Who is Jesus?
Historically, it is a given, the man known as Jesus did exist. We have more secular proof that He existed than we do that Plato existed, or Aristotle (think about it, can you prove that Plato or Aristotle existed?). In His day, He would have been called Yahshua, a name which means "Yahweh Saves" or "Yahweh is salvation." In a diminutive form -- e.g., my name is Douglas, but most people call me Doug -- he would have been called Yeshua (the Aramaic name by which most Messianic Jews call Him today, as they still believe it is improper to vocalize the Name "Yahweh," in much the same fashion in that it is perfectly all right for a Jew to say "Jehovah," which is a purposeful misspelling, but not "Yahweh," which is the ultimate expression of holiness). Yahshua is a name similar to Isaiah or Jeremiah, all of them possessing the name "Yah," the short, poetic form of "Yahweh." (In English, the name Yahshua has become "Joshua.")
The most significant thing, from a human perspective, about Jesus, is that He actually did claim to be the "Son of God," and also, most startlingly, God. He said that if you had seen Him, then you had seen Yahweh, the Father. When He applied "I Am" to Himself, His attackers all toppled over backward, much the same way His enemies do today in the "slain in the spirit" deceptive phenomena.
Today, people are a tad confused, thinking that Jesus' full name was "Jesus Christ" -- that "Christ" is His last name. Actually, Christ is a title, which means "Anointed," the Greek translation of the Jewish title for "the Messiah." Jesus Christ means "Jesus the Anointed One," or "Jesus the Messiah." Yahshua IS the Chosen One.
During His short lifetime He accomplished more than any other man has before or since His time. Everything He did was done before witnesses, friend and foe. His enemies, astounded and speechless before His power, claimed He did everything through the power of the devil. Note they did not deny that He did miraculous things, only that He did them without God. Jesus replied with the now famous "a house divided against itself cannot stand."
Jesus displayed power over the elements in stilling the storm, in walking upon the surface of foamy, stormy water, He raised the dead to life, including Lazarus who had been dead for four days (thus disproving the spiritualistic lie that the spirit of the departed hangs about its corpse for three days, and then departs to its final destination), He turned water into wine, cured incurable diseases, lifted the darkness from the eyes of the blind, made those walk who had been crippled their entire lifetime, accepted worship from people (and his disciples and apostles and even holy angels do not accept worship), fed thousands with a tiny bit of food on multiple occasions, after fasting for 40 days He met Satan in a battle of wits and defeated him, displayed power over the fallen angels when they could not disobey Him, logically met and out-thought the religious experts of the day, fulfilled all Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah, miraculously raised people from the dead by only speaking, delivered people who were enslaved to demons, and finally allowed Himself to be nailed to a cross in order that "one man might perish to save many."
Do I believe all this stuff? Yes, I do, it is as real to me as my children, or my wife. It is true, although it might appear to be utter stupidity to someone who has no interest in God.
From God's perspective, and ours when we know better, the most significant thing about Yahshua is that He died in order that we might live. He would have done this if I had been the only man born that had ever sinned, or if it had been only you. He would have died for me, or you. He would have died if you were the only person that needed redemption (and this saving sacrifice is available to literally ANY person living). In His life He went through all the temptation that we do, all the troubles, all the pains -- and yet He was the only person to ever live without sinning, staying true to His course.
It is God's will that none be lost, that everyone be saved -- the only catch here is that God does not force Himself on us, He allows us to make the decision for ourselves, whether we accept His free gift, or reject it.
He has given us free will, along with the angels. The angels made their decision, long ago, on whether they would believe in God's goodness and fairness, or whether they would listen to His enemy, the father of lies. The Bible tells us that a third of the angels opted for the deceiver. That's what they made of their free will. They chose deception.
And we face that deceiver today, the guy who was so good at his deceptive ability that he was able to trick a third of the angels into following him against their God, and these are beings that saw God face to face, worshipped in His presence. This deceiver, the father of lies, is the same guy who was so good at his deceptive ability that he twisted God's words into their exact opposite meaning in order to dupe God's first people on this Earth. God said, "Do not sin, because you will die." Satan twisted it into: "Hey, you're not really going to die, in fact, you're going to be just like God!" It was such a successful ploy that he uses it still today, teaching: "Hey, your body might die, but you're not really going to die, in fact, your soul or your spirit will just float free of your mortal body, you will be immortal, free for the first time!"
That deception worked great for the "Heaven's Gate" cult, and it is working just as powerfully throughout most of Christianity today.
But Jesus is working today, as well. When He died at the cross He defeated the devil. That doesn't mean that the devil is going to lie down and play dead -- in fact, the Bible describes the fallen cherub as deceiving the whole world, going about like a roaring lion to devour as many as he can. But Jesus isn't just kicking back on the right hand of the Father -- He's working, busily, so that as many as possible can be saved.
Our only hope, really, against this master deceiver, is Jesus. Yahshua the Messiah is at work for us. The Bible tells us that He is interceding for us today. He is our Intercessor. With the help of the Holy Spirit, Jesus is visiting every single person on the face of the earth -- as long as there is life in a person, there is hope for that person. If we confess our sins to Him, He will forgive us.
The Holy Spirit, the third member of the Godhead, is working desperately with every person on the face of the earth, right now, from the mass murderers on death row to the policeman considering suicide, to the housewife thinking terrible thoughts with five screaming children, the next mail man considering going postal -- He is talking to you, right at this moment. The whole world has the Holy Spirit, He is a gift given to the whole world, not just a select few. He is not just given to "The Chosen." He is busy on your behalf, pleading with you to turn from darkness to the light.
It is like we are an egg, and the Holy Spirit -- called "The Spirit of Jesus" -- wants into us. He taps and taps on our shell, looking for any opening that we provide Him. He is tireless in His quest to bring us to reason. He desperately wants in, but He will not force His way in. In fact, He needs you to invite Him in.
Jesus stands at the door and knocks. That is what the Bible means. Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, wants into us. He is knocking, right now. He promises that if we open the door, He will come into us, He will dine with us, and He will draw close to us. God says that if we draw close to Him, that He will draw close to us. That's a pretty potent promise.
Once we open that door, Jesus will come into us. The Holy Spirit, the gift given to the whole world, then becomes the "Gift Giver." It is He that prepares us and equips us to aid God in saving as many people as possible. Now He is no longer on the outside of us, tapping on the shell, seeking a way in -- now He lives inside of us, and shines out of us at any opportunity, to show Jesus to the world.
He once was outside of us, like He is everybody on the face of this planet, but after we open the door He lives inside of us. We hand ourselves over to the Master Sculptor, and He begins at once to mold and shape the clay -- US!
We are on a sinking ship. We cannot afford to sit idly by, trusting that everything is going to be okay, that the Titanic is unsinkable. This Earth is not impervious. In fact, it is falling apart, even at this moment.
The Bible claims that Jesus is coming back soon, to destroy those who destroy the Earth, and that is exactly what man is doing, out of ignorance and out of greed and out of blatant stupidity. Man is destroying this planet. Secular scientists quickly agree, and state that the doomsday clock is ticking, right now, and that the clock is running at just a few minutes before Midnight -- and remember, these are secular scientists who for the most part are unconcerned with God. They feel it is up to man to save this planet -- but what do you think? If God promised one thing, can man establish something else?
God set us up as caretakers for this world, and we choose to destroy it with our decisions. He set us up as caretakers of all the animals, and we choose to eat all the animals, and the ones we're not crazy about eating, we slaughter out of blatant stupidity, pushing species after species into complete extinction. Some caretakers, us.
This world is going down, the scientists will tell you that. It's not a ridiculous sign held by "Doom Prophets" any longer. It is a certainty.
But that doesn't matter. This is not a message of fear, or doom, or hopelessness.
Because we have a lifeline. There really is hope for all of us. He is putting out His hand to you, asking for you to let Him in. And all you have to do, is say, "Yes, come in. I invite You. Accept me, save me, lead me, teach me. I want to know You, and the sound of Your voice."
Yahshua is alive today. He IS the Chosen One, and by accepting Him, by inviting Him in, WE become chosen. We are chosen in Him. We are SAVED in Him. Jesus lives. That's a fact.
And it is a fact that we are saved IN Him.
Like a fine china plate dropped from five feet onto the floor, there's not much hope. But put that same plate into a heavy leather briefcase, and drop it from twice the height . . . that's how it is for us. We must be IN Him, and the only way for us to be IN Him is to open the door TO Him, to allow Him to live IN us.
You don't have to run a hundred miles to be worthy. You don't have to give up smoking pot, or killing people, or sleeping with your best friend's wife, or making bombs to destroy the world. You don't have to memorize anyone's creed, or agree to their list of rules. You don't have to work yourself into an altered state. You don't have to psyche yourself up. And contrary to popular teaching, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO TALK YOURSELF INTO IT, to make yourself believe, thus participating in "make-believe."
Just talk to Him, to Yahshua, Jesus the Christ. He's not a hard Man to talk to. His name is Wonderful, and He IS wonderful. He doesn't expect you to change even one iota, not one atom of your being -- He will meet you exactly where you are, whether it be in prison, in mansion, or living under the freeway in a cardboard box. Meet Him, draw close to Him, and open the door. Invite Him in, and He will come in.
Your life will begin to change, immediately. Not that you will TRY TO CHANGE, or that you must learn anyone's codebook or start going to a particular church on a particular day wearing particular clothes with a particular check written out and stored in a particular pocket of your particularly best Sunday suit. No, it will be the Holy Spirit inside of you that leads you to a new life, a new outlook, a new hope, a new destiny, new wisdom and new intelligence and new choices -- He will lead you into God's will, and it is so much better than anything we can figure out for ourself. Then smoking pot and killing people and sleeping with your best friend's wife and making bombs to destroy the world won't be quite as tasty to you. Because He will begin to change you, from the inside to the outside.
He is here, today, and today is the day of our salvation.
He is alive. He died for you. And He will accept you the moment you open the door, and your life will begin to improve from that moment on.
Ways to aid this ministry include praying for these sites:
www.TruthSeek.net, www.DeceivingtheElect.net, and www.DramaticParables.com, donations and provision may be gifted using the TruthSeekGift page (and please only use this if you feel you are inspired by God to do so), and also feel free to use the Prayer Request page to submit prayer requests, and praying for the prayer requests of others, as well as exploring the various advertisements and links on these pages (regrettably, the advertising is necessary to recompense the many costs of keeping a website running, so exploration of the advertisers, which are not connected to any of these studies, is greatly appreciated). Any aid is joyously accepted, even if that means a smile and a well-wish, or a simple prayer. Thank you so much!
Art et Amour Toujours
In the beginning the Word already existed.
He was with God, and He was God. He was in the beginning with God. He created everything there is. Nothing exists that He didn't make. Life itself was in Him, and this life gives light to everyone. The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. God sent John the Baptist to tell everyone about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light; he was only a witness to the light. The one who is the True Light, who gives light to everyone, was going to come into the world. But although the world was made through Him, the world didn't recognize Him when He came. Even in His own land and among His own people, He was not accepted. But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn! This is not a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, this rebirth comes from God. So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father.
John 1:1-14
New Living Translation
Jesus, the "Christ," the "Anointed One"
The Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world...
The Holy One of Israel, Immanuel, God with us...
Lord? Master? I'm opening my
heart to you. This is between me and You.
Is it okay if I come to You, just me, without groups? I know I'm not worthy of Your perfection. I'm unclean. I know I'm a mess.
I don't know why You even want me.
But I need You. Help me understand this.
Help me. Open my mind. Open my heart.
I know I'm made so many mistakes.
But live inside me. I admit it, that
You exist. Maybe I don't understand it, fully,
or know You, but I want to. I want You.
I admit it, I'm a sinner, definitely.
But live inside me. Accept me, and I
accept You. Fix me where I'm broken.
I'm broken. I know it. Clean up this
mess of my life. Help my unbelief.
Help my unbelief. Help me, Lord!
Give me faith. I accept Salvation,
that You give freely. I accept all the blessings you have waiting for me.
In Your name, Yahshua, Savior,
my Savior,
I pray, Amen.
