Christmas: The Kings Honor a Baby         Kelly Durant    Re: 12-14-25

Matthew 2:9-11    ⁹ When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.¹⁰ When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.¹¹ And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.

2. All of us are people surrounded by individuals who are creatures of habit. It is evident that no nation, race, or people will never drastically change past traditions, most are here to stay (Not good in many regards). As Christians we will always celebrate Jesus Christ’s birth while the people of the world will emphasize celebrating gift-giving materialism. Consumerism has morphed itself into a magical man who gives out endless gifts. Santa Claus is a famous fictional character and is used as a tool to market all kinds of merchandise, right?  

It is true that some Christians do not find that Santa Claus so offensive depending on the context and status in which you interpret him. He is just a fantasy and many children know that by age 5. The actual historical basis of the story of St. Nicolas giving out gifts to the poor children is a wonderful example of how we all should be! But Santa from the North pole dominates over the St. Nicolas story!

All of us here, as multi-millions of people, do gift giving as a tradition! Giving and sharing gifts with one another is rewarding, and especially giving to those in hard times; no one doubts that God blesses those who help the needy! (Matthew 25)

3. Here’s my personal take, what if we really did abide by the list of who is ‘naughty’ and who is ‘nice’ in order to qualify who will get a gift and who will not? I think commerce would come to screeching halt if we abided by that rule! Today some children are terrible and no one, not parents, nor teachers are correcting them appropriately. Only when these ego inflated bullies grow up and end up in jail for disrespecting the wrong person and the law do they start to see the light of right and wrong. (if they ever do!)

I wish we could grade adults on how naughty or nice they were as well. Some of you I have observed (but what I observe does not matter really, it is God that sees everything!) have been very good at loving, helping, and of humbly serving and caring for those in need. We should reward goodness, but the world rewards those following the evil trends Satan’s demons inspires others to do. 

Also, we all have seen others with bad behavior, that when they get their pride just a bit little offended, they start saying all kinds of rude things. Like when you scratch a veneer surface, the cheap wood underneath shows through!

4. But let’s contemplate on making our traditions better: God was the first gift giver! He gave Jesus Christ to the world to be the savior so everyone would repent and radically change and by becoming as He was, humble, loving, and serving, we are granted the heavenly gift of eternal life. Our job is to preach the gospel and thereby share the gift of eternal life to everyone we meet. Jesus=the best gift!

Let’s now jump to the part of the story about the other ones in the record that gave material gifts to Jesus. These are kings honoring Jesus as the King of Kings. There usually are the 3 kings in the manger scenes, but these are the ones giving 3 types of gifts. We conclude there were at least 3 but there actually could have several been more. Who knows, but with all their servants they all may have been totaling in the hundreds. 

I find it fascinating that they were kings in their very distant distinct lands, yet they came to recognize the authority of a baby who would grow up to be a king. Think how much faith, humility, and supernatural confidence this requires to travel 6 months to a year there and back! Trusting in a heavenly sign!

5. Also, consider that if they saw the star stopped over a house, why didn’t other people see it and come as well? Were others just not in tune with the heavenly bodies in space? Or were these men special in their spiritual ability to perceive? 

Here is a real Christmas mystery: How did these KINGS from very different cultures and lands very distant from each other all interpret the same reading of the stars and prophesies of their ancient writings or religions that a KING would be found under the spectacular appearing of strange bright star? 

Kings, as we know from history, never bow to anyone. Everyone in their lands is expected to bow to them and give them gifts and taxes; never was it heard of that the kings would give gifts and that they would bow to another authority, especially kneeling in front of a baby!? They not only kneeled, they worshipped Him! That is honor! They were elated filled with “exceeding joy"! Unprecedented!

6. Showing respect and honor will always imply sharing something of value to prove honor. All religions ask for something; some 10%, or you can give 100%, it all depends on how much you will give up for God! God is fair and blesses back.

What I hate about governments is they ask for a usual 20-30% and if you’re rich they might take up to 90% in taxes! (in socialist Europe & elsewhere) Why do you think the English, as well as others, keep immigrating to the U.S.? They are escaping the heavy burden of their taxes. The burden gets heavier day by day everywhere! Here, sadly, it has gotten very burdensome! You’re taxed for working, spending, saving, & when you die whoever gets you stuff will get taxed on that as well!

Have you ever wondered how each king knew how many provisions they would need to travel 6 months to a year to reach Jesus to give Him a gift? Many people here will give to the Lord a few days of their time, but would you do what they did and spend a big part of your fortune on a trip that would mean camping in extreme heat and extreme cold, crossing deserts, facing thieves, and hiring dozens of crews to help you care for your camels and equipment? The honor of these kings required great sacrifice of goods and time!

We know the kings came from the Orient, but from where precisely is still undefined by historians. Many agreed that amongst these kings were one or more of the Zoroastrian kings, which were in power in Persia at the time of Jesus’ birth. 

The King Vishtapa, was Ciro's father, and he had been convinced of the existence of a 3^rd and final savior that would come in the world who would battle in the end of the world and defeat evil. Zoroaster said that a great savior would arise in the world, and his name would be Soasyant, which means one who will fulfill righteousness! Amazingly this goes with same description of Christ in the bible!

7. Contained within the writings and prophesies of these kings was the word that the savior would be born of virgin, and he would live and then be killed but on the third day he would be resurrected. All of this ancient knowledge the wise kings would have shared and known amongst themselves. What irony that the kings of the world honored him while those of Jewish dissent missed what was happening. 

Notice as well in Matthew Chapter 2 that king Herod asked the Jews, what the prophecy said and where would the king be born and they replied in Bethlehem. The Jews had the book of Isaiah and all ancient prophecies that co-incited to confirm the birth of the righteous Messiah, the Christ, or baby Jesus.

These were legendary writings and they confirmed that Jesus would be born the Messiah, not just for the Jews, but for everyone in the orient and for the rest of the world! What makes me upset is how the people of the world reject truth fulfilled in prophecies which is awe-strikingly supernatural, a sign that God is revealing His power to transcend our understanding! 

8. These kings obviously returned home to honor Jesus by telling everyone about Him! They told of all their adventures, of escaping getting killed by Herod over his jealousy, and of finding Jesus below the star. They were evangelistic prophets but how long did their people keep on believing? 20 years, 100, 300, we don’t know!

The news of baby Jesus fulfilling ancient extrabiblical prophecies did not last very long because pagan worship continued in the orient and centuries later the religion of Moh was crafted and new laws were imposed without the influence of Jesus recognized by these ancient kings. A ‘submissive’ oppression spread not by gaining the awe of people as the fulfillment of prophecies, but by fear! Those in that whole region (about 50 countries) who did not bow to ‘their prophet’ were deposed and genocides took place with several hundred million deaths. 

9. So, from today’s study we conclude that honor to our Lord and savior Jesus Christ must be done in a similar manner as it was done by the kings.  How was that honor shown?

By sacrifice: they traveled far, and they gave gifts to prove their revering honor. 

By worship: they kneeled in front of Jesus and recognized his divine authority.

By being ‘in tune’ with the divine: they acted upon seeing the star as a supernatural sign which confirmed that the king they had expected in ancient writings would appear. They honored him as the righteous savior of the world with great joy! Poor shepherds, wealthy kings, and even angels honored Jesus!

If kings honored Jesus, how much more we should honor him! None of us here today are a king or a queen. One day when we join the heavenly host to honor Jesus, God will know who honored Jesus the most! Heavenly rewards will be for those who honor Him now. Every knee will bow to Him, and the sooner we do that the better as all authority is His over souls in Heaven, and in this world.

“May you be filled with the wonder of Mary,

the obedience of Joseph, the joy of the angels,

the eagerness of the shepherds,

the determination of the magi,

and the peace of the Christ child,

And may the Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, bless you now and forever.”

Support Mothers Be Real Women of Honor!

Support Mothers Be Real Women of Honor!  5-18-14  Re:5-12-24.  by Kelly Durant

Titus 2:3-5 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; 4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

2.It is a sad truth that women in general are not respected by a majority of the world’s people today and it is a fact they never have been! Investigate for yourself how other major world cultures, religions, and communists treat women and you will be outraged and appalled! There is still a current war on women in our culture! Modern music has progressed from Elvis that would sing he was “All Shook Up’ in love with a woman to our current music which refers to women as “Bs” and sex objects only (rap & more, you know), something to own and exploit as property! Denounce it when heard!

The quote many men have lived by was what Plato voiced: “'I thank God, that I was born Greek and not barbarian, freeman and not slave, a man and not woman”. Why? The usual case is that women have lived with zero rights, zero respect, and still women are considered property in many countries!

Some people always want to complain of the discrimination of women in the U.S. but here it is minimal compared to other places! Abortion of girls in China is so extensive that close to 30 million young men will not be able to find a wife! What a manmade crisis! Many in several nations fear that the frustration of these men will lead to aggression and war, internal and external. 

Have you ever heard that one should judge a society by how it treats its most vulnerable members? How are the unborn, the babies, the elderly, the children, and the impaired getting treated? And of great importance, how are the women & mothers treated? 1 Peter 3:7 Likewise, husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered. (God will not hear the prayers of those who mistreat women!) Identify and condemn those who are to blame for making women into just sex objects and slaves for labor exploitation. Our job is to love, esteemed, respect, and value women as intelligent industrious essential co-collaborators in the home and community! 

3. The verse of focus begins in Titus 2:3 highlighting that God expects women as they mature to be strong influencers with their wholesome (holy) values, living a pure life. Women are exalted in the verses here inferring they are important and useful as teachers and mentors expected to share their acquired knowledge over the years about life and of the word of God with other younger women and to their children (and to the men as well).

Mothers always impact their children profoundly! Many single young men in jail or on the battle front when facing a breakdown or crisis have been known to cry out for consolation from mommy! We all recognize that the woman who incubated us and gave us life after 9 months, and raised us for 18 + years is important to our emotional and physical wellbeing! 

Every mother must recognize that they are very important influencers and leaders in society creating either embittered monsters or sacrificial saints! Each person reaps what they sew, and the boomerang of actions does come back to haunt us. I knew one young Mexican man in prison and when I offered to bring his mother there to visit him as a favor, he told me “No, I don’t want to see that wh_re”! Sad, right? She had a history of living with different men, and he had suffered from the hand of many of them. We must teach this modern culture to get back to purity and holiness.

4. In history we observe that it has only been the word of God in the Bible practiced correctly that has brought women out of the darkness, of the depths of slavery and debasement, to being equal to the man in position in spiritual gifts and abilities. Jesus, by honoring his women followers, influenced many and eventually as the Bible got translated in many languages; it sparked a Renaissance and enlightenment of respect for women that we benefit from that in our democratic society today. It is a pity that the primitive church and still some churches today never matured in doctrine as the Salvation Army did to esteem women as equals ordaining them as ministers honoring them highly. Sadly, still very few churches today ordain and respect women as equals, so you can be thankful that William and Catherine Booth got it right! Women have full rights here! Help us spread this good news!

Did you know when the Salvation Army was founded in 1865 that 60 to 70% of the initial members were young mothers and they were valiant preachers too! And today in this Corps, we expect the women and mothers to be leaders, not just to their children, but leaders in society being influential winning many over to the faith: souls saved for Jesus! Everyone listens when a wise woman speaks!

But I wish women today would start passionately speaking up more against social injustices! Help expose crimes such as rape, child-abuse, sexual trafficking, labor exploitation, domestic violence: women must demand that the people adhere to the standard of family values in the churches, schools, and city halls! If women are not defending the weak and family causes in their role, then they may fall for useless causes wasting time on popularized trends and standing up for people who later become back stabbers to them. The causes that foment hatred towards men creating division and controversy in the community are against nature; truth is very few agree even though the media lies and says it’s the majority. The truth is the majority are sick of controversy from people demanding rights for things of selfish desires and not for rights of the truly defenseless abused innocent ones.   

5. Men and women have different roles in life. If a burglar is in the house at midnight, it is the man’s role to handle it, right? Or women, do you love a good fight and enjoy tackling 6’ masked men who have guns or knives? Raise your hand, women, if you would say, “Honey, I’ll get it”! Sadly, today in a few so called developed nations, some people due to the confusion of laws (non-Biblical) are supporting gender reversals. Such confusion sews the seeds of frustration, and proven statistically, it foments suicidal tendencies! Contrary to this is the defense of the equality of the sexes, and it is correct within the context of equal rights for women. They have gained substantial respect here in the U.S. in the workplace but concerning crimes committed against women, much more needs to be done, in particular abroad in Arab, Communist, and non-Christian nations or in about 4/5ths of the world!   

Again, referring to how women are commended to be holy and sober, what happens when women are not holy but rather become loud and self-serving? The progression (as observed in Hollywood children) of the character slides downhill from disrespect on into total chaos! Each person is the principal player in the forging of their own reputation. Those seeking to take advantage of men usually ironically find men with the same nature (birds of a feather..) seeking to take advantage of them! Trying to take advantage of another pretending love (either sex) is nothing new, and everyone gets burned. Many women have a disadvantage though because of their more sensitive emotions and smaller physical size.

In the 90s in Miami, we had a nice Peruvian friend in her 50s that was depressed and sad due to a recent divorce. The judge awarded her the house of the ex and she sold it. In the meantime, the new boyfriend, who was supposedly a rich man of a rich Spanish family said he would help her by storing her $100,000 cash in his personal safe at home. We soon found out she had never ever even visited his house! It soon came to light (after we encouraged her to go to the police) that he had played her and about 5 other women for their money and she felt horribly shamed! He went to jail, she lost it all, and she had to go on with life working minimum wage having nothing too embarrassed to even talk to her family! 

6. Today many people complain about the disappearing family unit but who is to blame? Where is the fighter spirit of couples of, “we will get through this” attitude! Do we blame the deadbeat dads? Or the deadbeat moms? Both sexes share blame in being irresponsible! Take note, young deadbeat fathers were boys who grew up under a mother (or father) that influenced their attitude about women. How the mother treated the child affirmed obedience and good behavior, or rebellion and disrespect. Kids imitate the parent’s example and values, or the lack thereof; values are caught and imitated and must be taught. Parents reap what they sew and get payback for their sins often multiplied through those closest to them.

Sad as well, some girls and boys have grown up seeing abusive fathers degrade their mothers verbally or physically (or vice versa), and when a guy or gal imitates this horrible behavior, he (or she, as a victim to this) thinks that this is just normal life! They imitate this abuse even though they already know this behavior brings about hurt feelings, much suffering, and even divorce. No one should tolerate abuse ever because you are God’s child and of high value and esteem!

7. Here is where the breakdown begins begging the question, have the older ladies been faithful to teach the young girls at home, in the churches, and in the schools the high standards and values? Are the women mentors teaching the girls to dress and act like princesses aspiring honors and achievements? My concern is this, lately women and mothers are letting girls dress too risqué, even 12 year olds use high platform heels and short shorts, unaware of the dangerous provocations that put the girls at risk for rape and abuse? Some women dress so crazy here picking up their kids in school that the schools are now enforcing dress codes for parents! 

By the time a girl is in college, an estimated 1 in 4 have been raped already! I have also known of many mothers that have prostituted their own daughters for money as well! Take into account that before the 60’s themes of “burn your bra” and be liberated message, only 2 main STDs existed, now there are dozens that are very serious causing cancer, HIV, and destroying the normal desire and pleasure that God intended to last a lifetime between married couples!

8. How sad today as well that in a majority of so called “developed” cultures women are choosing to not be mothers or married wives protected by the law. This lack of security for kids causes both men and women to miss out on many laughs and beautiful emotions, and a needed maturity. Romans 1 :27 “In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.” A few societies worldwide, due to misinformation and feminist influences are sadly not supporting women in their roles as mothers and wives. Remember, young pregnant girls need support from us and everyone! Pre 60s and the pill, The Salvation Army had many clinics nationwide for delivering babies! Everyone must always support families because we need one another to survive and to provide for what is needed! 

So, these verses of today (vs 4) go against the grain of what the world promotes and it is up to Christians to be very vocal to support women! (I love counter-culture challenges, don’t you?) In general, both sexes without faith and obedience to God are horrible abusers of their own bodies and others wreaking havoc going against nature. I thank God again and again for the Christian values taught in the Bible that inherently invoke respect and exalt the women as of great value! And when ‘mama is happy, everyone is happy’! See Proverbs 31

The Bible has inspired women to become the liberated, dedicated, wise, good, and fun loving creatures God made them to be! We must spread this good news!

9. One disturbing part of verse 3 is, “not false accusers”, what does this mean? To invent a lie to muster sympathy and harm someone is punishable by law! In today’s language it could also imply not falsely exaggerating a contentious item being a “drama queen”, spouting out foolish words just for manipulation or revenge. All of these recent TV shows of marriage boot camps and counseling showing the women yelling and red in the face is not helpful in modeling better alternative communication methods to help us solve common relationship issues! Men and women always will accuse each other of their faults but the factor is both often forget to factor in their own irritating provocations usually started with sharp accusatory words. Everyone is always right in their own eyes, but to God we are all in great need of maturity and to be more in control of our words!

False accusations from the woman may be that of accusing the man of having another woman. If the accusation is a true one, then what is she doing with him? She needs to stop thinking that she is going to control him and fix a broken sin nature that does not want to be fixed. Only Jesus changes hearts!

The man a woman chooses as a husband must first of all be a man that has proven himself worthy and faithful to God not living an addictive abusive or adulterous life. 

10. One more interesting part, “not given to much wine”. Well, in our case, we are not given to any wine, but this implies that many young women have the tendency to be party girls right? It is human nature for the youth to want to have fun but if having fun includes alcohol and the starting motherhood due to being drunk one night, this is something to seriously think about and avoid! 

Because the body mass of women is smaller than that of men, women get drunk easier than men. They also get addicted to drugs easier as well. This is a warning to women to not let their selves be exposed to any excess as it will create more consequences. Date rape happens often to young girls that are high or drunk and it has always been a problem for millennia not just a recent societal problem. 

Alcohol is a serious problem in this country as an estimated 1 in 10 people are addicted! People who drink or get high are forcing their brains to imbalance and expend in a few hours the pleasure serotonin chemicals and later normal for them is a personality state that is bored, edgy, and violent. Be careful of what may happen to you: drug or alcohol abusers need serious help!

11.  Continuing on to the last part of today’s study, “obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed”. What does it mean? Today, after the feminist movement from the 70s, many people think that the woman being obedient to the husband is heresy! After all, the woman has rights! This is true, but each couple needs to decipher each other’s strong and weak points to keep a balance and common sense. Most women follow the man’s lead anyway unless she perceives a danger or threat, or if he is being totally anti-god and cruel. 

Here is an example of how a man may lead, if the woman gets very excited about getting a nice new car with a $680 a month payment with another $200 in insurance, and the man says, “Oh no, babe we can’t afford that, it would be almost half our income,” then the woman should try to understand and just trust the man’s judgment on the matter and keep looking for a deal! This is the essence of the idea of being obedient, trusting in practical deductions above emotions. It does not imply absolute blind servitude as some Christian defamers want to imply! But a woman who demands her way may make the man blaspheme! Higher goals will happen over time but it takes two to work at it!

12. I love and respect my wife that has for 46 years has been a great fighter for justice defending me and her children and helped a few thousand others in need. She woke up all hours of the night, learned new languages to communicate with us (English, Portuguese, ASL, sign language) and tolerated moving from place to place doing God’s work. I love and admire her as only 1 out of a million would do this! How lucky (God’s plans) that I could meet her!

What did the scripture teach us? Respect the women! Both women and men should study and research what makes the other sex, or their own mates, be secure, stable, and happy. What kills any relationship is a self-centered insecure jealous controlling person who demands that their needs be supplied not considering the needs of the other one. Relationships are always give and take and that must be done in love! Men also have responsibilities but that’s for later!

13. If a woman or wife claims to be a Christian but she is harsh with her tongue, and punishes the man when she doesn’t get what she wants, with addictive or unfaithful behaviors, then the man might conclude that her faith, that her Christian God must be flawed and unjust! This works vice versa, men must also be must be loving examples gentle proving their dedication to their family or their religion will be criticized as useless and hypocritical!

It is the pure, powerful, and holy women, usually mothers, throughout history that have been the ones to bring about a real change in society, starting in their homes with their own children and then out in the community! Thank God for Catherine Booth! Countless women are renowned professionals! Let’s pray the Lord brings us more women to organize and defend the weak, minister to the suffering, and putting into practice God’s word! Let’s pray for the women here to have the strength they need to accomplish great things for their families, church, and friends. We must denounce, expose, and encourage correction for those fallen into weakness, but honor the noble, pure, and wise and holy women! If we do not support them, then more men, women, and children around the world will continue to suffer more and more injustices! Women, and mothers with Jesus and the Holy Spirit are powerful teachers, healers, and influencers: love and support them with all your heart! God bless our mothers! 

Palm Sunday: Holiness Recognized But Then Betrayed!

Palm Sunday: Holiness Recognized But Then Betrayed   4-10-22.  Kelly Durant

John 12:13 Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.

2. How many of you know what today signifies? It is Palm Sunday, a day of praise! Do you know why we call it that? We read it in the Bible reading, the people were putting down palm branches for Jesus like people rolling out the red carpet today! 

Jesus was returning to Jerusalem: He was the Prince of Peace going into the City of Peace, but that city has had little peace throughout time after His crucifixion! Everyone knows from history the Romans totally destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD to stop the Jewish rebellion, and more war has been there than almost anywhere else on earth! Only now for the past almost 70 years have the Jews had Jerusalem back and there has been a little more peace. But did you know all their neighbors over this period of time have fired over 10,000 mortars into Israel?! The point of this irony is only in heaven will peace exist from the Prince of Peace!

All of the people on the first Palm Sunday recognized Jesus as honorable and supernatural, and they exalted Him as holy and worthy of the highest praise, and they laid down palm branches. Some also laid down their coats for his colt to walk on too! I am sure the Jews and Romans were fuming with anger because after all they never got such honored treatment! But they weren’t holy either, nor the Son of God! People only honored them out of fear of death! What a contrast of how Jesus was honored so much but yet He was to suffer a horrible betrayal and death just a few days later! 

3. Today in history, the entire Christian world re-honors Jesus because He was at the peak of His acceptance and honor on Palm Sunday. Most of the city came out to honor Him, and they made a lot of noise! It was like a riot and out of control mob! They shouted, Matthew 21:9 “And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest”. People were convicted burning inside that He was the Holy One and this exposed their need to honor Him for who He was (is)! How should you and I react to Jesus? We should explode in praise to Him! We should bow and lay down all for Him!

The believers and followers had heard what was announced about Him, the multitude got the message that he was the Savior, the chosen one son of David, or the Messiah; the wise ones quoted the scripture that was to prove He was the Messiah.

Zechariah 9:9  Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.  

4. It is clear the Jerusalemites knew He was the Messiah fulfilling prophecy yelling that He is King of Israel. But even despite that, within the week our Lord was sadly crucified. Palm Sunday exemplifies the fickle populous in general: one week a person may recognize who Jesus is and honor Him, but a few days later they turn their backs on Him and His followers and desire destruction because subverters, mockers, doubters, and evil people persuaded them to. 

This betrayal repeats itself over and over today: when people fear losing admiration and control like the Jewish religious leaders did, then they will always react by evil human nature throwing God’s anointed under the bus! How many congregations have been destroyed by people who didn’t get the leader or members to submit?! Judas, it is speculated betrayed Jesus not desiring His death, but to provoke Him to use His power to dominate the Romans. Jesus was (is) never about earthly power, yet some churches and people have always tried to make His mission into that! 

PALM SUNDAY: Sadly, you and I will always deal with people who think only they are the righteous ones, but often they are seriously lacking in recognizing Jesus’ mercy towards them. These are accusers, not loving as Jesus, but they spew hate to others over politics, religion, or your worship of Jesus as the Savior. Don’t be a hypocrite driven by impulse, manipulated by emotions following these fickle crowds. Hypocrisy is praising Jesus one week, but on the next undoing it all by agreeing to let Him be crucified, not defending & exalting Him as Lord or Lords. 

Haven’t we all been guilty of turning our backs on Jesus sometime or another? Or maybe we have failed to love God or others as we should! And yet Jesus knowing our unfaithfulness still agreed to die for our sins anyway! It was not just the Jews, or the Romans, or the betrayal of Judas that put Him to death; it was you and me for our sins! Never forget how much you (me) have been forgiven of! You, because of your past, present, and future sins, are just as responsible for Jesus death as the ones who put Him to death! That recognition of the salvation of your soul will make you praise and thank Him eternally!

5. How many of you practice lent? How many of you follow the tradition of abstaining from meat this week? That is not a bad tradition but I would like to ask you to apply it in a different way this time. Instead of giving up eating meat a day or two, try giving up one of your flaws and, then fight to give it up for the rest of your life! If your temptation is to get angry fast, to be impatient, to yell bad words, or you fail to love God and others like Jesus, then now is the time to give up your own character flaws and abstain from your way of being so you be more like Jesus! Lent is prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, so try the following…

If you are the jealous type, give it up!

If you enjoy talking about the bad in others (gossip), give it up!

If you are indulgent, and you buy yourself things you don’t need, give it up!

If you are lazy and don’t do very many things for others, change, and give it up!

If you complain a lot or have a negative spirit about your life or your responsibilities, then give it up and start praising God as you are supposed to!

 

Make yourself change and be positive by making new habits and reading God’s word every day and then seeking ways to serve others!  Do it especially this coming weekend if you want to be closer to God in this special time! Giving up a food is not much of a sacrifice at all!  Changing your character to be more like Jesus, now that is a real sacrifice! But that requires hard work and discipline so tell another your faults so they support you and hold you accountable!  The scripture says in James 5:16 “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much”.  

 

Stop and seriously recognize where your sins are and ask God to help you! No one has confessed anything to me lately and I don’t expect that, that is between you and God. To feel the exciting presence of the Lord in your life, like the loud praising that went on in Jerusalem, you must obey scripture and crucify your flesh praise and honor Jesus to be more like Him! If you do this, then you will be honoring Him this day and forever more as you should be! 

 

6. And if you see nothing wrong with yourself, then you really do have a problem! Palm Sunday is about you recognizing the holiness of Jesus contrasting against our lack of holiness. If you act upon God’s spirit, and what you learn from the Holy Scriptures, then you must purge yourself of any big or little disturbance that is not right in your life. For many of us it is pride, a lack of submission, and a lack of love.

There are a lot of people in churches today that sin in very different ways, of course people always think their own sins are no big deal, but all sin is wrong, but not recognizing your own sin provokes others to stumble. Just ask your closest Christian family members what to change or ask your Major/pastor (I am going to get myself in trouble on this one!), or your best friend what are my faults?

Listen, pray and make a plan to change a bad habit or attitude this coming week. I am sure the Lord will be very pleased with that type of honoring and lent sacrifice crucifying your own flesh, denying being human in your actions. Jesus denied Himself in a huge way when He died on the cross for us!   Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:31 “I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.” You and I must not only rejoice and praise Christ like they did on Palm Sunday but die daily as well. It’s time to renovate and to grow to be more like Jesus!

7. For this week coming up let’s revisit the Jewish holiday that was happening when Jesus was being tried and crucified. It was The Passover. What was that all about? It was a celebration to remember when the Israelites were freed from being slaves in the land of Egypt, and on this date the final death plague was happening and the Lord commanded everyone to put lamb’s blood over their door entrances. Why, so the angel of death would “Passover” or “protect” that home, and not kill their firstborn son.

So imagine, the Jews were rejoicing the day before the Passover with the blood of a lamb that they would be saved from the plague of death. How coincidental with Jesus atonement! But recall each one had to obey to gain God’s life protection! Palm Sunday is about being obedient to Jesus and honoring Him as honor is due! 

The Lord since the beginning has been preparing the Jews, and everyone, with symbolisms. Let’s look up some useful verses. I John 1: 7 “7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” Here have confirmed that it is only by Jesus blood that we have forgiveness of sins to be reconciled with God so it is His blood that takes away guilt and punishment and frees the obedient from the curse of death and sets them up for their journey into the promised land of heaven!

8. Let’s learn more about the blood.  (See Ex 12:3, 5). The blood had to be shed from a lamb, without blemish, this represents the blood of Jesus, which is the Lamb of God without blemish. And during His trail remember how Jesus was found to be innocent by Herod, Pilot, and everyone! That is amazing how he was innocent yet condemned anyway?! And the reality is we are the guilty ones! 

(Ex 12:7) Here we see the blood had to be struck on the door, just as when Jesus blood goes on the door of our hearts, it does not go on or wear off easy, and it usually goes on with emotion. Jesus’ blood does not get applied to be un-noticed, it is put on thick to be noticed for protection from death! If He really is there, if His blood has saved us, then all will see Him alive in our lives!

We understand that if the blood is not present, the Lord will execute judgment, and that judgment is death! In other words, those who do not apply the blood of Jesus today in their lives will suffer a second death (a bodily one, then a spiritual one). Not just death in this flesh but also an eternal death, and eternal separation from God! But those with Him have eternal life in heaven where all is peace!

9. Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. Remission is God forgiving us for our sins, we would all be guilty and condemned without Jesus’ blood.

The Israelites, after putting blood on the door were commanded to stay inside and feast on the meat. That is symbolic too that we must take in Jesus’ body into ours in so that symbolically His DNA becomes ours so we become pure love as He is. Can people say of you, wow, he or she just like Jesus made of pure love?

John 6:54 “Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day”. From this we conclude that without Jesus being deep inside us we will not have eternal life. Rev.12: 11 “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death”. Jesus did not get honored on Palm Sunday and then pour out His blood for us to not respond; he bought our salvation with a huge sacrifice and we owe Him everything forever! And He gives us everything as well!

10. And now Jesus sits of the right hand of God getting praise forever! As we reflect on how He was praised, and then on His suffering this weekend, recall that He did it all for his love for You! Yes, you!  Any time you are tempted with your weaknesses, don’t crucify Jesus afresh by sinning. Remember Jesus’ cruel death, and what it cost Him to redeem you and me with God! That’ll make you praise! 

Give up your hidden rebellion and sins and give your life anew to Jesus for Him to use for God’s glory!  Let’s honor and praise Jesus as the angels and Israelites did on that historic day!

Praising Him means not just a “hosanna” but obeying and loving Him totally! Can people say of you; how amazing that (your name) is like Jesus, made of pure love?  Prayer …