Take Time With God #96 – Why did Jesus have to die cruelly?
Jesus Christ died for you, conquered death, and lives to set you free. But why the cross? What specifically did Jesus do there that couldn’t have been done some other way? Ray will share Colossians 2:8-15 with you and give you the answer.
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, [a]rather than according to Christ.9 For in Him all thefullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,10 and in Him you have been made[b]complete, and He is the head [c]over all rule and authority;11 and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.13 When you were dead [d]in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.15 When He had [e]disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through [f]Him.
The Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they asked Him to show them a [a]sign from heaven.2 But He replied to them, “[b]When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’3 And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Do you know how to discern the [c]appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?4 An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a [d]sign; and a [e]sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away.
5 And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread.6 And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and beware of the[f]leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”7 They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring any bread.”8 But Jesus, aware of this, said, “You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread?9 Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up?10 Or the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets full you picked up?11 How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the [g]leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”12 Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, [h]Elijah; but still others, [i]Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”15 He *said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”16 Simon Peter answered, “You are [j]the Christ, the Son of the living God.”17 And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon [k]Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.18 I also say to you that you are [l]Peter, and upon this [m]rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth [n]shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth [o]shall have been loosed in heaven.”20 Then He [p]warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was [q]the Christ.
21 From that time [r]Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.22 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “[s]God forbid it, Lord! This shall never[t]happen to You.”23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on [u]God’s interests, but man’s.”
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.25 For whoever wishes to save his [v]life will lose it; but whoever loses his [w]life for My sake will find it.26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?27 For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then[x]repay every man according to his[y]deeds.
28 “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”
Total Forgiveness Chapter 5 – When We Are Right to Judge
Ray has already read Chapter 4 of Total Forgiveness, a chapter author R. T. Kendall called “Playing God” where he urged us NOT to judge others. So what could he mean by writing THIS chapter? Are we or aren’t we to judge? We’ll see as we share this chapter.
Total Forgiveness Chapter 5 – When We Are Right to Judge
After the Global Community Egyptian Police shot both Buck and Rabbi Ben Judah in their feet they barely made it into the plane being flown by Buck’s hired pilot, Ken Ritz. They are now gone from Egypt and nearly back to America again. Pastor Bruce Barnes’ memorial will be held the next morning at New Hope’s Sunday morning service. That most likely spells danger ahead for Buck, Rayford, and their wives, as well as Tsion. Don’t miss Ray’s reading of this chapter.
Take Time With God #95 – Every day should be Thanksgiving
Ray shares Colossians 2:1–7 and shows you why thankfulness should be a constant part of your life no matter what is happening. Real praise pays!
For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not [a]personally seen my face,2 that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth [b]that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself,3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.4 I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument.5 For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing [c]to see [d]your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.
6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so[e]walk in Him,7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established [f]in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing [g]with gratitude.
Then some Pharisees and scribes *came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said,2 “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”3 And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother is to[a]be put to death.’5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been [b]given to God,”6 he is not to honor his father or his mother[c].’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.7 You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:
8 ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. 9 ‘But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching asdoctrines the precepts of men.’”
10 After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand.11 It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”
12 Then the disciples *came and *said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were [d]offended when they heard this statement?”13 But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted.14 Let them alone; they are blind guides [e]of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
15 Peter [f]said to Him, “Explain the parable to us.”16 [g]Jesus said, “Are you still lacking in understanding also?17 Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is [h]eliminated?18 But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries,[i]fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.20 These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”
21 Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon.22 And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.”23 But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting[j]at us.”24 But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”25 But she came and began[k]to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”26 And He answered and said, “It is not [l]good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”27 But she said, “Yes, Lord; [m]but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”28 Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed [n]at once.
29 Departing from there, Jesus went along by the Sea of Galilee, and having gone up on the mountain, He was sitting there.30 And [o]large crowds came to Him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and He healed them.31 So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled [p]restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.
32 And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “I feel compassion for the[q]people, because they [r]have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.”33 The disciples *said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?”34 And Jesus *said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”35 And He directed the [s]people to [t]sit down on the ground;36 and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.37 And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large baskets full.38 And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.
39 And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into the boat and came to the region of Magadan.
