Good Morning Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
2020 is off and running into the new year. Time is marching along and headed to some wondrous and awesome events such as the Rapture and the Millennial Reign. As Believers, this is incredibly exciting. However, before we reach these events, our Father has called each and every one of us to an assignment. You may know yours, or you may not know yours. Regardless, God has an assignment for you. The only way you can find out your assignment is through the study of God’s Word. Forsake the study of God’s Word, and you’ll never know what God has called you to do. But, even if we study, we must go a step further. When we hear our assignment, we must be willing and obedient to fulfill it. Else, we become James 1:22.
James 1:22
But be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
Plenty of Sisters and Brothers in Christ are in church every Sunday and maybe even Wednesday. But, they never fulfill the assignment God has for them. They may never know it (ignorance), or they may know it, but not fulfill it (rebellion). We must remember we will stand before Christ Jesus and give account of what we did with the salvation He gave us through His sacrifice. What we have done, with what we have been given through salvation, will show Jesus just how much we value His sacrifice.
Jesus purchased so MUCH for every Believer during the Passion. We are largely all aware our sins were redeemed and forgiven at Jesus’ shed blood at the cross, and Jesus took the punishment we deserved when He descended into hell after His death. However there is much more to the Passion and salvation that I will share. Some things you may never have heard, but I pray will be a tremendous blessing in how you view that which Christ did for you, and it changes your response to your assignment. There is much that could be written and taught, but I’m going to keep it high level. I encourage you to study this out.
When many Believers are asked when the Passion started for Christ, they will respond, during the trial before the Jewish High Priest and beyond. However, it actually started in the Garden where He was arrested.
Luke 22:44
And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly: and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
In Genesis, the ground of the earth is cursed because of Adam’s sin. God didn’t curse it. Let’s be clear about this. Sin ushered in or gave legal status to the curse in the earth.
Genesis 3:17
And unto Adam He said, because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow [toil] shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
“Ground” represents work. During Jesus’ prayer in Luke 22:44, the shed blood by the Christ removed the curse of the ground for Believers. Yes, the curse is still in the earth, but we, as Believers, have been redeemed from the curse by Jesus Christ. We can only suffer from the curse if we voluntarily place ourselves under the curse. This means you DON’T have to toil. You do work, but there is no toil to achieve. Adam and Eve were given an assignment in the Garden, but they never toiled to achieve it. It came consistently and with ease. No sweat. Sweat is part of the curse.
Proverbs 10:22
The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow [toil] with it.
Jesus was scourged, or whipped, by the Romans as part of His trial. He received the customary 39 lashes with a cat of nine tails. The cat of nine tails was a sadistic invention by the Romans to inflict the ultimate in torture upon their victims. Each of the nine strands of the whip had sharp instruments tied to it such as sharpened rock, glass, metal, etc. The intent was to lash the victim and have each of the ends of the nine strands embed itself in the flesh. Then, the Roman soldier masterfully yanked it to remove as much flesh as possible. It was horrific. The Word is clear Jesus’ bones, His ribs were exposed in plain sight meaning much of His flesh was removed from His back.
Mark 15:15
And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged Him to be crucified.
What was the purpose of the scourging? This didn’t occur by happenstance. God put this plan into place before the foundation of the world. The blood shed by Jesus during each of the 39 lashes removed the curse of disease, sickness, blindness, deafness, dumbness, maim, infirmity, etc. from Believers. Did you know there are 39 major categories of disease and sickness in medical science? Amazing isn’t it. Coincidence? I think not!!
I Peter 2:24
Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes you were healed.
The “stripes” referred to in I Peter 2:24 are the lashes given by the Roman soldier. The Greek word for “healed” means physical and spiritual healing. The way it is used in this verse is physical healing. Every disease, sickness, and health-related issue was healed by Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago. The decreed Word of God in faith will heal your body of whatever you are experiencing. I know this to be true. God’s decreed Word in faith kept a heart attack from taking my life or damaging my heart a couple of month’s ago. I didn’t need a doctor, 911, or any of man’s wisdom. I just did what the Holy Spirit instructed. Today, I have the heart of a 16 year old. When God makes something “whole,” He makes it better than the original ever was at any time.
When Jesus stood before Pilate, a crown of thorns was placed on His head. Now, understand, the thorns were an inch or two long and very hard. They didn’t just place it on His head, they placed it there and pounded it onto His head (Mark 15:19) with the purpose of driving the thorns into His scalp. Jesus bled quite a bit.
Mark 15:17
And they clothed Him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about His head.
“Thorns” in the Word represent the “cares of this life.” Finances, marriage, children, retirement, debt, health, etc. are cares of this life. When Christ shed blood from the crown of thorns, His precious blood redeemed Believers from wrong, cursed thinking – negativity, worst case, depression, fear, doubt, stress, anxiety, etc.
Jesus wants us at peace. He wants our minds at rest. The mind is the battlefield between good and evil. What the mind dwells on becomes the content of the heart. The content of the heart becomes the words of the mouth. The words of the mouth becomes one’s destiny. Fill your mind with the wisdom of men, your words will fail your God-given assignment. Fill your mind with the Word of God, your words will fulfill your God-given assignment. Which Believer is going to experience the exceeding abundance of God on this earth and in Heaven? The one filling their minds with the Word of God.
Let me finish with this from the Holy Spirit. You can pray often, you can be in church every time the doors are open, you can serve in many different assignments in the church, you can help others, you can be a morally good person; however, if you aren’t in the Word of God often, studying and meditating It, you will totally miss your assignment and miss a real relationship with God in the process.
Have a wonderful week.
In Christ,
Larry