Jesus | Revelations From The Road

Chosen

December 13, 2019 by Bill Leave a Comment

Chosen (Adjective) – Having been selected as the best or most appropriate. Chosen. This word came to me recently while driving home from Charlottesville, (a revelation from the road). I heard something in a song which started the ideas coming. Then different parts and applications relating to Christmas began to form in my mind which led to a complete teaching. Over the next three posts, we will look at these applications.

First, Jesus was chosen: “God chose Him as your ransom long before the world began,” (1 Peter 1:20 NLT). God had and still has a plan. It’s hard for us to understand from the Garden of Eden to Noah and the great flood how sin has messed up God’s plan…but has it? God’s plan involved Jesus before the world began and you know He knew all that would happen before that night in Bethlehem. I can imagine the scene in Heaven when Father God might have said, “Son, it’s time.” To which Jesus replied, “Okay Father, I’m ready, let’s go.” “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10).

Jesus was chosen. He came for a purpose. He was the “best and most appropriate” to carry out God’s ultimate plan. CHOSEN!

The Path

November 6, 2019 by Bill Leave a Comment

Friends, if you want to read a before-and-after report of the world from God’s standpoint, look at Isaiah 34 and 35. It will shock you or encourage you but will remind you that you don’t want to be a part of the “before” world. Go read it sometime soon. (If you haven’t made the decision to be a part of the “after” world, do that today!

In this Old Testament prophesy, Isaiah is speaking of things to come. “And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it.” (Isaiah 35:8). But recently, God reminded me, again, about the path we travel here on earth in order to get to that Heavenly Highway. In Psalms, King David mentions this path: “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” (Psalms 16:11). Our loving, forgiving, and patient Father has made known to us this path and the benefits of walking there. Picture this: Jesus is standing on the Path as you may be lagging behind or wanting to go off on a side road. He says as He points ahead, “Child, this is the right way, come on.” Then when you go and stand on His right, you’re filled with His joy and unimaginable blessings. That’s the path we need to be on.

Many times, God has shown me visions of lessons related to a “path”. His Path is the right one to be on but, so many times, we wander off the Path to investigate a lie of the devil or an interesting looking exit sign. And Jesus shakes His head and says, “There they go again, when are they going to learn?” Stay on the Path because there are wonderful things there along the way not to mention the rewards on that “Way of Holiness”. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11). Come on, join Jesus on The Path.

What A Day!

July 15, 2019 by Bill Leave a Comment

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55: 8-9)

Today, I received another confirmation from our all-knowing, loving God. He really cares about us!

I used to sing in a gospel quartet and one of the songs we sang was “What A Day That Will Be”.

What a day that will be when my Jesus I will see.
When I look upon His face, the one who saved me by His grace.
When He takes me by the hand and leads me to the Promised Land.
What a day, glorious day that will be.

I still remember this chorus as we sang it acapella at the end and the image I got imagining how that day would be. What a day!

Today, I was reminded, which confirmed, something God had told me last week about the passing of my brother-in-law, Petie Nelson. He had been sick for awhile and, of course, we were all praying for his healing. One day, as I was driving and following the instructions in Matthew 7:7, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:” and the New Living Translation which says, “Ask and keep on asking,”. Well, I had been asking repeatedly, according to that verse, that my brother-in-law would be healed. Then, I heard the song on my radio, “Haven’t Seen It Yet” by Danny Gokey, which encourages people, when you don’t see the answer to your prayers, to not give up, don’t stop praying because you just haven’t seen it yet. So, I kept on praying for his healing, expecting to see it but that God’s will would be done. Well, Petie did not make it this time and went on to Heaven but we believe that God’s will was done, His thoughts and plans were higher than ours. We didn’t “see” what we wanted to see but God is in control and we thank Him.

Today, I heard that song again and remembered my previous prayers. I asked God, “Lord, we didn’t see Petie’s healing, what about that?” Immediately, in my Spirit, I received this reply, “Petie is visiting with Jesus, walking the streets of gold and he is seeing it all. YOU just haven’t seen it yet!” Oh, what a comfort that was. God knows what He’s doing, and His thoughts and plans ARE much higher than mine. And, someday, I and all of us who have accepted Jesus into our hearts, will “see” it all. What a glorious day that will be!

What’s Important for Kids

February 4, 2019 by Bill Leave a Comment

I’ve been telling Bible stories to my grandkids for years and now have branched out to a few churches and schools sharing God’s Word in story form. It’s so important for children to know the Bible, Jesus and the Christian life and I’m amazed at what these kids remember. Recently, I did a teaching titled, “Can God Use Kids?” in which I told of a few times in the Bible where God used kids to help meet a need. Then, in my morning devotion recently, I read about laying a Biblical foundation for our children so, I guess, that’s what God wants us to think about.

Let’s think about what foundation we’re laying for our kids and grandkids. The apostle Paul said, “I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 3:10-11). If we don’t lay the Jesus foundation and build on that over the years, someone else will! We have to set the foundation and build on it. That’s what’s important!

A sentence in my devotion said, “Let your children know they were born for a special purpose and as they walk with God, He’ll reveal it to them.” This was the theme of my teaching too. But then, I got this vision of what that sentence might look like: God and a little kid are walking together on a path and the child says, “God, I heard that you have this big, wonderful plan for me, what is it?” God says, “That’s right, I’ve planned for you to do some great things but I can’t tell you all about it right now. Let’s keep walking together and I’ll teach you about it little by little. And your parents and others are going to help too.” We need to make sure our children know that they are great in God’s eyes and He has a great plan for them as they grow and mature. That’s what’s important!

We sometimes tend to focus on things that are not eternally going to last like status, things, sports, etc. Establish the foundation of Jesus then you can add some of these other things but keep your and your children’s focus on Jesus. That’s what’s important!

“And you must think constantly about these commandments I am giving you today. You must teach them to your children and talk about them when you are at home or out for a walk; at bedtime and the first thing in the morning.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)

The Past?

January 31, 2019 by Bill Leave a Comment

Recently our Pastor, Wayne Hager at Zion Family Ministries, preached on “The Past” and how our past is in the past, over, done with. But what does our enemy the devil keep bringing up to our remembrance? Yep, our past. We all have a past, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” (Romans 3:23). We’ve all done things we’re not proud of but it’s in the past. If we’ve accepted Jesus as our Savior and Lord, He has covered our past with His blood of forgiveness. “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” (Ephesians 1:7). So why do we keep listening to the devil and grieving over our past? We can’t be looking back and be successful in going forward. Now, granted, there are things in our past that are good that we should remember. When we got saved, when God brought us through a trial, when we accomplished something good, when someone was kind to us or we were kind to them. These are things we can be encouraged by but God wants us to know, “Yes, those things were good but I’ve got some great new things planned for you.” “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!” (Isaiah 43:18-19).

So as I’m listening to Pastor Wayne, I get this image of what he’s preaching. See if you can #pictureit: We’re standing on a long narrow path with God. It’s out in the country near the sea and on our left, toward the sea, sits all the bad things we have done in our past; the things the devil keeps bring up. God turns to you and says, “Do you want to keep dealing with all that stuff or do you want to move on?” To which you reply, “No Lord, I’m sorry for all that.” Then, nodding His head, He says, “Okay, I’ll take care of it.” Then He goes over and begins tearing down all the mess of our past, loads it up and takes it and dumps it in the sea! He comes back and we ask, “Lord, where’d it all go?” And He replies, “Where’d what go?” “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (Hebrews 8:12). Thank you God!

But that’s not the end of it in this vision. God then goes over to the right and begins bringing out all these building materials and sets them in the path. We ask, “God, what’s all that for?” He says, “These are the building materials for your new life.” “Are you ready to get started?” “If so, get your work gloves on and let’s go.” Now, can you imagine someone, at this time, who would ask God to wait a minute while they go back to the sea and try to bring up something from their past? Certainly not! Don’t do that! The apostle Paul said it this way: “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14). We all have that prize waiting up ahead and God has called us to go for it. He’ll go with us all the way and we WILL achieve His goals for us. But we can’t go forward with God if we’re always stopping and looking or going back. Your past? Forget about it!

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