Ray Ruppert's Blog, page 5

Kingdom of God

 Luke 21:29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know thatthe kingdom of God is near.

 As I read this today, I stopped and realized that just a fewdays ago, I read:   

 Luke 17:20-21 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come,he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here itis!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

 So which is it? Is the kingdom of God in our midst or is itstill coming or is it here? In Luke 21, Jesus states this because His disciplesasked Him when His prophecy that the temple would be destroyed. In Luke 17, Heis replying to the Pharisees.

It doesn’t help when we add Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,and all these things will be added to you.” The kingdom of God is used sixty-seventimes in the ESV Bible. Add some more confusion and you will find the kingdomof heaven used thirty-two times and only in Matthew.

Another interesting fact is that John only refers to thekingdom when he quotes Jesus in John 3:3-5;

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom ofGod.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Canhe enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you,unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

One more day and I’m reading again about the kingdom of God.

 Luke 22:16, For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in thekingdom of God. 18 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruitof the vine until the kingdom of God comes.

Luke 22:28-30 28 “You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, 29 and I assign to you, as my Fatherassigned to me, a kingdom, 30 that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit onthrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

 What do I say about all this? What do I learn and what do Iapply to my life? I often just focus on the takeaway for myself, what I need todo, not do, or change. The kingdom of God has more than one meaning. To the Phariseesand Nicodemus as well as me and my daily life, the kingdom is spiritual. It issomething I must seek now, not something that is only in the future.  Matthew 6:10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as itis in heaven.

It is part of our daily prayer that His kingdom should be inmy heart and life every day. I am in His kingdom when I’m doing His will. Inthat sense, His kingdom is in my midst as I recognize and participate in theChurch, the Body of Christ.

It is also a future kingdom that is more than spiritual.There will be a physical kingdom when Jesus reigns on earth. It will be akingdom with people who are ruling over others and there will be a governmentthat has the Apostles ruling over Israel. Where will I be?

 Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection!Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and ofChrist, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

 Somehow, I will be in some position of authority withChrist. I won’t be alone, and I don’t know how it will work. But this is whatScripture says. But there is also this caveat. Revelation 3:8 “The one who conquers, I willgrant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with myFather on his throne.”  

I need to be a conquer if I want to be part of ruling withChrist. I can be by abiding in Christ, depending on the Holy Spirit forholiness, and trusting that Jesus will complete in me what He started (Phil 1:6).

Copyright by Ray Ruppert

Be Strong

 In Joshua 23, Joshua is old and advanced in years as he encouragesIsrael:

 Josh 23:6-8

Therefore, be very strong to keep and to do all that is written inthe Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right handnor to the left, 7 that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you ormake mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bowdown to them, 8 but you shall cling to the Lord your God just as you have done tothis day.

What are the things that can lead me astray?

1.      Notdoing the things that are in the Bible. Not being in the Word daily leads tonot remembering what I need to do.

2.      Notturning to the right or left. That means I must not add to God’s Word by makingup things to do or thinking that some things I know I need to do are not forme.

3.      I’mnot to mix with the nations. Romans 12:1 “Do not be conformed to this world,but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discernwhat is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect,” comes tomind. I just read in today’s paper that a Pentecostal church in South Africa engagesin mass polygamous marriage ceremonies on Easter as it has incorporated Africanculture.This is an extreme example of mixing with the nations.

Rather than do the things that will lead me astray, I amsimply to cling to the Lord my God. In the rest of the chapter, Joshua encouragesIsrael and me.

1.   Hehas driven out the nations (Josh 23:9) – Jesus has driven out sin by His deathon the cross. We still have a war to fight though. I am a citizen of a newcountry, the Kingdom of God and Christ (Phil 3:20).

2.   Rememberthat none of God’s promises has failed (Josh 23:14). I can remember all the promisesJesus has given to tell me that I have eternal life.

3.   Ican abide in Jesus as He says in John 15:1-11. When I abide in Jesus, I willbear the fruit of a Christian.

Thank you, Jesus, that what Joshua had to say to Israelstill applies to me today.

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/a-pentecostal-church-in-south-africa-holds-mass-easter-weddings-for-3000-people-some-polygamous/

Copyright by Ray Ruppert

Hasdê for All Generations

Psalm 89:1

I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord , forever;

with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness toall generations.

Steadfast love is one word in Hebrew is Hasdê (kheh'-sed).It is often translated as loving kindness, mercy, goodness, great love, unfailinglove, or love. I asked Copilot to look it up and it came up with this:

It denotes morethan a simple emotional feeling; it represents an active commitment to kindnessand faithfulness that binds relationships, especially in the framework ofcovenants. In biblical usage, the term not only expresses natural benevolencebut also the kind of loyal, covenantal love that is expected between God andHis people, as well as among individuals. When God’s hesedis described, it speaks to His unwavering commitment and enduringcompassion—even when human conduct falls short of perfect duty.

This is the kind of love we celebrate every day, butespecially on Easter. God’s faithfulness is one manifestation of his  Hasdê. We are blessed to see this cometogether in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for us as well as the Fatherchoosing us before the foundation of the earth. He keeps His promises. That’swhy it is up to us to be obedient to Him to declare this Hasdê in JesusChrist to all generations.

Happy Easter – He is Risen.

https://www.abarim-publications.com/Dictionary/ht/ht-sa-d.html

https://biblehub.com/hebrew/2618.htm

 

Copyright by Ray Ruppert

Hope?

Prov 13:12

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

I pondered this a while and wasn’t sure why the Bible wouldsay that deferred hope is a problem. After all, don’t we hope in our salvationculminating in eternal glory in heaven? Hebrews 11:1 says, “Nowfaith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”So, hope in the Christian sense is deferred until we go to be with Jesus or Hecalls us home.

Likewise, when a desire is fulfilled, does it give us life?That also doesn’t seem to jive with Christian faith. It isn’t that we can’tenjoy some things in this world as 1 Timothy 6:17 says, “God, who richlyprovides us with everything to enjoy.”

I had to ask Matthew Henry what he thought about it, and I hadto do a head smack. The proverb isn’t talking about eternal life but is awarning about putting out hope in the wrong things. When we our hope is in thethings of this world and we don’t get what we hoped for, we are disappointed. Whenwe do get what we hoped for, we get a temporal boost to our feelings. Neitherof these things are necessarily wrong, but some people crash and burn when theydon’t get what they want. Some people get what they want and then they justwant more of what the world has to offer.

The lesson for me is to make sure that I remember that theproverbs often present a worldly perspective. I looked at other translationsand they didn’t help – which is the first thing I normally do. So the secondthing for me is to look at commentaries when something isn’t clear or doesn’tmake sense. Finally, I always need to look to my hope in Christ for everythingor I may end up with heartache or misplaced joy.

Copyright by Ray Ruppert

Born in Zion

Psalm 87:4-6

Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon;

behold, Philistia and Tyre, with Cush—

“This one was born there,” they say.

And of Zion it shall be said,

“This one and that one were born in her”;

for the Most High himself will establish her.

The Lord  records as he registers the peoples,

“This one was born there.”

One of the reasons that I love this Psalm is that it gives atestimony to the fact that in heaven, there will be neither Jew nor Gentile forwe are all one in Jesus Christ (Gal 3:28). Look at those whom the psalmist saysknow the Lord. Rahab – OK, I can see how He would include her – but this Rahabis not a person but the nation Egypt. They treated the Israelites as slaves.How about Babylon – the center of astrology and evil conquerors of Judah? The Philistineswere constantly at war with Israel. Tyre was friendly with David and Solomonbut judged during the times of Isaiah and Jeremiah. Cush was also judged byIsaiah but in Zephaniah they are described as worshipers (Zeph 3:10).

All of these were peoples who were enemies of Israel at onetime or another. Yet the Lord says that they know Him and will register them aspeople born in Zion. The beautiful picture of this is that no matter what wewere before we came to Christ, we are counted as one of His. We may even straybut once we belong to Christ, nothing can separate us from Him.

If I had a passport from the Kingdom of God and Christ, itwould list my birthplace as Zion.

Copyright by Ray Ruppert

God’s Temple

 Psalm 84:1-2

How lovely is your dwelling place,

O Lord  of hosts!

2 My soul longs, yes, faints

for the courts of the Lord;

my heart and flesh sing for joy

to the living God.

 

When I read these words and others like them in Psalms, Ifeel a heart tug to be with You, O Lord. Then there is the reality of thisworld and I’m off doing things. But even the Pharisees must have felt the same way.In Luke 17:20, they asked Jesus when the kingdom of God would come. Jesusanswered that we can’t observe it here or there. But the kingdom of God IS inthe midst of us (Luke 17:21).

Jesus’ kingdom is in me! I don’t have to look for it or feelit because Jesus is in me! I am a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 2:16). If Ihold to what I heard from the beginning, then the Son and the Father willremain in me (1 John 2:24)!

    Psalm 84:10

 For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.

This verse is fulfilled in the Church and every Christianand in me! There is nowhere where I am not in the very presence of God and allof Him is in me.

Copyright by Ray Ruppert

Unworthy Servants

 Luke 17:7-10

 7 “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say tohim when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? 8 Will he not rather say to him,‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eatand drink’? 9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have doneall that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was ourduty.’”

When I visited Pakistan, we talked with a Muslim who hadbeen assigned to protect us. When we thanked him for his service he said, inhumility, that it was his duty. It wasn’t in the sense that he had to do itbecause we were Christians and he didn’t really want to do it, but he saw hisjob in the government as his duty to Allah. When questioned about it, it wasclear that he saw this as the expected attitude for all of life as a goodMuslim.

That impressed me but it also saddened me because he didn’tknow the joy of serving the Lord that we have. I thought of:

Matt25:21

His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant.You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into thejoy of your master.”

How do I reconcile the differences between these passages? WhenI read Luke 17:7-10 I see that it applies to our attitude which should be morelike the Muslim than assuming that we are doing just fine and are worthy of theLord’s “Well done.” Luke didn’t record Jesus’ words in context with anythingelse. This was a snippet of one of His teachings so I can’t explain it away bylooking at what came before or after.

Jesus tells me that if I love Him, I will obey what Hecommands (John 14:15). When have I ever been a servant that completely obeyedour Lord? Never. And I won’t until that day I am presented before Him and thenHe says, “Well done.” Between now and then, I need to be humble and when I haveobeyed, I should say I am an unworthy servant and have at best only done myduty.

Yet, thank you, Jesus, I can look forward to the day when Iwill be rewarded. And then, the glory will go to Jesus because I know that I amonly there, holy and blameless in God’s sight, because of Jesus, not because ofmy own worthiness.

Copyright by Ray Ruppert

Faithful in Little Things.

 

Luke16:10-11

10 “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful inmuch, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 11 If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteouswealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?

As I ponder this, I recognize my need to be faithful inlittle things, even obeying the speed limit when others are going faster. Mywhole life needs to be governed by this theme. If I don’t think small thingsmatter, that I can slip by with little discrepancies in honesty, then how can Iserve the Lord or others in more “important” matters? The Lord will entrust mewith greater ministry only when I have served with honor in small ways.

Copyright by Ray Ruppert

God’s Love

Do you know God’s love? If you do, then why don’t you do thesame thing King David did in Psalm 57:9-11.

I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations;
I will sing of you among the peoples.
For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let your glory be over all the earth.

Think about it. If we really love the Lord, then we willpraise Him among the nations. One thing about the internet is that what we postcan be read, heard, or seen all around the world among all nations.

If I were to sing then it would certainly go viral and be heard among all peoples, but I want it to be about myLord Jesus, not because people laughing at my terrible singing voice.

The reason that I will praise and sing is because of theLord’s great love. It reaches to the heavens. It isn’t about my love for theLord but His love for me and for you. That love is found in Jesus Christ, wholoved us so much that He died on the cross to take away the sins that separateus from His Father, the Lord God Almighty.

His faithfulness reaches to the skies. What a picture of howfaithful our Lord is. He is faithful to keep every one of His promises. When Hepromises eternal life to us through Jesus Christ, we can be sure of being withHim in heaven.

The skies have limits, so it is only appropriate to say theGod is exalted beyond and above even the heavens. So, the prayer of all who aresaved through the blood of Jesus is that the glory of God be over all the earthso that everyone will know He is the Lord.

If you don’t know God’s love through Jesus, then followthese links to find out how. 

https://tinyurl.com/short-gospel 

https://tinyurl.com/one-verse(video) 

https://tinyurl.com/Gospel-video

Tell the whole world about God’s love and faithfulness.#godslove #godsfaitfulness #eternallife #singtogod #praisegod #exaltgod #godspromise

Copyright by Ray Ruppert

The World

We live in the midst of an enemy and it is called the World.When I say we, I mean people who are Jesus followers. King David recognized thesame problem even before Jesus came. Listen to the way he describes thedifference between the World and God in Psalm 57 verses 4 and 5.

My soul is in the midst of lions;
I lie down amid fiery beasts—
the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues are sharp swords.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!

We are surrounded by the World and here, David calls theinhabitants lions and fiery beasts. David is a poet and poets use symbols to tellus things. Hebrew poetry would often explain the first part of a verse in thesecond part.

The explanation is that these lions and fiery beasts arepeople. The World is made up of people, the children of man – we aren’t talkingabout the devil here. They are enemies that attack with their mouths full ofteeth that are like arrows. Their tongues are like sharp swords.

Their first attack on Jesus followers is they try to destroywith words. Those words often hurt. They may be slander, gossip, or philosophies,empty deceit, or human traditions according to Apostle Paul.

Guess what! We don’t have to fight the way the World does. Ithink that is why David said he lies down in their midst. He isn’t fighting.He’s taking a nap. Verse five explains why we don’t fight in the same way asthe World and that is because God is exalted above the heavens and His glory isover all the earth.

When we know God is sovereign even over the wickedness thatis going on in the World, we can be at rest. That doesn’t mean we never defendourselves or carry the battle to the World. But when we do, it is by the Gospelof Jesus Christ. The message of Jesus dying for our sins, buried, raised on thethird day and coming back again will prevail and give us peace in the World.

If you don’t have peace through Jesus, just follow one ormore of these links to find out how.

https://tinyurl.com/short-gospel

https://tinyurl.com/one-verse

https://tinyurl.com/Gospel-video

The World is against Jesus followers, but Jesus followersalways have peace. #lions #fierybeasts #Gospel #evilworld 

 

Copyright by Ray Ruppert