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John 10:7-9 - So Jesus said to them again, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. "All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. NASU
Jesus is the door. What is the purpose of the door of your house? It is the point of entry. Please read again these words: "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, what I have underlined and placed in bold letters will allow one to see my point. When we "enter" through Jesus we will be saved. We will be protected. Can you remember a time when you were a child and frightened? You either called for your mom or dad or ran to them, once they were next to you and assured you everything was going to be okay a peace came over you. Jesus wants us to have peace in this world and the best way He knows how is to affirm He is the door and we have entered through Him and once we are on the inside He is our protector.
John 10:11 - I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. When Jesus says He will lay down His life for the sheep this is to bring peace into our lives. We are to understand He is not a hireling only watching us for the money, and when the enemy comes he will flee. He is the Good Shepherd who is watching and protecting us. He will not run when the flock is under attack from wolves. He is the Son of David and will protect His flock the same way David protected his father's flock. 1 Samuel 17:34-36 - But David said to Saul, "Your servant was tending his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him. "Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear;… David fought both the lion and the bear to protect his father's sheep. Jesus died for His Father's sheep which just happens to be us. If you want peace in this world my recommendation is to enter the Lord's flock through Jesus the Door and then stay under the watchful eye of Jesus the Good Shepherd. Think About This: Knowing Psalm 23 is not the same as knowing the Good Shepherd. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word
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John 11:11-14, 40-44 -He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep." The disciples then said to Him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep. So Jesus then said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead…
Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. "I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me." When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth." The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." NASU
How do you and I need to view death? We need to see it exactly as Jesus viewed it. He saw death exactly like you and I view someone who is sleeping. Have you ever been asked by someone to go and wake someone who is sleeping? Your mother may have asked you to go and wake your brother, sister, father or grandfather to come and eat dinner. You said okay and went in and woke them from their sleep. You didn't hesitate to accept this responsibility because you knew you could do it. Well, the same way you and I walked into where they were sleeping to awake them from sleeping, Jesus is able to wake someone with the same ease when they have died. Stop and think about that for a moment. Jesus can raise the dead as easily as you can wake someone from their sleep. A person who is sleeping and a person who has died is the same to Jesus. He can wake them both up so they can carry on with life.
It doesn't have the power to defeat me because I know Jesus. Lazarus died and was dead four days. Jesus went to where they had put him in a tomb and told him to come out of there. Now not everyone believes in Jesus, but I do. There is no doubt in my mind as Jesus resurrected Lazarus He will resurrect me. In Revelation, we are told Jesus has the keys to death and Hades. When death takes us Jesus will come and unlock death's door and free us. If you believe in Jesus He will likewise bring you into Eternal Life. The apostle Paul stated it this way in Romans 8:11 - But if the Spirit of Him(God) who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Acts 2:38- Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. I repented of my sinful way of life 45 years ago. I was baptized (immersed) into Jesus Christ and God forgave me of my sins and placed within me the Holy Spirit. This same Spirit that resurrected Jesus will resurrect all of those who believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God, according to Romans 8:11 and that is a promise from God. I am thankful the Holy Spirit lives in me. I hope He lives in you. Think About This: When we die we leave behind all we have and take with us all we are. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word 1 Samuel 29:6-9 - Then Achish called David and said to him, "As the LORD lives, you have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the army are pleasing in my sight; for I have not found evil in you from the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, you are not pleasing in the sight of the lords. "Now therefore return and go in peace, that you may not displease the lords of the Philistines."
David said to Achish, "But what have I done? And what have you found in your servant from the day when I came before you to this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?" But Achish replied to David, "I know that you are pleasing in my sight, like an angel of God; nevertheless the commanders of the Philistines have said, 'He must not go up with us to the battle.' NASU
The Philistines were about to go to war with King Saul and David was going with Achish, the King of Gath, but the Philistine lords didn't trust David as Achish did. Achish had no choice but to dismiss David. David wanted to go and fight with Achish against the Israelites, but he wasn't permitted to do so. Would David have actually fought against Saul and the Israelites? This question will never be answered because he was dismissed and sent back home.
Can you see what I see? If David and his men would have been allowed to stay and fight with Achish what a disastrous outcome this would have been for their families. The real blessing was David being told they could not fight with the Philistines and they must leave. When they arrive home they discover their families really need them to come and save them from the Amalekites. David and 400 of his men pursue the Amalekites, they overtake them and rescue all of their family members and everything that was taken was recovered.
When you and I don't get what we want the best thing we can do is give our LORD time to show us what He will give us is more important than what we want. David didn't get to fight with Achish, but he did get to fight with his men and during this fight, they saved all of their families. It is really easy to see which fight David and his men needed to be involved with at this time. You and I might want to be going in one direction but the LORD wants us to go another way. We must always remember God is the One who is omniscient and we are not. Think About This: Always remember that a man is not rewarded for having brains, but for using them. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Matt 20:1-15 - "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard."When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. "And he went out …about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day long?' "They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.' He said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too.'
"When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first.' "When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a denarius. "When those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius."When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner, saying, 'These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us … "But he answered and said to one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? 'Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. 'Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? NASU
We are the eleventh-hour workers, not the first ones hired. When you see yourself as an eleventh-hour worker your perspective of this parable will change. God wishes to GIVE us something. Something we didn't earn it. He wants to give us Grace. The first workers knew exactly how much they were going to receive. They hired on for one day for one denarius and at the end of the day that is exactly what they received. That wasn't Grace that was earned wages. On the other hand, the other workers the ones who went out at the 3rd, 6th, 9th and 11th hour didn't know what their pay was going to be. It was told them to go "And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the market place; and to those he said, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.' I am sure none of the workers from the 3rd hour to the 11th hour thought they were going to receive a denarius. We would not expect to be paid for 8 hours if we worked 2, 4 or 6 hours. We would try and find out what the hourly wage was and then we would multiply it times the hours we worked and if we did that we would not be receiving GRACE we would be receiving our wages.
Here is what the apostle Paul has to say about wages: Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. It is my desire this Pump Up does exactly what it is designed for and that is to give you a spiritual boost. It is up to you. Do you want to be like the first workers hired and receive your wages? This would be a bad idea, a very bad idea. Or perhaps now that you have had time to think these over you are a 3rd, 6th, 9th or 11th-hour worker and you are so thankful because you want to receive what God wants to give you, GRACE. You and I don't deserve heaven not even for a split second, but God wants to GRACIOUSLY give us heaven or as Paul says, "Eternal Life." Think About This: What you are is God's gift to you, what you become is your gift to God. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word |
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