Biblical Commentary

 

 

 

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who is the Messiah

 

in the beginning
i was born a Jew
a child of Abraham
into one of the tribes of Jacob
but to this very day i cannot say
which tribe
because all the records were destroyed
by the hand of the Lord
directing the Roman army in 70 AD
thereby removing the way forever
that i could prove i am a Jew
with no way remaining
to see if it is true

when i was just a small boy
i was told by my grandfather
whose name was Jacob too
about our God
and how He loves us and will pursue
His chosen ones to the ends of the earth
because He loves us and believes we are worth
the opportunity to love Him too
and he also told me
that if i love God and am willing to follow Him
wherever He leads me every day of my life
even through the valleys of pain and strife
He will protect me and keep me close to His heart
so that i will be a precious part
of His congregation here on earth
every day and in every way
His precious worth

many things have transpired
as i sought after all that i desired
from this world
and then one day
in the summer of 1990
i heard my neighbor and friend Paul say
did you know that Jesus is the Messiah
your people have been waiting for
all these many years
at first i was taken aback
but then
i responded in my worldly arrogance
not a chance
because if He is the Messiah
then my grandfather would have told me
and then
i went on my merry way
forgetting what he said that day
until once again he did say
Jesus is the Messiah
and i responded the same way
if He is my grandfather would have told me
so this exchange between friends
happened again and again
until one day i said
that’s not true and i will prove it to you
and he said
how are you going to do that

well
i had no clue
how to pursue
the proof i needed
so i stepped back and heeded
what my gut was telling me to do
and so
i began reading the Tanakh
starting in the beginning
with Genesis
and by the time i finished Deuteronomy
i finally understood what it meant to be a Jew
go figure
and then i read what the prophets had to say
about the promise of the coming Messiah
and what He would be like
and what He would do
for His people
one day

so then
i had to ask my self again
now what do i do
to prove Jesus is not the Messiah
that He is not the One
my people have been waiting for
all these many years
and then i instantly knew
i had to open a new door
to find what i am looking for
the time has come
for me to begin to read the New Testament
to find out what it says about Jesus
and so i did
starting with the book of Matthew
who
oh by the way
was a Jew
writing to a Jewish audience
and so i started reading that day
to see what Matthew had to say
and it got very interesting
very quickly
to me

and so
i then compared
everything i dared
everything the New Testament
said about Jesus
following the cross references
back through the Old Testament
rabbit trails
through hills and dales
to where the prophesies
about the Messiah
were claimed to have been fulfilled
by Jesus
by the gospel writers
Matthew Mark Luke and John
and even Paul
and the author of Hebrews too

and so
after about six months
of going back and forth
between the Old and the New
matching prophesies of the Messiah
to the fulfillments in Jesus the Christ
and joining my friend Paul
and his family at church
so then
i was just sitting there in church one sunday morning
in december of 1990
listening to the sermon
but not really paying attention to what was being said
thinking about all the things i had read
about Jesus and the about Messiah
and then a light went on in my head
and i said to Jesus
you are the One
aren’t you
and immediately
it was like a veil was removed
from my eyes and heart
and i saw Jesus clearly
looking back at me
and i could see God’s plan
for humanity
through all of eternity
confirming everything i read
about the living and the dead

and so
from that day on
i grew to know the Messiah first hand
i grew to understand
that his name is Jesus
and that i now stand
as an adopted son of the Father in heaven
and i began to grow and walk in his footsteps
following him wherever he chooses to lead me
and doing whatever he asked me to do in his name
and to proclaim his story
to everyone who will listen
about his loving glory
throughout all of history
past
present
and the future
that will be coming

 

Copyright © by Ken Gilbert. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

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revelation churches

 

revelation churches no longer stand
within the cities of an ancient land
destroyed by time and those that disobey
the Lord’s commandments that goodness convey

each magnificent candlestick burned bright
in the court of heaven with the Lord’s light
until the forces of darkness crept in
to chase away all goodness with their sin

the Lord of glory warned them to hold fast
to all they learned from beginning to last
when first His touch opened their eyes and heart
to know that His grace has set them apart

but many church goers have walked away
because they shunned not evil every day
and allowed deceitfulness of the flesh
to overwhelm their daily life afresh

they wanted not to know the living God
erecting for themselves a bright facade
strewn with ornaments of power and greed
following the ways of darkness indeed

they were then left to their own devices
in a fallen world of darkened vices
given over for evil to seduce
knowing everyone was without excuse

and many who continued to attend
either loved the Lord God or would pretend
each in their own way wanting to pursue
the shadow of godly goodness anew

but some would only walk in sunday’s light
and every other day in darkened night
because they would never pay the true price
when only their faith could ever suffice

through it all God would always choose His own
who from before the beginning were known
and then given to His begotten Son
who died in order that their souls be won

 

Copyright © by Ken Gilbert. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

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Lord of eternity

 

give unto the Lord glory due His name
creation of heaven and earth His fame
a strong tower of righteousness His game
and salvation and forgiveness His claim

God gave us His only begotten Son
Jesus of Nazareth the Holy One
to gather His own from under the sun
and wipe every tear away when He’s done

just turn to Him and say i’ve had enough
there’s no way i can do all this stuff
when life in this world has gotten too rough
with evil’s torment to make living tough

forgive my sins and trespasses this day
and give me my appointed faith to say
that Jesus reigns as Lord of life’s new way
and is forever in my heart to stay

therefore will i daily pray for goodness
and His eternal light of righteousness
to fill me with His joyful happiness
so all around will see His true kindness

call humbly upon Him to set you free
knowing He has chosen your destiny
then following obedience the key
for pleasing the Lord of eternity

 

Copyright © by Ken Gilbert. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

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call your children

 

you call your children from a far country
where they have wandered many untold years
because they could not shed idolatry
long established by captivity’s fears

freedom comes only by your outstretched hand
gently touching an unsuspecting heart
guiding them in the direction you plan’d
long before you ever set them apart

you bestow your gift of faith in abundance
for discerning your heart and will each day
and teach them to walk in obedience
in order that your goodness they display

you are the Lord God of all creation
the Holy One to whom all glory due
the only One to offer salvation
in order that your goodness they pursue

your children stand witness to the darkness
of those who deny your true existence
and make for themselves idols in likeness
of living things to arouse resistance

why then they never consider turning
back to the one true God of creation
even when in emptiness their yearning
points them to the God of restoration

their ego drives them to never obey
the commandments with which they disagree
so then in God’s presence they cannot stay
since their evil demands death’s guarantee

send out then many prophets with your word
amidst the congregation of the dead
ready to tell them justice will be heard
before the coming of disaster’s dread

tell them open your heart to Glory’s voice
speaking directly to your heart of stone
so that the Lord of Goodness may rejoice
and change your heart to be His very own

hear Him for His loving kindness spoken
directly to the darkness of your soul
knowing that to His truth you must harken
broken for His goodness to take control

and He will place you on His highest hill
so that through you His light may shine abroad
and through you His goodness He will fulfill
throughout a land where darkness death applaud

bow down then before the Lord your maker
in honor of the glory due His name
and receive His shed blood as partaker
of the goodness all His children proclaim

 

Copyright © by Ken Gilbert. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

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choose

 

above all stands my God mighty and true
with hand outstretched to those who clearly see
decide within your heart whom to pursue
and so doing will ever define thee
ask of Him your innermost desire
with patience to direct your countenance
make known to Him whom you most admire
God’s great goodness or your own impudence
see Him to whom all glory due today
with love’s expectation filling your heart
announce acceptance of your debt repay
when His merciful grace sets you apart
       choose you to follow after worldly lusts
       or follow Him whose treasure never rusts

 

Copyright © by Ken Gilbert. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

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The Meek

Matthew 5:5

 

Jesus tells us “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.”

Can you tell me: who are the meek that Jesus is referring to, and what character traits do they have?

Dictionary.com tells us that meek means (1) humbly patient or docile, as under provocation from others, (2) overly submissive or compliant; spiritless; tame, and (3) Obsolete . gentle; kind.

In today’s world, one who is meek is typically reviled, and is considered to be a spineless wimp who lets everyone walk all over them.

But this is not what Jesus meant by His use of the word.

Spiros Zohdiates tells us the following (See The Complete Word Study Dictionary, New Testament) for Strong’s 4240, “Meekness, but not in a man’s outward behavior only, nor in his relations to his fellow man or his mere natural disposition. Rather, it is an inwrought grace of the soul, and the expressions of it are primarily toward God. It is that attitude of spirit in which we accept God’s dealings with us as good and do not dispute or resist.”

Jesus calls Himself meek in Matthew 11:29; Scripture tells us that Jesus was meek in Matthew 21:5; and Paul tells us that Jesus was meek in 2 Corinthians 10:1.

According to Scripture, Jesus was humble, patient, docile, submissive, and compliant, as Dictionary.com says, … though, only to the Father’s will, not to the world’s, nor to His own.

We see Jesus’ meekness in the Garden of Gethsemane, where He is willing to submit His will to the Father’s, even when His soul was sorrowful, praying for the Father to remove the coming burden from Him. (See Matthew 26:36-46)

We see first hand the inward grace of Jesus’ soul in the Gethsemane passage, where He was willing to accept the Father’s will without dispute, and without resistance.

How many of us would do the same?

I know I would be the first to try bargaining with God so as not to have to endure the cross, nor the shame; yet Jesus counted it as joy (Hebrews 12:1-2).

What a great example Jesus is for us. He shows us how to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him (Matthew 16:24), no matter where He leads us.

It’s important to remember that Jesus learned obedience through suffering (Hebrews 5:8), and we are not greater than our Lord (John 13:16).

Jesus modeled meekness for us, so there would be no doubt about what it really looks like, so we could see first hand the inward grace of His soul, His willingness to accept God’s dealings with Him without dispute or resistance.

We are to follow His lead to be meek; and when we do, His promise to us is that we will inherit the earth. That is to say, everything that is His will be ours too. We are after all joint heirs with Him (Romans 8:17).

As followers of Jesus, our promised inheritance is the redemption of our soul through His blood, for which we have the Holy Spirit as down payment (Ephesians 1:7, 13-14); and then we will get to dwell with Jesus for all eternity (John 14:1-4).

Thus, the new heaven and the new earth will belong to all of us who are meek, to all who believe Jesus is the Son of the living God, that He died on the cross for our sins, was raised the third day from death to life, and sits for all eternity at the right hand of the Father on His throne in heaven.

The whole earth will belong to us, who are the meek, who are the followers of Jesus Christ, Lord of Lords and King of Kings, God with us.

 

 

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Copyright Notice: Copyright © by Ken Gilbert. All rights reserved.

The writings on this web page have been gifted to me by the Lord of all Creation, and they are posted here for neither fame nor fortune, but rather as requested by their true author for a gift to all who choose to read them.  If you choose to use them without proper credit to this website, their human author will definitely turn the other cheek; however, their true author reserves the right to use any means He sees fit to extract proper payment for their use.

 

 

 

 

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As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.  Joshua 24:15