Repent and live!

We are quick to call to a day of prayer and fasting in our churches and even in our nation still.

What we are not quick to do, is call for a day of repentance. Prayer, worship and fasting without a repentant heart is worthless it is vanity and pride and will not be heard by God for He is Holy and will not regard iniquity in our hearts.

Repentance is the first step in salvation when we acknowledge our sin and repent, it is also required of us to come before God repentance is required when we sin against God.

Daniel chapter 9 tells us Daniel repented for himself and his people, because they sinned greatly against God, Psalm 51 David repented of his sins and turned back to God.

The Church today needs to repent, we as the body of Christ have gotten so far off message we no longer speak of repentance, consequences or judgment.

Make no mistake restoration and healing will not come without repentance.

This Christmas as we celebrate Christ let us remember what He said. As we share Jesus with those around us.

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the good news! ”

Mark 1:15

Israel, (we) return to Yahweh your God, for you have stumbled in your sin. Take words of repentance with you and return to the Lord . Say to Him: “Forgive all our sin and accept what is good, so that we may repay You with praise from our lips. Assyria will not save us, we will not ride on horses, and we will no longer proclaim, ‘Our gods! ’ to the work of our hands. For the fatherless receives compassion in You.” I will heal their apostasy; I will freely love them, for My anger will have turned from him. I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily and take root like the cedars of Lebanon. His new branches will spread, and his splendor will be like the olive tree, his fragrance, like the forest of Lebanon. The people will return and live beneath his shade. They will grow grain and blossom like the vine. His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim, why should I have anything more to do with idols? It is I who answer and watch over him. I am like a flourishing pine tree; your fruit comes from Me. Let whoever is wise understand these things, and whoever is insightful recognize them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.

Hosea 14:1-9

What happened on Saturday between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday?

Some consider Saturday to be a day of nothing but fear and unrest, and for Jesus followers it probably was.

But not for Jesus.

Jesus though His body lay in the tomb, He was not there.

Ephesians 4:8-10 ESV

Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”  (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)

1 Peter 3:18-22 ESV

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

*"The word "preached" in verse 19 is not the usual word in the New Testament to describe the preaching of the gospel. It literally means to herald a message.

Jesus suffered and died on the Cross, His body being put to death, and His spirit died when He was made sin. But His spirit was made alive and He yielded it to the Father. According to Peter, sometime between His death and His resurrection Jesus made a special proclamation to "the spirits in prison."

To begin with, Peter referred to people as "souls" and not "spirits" (3:20). In the New Testament, the word "spirits" is used to describe angels or demons, not human beings, and verse 22 seems to bear out this meaning.

Nowhere in the Bible are we told that Jesus visited hell. Acts 2:31 says that He went to "Hades" (New American Standard Bible), but "Hades" is not hell. The word "Hades" refers to the realm of the dead, a temporary place where they await the resurrection.

Revelation 20:11-15 in the NASB or the New International Version give a clear distinction between the two.

Hell is the permanent and final place of judgment for the lost. Hades is a temporary place.

Our Lord yielded His spirit to the Father, died, and at some time between death and resurrection, visited the realm of the dead where He delivered a message to spirit beings (probably fallen angels; see Jude 6) who were somehow related to the period before the flood in Noah's time. Verse 20 makes this clear. Peter did not tell us what He proclaimed to these imprisoned spirits, but it could not be a message of redemption since angels cannot be saved (Hebrews 2:16).

It was probably a declaration of victory over Satan and his hosts Colossians 2:14-15, 20 ESV

by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.  If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—
(Also re read.)1 Peter 3:22;.

Ephesians 4:8-10 also seems to indicate that Christ went to “paradise” (Luke 16:20; 23:43) and took to heaven all those who had believed in Him prior to His death.

The passage doesn’t give a great amount of detail about what occurred, but most Bible scholars agree that this is what is meant by “led captivity captive.”

So, all that to say, the Bible isn’t entirely clear what exactly Christ did for the three days between His death and resurrection. It does seem, though, that He was preaching victory over the fallen angels and/or unbelievers. What we can know for sure is that Jesus was not giving people a second chance for salvation.

The Bible tells us that we face judgment after death (Hebrews 9:27), not a second chance. There isn't really any definitively clear answer for what Jesus was doing for the time between His death and resurrection. Perhaps this is one of the mysteries we will understand once we reach glory."*

If today your soul is held captive, know this Jesus paid the price for your freedom,  Today is the day of salvation, do not harden your hearts.

*A portion of this is from http://www.gotquestions.org/did-Jesus-go-to-hell.html

A year of Jubilee

The year our Lord Jesus Christ was born was a year of Jubilee, the year of Jubilee is quite special in Jewish heritage.

"The Jubilee year is the completion of the sabbatical years. Every 7 years God commanded Israel to take an entire Sabbath year. A full year of rest. Enjoy His presence. But every 7th cycle of 7 years (so every 49 years) Israel threw an incredible party that entailed a few things like large scale debt getting cancelled, slaves would be set free, and God’s presence would be particularly manifest in the year of Jubilee. And during Jubilee they were commanded to celebrate, party, sign, dance, and shout". ( from Jefferson Bethke )

When you read the genealogy of Matthew 1 you can see the importance of the list of names because it is pointing to the celebration of Jubilee that we still celebrate today. Every word, every name is written in the word of God for a reason, not by chance, not random thought's, but for a reason. We might not understand them at first, but with guidance from the Holy Spirit, and a little research you can see the wonder of God's word.

Christ came in the year of Jubilee to cancel our spiritual debts. All who where slaves to sin are set free through Him. All who still are slaves to sin can only be set free through Him. This is one of the reasons we celebrate the work God has done, and is doing through the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. When Christ came He brought with Him an entire way of living, loving, and knowing God.

This Christmas season celebrate the year of jubilee, if your free today from the chains of sin in you're life thank Jesus Christ, and if you're not then seek Him out today, and He will reveal the truths,the scriptures tell us to seek and you will find.

Matthew 1:1-25 HCSB

The  historical record   of Jesus Christ, the Son of David,  the Son of Abraham: Abraham fathered  Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob, Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers, Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Aram, Aram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered King David. Then  David fathered Solomon by Uriah’s wife, Solomon fathered Rehoboam, Rehoboam fathered Abijah, Abijah fathered Asa, Asa  fathered Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat fathered Joram, Joram fathered Uzziah, Uzziah fathered Jotham, Jotham fathered Ahaz, Ahaz fathered Hezekiah, Hezekiah fathered Manasseh, Manasseh fathered Amon, Amon fathered Josiah, and Josiah fathered Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon. Then after the exile to Babylon Jechoniah fathered Shealtiel, Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel fathered Abiud, Abiud fathered Eliakim, Eliakim fathered Azor, Azor fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered Achim, Achim fathered Eliud, Eliud fathered Eleazar, Eleazar fathered Matthan, Matthan fathered Jacob, and Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary, who gave birth to  Jesus who is called the Messiah. So all the generations from Abraham to David were 14 generations; and from David until the exile to Babylon, 14 generations; and from the exile to Babylon until the Messiah, 14 generations. The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After His mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit.   So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man,  and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly. But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit.   She will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus,   because He will save His people from their sins.” Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name Him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.” When Joseph got up from sleeping, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her   but did not know her intimately until she gave birth to a son.  And he named Him Jesus.

John 8:34:36 Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. "And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.