ. In any age and time and heavens and the earth, there is only One Person whom we can trust. He is Jesus Christ the Lord who is the Son of God and yet became the Son of Man.

So, our Lord Jesus said to His disciples in the Sermon on the Mount to rejoice and exceedingly glad when they suffer for His sake. "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matthew 5:11-12 NKJV)

Of course, sufferings are unpleasant at the time, but painful. No one likes to suffer at all. The author of Hebrews asserts that. “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:11 NKJV) Although it is painful and unpleasant, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness.  

That is the reason Apostle Paul welcomed and gloried the sufferings he had gone through (2 Corinthians 11:22-28). He knew and we know that the present sufferings are incomparable with the glory to come. That’s the reality of life in the midst of a lot of troubles and difficulties. “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18 NKJV)

The sufferings are working together for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. What a wonderful promise and hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. God’s promise is not a fantasy but fact. The eternal weight of glory is waiting for us in the Father’s house. “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18 NKJV)

We can also glory sufferings because we know that God is able to deliver us and will do. Remember this promise of God Paul said in the Epistle to the Corinthians. “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV)

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
To God our Savior,
Who alone is wise,
Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power,
Both now and forever. Amen. (Jude 1:24-25 NKJV)

Set Your Mind On Lasting Things

"Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. Philippians 3:17-21 NKJV

Set your mind not on earthly things but on heavenly things because such a mind set on the earthly things is from the devil. Those who say that the earthly life is everything are the liars and the enemies of the cross of Christ. Earthly things are physically attractive, visible, tangible, glowing now like possessions and human achievements. These things seem to give something unto humanity but deliver nothing for us. It never delivers our desperate need for the deep yearning of full satisfaction. It never and ever fulfills our human’s ever demanding desire. No, no.

But the heavenly things are physically invisible and intangible now like our attitude and relationship with God and others. These things seem to give us nothing as physical possessions would, but delivers us fully and completely from unsatisfactory yearnings in life. When we fix our eyes on Jesus Christ the Lord, we are filled with His love, joy, and peace anywhere and anytime, even in the midst of sufferings and tribulations. 

Therefore, eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ who will transform your lowly body into His glorious body. He is the Lord of glory who shall subdue all things under His feet in due time. We shall see Him face to face suddenly and unexpectedly. Pray that we may not shrink away but stand before the Lord of glory and honor and majesty with confidence. “Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.” (1 John 2:28-29 NASB)

Relationship and Fellowship

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. 1 John 1:1-4 NKJV

When the moment we received Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior, we have belonged to the family of God. It’s called a conversion or being born again. The new relationship has begun with God, the relationship of love and peace, after the longstanding of hostility and enmity ended in Jesus Christ. By and through faith we have been born again spiritually in Him. What follows after conversion? No change in life? No, there is a remarkable change. Yes, the glorious fellowship with God and the Son Jesus Christ is available personally to every believer now and forevermore.

What is fellowship? It means experiencing of God right now. His presence in our midst, His love, peace, and joy are all ours, even in our sufferings. The full riches of the Father and the Son Jesus Christ is all ours since we have access to the throne of grace as the beloved children of Him. So, relationship is what we are in Him and fellowship is what we have in Him. Relationship is we are in Him and fellowship, He in us.

Every Christian has an exquisite experience of joy and release from guilt and shame when receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The glorious liberation from the bondage of sin and death has come home. His unending grace and mercy are pouring out unto us like an avalanche. Everyone who came to Christ Jesus should have experienced the ecstasy of His love.

Now, do not stop there. We don’t have to stop there. We can still have that exciting and glorious fellowship with our Lord Jesus Christ and the Father God. The question is how we can maintain that remarkable fellowship with Him all the time. John who Jesus loved gave us exhortations how to maintain the fellowship. “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7 NKJV)

“Walk in the light as He is in the light.” Walking in the light is the key to maintain the fellowship. To walk in the light means to live a life worthy of calling of the Lord. It’s a life that is transparent and open toward the living God. It’s a life that we continually confess [admit] our wrongdoings to the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s a life that we keep on fixing our eyes on Jesus Christ in the midst of struggles and sufferings. It’s a life that we don’t hide anything from the living God since He sees our hearts.

It’s a life what our Lord Jesus said to His disciples—self denial and taking up the cross and following Him. “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” (Mark 8:34b NKJV) We are not following the doctrine of Christianity. We are not following the religious activities. What we are following is the Person, Jesus Christ. We follow Him because He is the supreme commander in chief of all.

When we follow Him, we can walk in the light, because He is the light of the world. He is the ultimate truth and reality of everything. Where do we start following the Lord Jesus Christ? It’s the cross. That’s where we start because there is no life without death. When we stand on the cross with the Lord Jesus Christ, we impart His life of resurrection. That’s the source of glorious fellowship. When we admit our shame and guilt, the Father pumps a new life into our hearts out of rivers of living water. God fills us with the Holy Spirit.

Who Can Reverse It?

"Indeed before the day was, I am He;
And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand;
I work, and who will reverse it?” Isaiah 43:13 NKJV

Can any man resist snowing from heaven? Can any man resist raining from heaven? Can any man change the course of wind? Can any man even resist the birth of life? Can any man resist death? All things in heavens and on earth and under the earth are obeying the Holy One, the Creator and the King, just as exactly they were told to do eternally. No one could block the coming of the Messiah, even the Herod the Great. No one could stop the liberation from the bondage of slavery, even the King Pharaoh. No one could block the liberated people to enter the land of promise, even the fortified city of Jericho.  

This truth applies to each and every one of us as well. We're experiencing at times things which are not welcomed and pleasant at all. We respond to the unpleasant things with bitterness and anger, unquestionably ended in deep frustration and despair and cry. “Why is it happening to me?”

One thing is sure that the Scripture never hides anything for us at all, but plainly and forthrightly tells us the truth, the reality of life and humanity. It tells us that all sufferings and tribulations are coming from the Lord of hosts; even all the evils are under the Sovereign Rule of God. Nothing happens without God’s will. Jesus says, "Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will." (Matthew 10:29) God is at work at each and every human event no matter how it seems small and trivial.

Therefore, we accept by faith everything happening to us, even the painful things, as the will of the Father in heaven. The infallible ground of such a faith is this: "Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" (Matthew 7:9-11 NKJV)

We may not know the full meaning of the sufferings and tribulations. But we do believe in God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will accomplish His will by any means, allowing the pains and sorrows in our lives. We also know that those sufferings and pains are not coming in vain, nor without purpose. Paul reveals the reason why. “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:3-5 NKJV)

So, we glory in sufferings! We dare not to try to reverse it!

Peace with God

"So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city. Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.” And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!” But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” And he arose and departed to his house. Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men. Matthew 9:1-8 NKJV

Healing is easier to do, because even a physician can heal a paralytic. But Jesus is asking the scribes which is easier to say, not do. Forgiving sins is easier to say because it is difficult to prove it. Through this event, our Lord Jesus Christ wanted to demonstrate the fact that he has power to heal man and to forgive man's sins.

Jesus Christ pronounced the forgiveness of sins first because it is the starting point of healing and restoration from the hostile relationship between God and man. If we are at war with God, no matter how we may be in peace in human relationships, we are not in peace at all. True peace is coming from God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ. When we are in peace with the Father, we can have true peace with others.

Is it not what our humanity has desperately been seasearching for centuries after centuries? The full release and deliverartion from guilt and shame and despair! No matter how we tried hard to be free from those monstrous force it was no avail. Education doesn't work but makes worse because it teaches us how to bypass, not to go through. Making efforts to improve circumstances doesn't work either because it never touches the inside but outside only. Human problems are much deeper and higher than what we think.

What man cannot do has been done by Jesus Christ who was promised to come and came to die on the cross in our place. That is the reason for Jesus to forgive the paralytic man ans us who believe in Him. Jesus Christ gave His life for us that anyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). That's right! The forgiveness of sin brings real life sealed by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. We who are born again in Jesus Christ are in peace with God, not any longer at waragainst Him. So, we have access to the throne of grace now and forevermore.

The Firstborn From the Dead

"For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. Colossians 1:9-18 NKJV

This is a remarkable prayer of Apostle Paul for the saints in Colosse. All knows that we need power to live. Here in the passage of Colossians Chapter 1, we see the reason why we need power. When we are filled with the knowledge of God, He strengthens us with all might according to His glorious power. Our God is pouring out His glorious power. What for? Surprisingly, we need power not to demonstrate how much we can do spectacular things, but for all patience and longsuffering with joy.

Yes, we need that power to live a life worthy of the Lord in this adulterous and crooked generation. How easy is it to be impatient in the midst of demanding and jungle-like competitive lives! Our flesh whims constantly to get what we want now, resulting in unquenched thirst. It happens to every men and women, believers and non-believers. Here the good news comes into all the believers that new power has been given to be filled in full, to persevere with joy, and to give thanks to the Father.

How can it be? It’s because the Father in heaven has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. In the Son Jesus Christ, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

Who is the Son Jesus Christ? He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. He is the Owner of all things. All things created by Him and for Him. Yes, all things, that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. Nothing can exist without Him. All things are created through Him. He is the ultimate Possessor of all.

Not only that, He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things Jesus Christ may have the supremacy. That Christ Jesus is living in us now and forevermore.

Therefore, we have the sufficient and overflowing power to live a life worthy of the Lord’s calling and to be men and women God intended us to be before the foundation of the world. The every source of power is not from us but from our Lord Jesus Christ the Son who is the firstborn from the dead. The resurrection power is the power we have in our inner sanctuary, that is, spirit. Amen.

At An Hour You Do Not Expect

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Matthew 24:36-44 NKJV

Be ready and prepared for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ! People in the time of Noah were eating, drinking, and marrying and giving in marriage until the day he entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them away. So shall be the Second Coming of the Son of Man. It will be quite and stealth when He comes again. It will be one of just normal and humdrum days while we continue to maintain the normal life of eating, drinking, and marrying. There is nothing wrong in eating, drinking, and marrying. They are part of God-given life. But it is wrong for people to think that they are all but life.

Just as there is earthly life, so also shall be heavenly life (1 Corinthians 15:40). The Scripture says that we human beings are spirits just as our God is Spirit (John 4:24). What is seen is not all, but what is unseen true and real. So, we live not by sight but by faith in the Son Jesus Christ whom God sent as the random sacrifice in our place. Living by faith shall not end but continue all throughout the earthly lives and in eternity as well. There is no retirement in living by faith. By fixing our eyes upon our Lord Jesus Christ, the perfecter and author of our faith, we will be welcoming the Lord Jesus Christ when He comes again with the armies of angles and mighty trumpet sounds (Hebrews 12:2, 1 Thessalonians 4:16).

“However, when the Son of Man comes, will be find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8b) Do I live by faith or by sight? Do I continue to fix my eyes on my Lord and King Jesus Christ in the midst of stress and pressures or on something else like my pride?  Am I ready to welcome my Lord now or stirred up like the people in Jerusalem when they heard the news of Messiah’s birth from three Magi?