The Arms of Jesus

I emailed this to someone today and thought I would share it on here...

Woke up this morning thinking about the arms of Jesus and some things in the Bible which might not necessarily mention Christ's arms, but the imagery is there.

Deuteronomy 33:27a
The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms

When you hold a baby, the safest place to hold them is underneath them - you wouldn't grab a baby by the head or grasp their ankles and dangle them upside down, no, the hands go underneath, to offer security and protection. God's arms are always underneath His people offering protection and security. We cannot fall and we are given the assurance that He will never leave us nor forsake us - in other words, He will never let us go.

Song of Solomon 6:2

My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.

Isaiah 40:11b
he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom

When I'm in work I sometimes have to put lilies through the till and they are rather large flowers. The other week after reading SoS 6:2 I imagined Christ gathering us (His people) in His arms. Lilies are not like roses with big thorns so that Christ holds us gingerly, they are not weeds which Christ would pull at roughly, no lilies are delicate flowers, to be handled with care and gentleness and so Jesus gathers us in His arms, holding us close to His bosom (that's the best way to carry lilies, rather than by the bottom of their stems - in the crook of your arms, close to your heart). What a beautiful picture of Christ holding His people - holding YOU!

The other verse (is probably a bit more famous); - Christ called Himself the Good Shepherd and that He is! A lamb is such a small creature, helpless and needs protecting. The bosom is the place close to the heart - Christ carries His people close to His heart. Even the wayward lambs, the hyper-active lambs (that's me!), the shy lambs, the injured and hurting lambs - each one of us is carried close to Christ's heart. Can you imagine Him giving you a massive hug as you hurt, as you are stressed as you are poorly - feels those arms drawing you closer and closer to His heart.

Matthew 11:28
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

I have always imagined Christ with a gentle tone in His voice (obviously we don't know what He looks like or sounds like, but I'm talking about in my soul), His arms outstretched beckoning so gently, for us to come into His arms. The 'Come' isn't one of an angry parent telling a child off, it's someone calling in a meek and gentle way those of us who are weak, heavy laden, hurting, ill, suffering etc. Again when we go to Christ we rest close to His heart - as He calls 'Come!' His arms are open wide but when we do come to Him, He closes them around us and holds us with an everlasting grasp which cannot be opened again - Nothing shall seperate us from the love of God in Christ - Nothing shall open His arms so that we fall from His grasp!

John 19:18
Where they crucified him

Years ago (in the late 80s) someone gave me a card which said something like - I asked Jesus how much He loved me and He opened His arms and died (I can't remember it exactly). Those arms which hold us close, also hold the wounds of His love. For every chosen person, Jesus was willing to have His hands/arms nailed to that cursed cross. Those arms which hold us close, were once outstretched so that He could hold a chosen people in them again, knowing that His death availed for every single one of them. In Hebrews 12:2 it says:

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Why did He count it a joy? Because He knew that He was saving a people, He knew that once His work was complete, He could have His everlasting arms underneath His people, He could hold them in His arms, close to His bosom and He could love them, guide them, minister to them (through the Holy Spirit). He did it because of love - it has often been said - love held Him there, not the nails - that is so true. He endured mocking, scourging, being spat upon, having nails driven through His nerves, flesh, muscle, tendons - the pain, searing pain so that we could never endure the pain of hell, He even had His Father turn His back on Him - many people find this difficult to comprehend - how could God turn His back on God? Well He could because Jesus HAD to be our 100% complete Substitute - if God hadn't turned His back on Christ then we would be lost into a Christless eternity, because in our Christless, sinful state - God would turn His back on us. The depth of the love, pain and suffering to win a people for Himself is beyond our comprehension, but He has risen victorious - Christ is (to put it in the words of William Williams [Pantycelyn] ) Death of death (He has destroyed [eternal] death, it no longer lives in His people) and Hell's Destruction - for His people Hell is destroyed - we will never taste the foulness of it, we will never be cast into a Christless eternity because of those arms, spread out on the cross.

Acts 7:56

And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

Stephen saw the Lord Jesus at the right hand of God (this is a bit of license now, but I wonder if Jesus had His arms wide open, ready to receive Stephen into His presence - the Bible doesn't say, but I like to think of it that way. And notice that Jesus is standing to welcome Stephen into eternal rest - elsewhere in Scripture it says that Jesus is seated at God's right hand, but He longs to welcome His weary traveller home to His side - what a wonderful picture)!

The Cup, Nails, Darkness, Skull, Sitting and Watching

The Cup 
“O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” Matthew 26:39
Jesus drank the bitter cup to the last dregs and sometimes as partakers in the sufferings of Christ we too must go through bitter times we too must drink from the cup! Not just sip, but drink even the dregs.

The Nails
Then they crucified Him Matthew 27:35
By the hands of wicked men Christ was crucified! They hammered the nails into His hands - sometimes the Lord brings people into our lives who are like the nails - painful, they grieve us but we are partakers of His sufferings! As Christ suffered so do I!

The Darkness
Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land Matthew 27:45
Christ was taken to a very dark place at Calvary - separation from His Father, but He waited! He could have easily come down from the cross, but He stayed in that dark place, waiting. When God takes us to dark places He allows that darkness, then we must sit and wait upon Him not try to free ourselves and jump this way and that. Our comfort must come from God alone, not from the world or our emotions.

The Skull
And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, Matthew 27:33
The skull is an empty place - no sight, no hearing, no thought, nothing at all - emptiness. We can go to the place of the skull - sometimes we have little understanding of God's purposes - we cannot see His ways, we cannot hear Him speak, but we wait! This is part of partaking in the sufferings of Christ.

Sitting and Watching Jesus
And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads Matthew 27:39
Sitting down, they [the soldiers] kept watch over Him there Matthew 27:36
At Calvary some passed by, blasphemed Him and wagged their heads - they weren't interested in sitting and watching Jesus, they wanted to mock Him (v39) but in verse 36 the Roman soldiers sat down and kept watch over Him. Those who walked past didn't see who Jesus truly is, they weren't interested in Him, only mocking Him, but the ones who sat down and watched Jesus were the ones who came to the conclusion that He is the Son of God! Even as believers we have to watch Jesus, fix our eyes upon Him, to become like Him we have to observe Him through the Word (ie Scripture).

Abortion

Did the baby choose to be conceived? NO... Did the baby choose to die? NO Did the baby choose his/her parents? NO Not much of a choice really is it? Especially since the mother had a choice (except in the case of rape) to say NO! to having sex and conceiving a child. Does the baby have the same DNA as his/her parents? NO Does the baby have the same blood group as their parents? NOT NECESSARILY Does the baby have its own unique set of finger prints? YES Can the baby be conceived outside of a woman's body? YES Can the baby be transplanted into another woman's body? YES Amazing fact - Everything that makes a baby (all of the genetic information) is there at conception - nothing is added during development and nothing is taken away - that is so phenomenal! Looks like the baby is a separate person to their mother and it's not their mother's body after all I L❤VE LIFE for the innocent!

Why should the innocent die (ie babies in the womb) and the guilty live (ie murderers, rapists etc)? It's a travesty of moral and social justice! This is something I wrote on a post on social media (some of the above content is included in the post)

Abortion isn't murder? A baby is only a mass of cells? It's only a human organism?

A baby starts to develop at conception - 2 LIVING cells - a sperm and egg, both living - and from that joining of the 2 ALL the information needed to create a separate human being is there - the baby's gender, eye colour, skin colour, finger prints, DNA, blood type, height, brain, lungs, heart, kidneys, liver, spleen, gall bladder, bladder, colon, diaphragm, bones, marrow, tendons, ligaments, finger nails, veins, arteries, capillaries, central nervous system: brain, spinal chord, nerves etc.

It's a woman's choice to do with her body what she wishes! Really?

1. the baby which is developing is actually 23 chromosomes from the woman and 23 from the man (there are exceptions to the amount of chromosomes e.g. with Down Syndrome - but they are still human babies) so the little baby developing isn't the mother's body

2. the woman had a choice (except in the case of rape) whether to have sex or not

3. by not taking responsibility for an action doesn't make it right to get rid of an innocent baby which was not conceived because of THEIR choice, but because of a wrong action by the mother and father - grow up and TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for your actions!

Did the baby choose to be conceived? NO...

Did the baby choose to die? NO

Did the baby choose his/her parents? NO

Not much of a choice really is it? Especially since the mother had a choice (except in the case of rape) to say NO! to having sex and conceiving a child.

Does the baby have the same DNA as his/her parents? NO

Does the baby have the same blood group as their parents? NOT NECESSARILY

Does the baby have its own unique set of finger prints? YES

Can the baby be conceived outside of a woman's body? YES

Can the baby be transplanted into another woman's body? YES

Amazing fact - Everything that makes a baby (all of the genetic information) is there at conception - nothing is added during development and nothing is taken away - that is so phenomenal!

Looks like the baby is a separate person to their mother and it's not their mother's body after all.

EDIT: A baby is just a mass of cells - so our cells disappear when we're born do they? We too, are a mass of cells and if we didn't have them our bodies couldn't function!

Godly Relationships Part 1: Courtship and Marriage

Marriage and Courtship

It is such a vast subject that I can't cover it all so these topics just skim the surface of a vast ocean of godly living for couples.

Please remember, dear brothers and sisters, that:

 2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.  

We also have to remember that because God is truth and He cannot lie, then His word is absolute truth too.

Marriage is so important to God, it was the first institution to be set up by Him. 

Genesis 2:18-25 And the LORD God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him." Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.
And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
And Adam said:


"This is now bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man."


Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

He instituted it for long term companionship, security, procreation and because we are uniquely created in His image and different from the animals.

It is a picture of God's covenant with His people, the Israelites and was not to be broken

Malachi 2:11 Judah has dealt treacherously,
And an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem,
For Judah has profaned
The LORD's holy institution which He loves:
He has married the daughter of a foreign god.

People who fall away from this covenant had to be delivered

Proverbs 2:16-17 To deliver you from the immoral woman,
From the seductress who flatters with her words,
Who forsakes the companion of her youth,
And forgets the covenant of her God. 

Marriage is also a picture of Christ's relationship with His church

Ephesians 5:23-27 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

Revelation 21:9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, "Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife." 

At the heart of marriage there is to be intimacy and oneness

Genesis 2:18
And the LORD God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him."

Genesis 2:24
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

God only intended marriage to be between a man and a woman - we see this clearly in all of these verses. Also sexual union must only take place after marriage:

Hebrews 13:4
Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge. 

I would go further and say that 2 people should not start courting unless they have marriage in mind! God takes His covenant seriously, and so should we!!

Sexual union is the ultimate binding together of the lifetime covenant between a man and woman - it is the sealing of their marriage vows. In effect they are both saying that they belong to each other and no other human! To have a relationship involving any sexual activity before marriage is going against God's eternal plan, not just for Christians but for the whole of humanity. It is also committing fornication - something Scripture condemns!

http://www.biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?SearchType=AND&language=english&version=NKJV&searchpage=0&search=fornication

Far too many Christians take courtship and marriage too lightly - before entering into any relationship time should be spent on both sides praying and seeking the Lord's divine wisdom and counsel! You ask permission to marry a person from your earthly father, how much more we should consult with our Heavenly Father on these things!! God sees marriage as being very important. Contrary to modern thinking - marriage and the family are still the backbone of society! Why do you think Satan is using all his power to attack this very institution that is at the centre of God's heart?

Who should I marry then? The Bible is very clear on this issue:

2 Corinthians 6:14-18 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said:


"I will dwell in them
And walk among them.
I will be their God,
And they shall be My people."

Therefore

"Come out from among them
And be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean,
And I will receive you."
"I will be a Father to you,
And you shall be My sons and daughters,
Says the LORD Almighty."

Amos 3:3
Can two walk together, unless they are agreed? 

God tells us in His word that we are not to be conformed to this world (Romans 12:2). We have to be seperated from all worldliness - how can we be seperate if we marry someone who is of this world and has no love for Christ in their hearts? Christ would never allow an unbeliever to be part of His bride!

Mixed marriages lead to sin:

Exodus 34:16
and you take of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters play the harlot with their gods and make your sons play the harlot with their gods. 

Also read in 1 Kings 11, how Solomon turned to the gods of his heathen wives!!

In Nehemiah 13:23-27 - judgement fell upon those who were deliberately marrying heathens!

We need to stand firm in the faith and not do as the world does - the world waters down the word and makes it ineffective for witnessing! How can God bless us and send His Holy Spirit down to revive the church if we are going against His will and word? If we honour Him, He will honour us (1 Samuel 2:30b).

NB: If you are already married to a non-believer - don't go rushing out to get a divorce! PART 2 - Divorce and remarriage

May He bless you all richly with all the abundence of His providencial graces,

In Him

Carolyn xxxx

Godly Relationships part 2: Divorce and Remarriage

Divorce and Re-marriage

As marriage is an institution set up by God and it should last until 'death do us part', divorce should never be taken lightly. Of course, we live in a world which is groaning under the weight of sin! This topic is not being posted by me to be judgemental - it is how I see Scripture as God views divorce in the light of His covenant with His people!

I wish to remind you that marriage was the first institution set up by God way back in Genesis 2:21-25 

Genesis 2:21-25
And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
And Adam said:


"This is now bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man."

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

It is a picture of God's covenant with Israel and in the new covenant a picture of Christ (as the Bridegroom) and His church (the Bride).

The first allowance of divorce was back in Moses' day - Deuteronomy 24 

Law Concerning Divorce
Laws Concerning the Family

Deuteronomy 24:1-4
 "When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, when she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man's wife, if the latter husband detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife, then her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance. 

Christ also mentions this fact in Matthew 19:8 

Matthew 19:8
He said to them, "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so."

The only grounds in Scripture for divorce is because of adultery.

Matthew 5:32
But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.

If someone divorces their spouse and re-marries then they are committing adultery

Mark 10:12
And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.

Luke 16:18
"Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery."

Keep Your Marriage Vows

1 Corinthians 7:10-11
 Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband. But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife.

Those above passages imply that anyone who is divorced must not remarry! I do know of Christians who have been divorced (through no fault of their own - the divorce has been filed against them!) so should they have remarried? One person was not a believer when he got divorced but has remarried after becoming a believer! This is such a tricky area to cover. I have discussed this with a friend and she believes that people can remarry - so long as they were the innocent party (ie - the divorce was filed against them and not vice versa!).

What if I have an unbelieving spouse? I am going to stick my head above the parapit here and say (from Scripture) that if you were a Christian before you married your unbelieving spouse, then you have gone against Scripture (as discussed in the previous topic), but 

1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

You must not however rush out and seek a divorce!

1 Corinthians 7:12-13
But to the rest I, not the Lord, say: If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her. And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him.

Although it is Paul who says this and not the Lord, he was an apostle, personally chosen by the Lord Jesus Christ and he had an immense grasp of scriptural truth!

If an unbelieving spouse is not happy, then they are permitted to leave

1 Corinthians 7:15
But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace.

If you are married to an unbeliever then you must act in a godly way and be a witness to them

Submission to Husbands
Serving and Suffering for God's Glory

1 Peter 3:1-2
 Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear.

These days we hear of people getting divorced for such trivial and ridiculous reasons - the spouse became too fat, had too many wrinkles, burnt the toast etc etc. Divorce is serious!! Marriage is also serious - it has to be worked out - just as our salvation is worked out! OK it is tough and there will be times when your spouse will wind you up and drive you crazy, but remember, marriage is a picture of Christ's relationship with His church - one which is from eternity and will go into eternity, so with this in mind, let us all seek to have godly marriages, striving to serve and honour the Lord within this God-given institution and not looking for a way out when things get tough - seek the Lord in ALL things!

Another thing to remember - Satan is the enemy of God and he is always out to destroy anything that God has put in place - marriage and proper relationships in general seem to be under such heavy attacks in these days! Stand firm, put on the armour of God and resist the devil, then he will flee from you (even within a troubled marriage!!)

Sanctification can come through our marriages!

May the Lord bless you richly within your homes and marriages, beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord.

In Him

Carolyn xxxx

Woman made out of Adam's rib - Matthew Henry

“The woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.” 

Matthew Henry

1 Corinthians 13: 4-8 - LOVE is... Love is not...

^v4 

Love suffers long [is patient]

 is kind;

love does not envy;

love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;  

^v5

does not behave rudely, 

does not seek its own, 

is not provoked, 

thinks no evil;

^v6

does not rejoice in iniquity, 

but rejoices in the truth; 

^v7

bears all things, 

believes all things,

hopes all things,  

endures all things.

^v8

Love never fails. 

Why we cannot lose our salvation

If we could lose our salvation:

1. God would have to de-adopt us – we could no longer call Him ‘Abba, Father’ - Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6

2. God would have to take back the GIFT of grace through faith He has given us - Ephesians 2:8-10; Romans 11:6

3. Christ would have to divorce members of His Bride - Ephesians 5:22ff; Revelation 21:2,9

4. We would have to work to keep our salvation, but salvation is based on Christ's work, not our own  -  Romans 9:11; Galatians 2:16; Philippians 2:13

5. God would be saying - Christ's work wasn't good enough for you after all

6. We never would have been good enough to be saved anyway - see Romans 3:12,23; Isaiah 64:6; Jeremiah 17:9

7. Why would Christ bother preparing a place if anyone was going to lose their salvation? - John 14:3

8. Every Christian has been bought with a price - so if we could lose our salvation, that would mean that God would have to sell us back to the world after paying such a high price? I think not!  - 1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23

9. God would have to take away the Holy Spirit - the Comforter, our Helper - John 14:16; John 15:26

10. God would be breaking His promises never to leave nor forsake His people and also the promise - none shall snatch them from My hand - Joshua 1:5c/Hebrews 13:5; John 10:28,29

11. God would have to spiritually murder/kill those He had saved (brought to life) - Romans 8:11; 1 Corinthians 15:22; Ephesians 2:1,5; Colossians 2:13

12. God would have to bind us up again - Romans 6 (various verses)

13. He hasn't saved us to the uttermost and has stopped making intercession for us - Hebrews 7:25 (Hebrews is a fabulous book to see Christ in all His glorious work)

14. The glorious work begun in us wouldn't be seen to completion - Philippians 1:6

15. God would no longer be faithful nor unchanging - Hebrews 10:23; Malachi 3:6a

Is the God of Christianity that harsh to His children? To say that our salvation can be lost is a blasphemy against God's all loving grace and mercy towards a redeemed church.

For us to lose our salvation, which has been gloriously bought by the blood of Christ, would mean that God would be a liar and untrustworthy, but as He is holy and righteous and cannot look upon sin, the verses above show that indeed our salvation cannot be lost. 

I have commented HERE on the claim by some that if we are always saved then we can do what we want - that is called antinomianism and is unbibilical!