Who Is Jesus?

The question, “Who is Jesus?” is not a new one. People have been seeking answers to that question for centuries. People were talking about Jesus and asking that very question. One day Jesus asked his disciples who people said that he was. They answered, “Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets” (Matthew 16:14). Obviously, the people could not agree who Jesus was even when he was on earth. Jesus then asked, “But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:15-16). According to Jesus, the truth is revealed by divine revelation. those who receive this revelation are blessed.

After Pentecost, the gospel spread quickly throughout the know world. Thousands gave their heart and lives to Jesus. However, there is a devil seeking to deceive people. When people do not get their information from God or Godly leaders, it is easy for people to developed wrong ideas about Jesus. Many of these ideas are based on false information or false assumptions.

During the dark ages, there was a falling away from the truth. There are many reasons for this. The main reason was lack of knowledge of the word of God since “faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17b). Most people during the dark ages were illiterate. Therefore, the religious people believed that only the Priest could understand the word of God. Since the printing press had yet to be invented, books had to be copied painstaking by hand. Therefore, only the rich could afford a bible.

During this period, false religious leaders were misleading many people. These religious leaders often ignored the truth of the scriptures. The Priest spread many false beliefs. The traditions of men were created and added. The people were looking for the truth and some of the priest and other men and women took advantage of the situation. In some places, the government was controlled by the church officials. Thankfully, some brave men and women decided to take a stand against the church officials. Some of the people sailed across the ocean to America because they wanted religious freedom. We now know them as the pilgrims. Later the United States of America was made up mostly of people would wanted to create a more prefect union that included religious freedom.

Over the years many people has taken advantage of people seeking the truth. Some have even taken one or two verses and created a new doctrine or religion from it. These false doctrines and religions blind the eyes of the people from the truth. The false doctrine and other religious beliefs placed people in bondage. This is clearly the work of the devil. Jesus came to set the captives free, not place them in more bondage. It is sad that often times the followers of false doctrines work harder to spread there ideas than Christians do at proclaiming the good news of Jesus. Through Jesus, we are free. Therefore, we should work to break the strong holds that the devil has on others.

Other people’s ideas are based on false assumptions. Some common false assumptions are
sins are too great
the word “all” does not mean all
Fathers are abusive therefore Jesus must be abusive.
They may feel that Jesus is angry with them.
Others feel that Jesus does not love them. Many times earthly fathers are hurtful or angry towards their children. Therefore, they feel that Jesus does not love them even though that could not be father from the truth.
Others based their ideas solely on the Bible. This is the best way. However, just having a bunch of facts about Jesus does not mean that you have a relationship with him. A relationship with Jesus is what Peter had. In order to have a relationship with Jesus, you need to know what he has to say about himself. Therefore it is best to take time each and everyday to read the word of God and pray. Ask Jesus to show you the truth. Remember the Bible says, “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling…” (Philippians 2:12). This means to become humble and go to God with respect and reverence. From there you can truly, now that you are a child of God that you are greatly loved by God.

Demons and the Fight

Jesus always answers prayers when you pray with faith. However, you need to be careful while you are waiting for the answer. I recently learned this the hard way. This is especially true if your prayer is for the removal of evil spirits. Around the middle of May 2010, I started feeling a strong evil presence in the apartment that my husband and I rented. Living with us was my husband’s brother-n-law (Mario), a nephew, and three other men. The men and Mario liked to drink. My husband and I did not approve. I started praying every day that Jesus would remove the evil spirits from the apartment. I explained many times to Jesus that my baby was due to be born June 27^th and that I did not want him to live where evil spirits were. I felt like Jesus was not listening to me because the evil presence seemed to just get stronger. I even started seeing a black shadow of a man. Every time that that I saw this shadow, I would scream, “Get out of here in the Name of Jesus”. The shadow would leave for a couple of days and then come back. The men continued to drink outside in the parking lot. I would ask Concho, my husband, to go and talk to them every time that they drank. He did but they never listened.

I will always remember the last time that they drank in the parking lot. It was Saturday June 19^th. My brother-n-law asked to borrow the truck to go to Winn-Dixie. At this time, he was not drinking, and he wanted to send some money to his wife. Therefore, we agreed. My brother-n-law and his nephew, Samuel, went to the store. Sometime later Samuel came back in, but Mario did not. Samuel said that Mario was drinking outside with Robert. I was concerned about my truck, so I went outside to make sure they were not in my truck. They were in Hector’s vehicle. Hector had given Robert the key so they could listen to music while drinking. About 10 p.m., my husband went outside to talk to them. Again, they did not listen. About 15 minutes later, he came back inside. My husband and I tried to go to sleep, but neither of us could sleep. I had a bad feeling that something was going to happen to Mario, Robert, and Hector. At first, I thought that they might try to use my truck to go somewhere, so I asked my husband if he had the key. Thankfully, he did. I again tried to sleep but could not. Therefore, I prayed that Jesus would remove the evil spirits from the apartment. The phone rang at 12 am on Sunday morning. Beto called and said that Mario and Robert were fighting. My husband answered, “It is not my problem”. About 2 minutes later Beto came and beat on the door to our room. My husband opened the door and Beto said, “They are crazy. They are fighting with knives.” My husband got his clothes on, got the machete, and went outside. I started praying for the safely of my husband and tried to explain to Jesus that I asked for the evil spirits to leave, not for everyone to start trying to kill each other. I felt like Jesus had misunderstood me. About 5 min later, my husband came in with blood covering both arms from his elbows to the tips of his fingers. He told me to get up and he grabbed a towel. I got up and ran after him. He went upstairs and got Hector because Robert is Hector’s cousin. I am so scared that my husband is very badly hurt. He tells me that I he all right, but Mario is hurt. No one will let me see Mario. Beto and Concho are outside trying to stop the bleeding. Hector looks for Robert in the parking lot and then comes back. He then tries to fight Beto. I do not understand why. Concho is able to stop the fight. He then tells Hector to leave. Thankfully, Hector leaves. The bleeding does not stop. They ask me how to stop the bleeding. I reply, “If it does not stop by applying pressure, then he must go to the hospital. The bleeding from Mario’s head does not stop. We take him to the hospital. At the hospital, they put staples in his head and sew up the gash in his arm. Now Hector, Robert, Mario, and Samuel all live somewhere else.

Next time that I pray for the removal of evil spirits, I will remember what it says in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.” (1 Thessalonians 5:4-8). If I ever need to pray for the removal of evil spirits, I am going to have more communication with Concho and others. In addition, when you start praying with faith Jesus starts working but the devil also fights back. Therefore, you need to be ready and strong in faith. Mario could have died. Yes, all of the evil spirits are now gone from the apartment. However, I now realize that every time the black shadow came back the demons that lived in those men were stronger. My husband took Mario to South Caroline and Robert went to Texas. However, the anger is still with both men. Mario still would like to kill Robert and Hector. I hope that one day, Mario will be set free from his demons and that Jesus moves in. I have recently learned that this was not his first fight, but it could have been his last.

Cattle Gap

In the late 60’s my grandparents moved to an oilfield town with their two children. My grandfather in the oilfields in that town. The family rented a ranch style house. The house was sat back about ¼ of a mile from the main road. On Sundays the family went to church. At church they were taught about Jesus and never to lie. In Sunday school, the children were taught to ask Jesus if they needed help, and he would always answer.

When my Uncle Jerry was about 10 years old and in the 5th grade, his sister Karen starts 1st grade. This is going to be the 1st time that she will be going to school, so their father gives Jerry the job of looking out for her. They walk to the end of their driveway where their ride will pick them up. At the end of the driveway is a cattle gap. (A cattle gap is made out oilfield pipe. With the pipe running long ways, about twelve pipes with three inches between that is welded to a pipe on both ends laid flat between two ditches. The ditch is about 12 inches deep.) They had to go across the cattle gape to get to the main road. Karen at this time had never walked across the cattle gap before in her life. Jerry walks across the gap with no problem. Now it is Karen’s turn. She looks at it and is so scared, but there is no other way. Jerry comes back over and gets her by her hand and starts helping her over. Karen’s foot slides in. She is in a mess with one foot on the ground in between the pipes. The pipes come up to her thigh. Her thigh is now jammed in between the pipes with no way to simple pull her out. She screams, but no body hears her but Jerry and she knows that there is no way that Jerry will be strong enough to bend the pipe because oil field pipe is very strong. Therefore, she says, “Jesus please help us”. Jerry then squats down, takes hold of the pipe with his hands, and spreads the two pieces of pipe apart. They then thank Jesus for his help.

When their ride comes, they go on to school as if nothing has happened. That night Marcus, their father, asks about Karen’s first day of school. She shows him her leg and then tells him how she fell in the cattle gap and how Jerry bent the pipe to get her out. Marcus calls for Jerry. He then reminds both of them what will happen if they lie to him. Marcus ask Jerry what happen to Karen’s leg. Jerry tells him the same story as Karen told. Now Marcus is getting upset because he believes they are lying. He works with oil field pipe almost every day and knows that it is impossible for a 10-year-old to bend the pipe. However, he does not feel like walking to the cattle gap to check their story.

Marcus gets the whole family up early and they all go to the cattle gap. On the way to the gap, he tells them if they lied, he would teach them a lesson they would never forget. At the gap, they all get out of the car and Karen shows her father where she fell in. Marcus looks at the bent pipe. He replies by saying, “Something sure spread the pipes apart”. He then turns to Jerry and asks, “how did you spread the pipe apart”. “Well,”, said Jerry, “I got scared that I would get a spanking for letting her get hurt and I had no other choice but to make the space bigger and Karen asked Jesus for help. So, I guess Jesus gave me the strength to pull the pipes apart.” Marcus looked again at the pipe and back at Jerry while shaking his head. Marcus bent down and tried to pull the pipe apart. You know what? He could not. They all went back to the house. Ann said something had to have helped Jerry and Karen. Karen now knew that Jesus would answer her prayers as she had been taught in Sunday school. She was surprised that her parents did not understand how the pipes were pulled apart. She wondered why her parents did not they were remembering the lessons from church.

New Wine and the working of the Holy Spirit

Every time we come to church; God has a feast prepared. There is milk, meat, vegetables, fruits, water, and wine.
The water is symbolic of salvation. John 4:13-14 says, “Jesus answered and said unto her, whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”
The milk is for the babes in Christ. Paul talks about milk for babes in Christ when he says, “I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.” (Corinthians 3:2).
The Fruit, vegetables and meat are for everyone that is mature enough to handle it.
The wine is for all Christians.

When we are saved, we are filled with the Holy Spirit. According to Jesus, “…Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5).
However, there is still another gift that all of us can freely receive. It is the wine that comes from Jesus. On the day of Pentecost, two important things happened.
1. They were given the joy of the Lord.
2. The gift of tongues and interpretation was given.

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

“The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him” (Psalms 28:7).

“…The Joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).

Power and strength have similar meanings.

On the day of Pentecost, many people thought that that those disciples were drunk. They had received an over filling of the joy of the Lord. The Prophet Joel prophesied this. “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:” (Joel 2:28).

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:” (Acts 2:17).


When Jesus died on the Cross-, the veil in the temple was ripped from top to bottom. That allowed everyone to enter into the Holy of Holies. We spiritual enter into the Presence of God through worship, praise, and prayer. The Old Testament temple is a symbolic representation of how we get to Jesus. “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name” (Psalms 100:4). To put that scripture into modern terminology, “Come onto the parking lot with thanksgiving and into the door with praise: be thankful to him, and bless his names.” We thank him for what he has done, and we praise him because of who he is. He is our refuge, strength, hope, provider, comforter, and savior. Next, is the showbread. Jesus is the Bread and The Word. Then, is the Holy of Holies. This is where in the temple the Ark of the Covenant was. Now, this is where we can seek the face of God. We do not have to go through the priest. We can go straight to God and tell him our problems. He already knows all. He is just waiting for us to trust him and act like his children. Then, he can hold us, wipe away the tears, and give us joy that is unspeakable. No one can leave a church without the look of joy on their face after spending time in the arms of God, our loving father. We need to get “drunk” on the joy that can come only from Jesus. This new wine is offered for all Christians.

1. To put this into the normal church order,
2. We come to church thankful for something.
3. We have fellowship with others- that should be somewhat edifying.
4. We offer praise and worship with songs and singing
5. We give our tithes and offerings as another form of worship
6. We feast on the word of God- the milk, meat, vegetables, and fruit - the preaching
7. During the time of invitation- we go to God with whatever, this is the time to boldly walk into the Holy of Holies and let God show his love and mercy.
8. We go with a renewed spirit and let others know what God has done. Making sure to take the joy of the Lord with us


We should never have Christians with frowns on their faces during any of the above steps. Even though life is hard and bad things happen, God is still on the throne. We are saved. There is nothing worse that going to Hell. Jesus has saved us from the worse possible fate. So many times, a Christian works the muscles in their faces overtime. No wonder they are so tired. Smile it is easier on your facial muscles. Smile God loves you. Smile nothing last forever on this earth.

The world is looking for the answer. They will not look to you for the answer if you look like you are anger or sad. They have enough of that in the world. They are looking for the “New Wine” (The Joy) that is only found in Jesus. Therefore, let us go to God and get a refilling of that Joy every day and most especially on Sunday.

General Bible Study

Growing Up Spiritually

There are many parallels between the spiritual life of and the natural life. Jesus said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” (John 3:6-7). At the beginning of our life on earth, we are conceived in the womb. At the beginning of our spiritual life, we hear the word of the Lord. According to Jesus, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.” (John 6:44-45). After a baby in the natural is born, he needs milk. After a person is born of the spirit, he needs to be feed spiritual milk. Peter says, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:” (1 Peter 2:2). This is not the only parallel between natural babies and Spiritual babies. Babies need lots of reassurance and love. They have not yet learnt how to do anything. Spiritual babies are similar. Spiritual babies are still learning how to pray and study their bible. Therefore, just like natural babies, they need someone to feed them spiritual milk. They may not yet know basic church house etiquettes. They need a “parent” to teach, love, and support them so that they will grow into spiritual toddlers.
Spiritual toddlers have learned some basic principles of God’s word. They, like natural toddlers, are easily excited and naturally curious about everything. Some of the most basic things have the tendency to captivate the attention of a toddler. For example, my 17-month-old is thrilled tremendously with finding a pinecone. Some adults barely take notice of pinecones others simply see them as annoyances that must be removed. My son only sees the wonder in them. He will collect as many of them as possible even setting down a toy in order to pick them up off the ground. It is the same way with spiritual toddlers. They will come to a verse in the Bible and only see the wonder or excitement while the rest of us have seen that verse so many times; we fell to see the wonder. They still see the wonder because they are still learning.

Just as toddlers are starting to eat some solid foods, spiritual toddlers are beginning to partake of some of the meat of the word of God. However, it still needs to be cut into small pieces so they do not choke. Toddlers are still learning how to chew through the various textures of food. Spiritual toddlers often need the principles from the Word of God broken down into smaller manageable bites or chunks. Spiritual toddlers are still learning how to mediate on the Word of God. They are still learning how to study. If they are not given good instruction, there is the danger of them taking a scripture out of context. Just as Paul told Timothy to, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of Truth” (2 Timothy 2:15), mature Christians need to teach spiritual toddlers this same truth.

Just as natural toddlers get into everything and try to do everything, so do spiritual toddlers. Spiritual toddlers are so excited about their salvation that they will go out and try to witness to everybody; however, they lack the knowledge and wisdom to know how. Since they lack the knowledge and wisdom, they often succumb to the attacks of the devil. They need to be carefully guarded by a mature Christian because “…the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (I Peter 5:8).

Natural toddlers are impatient, demanding, and very persistent. They will quickly throw a temper tamper when things do not go their way. Spiritual toddlers are similar. They have learned that God answers prayers, but they have not yet learned to wait on God’s timing. Without someone there to calmly remind them that God’s timing is not our timing, they will easily get discouraged. At times natural toddlers cry for no apparent reason. For example, the other day my son wanted a certain fruit. I was getting the fruit for him, but he became impatient and started crying. As I was trying to give him some of the fruit, he continued to complain. He was unable to see that I was giving him what he wanted because he was too busy complaining that he did not get it when he wanted it. Spiritual toddlers are the same way. God says yes and they cannot hear him because they are too busy franticly trying to get his attention.

Other times natural, toddlers fail to see the danger in what they want. For example, my son will see something like a bottle of lotion and think it is the best toy to put into his mouth. He fails to recognize that lotion if ingested is poisonous. Spiritual toddlers likewise will see something and want it. They will ask God for it repeatedly. They will cry out in anguish when they do not get it. Just like parents who keep a toddler from getting something dangerous, God patiently continues to say no and at times spiritually carries the spiritual toddlers away from the danger. Sometimes a toddler will try to break and run straight into danger such as the street. Spiritual toddlers likewise will see a place that looks good and will try to run straight to it. They often fail to heed the warning of the Holy Spirit just as a toddler fails to heed the warning of the parent. Therefore, in both cases the toddler must be pick-up and restrained. The parent restrains one; God or a mature Christian that is moved by the Holy Spirit restrains the other.

Just as God commanded parents to train children, God has called mature Christians to train the spiritual babes in Christ. Train is another word for teach or disciple. Therefore, you are supposed to teach the spiritual babes not just lead them to Christ and expect them suddenly know everything. Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you…” (Matthew 28:19-20 NKJ). If Jesus had intended for us only to lead people to him, he would not have instructed us to make disciples. Many people attempt to treat babes in Christ the same way they would a tomato plant. They want to increase the number of people in the church house on Sunday morning with very little work the rest of the week. They are so to speak rising up people to sit in the pew. A tomato plant can sit on the pew on Sunday morning, but it will only last a short season. The major differences between raising tomatoes and teaching children is this, tomatoes only need water, sunlight, dirt, and fertilizer while babies, toddlers, children, and teenagers need love, mercy, discipline, food, clothing, shelter, and guidance just to name a few things. In addition, tomatoes cannot walk, talk, or learn. However, even though mature Christians have the responsibility to guide and teach babes/ children in Christ, we should always remember that it says, “Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.” (Colossians 3:21). This means that we should not put so much pressure on them to be prefect that it is impossible for them to be successful. Remember that just like you, they are still human, and they will make mistakes sometimes.
Nature children have learned how to stop and ask for help and sometimes wait patiently for the help. Spiritual children have also learned to wait for some instructions. They, like all children, still have the tendency to only get half of the instructions before running off half-cocked. Children are still very energetic learners. They still need careful guidance. It is important that the hope, faith, and resolve that children have are not lost as they are learning how to do things the proper way. Remember that Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven is Children.

The next stage is quite possibly the most difficult. It is adolescence. Here they start trying to stretch their wings and fly. It is also quite possible the most rewarding time. When they are successful, it is great to watch them soar to new heights. However, there is still the chance of crashing to the ground. This is the stage where one minute they act mature and the next minute they act like scared little children. Sometimes I think that it is almost impossible to truly leave this stage in the spiritual sense or the natural sense. I am now a wife and mother and sometimes I still feel like a scare little child. That is when I have to remember to run to Jesus and ask for help. He is my Heavenly Father.

General Bible Study

Bread of Life



Grains are one of the main food groups. In the past, it was always located on the bottom of the Food Pyramid. This was because you needed to eat more grains than the other foods. Many of our basic everyday foods come from the grains group. According to the dictionary, the staff of life is “a staple of diet; especially: bread”. Just as bread is important today, it was a vital food source in Jesus’ day. For most people of Jesus’ day grains were the main food that they ate on a daily basis. “Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35). This was a major thing to say.

When the Israelites where traveling in the wilderness they ate manna from heaven. Manna was a type of bread that was given to them by God. They collected it 6 days a week. On the 6th day they collected enough for the Sabbath, because they were not allowed to work on the Sabbath day. Jesus said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven” (John 6:41).

Later Jesus says, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John 6:51). Here Jesus is referring to spiritual bread. One way of eating this spiritual bread is by reading the bible. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). In the book of Mark, “Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake [it], and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body” (Mark 14:22). Since Jesus is the word, we can “eat” his body by studying his word and developing a closer relationship with him. It is wonderful to know that Jesus is our daily bread. He will provide physical bread and spiritual bread for each of us, because he is “the same yesterday, to day, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

General Bible Study

The Lions

Image via Wikipedia

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (I Peter 5:8). Look at the loins in the wild. They never go after the big strong animals or even the baby animals that are in the middle of the large herd. They try to separate the weak sickly animals from the herd or get a baby off by itself. It does not even have to be very far from the group. It only has to get a few feet from safety then the loin is able to sneak in when no one is looking and take the baby or sick animal.
Many times, we think that the devil is out to tempt us with big things. However, that is not what he does. Just like with the animals in the wild, he tries to make you think that going just a couple of feet away from safety is ok. Remember Jesus says that it is the little foxes that spoil a whole vineyard. The big things you can normally see and recognize from a mile away. The little things are not so easy to see or recognize.
However, this is why God says “… be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer” (I Peter 4:7). This means that you are supposed to stay alert, be mindful, watch out, and pray. Someone who is not sober has problems walking, talking, and thinking. Jesus wants us to be able to think. He gave us a brain so as we can read and think about his word. He wants us to pray for many reasons. One reason is because he can know things that we do not know. He knows where the loin is hiding and what we need to do in order to stay safe. Jesus knows what little thing will pull us away from safety, therefore he wants us to pay attention to the warning signs that he gives us.

General Bible Study