NCarolinian

In writing to the church in Corinth, Paul tells the members that there will be a judgment concerning Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.  This judgment pertains to "the things done in the body, whether good or bad" ( 2 Corinthians 5:9-10 ).  In the sequence of events, many scholars place this judgment very shortly after The Rapture ( 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 ), before God in Heaven/Paradise.  This is so the "Beautification" or the "blemishlessness" ( Ephesians 5:27 ) of the Bride of Christ or the Church can be complete by the burning up of any works that do not bring God glory ( 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 ). _________________________  "So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.   For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad." - 2 Corinthians 5:9-10  "Brothers, we do not want you t...

There are times in our lives when situations and circumstances get the best of us and even as Christians surrendering the issue a thousand times - we break down and cry.  Crying is the physical manifestation of physical, mental, and spiritual pressures that has to be released somehow or we will find ourselves in a very unhealthy state.  Venting in the right manner is always healthy.  I know this first hand, I have been in several scenarios that play this scene out.  The challenge comes, the weight seems too heavy, I have a good cry about it and then the Holy Spirit comes along and says, "I understand, but you can stop crying now."  Then He proceeds to lead, guide, and direct me in the way I should go and  sometimes He just takes care of it all.  A few Biblical examples can testify to this pattern. In Luke 8:52-55 it says, "Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. 'Stop wailing,' Jesus said. 'She is not dead but asleep.' ...

We call them - The Gospels - when we should say, "I am referring to The Gospel according to.......(Matthew or Mark or Luke or John).  Four great men, with four distinctive personalities, portraying the same awesome message - The Gospel or Good News.  Digging down into each account and making these observations about the kinds of reactions Jesus had toward people, places, and things also enlightened me on how Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John viewed Jesus.  Matthew contained a great mix of emotional reactions of Jesus.  Jesus displayed closeness to His cousin, John the Baptist, by possibly using some alone-time on a boat to cope with John's passing.  Compassion, disbelief in the disciples reasoning skills, impatience, Holy or Righteous indignation, bluntness, and woe are others on the list of emotional reactions Jesus displayed in Matthew.  However, the most re-occurring reaction was compassion.  This seemed to resonate with Matthew in a big way.  Ma...

Here I am at the 4th installment of this series on Jesus' Reaction(s).  This time it is John's turn to reveal how Jesus responded in certain situations.  In John 5:5-8 Jesus came upon a person who had been an invalid for 38 years.  There are some interesting differences about this account as compared to others.  Observing the other healing encounters with Jesus I noticed three things:  (1) Jesus asked what do you want me to do for you?, (2) claimed that the person's faith had healed them, or (3) Jesus out right intervened and healed somebody - faith/question or not.  However, with this encounter Jesus asked the man - "Do you want to get well?"   My knee jerk reaction would not be that respectful to Jesus.  In the nicest way I would say something like - "Jesus?  He has been like this for 38 years, don't you think he wants to be rid of this limitation?"  But there are some people that are comfortable with their misery.  In my soc...

Part three of this series is Luke and his contributions to showing us additional reactions by Jesus.  Let us observe these and attempt to glean some deeper understanding. ____________________________________________ An early reaction from Jesus came when He stayed behind in the Temple after He had visited Jerusalem with His "parents" for Passover.  Mary and Joseph came looking for Him and when they found Him His reaction was "Why were you searching for me?  Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?"   ( Luke 2:49 )  Born by the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus knows His true identity at an early age.  He questions Mary and Joseph's looking for Him almost sarcastically, challenging His need for their protection.  Then He questioned their lack of knowledge on where to look for Him in the beginning - The Temple, His Father's House.  Jesus was 12 years old here and comes across kinda cocky (albeit Holy, which He can pull off anytime perfectl...

This is the second installment of a Study-Series I am submitting for your edification.  The research concerns itself with Jesus' humanity and more specifically His human reactions.  So, let us dive into what Mark has to contribute. The first verse we come to spells out Jesus' reaction on it's own.  Mark 3:5 says, "He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, 'Stretch out you hand.'"   So, "anger" and "distress" are the two reactions to lift from this account.  I have noticed that one of the main gripes that the Pharisees had with Jesus was anything that He did on the Sabbath.  This event was one of those occasions.  The Pharisees "were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath." (verse 2)   In this instance, the Scripture does not say that Jesus knew what they were thinking or anything of the like.  ...