Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.
Luke 17:33 KJV
He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
Matthew 10:39 KJV
Perhaps one of the most enigmatic phrases to the carnal observer would be this one, largely because it is so simple. He has hidden things from the wise and prudent, and revealed them to babes. Instinctive to nearly every human being who has not been otherwise affected is the basic drive for self-survival, self-preservation. It is at a core part of their being. In a human realm, such as in gangs and the mafia, only a greater fear than death itself is capable of overcoming such an innate, core part of our human nature. We fear death, and losing our self, and yet, this is at the core of not only the Gospel, yet of love itself. To love is to lose yourself, and yet retain it.
This verse is perplexing only in a natural sense, however, to mind of man, and not to God. Many have of course tried to fulfill this in their flesh, only to fail again and again, and some have set up whole camps for doctrines of thought around the whole idea that we should simply not try and just “let God”. While this may sound wonderfully and spiritual, the plain fact remains that we were given instruction for a reason, if we could just know how to apply it!
Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Matthew 6:9-10 (portion)
His Kingdom is an Eternal Kingdom. As He is never changing, neither is His Kingdom. Jesus’ prayer for His disciples was that it would be on the Earth here even as it is there, in the Heavens.
When we pray for His Kingdom, we are not praying for a kingdom some day to show upon the Earth and rule physically in the world, although that may be a portion of its manifestation some day. But, as the Holy Ghost is invisible, and He is like the wind which is here but you don’t know where it comes from or where it goes, so is the Kingdom by His power.
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.
John 3:16-21
This seems to me one of the most commonly referenced and the littlest truly studied passages in the Bible. It is one of the best tools for evangelism, for it sums up the entirety of the message of Jesus in one little place. It may be that it is just this writer’s perception that it is one of the littlest studied passages, it maybe that so few people do much in depths studies in the Gospels or otherwise, or, it may just be that it seems that this section is so commonly understood, it must, of course, be understood already. When we come to think over these words, we can wrongly assume we understand them all. Yet, as there is no shadow of turning in God, it stands to reason, that if we could plumb the depths of any passage, without taking it grossly out of context, and know the fullness of the weight of the words in the realm of Heaven, we would know Him much better than we know now. Suffice to say, these words are spirit, and they are life.
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 personally seen my face, that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself,in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge
Colossians 2:1-3
It is by faith alone that we understand the mystery of God, namely, Christ. It is by faith alone that we come to see who He really is. Who He is, in all of His depth, width, breadth, and length, is the mystery, the great secret of God.
Through all of the Mosaic law, through all of the tabernacle, through all of the feasts, it is Jesus that there, right there. He is the heavenly tabernacle, He is the rock in the wilderness. He is the scarlet thread hanging in Rahab’s window. He is the branch cast upon the waters to make the ax-head float.
What is one of the simplest ways to teach faith? The Beatitudes.
Right here, the Teacher demonstrates one of the simplest ways. As small as it is, it can grow to be the largest of all “garden plants”.
Take any dire situation you have as a Christian. Take any lack, or any shortage, any place where your feel worn thin, and pressed hard. Everyone encounters these, and even Jesus said that we would experience storms, even when we were built upon the rock.
Most Happy are those who are poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
He who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought.
1 Corinthians 8:2 (paraphrase)
The most interesting thing about the gospel is that, you could have all the words right, you could say all the right things, have all the right demeanor and mannerism, you could know when to shout and how to dance, but you could be just as much of a devil as Judas was. That’s right. It’s what’s on the inside that counts.
You don’t have what it takes. You never have, and you never will. If you can do it, it isn’t God, and it needs to die.
In a stable, outside an inn, Jesus came in the flesh, God became man, and dwelt among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the only begotten, full of grace and truth.
God gave Moses the tabernacle, the law, and the seat of government over the children of Israel. He specified every detail, the number of poles, the size of the curtains, and even the number and material of each clasp. Nothing was overlooked.
The more I read and understand the Beatitudes, Matthew 5:3-12, the happier I get. Hugely Happy. Ultra Happy. Maximumly Happy. Macro happy even, which is what the word translated “blessed” actually means, if you look it up. It doesn’t mean “blessed”. That would be eulegio. This is Macagredso… horribly transliterated, but… macro + agredso… macro meaning big, agredso meaning… well… HAPPY! Read more…
Now, Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1
Substance is “hypo-stasis” in the Greek. Hypo meaning “beneath”, and stasis meaning “the state, status, or structure of a thing”. That is, the underlying, inherent nature of an object, its foundation, its unseen, non-physical yet spiritual essence. Whether it is an apple, a thought, or a person, to have faith in or for something is to have it for real, whether or not you see it manifested in the natural. For example, if you say, “I believe such and such will happen”, that is hope. If you have the substance of the thing hoped for, the very reality of that thing, though yet unseen, that is what Faith is.
Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.
