SM2-Why I Let Jesus In

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BIBLICAL PASSAGES

Revelation 3:14, 20

14 “To the angel (divine messenger) of the church in Laodicea write: “These are the words of the Amen, the trusted and faithful and true Witness, the Beginning and Origin of God’s creation: … 20 Behold, I stand at the door [of the church] and continually knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him (restore him), and he with Me. AMP

14 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation… 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. NIV

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From Matthew Henry’s Commentary: [selections]

(1.) The Amen, one that is steady and unchangeable in all his purposes and promises, which are all yea, and all amen. (2.) The faithful and true witness, whose testimony of God to men ought to be received and fully believed, and whose testimony of men to God will be fully believed and regarded, and will be a swift but true witness against all indifferent lukewarm professors.

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Behold, I stand at the door and knock: [1.] …he draws near to them in a way of mercy, ready to make them a kind visit. [2.] He finds this door shut against him; the heart of man is by nature shut up against Christ by ignorance, unbelief, sinful prejudices. [3.] When he finds the heart shut, he does not immediately withdraw, but he waits to be gracious, even till his head be filled with the dew. [4.] He uses all proper means to awaken sinners, and to cause them to open to him: he calls by his word, he knocks by the impulses of his Spirit upon their conscience. [5.] Those who open to him shall enjoy his presence, to their great comfort and advantage. He will sup with them; he will accept of what is good in them; he will eat his pleasant fruit; and he will bring the best part of the entertainment with him. If what he finds would make but a poor feast, what he brings will make up the deficiency: he will give fresh supplies of graces and comforts, and thereby stir up fresh actings of faith, and love, and delight; and in all this Christ and his repenting people will enjoy pleasant communion with each other.

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There are benefits when we let Jesus enter our hearts! Don’t ignore His knocking, LET HIM IN!

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MY PRAYER

Dear Jesus, You are faithful and true, the best witness of God’s love. I thank You that I can rely on You because You are steady and unchangeable, and that You always speak the truth. You ARE the truth, I believe in You and I await the fulfillment of Your promises (which will certainly come to pass, just as You said).

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I thank You for Your love for all of us, that You take the trouble to knock at our hearts. Thank You that I hear Your voice, that You are not silent in Your request to come in. In fact, You don’t wait for me to ask, You are already there waiting for me. Thank You for Your persistence in knocking, thank You for Your patience in waiting for me to open the door of my heart. Thank You that it is not too late to welcome You in my heart.

Thank You that You bring what would complete me, that You bring fresh supplies of grace and comfort. Thank You that You do not wait for me to be prepared, or to be holy or perfect, but that You already want to fellowship with me just as I am.

I crave Your comfort and grace, I crave Your provisions and blessings, I crave Your care and restoration. I crave intimacy with You. By Your Holy Name, amen.

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Dear reader, you can use this meditation as long as you acknowledge the author — me!

J5-How to Honor and Praise the King of Glory

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SCRIPTURE PASSAGE: Psalm 24:3-10

3 Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. 5 He will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God his Savior. 6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob. 7 Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 8 Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. 9 Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 10 Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty— he is the King of glory.

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PROBLEM:

Psalm 24: 3 Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.

Who can enter heaven, who can stand in His holy place? Who has clean hands and pure hearts? Are we even fit to enter His presence, fit to praise Him? Or are we like dancers with two left feet or singers who are tone-deaf? We want to celebrate Jesus, but do we really honor and praise Him?

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How do we really honor and praise Jesus during worship?

 1. Believe in the power of confession: because we are powerless to cleanse ourselves.

We are not conscious of sinning. Most people think of sin as violent, horrible deeds or criminal acts. But a careful reading of the Bible shows us that sinning includes unbelief, coldness of heart (no love), hardheartedness (no love), prayerlessness (no faith), acts of cursing others (no love), worrying (no faith), fear (no faith), irritability (no love), spiteful anger (no love), careless talk (no righteousness), coarse jokes (no righteousness), gossip (no love), lying (sin), no joy in serving God (no love), and much much more.(God Talks Publications)

Wow, I didn’t even know that some of these were sins! What do we do when we find ourselves committing these acts? Ask for God’s help – pray: Lord help me, I can’t help myself, I can’t keep myself from sinning, from doing these acts that You abhor.

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

Lord, my heart is deceitful. Without Your guidance, without Your Word, I trick myself into thinking that what I am doing is not sinful, that my action is justifiable.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Confession is powerful. We need to take advantage of the power of confession. In fact, we should confess every time we sin – in the same way that we wash our hands every time they get dirty.

Thank You Lord, that when I sincerely confess, You will forgive my sins – and forget them! How wonderful is Your love and mercy. After confession, You forget my sins, You treat me like I never sinned at all!

 2. Believe in the power of the King of Glory.

Psalm 24: 5 He will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God his Savior. …8 Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.

1 John 2:1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense — Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

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In verse 5 of the scripture text, we receive blessing and vindication from Jesus. The definition of vindicate means that He will defend you against your enemies, He is on our side! We need to believe in the King of Glory, because how can He defend us if we don’t even believe in Him? And how can He defend us if we don’t even believe in His might and power? And better still, He will teach us how to vindicate/defend ourselves.

Lord, You will fight for me! What I cannot do, or don’t have the strength to do: You have the power to do it. You will use Your strength and power to defend me! You will even defend me to the Father!

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WHAT DOES THE LORD WANT FROM US:

Open the door of your heart to the King of Glory… and you will live a life of glory!

Psalm 24: 5 He will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God his Savior. … 9 Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.

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Honoring and worshiping Jesus is to truly KNOW Him – KNOW who He is, KNOW what He feels, KNOW what He thinks, KNOW what He can do, and KNOW what He wants from us. Open your heart to Him, open your life to Him, be close to Him, in fellowship with Him.

And if you confess your sins and turn to Jesus, He will defend you, bless you, cleanse you, purify you, fight for you, give you His peace and joy, give you His provisions, and His comfort. Properly honoring and praising Jesus is worth it, for He gives us untold blessings! A life of glory indeed!

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MY PRAYER:

Forgive me Lord if I don’t really honor and praise you. Help me take advantage of the power of confession. Help me take advantage of Your power and willingness to be there for me. Remind me that I have You to rely on: to defend me, to cleanse me, to purify me and to fight for me. Singing in church or in the choir does not automatically guarantee that my praise is acceptable to You. Therefore, help me with my heart and hands so that they may be clean enough to be in Your presence, for You want me to be there with You. You want me to be close to You and to be in fellowship with You. May I desire this closeness as much as You desire it. In Jesus’ Name, amen.

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Dear reader, you can use this devotion as long as you acknowledge the author — me!

J4-Jesus is the Great I AM!

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SCRIPTURE PASSAGE: John 8:51-53 NIV  

51 Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.” 52 At this they [Jews] exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death. 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”

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BACKGROUND:

The Jews could not believe Jesus’ claims. They thought He was demon-possessed and believed that He could not be greater than Abraham, who was the greatest man in their eyes. If Abraham and the prophets died and did not rise again, how can Jesus promise anyone that they will never see death? It never occurred to them that He was God. Even now it is difficult for most people to believe that Jesus is both man and God.

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A few verses later:

John 8:57-59 NIV  57 “You are not yet fifty years old,” the Jews said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!” 58 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” 59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds. (Note that Abraham was born 2000 years before Jesus.)

The violent response of the Jews to Jesus’ “I AM” statement indicates they clearly understood what He was declaring — that He was the eternal God incarnate. Jesus was equating Himself with the “I AM” title God gave Himself in Exodus 3:14. They took up stones to kill Him for making Himself equal with God (John 5:18), since the punishment for that sin (blasphemy) is death (Leviticus 24:11–14). (What did Jesus mean when He said ‘I AM’?)

Exodus 3:14 God said to Moses, “I Am Who I Am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I Am has sent me to you.'”

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Unlike other man-made “gods”, God gave His own name: I AM WHO I AM — NOT “who you think I am”.

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In the ancient world, names communicated something about a person’s character, so a name carried a lot of meaning with it. The significance of the name Yahweh is that it is confirming God’s existence but most importantly His presence. (The Meaning of Yahweh)

The ancient Hebrew of Exodus 3:14 lacks a future tense as modern English does, yet a few translations render this name as “I Will Be What I Will Be”, given the context of Yahweh promising to be with his people through their future troubles. (Wikipedia: I Am that I Am)

This is the source of our name for God, the tetragrammaton YHWH, or Yahweh.

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PRINCIPLES: What does this say about Jesus?

 1.   Jesus is the I AM of your present

He is the god of our present. He takes care of our problems. He provides for us. He is so generous that He promises that He will meet all our needs. And since He already knows all our needs, we can concentrate on serving and worshiping Him.

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I heard a testimony at a worship service: He was a dentist who was in debt because his patients owed him, and he had several bills to pay. He was asked to participate in a medical-dental mission for his church. He hesitated about going because he was not sure he could afford it, but after praying about it, he decided to go. When he returned from the mission, most of those who owed him money paid him back within the month! He proved Matthew 6:33 – prioritize the Lord, and He will provide for our needs!

 2.   Jesus is the I WILL BE of your future

He is the god of our future. He promises to be with us even through our future troubles. He will never leave us nor abandon us. Therefore, what He is already doing today, He will continue to do tomorrow, and for all our tomorrows.

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PROMISE: What does Jesus promise you?

If Jesus is the I AM of your life, then you will never see (spiritual) death!

John 8:51 Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.”

Your identity is forever intact; you are who you are forever. Death cannot rob you of your identity – your identity is eternal.

You are who you are, you will be who you will be – eternally!

If we obey His word, we will never see (spiritual) death! Jesus has the power to back up the promise because He Himself died and rose again. But most important of all — He is God, the Great I AM!

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Dear reader, you can use this devotion as long as you acknowledge the author — me!

J1-Are You Rapture-Ready?

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SCRIPTURE PASSAGE: 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 NIV
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

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PROBLEM:

Are you rapture-ready?
Definition of rapture – The rapture is when Jesus Christ returns to remove the church (all believers in Christ) from the earth. The rapture is described in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:50-54. Believers who have died will have their bodies resurrected and, along with believers who are still living, will meet the Lord in the air. This will all occur in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye. The second coming is when Jesus returns to defeat the Antichrist, destroy evil, and establish His millennial kingdom. The second coming is described in Revelation 19:11-16.

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You are rapture-ready if you believe in Jesus!

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PRINCIPLES:
Because I am rapture-ready:

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 I will see the light of hope.

The sweet light in His eyes shall enhance those awaiting, and we shall behold Him then face to face.

I will hear the shout of victory.

The angels shall sound the shout of His coming.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God,

I will be changed from glory to greater glory.

And those who remain shall be changed in a moment.
1 Corinthians 15:42-44 42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

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PROMISE:

1 Corinthians 15:54-55,57-58 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”55 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”[Hosea 13:14] 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Because I am rapture-ready:
I need not fear death!
We need not be afraid of anything, because the greatest enemy — death — has already been conquered!

All my labor in the Lord will not be in vain!
My commitment to the Lord will be rewarded.

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Dear reader, you can use this devotion as long as you acknowledge the author — me!