Tag: God

The Triumphal Entry

Matthew 21

21 

1 “Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. 3 And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.

4 All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:

5 “ Tell the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your King is coming to you,
Lowly, and sitting on a donkey,
A colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”

6 So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.

7 They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. 8 And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:

“Hosanna to the Son of David!
‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’
Hosanna in the highest!”

Palm Sunday, is the day marking the beginning of Holy Week. I have realized that the donkey symbolizes many things in the Bible, here are a few.

Why did Jesus choose to ride a donkey instead of a horse?

1. Jesus rode a donkey to symbolize peace

In those days leaders rode horses if they rode to war. Jesus was not riding into war but riding in as their Messiah.

The only time that He will be on a horse is when the Second Coming happens- Revelation 19 and that horse will be white, signifying the purity and power He has over all evil and he’s returning with a name on his robe and on his thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS

2. The donkey was a foreshadowing of a father sacrificing his only son.

It was a donkey that Abraham saddled in Genesis 22 when God tested Abraham and took Isaac to a mountain to sacrifice his only son.

3. God used a donkey to speak His judgement!

In Numbers 22 the story of a donkey speaking to Balaam.

We also that Jesus pronounced judgment as He overturned the moneychangers table in Matthew 21 ““My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.” 

4. Jesus demonstrated that he was the burden bearer who came to save us.

In Luke 2 a donkey carried a poor, pregnant mother named Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem. This gentle beast of burden carried the Savior of the World. Jesus used the image of Mary’s donkey to connect with the common people. He came for us.

Remind yourself of this Promise

Matthew 11:28-30

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
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Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled

I wasn’t sure how to start this post, I was going to go in-depth into the scriptures but I didn’t feel led to do that, the only verse that stuck out to me after praying about this post was in John 13:21 “After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified,” Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”

To hear those words coming out of Jesus’ mouth is to understand He was 100% God and 100% man. He felt what we felt, He had emotions, He knew the road ahead of Him and knew that the stage was finally being set for His death. He then later tells the disciples that He will soon be departing (John 13:33) again the disciples do not fully understand what He meant by that. And finally, He told Peter that he would deny Him 3 times! (John 13:38)

But the response that He tells His disciples is the best part. He tells them all in John 14:1 “Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God believe also in Me.” In this life friend, we hear bad news practically every day. Do we let the anxiety of it all build up? It is so depressing if one were to focus on the troubles of life. Jesus then tells the disciples of a promise. “…In my father’s house are many rooms. if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” What a relief and what a promise! That the troubles of life will not always be forever but those whom God calls his own when Jesus returns on the clouds to rapture those who are in Christ will meet Him in the air. What a day that will be.

What To Do with Stress

Stress can wear us down and put us in a place that’s almost too hard to escape from. It’s easier to make excuses not to do something than it is to actually accomplish it. Why is that? Why is it our natural instinct to sit and dwell in our stress, than to think of ways to overcome them with God? Why can’t our first instinct be to hand it to God and allow Him to work through us? It’s because we are HUMAN! We are fearfully and wonderfully made. God designed us so that we have Faith and carry it with us for others to see. If everyone lived a stress-free life, when would we have the opportunity to hand things over to God and see his works be revealed? When we give our lives to God to be handled, he shows us our faith is for His good.

Jesus walked this earth to show people his father’s greatness and holiness. Jesus healed the blind and weak to rise because he wanted as many followers of his father as he could gain. He showed those miracles so people would believe. God gave us his only son so we could live with him in Heaven. He wants that for us all. It takes faith to walk with Jesus. It takes Jesus to deal with what is given to us each and every day.

To simplify our lives and to fill it with the right people we must first put our hearts in the hands of Jesus. If our hearts are not filled with the love of God then our dreams, will not be placed there for the right purpose.

I know it’s hard to determine if we or God placed our dreams within our hearts. I know I struggle with the idea of is this for my own selfish reasons? Or is this because I need to move to a place in my life that God has in store for me? I first pray about it. If I’m still praying about it for years, then it’s most likely God telling me to move forward. Remove the obstacles that prevent God from working in your life. He has a grand design for you. How comforting is it to know that the creator of the stars and universe knows you by name and has a plan for your life? Lay your fears, stress, sorrows, and unknowns at his feet because He can only take them away and make something life-changing for you.

Who is Like our God?

When we ask this question to ourselves, several thoughts come to mind. For me, the attributes of God come to mind like His goodness, His sovereignty, His faithfulness, His love, and gracious Father.

And then I think back, on all the times of His goodness, His faithfulness, and His presence is evident in my life. The memories cascade of the trials and hardships, in sickness and near death that I’ve experienced and have come to ask the question over and over in awe “Who is Like our God?”

The book of Psalm 113 asked this same question:

 Praise the Lord!
Praise, O servants of the Lord,
    praise the name of the Lord!

2 Blessed be the name of the Lord
    from this time forth and forevermore!
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting,
    the name of the Lord is to be praised!

4 The Lord is high above all nations,
    and his glory above the heavens!
5 Who is like the Lord our God,
    who is seated on high,
6 who looks far down
    on the heavens and the earth?
7 He raises the poor from the dust
    and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
8 to make them sit with princes,
    with the princes of his people.
9 He gives the barren woman a home,
    making her the joyous mother of children.
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 113 1-9 ESV

The only way to know what He is like and to describe Him is to know Him. Not just to know of Him; You see, God loves companionship, He loves relationships, and He longs to commune with His creation. He is always attentive, He never slumbers nor sleeps and He always keeps His promises.

Q: How do we know God?

A: We know God through Jesus, He is the door.

John 10: 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.”

We can search for hope, security, and peace in a religion, in a church, in a person but at the end of our journey we will find out that we have been looking in all the wrong places. Jesus is always inviting the prodigals, the lost, and the hurting into a relationship with Him. Who do you say God is in your life?

If you don’t know Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Saviour, Do not wait! He loves you, He sent His Son to be the sacrifice for our sins so that in Him we may have life and life abundantly.

Romans 10:9 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Against All Hope

If the ups and downs of our lives were pinpoints on a graph, what would yours look like? Would it be one straight line going up? Or would it look like a mountain range with highs and lows? Throughout our lives, we encounter blessings, victories, trials, and hardships. But how are we remaining hopeful even in the lows of life?

Jesus told his disciples in John 16:33 “In this world, you will have trouble but take heart! I have overcome the World.”

So when you’re against all hope when it feels as if the odds are stacked against you. Ask yourself

  1. Will I still believe it anyways?
  2. Will I let anything stop me from believing?
  3. Will I always expect God to answer?

Abraham was “against all hope,” it says in Romans 4:18 “In Hope, he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told.”

Abraham hoped when there was no hope. The hope he had made no human sense, Abraham hoped when the facts were contrary to logic. They were both well past the age of childbearing but “Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age since she considered him faithful who had promised.” – Hebrews 11:11

They didn’t let what was contrary become the roadblock to their promise, they were against all hope but yet they still believed. What is it in your life that you’ve been believing for? Are you hoping against all hope?

Because of the Blood

Part 1 – He made us Righteous

Have you ever stopped and realized what the Blood of Jesus has done for you? Have you ever thought of what He has bought for us? What do we get to experience because of the Blood?

  1. He made us Righteous
  • Question: What is righteousness? Answer – A right standing before God.
  • Romans 5:9 “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.”

Christ lived a life that completely fulfilled God’s demand of righteousness and thus offered himself on the cross as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. Our own doing, and our own achievements could by no means compare to the sacrifice of what Christ gave.

Without Christ paying the penalty for sin, we would have never been justified

Isaiah 64:6 “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the ind, take us away.”

Nothing makes us good enough to be accepted in God’s family than only through the Blood of Jesus, that’s when we become justified, that’s when we become righteous before God, He sees the blood when He sees you, He doesn’t see your past, he doesn’t see the mistakes, he sees a blood-bought child of God.

Question: What made Christ become the ultimate sacrifice for us to be made righteous? His Love.

JOHN 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son so that whosoever would believe in Him, would not perish but have eternal life.”

— Christ became the lightning rod, absorbing all of God’s wrath so that you and I could stand justified, righteous in his presence!

– When you question the love that God has for you, look to the Cross!

“God made Him who knew no sin to become sin so that you and I might become the righteousness of God” – 2 Corinthians 5:21

Do You Have Room For Him?

You’re begging to the attendant at the service counter, “Please make room for me!” But every attempt goes unheard of. You go from hotel to hotel and motel to motel, still no room can be found.

She brought forth her firstborn Son…and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Luke 2:7 NKJV

In the gospel of Luke we read that Mary and Joseph having this same ordeal. Their trip was planned though, much anticipated and I’m sure Mary was anxious to get the child labor out of the way. But why couldn’t they find a room? Really? The King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Messiah, The Chosen One, Son of God, the Creator, they were told to go away. Jesus, Mary and Joseph got rejected at every Inn (motel) they came across. They came to one Inn and all they had was a stable, a stable for animals. Not the best amenities but it worked.

  • Do we make the same mistake of the innkeeper? Do we tell Jesus that you have no time for Him today, ignore the prompting of the Spirit because its not convenient?
  • This Christmas, give to God your life, your time, and especially your heart. Listen for that urgent knock, and every time you hear it, move aside and make room for Him.