Jesus Is Still Working On Me

Philippians 1:6-7, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.”

What a short, simple, yet incredibly powerful truth in Matthew 14:30 that perfectly summarizes the Christian life. There is no secret to living the Christian life. The Bible plainly teaches that we live by faith, the same exact way that we are saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have Christ's promise that He will always be with us, and never forsake us. Hebrews 13:5-6, “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” We all feel down at times, but dear reader, BE OF GOOD CHEER, for Jesus is risen from the dead!!!

The Holy Spirit reminded me today about Peter, who obeyed the Lord and had the courage to literally get out of a perfectly good boat and walk on water. That took a lot of faith. Peter did walk on the water, not sinking an inch. But when Peter took His eyes off Jesus and began to focus on the stormy sea of Galilee and the rushing winds, he sunk. It's not a mere coincidence that God put this incredible event in the inspired Scriptures for us to read. God wants every Christian to learn the importance of keeping our mind and heart focused upon the Lord Jesus Christ. KEEP YOUR EYES UPON JESUS! If there is a secret to living the Christian life, it is to continually stay focused on Jesus.

When Peter began to sink into the murky depths of the raging sea, he cried out in desperation, “Lord, save me!” The story of Peter walking on the water, sinking, and then crying out to the Lord to be saved is a beautiful truth that even a young child can completely grasp... KEEP YOUR EYES UPON JESUS!!!

We Are Saved and Live the Christian Life by Christ's Righteousness
Peter was already saved in Matthew 14:30. So as a Christian Peter walked on the water by Christ's strength, not his own. As Christians we have nothing to offer God that can please Him, except our faith. Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God.

So often when a person comes to Christ and gets saved, they then go down a wrong path of self-righteousness as a believer. That is to say, they know that they were saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone; but they now have the wrong mindset that God is somehow pleased by their own efforts. The truth is that no matter how hard we may try as Christians to live for God, we will fail every day, one way or another, whether in deed or thought. If our best efforts couldn't impress God to get saved, then why should our best impress God now that we are saved? Isaiah 64:6 teaches that even our best self-righteousness is as filth in God's eyes. The same holds true even if a person has been saved for 50-years.

The ONLY thing that has ever pleased God the Father is the righteousness of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, which is imputed (attributed) to every believer the moment they believe the gospel (death, burial and resurrection) of Jesus Christ and are saved. This is why we are taught in the Bible that Christ lives through us as Christian believers. ...

Galatians 2:20-21, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”

I love this Bible verse... CHRIST LIVETH IN ME!!! Romans 8:9 teaches that a person is not saved who doesn't have the Spirit of Christ (i.e., the Holy Spirit). We are saved by Christ's righteousness and we continue to live the Christian life by Christ's righteousness. You cannot impress God any more in your own strength as a believer, than you could as an unsaved person who tries to impress God with keeping the Law. The Lord is our strength as His children. I cannot live the Christian life any more than I could save myself from sin and Hell. I live in Christ's righteousness, that is, Christ saved me and lives through me as I yield to the Spirit's leading by the Word of God!

That's not to say that being born-again is a process. The new birth is instant, immediate and undoable. Yet, salvation is more than being saved. Indeed, the salvation of a believer begins the day we are saved and continues to conform us into the image of God's Son each and every day. Through the hardships, sufferings and afflictions of this life we are changed into the image of Christ. Romans 12:2 tells us, “be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

The Bible Never Tells Us to Seek God's Hidden Will
The Holy Bible never tells us to SEEK God's will; but rather, TO SEEK GOD Himself! The Bible never tells us to seek the will of God; but rather, to obey the revealed will of God in His Word, and then God will direct our paths. Proverbs 3:5-7, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.” So don't worry over what God's secret (or hidden) will is for your life. God has PROMISED to direct our steps if we'll acknowledge God in all our ways. We do this by studying the Bible to know how God wants us to live. Jesus commanded in John 5:39 to SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES!!!

If we do that which we know in the Bible, then God has PROMISED to guide our ways. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Our hope as believers is that Jesus Christ has raised up from the dead and is alive forevermore (John 16:33). Christ is our hope! Titus 1:2, “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.” We don't hope in the sense of optimism as do Muslims and the Amish (who do their best and hope it works out in eternity); but rather, we have a blessed hope in full confidence based upon the PROMISES of God.

To Understand the Times in Which We Live, Keep Your Eyes On Jesus
There are many people who attempt to figure out what's really going on in the world, but they are going in circles, “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2nd Timothy 3:7). Without the Word of God you'll never understand the truth, the world nor anything concerning spiritual things.

Did you know that one-third of the Bible is composed of prophecy! It's true! We learn in Revelation 19:13 that “JESUS IS THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY!” ...

Revelation 19:10, “And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

In fact, Jesus is the spirit behind all of the Scriptures! That is, all of the Bible centers around Jesus Christ!!! When you read and study the Bible, always look for Jesus in the passage context (how it relates to Him) for the truth.

Kindly said, unbelieving religious Jews have interpreted the Bible all wrong for thousands of years, rejecting the cornerstone of their Messiah. 1st Peter 2:7, “Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner.” Some people only read the Bible to fit their religious agenda, but without the Messiah they are barking up an empty tree. Others search the Bible for hidden numeric codes, which is a waste of time. The Bible says in Hebrews 1:2 that God speaks to us in these last days through His Son. John 5:39, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” Always look for Jesus in the Scriptures, for His name is THE WORD OF GOD (Revelation 19:13; John 1:1-3,14). Jesus is the living Word, and the Bible is the written Word. KEEP YOUR EYES UPON JESUS!!!

The heart of the Bible is the blood of the Lamb of God, Who was slain for the sins of the world (John 1:29). The way to make it through the Christian life is to keep our eyes on Jesus. If we take our eyes off the Lord and focus on the problems of this world, then we will begin to sink into an ocean of doubt and despair. When we find ourselves sinking low, we need to cry out to the Lord, putting our eyes back on Jesus and trusting Him at His Word. KEEP YOUR EYES UPON JESUS!!!

In youth I'm too happy to think, I've got plenty of time left.
In manhood I'm too busy to think, I'm trying to make a lot of money.
In the prime of life I'm too anxious to think, worry has taken over.
When I start getting old, I'm too old to think—life's wasted, heart's got harder.
Dying in bed—I'm too sick to think, I'm weak and suffering.
Death is too late to think—time's over and opportunity is lost.
In eternity—forever to think, I'm in Hell now with no mercy, and lost forever.

“Too long I've laid me down to sleep, and prayed the Lord my soul to keep.
I should awake before I die, and realize time is passing by;
And rise and go and tell the lost, despite my plans despite the cost.
Too long I've laid me down to sleep, while multitudes about me weep;
And other cries of dark despair, for no one ever seems to care.
My life is short, and soon I'll stand, with sinner's bloods upon my hand;
Unless I wake before I die, and realize time is passing me by.”

“The clock of life is wound but once, and no man has the power,
to tell just when the hands will stop, at late or early hour;
To lose one's wealth is sad indeed, to lose one's health is more,
to lose your soul is such a loss, that no one can restore.”

The Promise Of A New Glorified Body Like The Lord's

Philippians 3:20-21, “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”

This is one of my favorite promises from God to believers in the Bible. At the Rapture every believer is promised a new immortal body. For those of you like me who suffer in bodily pain all the time, this promise carries much more meaning. I am so happy God made this promise and shared it with us in His inspired Word. What saith the Scripture? ...

1st Corinthians 15:51-58, “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

In the twinkling of an eye (just a fraction of a second), our frail mortal human body will be changed into an indestructible immortal body. I eagerly look forward to this miracle! This event will happen at the Rapture of the Church. 

There are some wonderful things that you should know about the new glorified body:

1. We will eat and drink in our new body - Luke 24:38-42, “And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.” Jesus and drank, enjoying dinner with His disciples. 
   
   Also, consider that the angels eat too! When the two angels met with Lot in Sodom, the Bible says Lot prepared a feast for them and they gobbled it down (Genesis 19:3). Yeah buddy! So angels eat. Jesus ate in His resurrected body. So we can expect and look forward to eating and drinking too! The Bible teaches that immediately following the Rapture and the Judgment Seat Of Christ, believers will enjoy the Marriage Supper Of The Lamb (Revelation 19:9).
2. We will be able to defy laws of physics in our new body - John 20:19, “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.” The doors were shut, yet Jesus appeared in their midst. He either walked through the wall or transported Himself. I believe in our glorified body we will be able to defy gravity and the laws of physics.
   
   Acts 1:9, “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.” Did Jesus ascend of His own ability, or did the angels take Him up? I do not know. However, it is my personal opinion that Jesus ascended of His own supernatural ability. Why would angels have a super power that the resurrected Lord didn't? They doesn't make sense. If the Lord had the power to rise up from the dead, I'm sure He was able to defy gravity too? Jesus raised the dead. The Bible says in Philippians 3:21 that we will receive a glorified body 'FASHIONED LIKE UNTO THE LORD'S BODY.' So whatever Jesus was able to do in His new body, we will be able to do the same.
3. Our new bodies will not get sick or grow old - The word “immortal” means not subject to death, deathlessness; that is, eternal life. I cannot even imagine having a perfect body that is invincible, invulnerable and immortal, but it sounds awesome! Will we sweat and get tired in our new body? I don't know. Will we need rest breaks, a good night's sleep, a cold drink to prevent a stroke from the summer heat, or warm dry socks to prevent frostbite in the winter? I don't know. I DO know that our bodies will be immortal.

Those are just a few obvious attributes of our resurrected body. Interestingly, when the Lord raised up, no one recognized Him. I do not know why. Mary Magdalene didn't recognize Jesus until He called her name. The disciples on the road to Emmaus didn't recognize Him until He raised His hands to pray. My humble guess is that they saw the scars in His hands and immediately knew it was Jesus. Will we look different in our glorified body? For many believers who have let their health go and are 350 pounds heavy, no one will recognize them in their new trimmed down body...lol. I firmly believe that we will all be changed by God into our proper weight at the Rapture. 

My proper weight is 150 pounds for a man at 5' 7". I went from 215 pounds down to 145 pounds in 2017. I only took me 4 months! I was really determined. I just went walking a lot and ate only 500 calories a day. You can eat a lot if you pick the right foods. A bag of frozen vegetables is only 130 calories total. A big bag of fresh shrimp is only 240 calories total. So if you eat the right foods, you can still eat good and lose weight. An entire head of iceberg lettuce is only 70 calories. Water has no calories. One scoop of protein powder only contains 130 calories, yet provides 30 grams of protein. Nice! I have gained quite a bit of my weight back, just from slacking off. I get depressed because I cannot find a girlfriend. I am determined to lose 20 pounds in 2021, Lord willing. I am drinking protein shakes and working out a couple times a week, taking care of myself. I feel better lately as a result, despite my chronic neck pain that overshadows everything that I do. God is so good!

Anyway, I am so thankful for God's promise of a new body someday. You can count on it! 2nd Corinthians 5:1, “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” Isn't that a beautiful promise from God? In the preceding verse, the “earthly house of this tabernacle” refers to our human body. The Bible teaches that when our earthly body can no longer provide housing for our soul and spirit, we have a house waiting for us in Heaven; a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens:

2nd Corinthians 4:14-18, “Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

I love that! The wise Christian looks beyond this visible temporary world, choosing rather by faith to focus on unseen eternal things. Hebrews 12:2, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” As a fundamentalist Baptist preacher, and a friendly man who loves everybody, I receive thousands of emails each year. Most people who contact me and share their burdens, problems and heartaches make the mistake of focusing on the wrong things in life.

What we choose to focus on determines how we handle life's difficulties, problems and challenges. Most people who are miserable focus on themselves. If I focus on myself, I will feel inferior like I'm a failure. If I focus on other people, I will get discouraged because people are imperfect and will eventually let us down or hurt us. If we focus on the future here on earth, we will become frustrated. If we focus on the past, we will become bitter and discouraged. But if we focus on JESUS, we can claim the promises of God and have joy. So many Christians let the failures of the past, and worries over the future, rob them of the joy of serving God today.

I want to especially encourage those of you who have poor health, like me. I got rear-ended by a church bus in 1992. Twelve years later I started having serious problems with constant neck pain and neck tension. I was diagnosed with stenosis, displaced disks and radiculopathy. I fell down a mailslide at work in 2005, which worsened my condition, adding radiating pain in my limbs. I underwent two major neck surgeries in 2009 and 2010, which made me 100% worse. In 2012 I was told the harsh reality that I would never get better again. 

I have no complaints to God, but I suffer every day of my life with burning throughout my nervous system, which the second failed surgery caused. I feel like my nerves are on fire, physically, and there is no cure. I wish there was a steamroom on Guam, but there isn't, which is soothing on my nerves. Walking in the warm sun and a hot shower sooth my suffering, but only for the time I'm enjoying them. I so much look forward to receiving my new resurrected body. 

I still enjoy good health overall. My bodily afflictions are mild compared to what millions of people are going through. I can still walk, think and take care of myself each day. Not everybody can say that. I knew a young man who was shot in the neck while walking down the street in Chicago, caught in gang crossfire gunfire. He is a permanent quadriplegic! His name is Carlos and I think about his situation frequently, when I start feeling sorry for myself.

Have you ever heard the beautiful 1983 song called, 'Think Of Laura' by Christopher Cross? That is one of my favorite songs! While in college, the best friend of Christopher's girlfriend was killed when four gang members exchanged gunfire. One of the bullets hit Laura in the backseat of her parent's car. So sad! Life is so short! I do not know if she was a Christian, but as believers we have the blessed hope of being resurrected one day. Every believer has the blessed hope of the coming Rapture (1st Thessalonians 4:13-18).

If you are an amputee, rejoice dear friend, because you have God's PROMISE of a new glorified body fashioned like unto His perfect body. Philippians 3:20-21, “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” The last portion of the verse refers to the Lord's power over nature—His supernatural ability to raise Lazarus (John 11:25-45) and the little girl from the dead (Matthew 9:23-26), His ability to calm the raging storm on the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 8:23-27), His power to heal a man who was afflicted with a horrible disease for 38 years (John 5:5-9), et cetera. The same wonderful Lord Jesus Christ Who had the omnipotent power on earth to subdue creation to OBEY HIS WILL, that same precious Lord will reconstitute and change our body according to His will to be fashioned like unto His own flesh. That warms my heart!