The Father sent Him with a mission to accomplish. There are four core components that comprised His time here on earth once He reached the appointed time to begin His ministry.

He had a message, a purpose, a directive, and an assignment.

Matthew 4:17 records His message;

From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Repent means to make a decision that results in a change of mind, which leads to a change of purpose and action. Our soul must come to repentance by the convicting of the Holy Spirit (John 16:8). Look to John 16:7-11 for the complete passage;

⁷ Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. ⁸ And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: ⁹ of sin, because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰ of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; ¹¹ of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

The purpose of Jesus was to redeem man (Galatians 3:13,14; Galatians 4:4,5; and Titus 2:14). In the beginning, God the Father gave Man, through Adam, complete authority and dominion over all that He had created. Adam disobeyed God’s command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and that brought a curse upon all of mankind.

A man who was without sin committed treason against God and sinned. The action cursed all future generations of Man. Blood had to be spilled, and death was the punishment for that crime. But to satisfy the requirements, a man without sin had to die. Jesus alone would be the one to fulfill that requirement.

The directive of Jesus was to do the will of the Father. John 5:30 states of Jesus;

³⁰ I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.

John 6:38-40 gives this information;

³⁸ For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. ³⁹ This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. ⁴⁰ And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Jesus came and conducted His life in complete obedience to the Father. He only spoke what He heard the Father say, and He only did what He saw the Father do. Every fiber of His being was bent to do the Father’s will, not His own.

His assignment here on Earth was to restore what Adam had lost at the beginning of creation. Adam was to rule over everything that God had made, but he lost that when he sinned. Adam gave that authority to Satan when he committed treason.

When God created Man, this was said in Genesis 1:26-28;

²⁶ Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. ²⁸ Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Jesus came to the earth to overthrow the illegal landlord and take back all that had been lost. He was guiltless when He was crucified so at the trial of heaven; the Father found Him not guilty and called His spirit out of the pit. At that moment Jesus took the keys of authority back from Satan and also redeemed Man from the curse of hell and death.

We who have accepted this gift of life by recognizing what Jesus did for us are now free. We are free because Jesus fulfilled His mission here on earth. Before Jesus departed to return to the Father, He gave us a commission. There are two parts to it. One is found in Matthew 28: 18-20 and the other is found in Mark 16:15-18.

Look these passages up. Read them out loud to yourself; meditate on them. Jesus has given every individual believer this assignment. Go do what He has commanded us to do!

Rejoice, for you are greatly loved!

What if a tragedy occurs in your life or happens to a person within your family? A person becomes handicapped or disfigured because of circumstances not of their control, can the person on the other side of that tragedy meet the same expectations and return love? Can you meet the same expectations and return love to them?

Circumstances like this happen more frequently than we would like to believe. So many marriages come unraveled because of changes to physical appearance or emotional attitude toward one another. It would seem the bond of Holy Matrimony in the modern world is a bygone commitment.

It is easy to love the young, vibrant, and shapely woman of your youth, but when childbearing takes a negative turn on her body, can you still love the real woman, or were you only attracted to the physical form?

Perhaps the dependable man you let the world borrow came back from a battlefield less than whole. How do you love the damaged soul that returned when your memories are of an easier time?

In Genesis, chapter 29, Jacob went to his uncle Laban in the country where he lived. He made a deal to work for seven years for his daughter, Rachel. At the end of the seven years, Laban brought her older sister, Leah, to the wedding tent. In the morning, Jacob woke up to an enormous surprise and felt cheated. Laban told him he could not give the younger daughter in marriage before the older daughter. If Jacob wanted to, he could work another seven years for Rachel, but he had to accept Leah as his first wife. Jacob now had an unattractive wife, and he did he want to be married to her.

Something to think about here: there are two sides to every relationship. Jacob thought Laban cheated him, but what about Leah? She is now married to a man who doesn’t want her. God saw this rejection and allowed her to bear children, but would not allow Rachel to bear any children to Jacob. Jacob desired Rachel but rejected Leah. He had to spend years learning to love the one he didn’t want. In ancient times, your prodigy was your wealth and future. Leah gave him sons. Rachel did not.

Leah felt unwanted, unloved, and rejected by Jacob. Her struggle was to be relevant to her husband and her God. Even the names of the boys reflected how Leah felt. First came a boy she named Reuben, which means ‘to see me’. The second son, she named Simeon, which means ‘to hear me’. The third son she named Levi, meaning ‘to be joined with me’. Each birth was an effort to be recognized by Jacob. Would he see me? Would he hear me? Would he join himself to me? The fourth son, she named Judah, which means ‘to give thanks, to give praise’. She has given it over to God and is worshipping Him.  

Altogether, Leah gave Jacob six sons and a daughter. Half of Jacob’s sons resulted from his relationship with Leah.

It took many years, but he learned to love her. She was not his first choice, but she was faithful to him, and the LORD allowed her to continue to bear sons. A wonderful thing came about from this relationship, but it took time and patience for love to grow.

Perhaps in your life right now, there are circumstances you would rather not be in. Be like Leah; call on the LORD and ask Him to intervene in your time of affliction and bless what you have.

Be like Jacob and learn to love what has changed in your relationship and find the treasure that is hidden within.

Renewing your mind. I had to think about what renewing something means. According to the dictionary, it means to renovate, to restore to a former state, or to a good state.

While I was in the process of figuring this out, it was recommended that I read 5 chapters of the Psalms and 1 chapter of the book of Proverbs each day. They said to use the number of the day of the month to choose which chapter of Proverbs to read and just add 5 chapters of Psalms to each day until I reached the end of both and then start over the next month. That worked out great for me.

Right in the very first chapter of Psalms, I found this;

¹ Oh, the joys of those who do not
    follow the advice of the wicked,
    or stand around with sinners,
    or join in with mockers.
² But they delight in the law of the Lord,
    meditating on it day and night.
³ They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
    bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
    and they prosper in all they do.

Verse 2 says to delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. Meditating means to think about it and this verse says to do that all day and night. If I am thinking about God’s law, or more importantly, His Word that is the Bible, I don’t have much time to think about all the terrible things going on around me.

When I started doing this, my thinking began to change. The first thing in my mind when something bad happened wasn’t about getting even or lashing out. I began to look at the person more closely and wondered if there was something going on in their life that I could help them change.

God was doing exactly what the verse said; He was transforming me into a new person by changing the way I was thinking.

I like to study nature, God’s creation. It provides physical answers to spiritual questions.

The Monarch butterfly starts its life as an egg attached to the underside of a leaf on the common milkweed plant. Immediately upon hatching it begins to eat at a voracious rate. It will molt (shed its outer skin) several times until it reaches a point where it will stop and spin a cocoon which is called a chrysalis.

While inside the chrysalis, the caterpillar will transform into a butterfly. It is the same creature but with a new body and behavior.

What is interesting is that the milkweed plant is toxic to other predators. The caterpillar takes on that same toxic nature, which protects it from various creatures such as birds, from eating it. When it enters the chrysalis state, the caterpillar liquifies and its body reforms into the structure of the butterfly.

My revelation into this was that the Word of God is toxic to the enemy. When I eat it, it changes my nature, arming me with protection that the enemy cannot overcome. To allow myself to mature into the new creature that God has designed for me to become, I must let go of my old self, let it liquify and be reformed into my new nature, one that God selected just for me.

Try reading 5 chapters of Psalms and 1 chapter of Proverbs every day like I described above. Do it purposefully for 6 months and then look back on yourself and the way you think about things after doing that.

He will transform you more than you realize!

I was given a King James Version (KJV) of the Bible, and this is what it says in the book of Romans, chapter 12;

12 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

² And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

In fact, I struggled with a lot of the Bible because I couldn’t grasp the wording. One day I decided to purchase a different translation. I started with one called the New International Version (NIV). This was easier to read but still, a lot of passages were difficult to understand. I decided to get several different translations so I could look at the same passage side by side comparing how they were worded.

For this passage, I will share what the New Living Translation (NLT) looks like.

12 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 

² Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

This version says ‘don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you’…

Now we are getting somewhere. I am not the one transforming myself, God is doing the work. It says that He ‘transforms you into a new person by changing the way you think’. My next question was “how does He do this?”

I had to go back to verse one. I see that I had to make the first move by giving my body to God because of all that He has done for me. I had to become a living holy sacrifice. Well, wait a minute, sacrifice means something must die.

But this verse says a living sacrifice. How do I become a living sacrifice because I really do not want to die just yet?

I found some answers in the book of Hebrews, the 13^th chapter, verses 15 and 16.

¹⁵ Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. ¹⁶ And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.

I also came to understand that because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, He became the only sacrifice that needed to die. We get the benefit of being living sacrifices. This passage in Hebrews says that we are to continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God. That means as I go through my day, every time I realize something good is happening around me, to me, or through me, I should be thanking and praising God.

The key is this; Jesus did the work and we get the benefits. You may have been taught that you must do such and such to be worthy of what God has for you. That is false.

Jesus Himself said the following in the book of Mathew, chapter 6, verse 33;

³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

I take that to mean that I should focus on God in everything that I do and He will take care of the rest.

I have had those thoughts many times. They usually come after a period where I am being diligent to perform the tasks well, even going above and beyond what was expected. Day in, day out, grinding away to get the assignment completed. Then a little nudge comes along in my mind; why are you doing this? Look around you, nobody else is working this hard!

Before long, I found myself agreeing with the thoughts and getting angry because of them.

That is a dangerous place to be. Not one word has been spoken by a person to you, yet you get upset at people over what is taking place in your mind. They are not privy to those conversations you had with yourself so generating an outburst of anger toward the person you think is wrong tends to result in a confrontation that is very lopsided and will lead to breaking down your relationship with that person.

I began to seek the Lord about these weird conversations I seemed to be having. The more I wrestled with the thoughts, the more difficult it seemed to be to rid myself of them. The Lord began to show me some things that I believe may help you.

First, our soul consists of our mind, will, and emotions. The enemy of our soul is Satan. The Lord took me back to the book of Genesis and showed me where Satan used the body of the serpent to beguile, (he lied and deceived), Eve into eating the fruit they were told not to eat. That led to Adam losing his authority and giving it over to Satan. But notice the punishment that fell upon the serpent. All animals and birds were to eat from the trees. Suddenly the serpent’s ability to do so was taken away from him. He was defeated physically. He was forced to crawl on his belly and eat the dust of the ground. Basically, he was de-fanged and de-feeted and now had to eat dead creatures to survive.

Fast forward to the work performed by Jesus on the cross. Though Satan provoked men to kill Jesus physically, in the spirit realm, Jesus defeated Satan and took back the authority that had been stolen from Adam.

Now the only weapon Satan has against us is to attack our thoughts and convince us to defeat ourselves. So, all those weird thoughts causing me to doubt anyone cared about the work I was doing came from Satan.

The solution the Lord provided was found in Colossians 3:18-25.

¹⁸ Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting for those who belong to the Lord.

¹⁹ Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly.

²⁰ Children, always obey your parents, for this pleases the Lord. ²¹ Fathers, do not aggravate your children, or they will become discouraged.

²² Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything you do. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. Serve them sincerely because of your reverent fear of the Lord. ²³ Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. ²⁴ Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ. ²⁵ But if you do what is wrong, you will be paid back for the wrong you have done. For God has no favorites.

The verse He wanted me to really focus on was verse 23. By making my effort pleasing to the Lord and doing everything as if it was for Him, I could just laugh at the negative thoughts Satan tried to put in my head. Because verse 24 tells me that He will give me an inheritance as my reward and what He gives me, Satan cannot stop.

Do everything as if you are working for Jesus. His pay is always better and always on time!

The Bible says in James chapter 2 that if a person claims to have faith but does not show it by their actions, that faith is dead. It is useless because it is only empty words. They are only a storm cloud that does not release rain over a parched land. God expects us to do something more than speak words.

James 2:14-18

¹⁴ What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? ¹⁵ If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, ¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? ¹⁷ Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

There are many people in need. Some need clothing, others need shelter, and right now a great number need food. If you are a child of God, if Jesus is Lord of your life, you are a child of Abraham by spiritual adoption. Genesis chapter 12 speaks of the blessing of Abram. God called him and said “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Because we are children of God and adopted spiritually to be children of Abraham, we also walk in that same blessing. God blesses us so we can be a blessing to others. Moses wrote in the book of Deuteronomy in chapter 8 some instructions concerning remembering the LORD God and the blessing He provides.

¹¹ “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, …

¹⁷ then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’

¹⁸ “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 

Remember it is the Lord your God that blessed you so you could be a blessing to those who need to see and experience His great love and come into His family.

Put action to your faith and be a blessing to someone. Do it quietly, do it discreetly, but do it so that someone need gets met through you.

Rejoice, for you are greatly loved!

Jesus stated very clearly, “1Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.”

His intent on doing these things secretly is to protect the dignity of the recipients. Do not parade their faces or their desperate situation around for others to see. They truly do not want to be in this position of lack and most people in those situations would much rather provide for themselves. Give to people out of the abundance of your heart and wallet but do it quietly. Do it with respect for the ones you are giving to. God the Father sees what you are doing, and He will reward you openly. Others will see you being rewarded and wonder to themselves, why are they so blessed? What is the secret of why God is so good to them? 

Be an example to others but do it without drawing attention to yourself. It will richly reward you!

Rejoice, for you are greatly loved!