Jesus’ Crucifixion Prophesied

 
Psalm 22 has prophecies about Jesus’ crucifixion. David wrote this Psalm about 1000 years before Jesus was crucified.

On the Cross, Jesus quoted Psalm 22, verse 1 when he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Then in verses 14 through 18 describe what actually happened to Jesus during his crucifixion. Verse 14 says, “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast.”

This describes what happened to his shoulder joints as he hung on the cross. His heart would pound loudly as it tried to keep what little blood he had left circulating. It would feel like it was giving up and melting.

Verse 15 says, “my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.”

A potsherd is a broken piece of an earthenware jar. Abandoned and left alone. It has no strength to do what it was designed to do, to hold water. That’s how it would feel to hang on the cross.

Thirst would dry his mouth and it his tongue would stick to his jaws. He would feel just like he was ready to die.

Verse 16 says, “For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet.”

Indeed, the accusers are described in Matthew 27 as taunting Jesus as he hung on the cross. The description of having his hands and feet pierced was unknown in the time of David but was fulfilled by Jesus’ crucifixion.

Verse 17 says, “I can count all my bones—they stare and gloat over me; 18 they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.”

The brutal flogging that Jesus took before his crucifixion would have stripped the flesh from his back and exposed his bones so that they could be counted.

Then, unknown to David, he states exactly what the Roman soldiers did. They cast lots for Jesus’ garments.

The ability to predict this and have it fulfilled after 1000 years is beyond chance. It is a certainty. It is sufficient for anyone to understand that the Bible is true.

But that’s not the end of the story because Jesus died on a Friday and was raised to life on Sunday. The Bible continues to tell us that Jesus’ crucifixion was to pay for our sins, and we can have eternal life when we believe in Jesus for our salvation.

If you want to know more about this, watch my video on YouTube, "The Gospel."

May God Bless you!

Psalm 20 – Answered Prayers?

“May the Lord fulfill all your petitions!” (Ps 20:5). Does God answer all our prayers?

Does the Lord answer every one of our prayers the way we want? If so, and we are encouraged to pray though the psalms and make them personal, we may be misled.

Listen to Psalm 20, verses 1 through 5.

May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble!
May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!
May he send you help from the sanctuary
and give you support from Zion!
May he remember all your offerings
and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices!
May he grant you your heart’s desire
and fulfill all your plans!
May we shout for joy over your salvation,
and in the name of our God set up our banners!
May the Lord fulfill all your petitions!

Will the Lord answer you in the day of trouble? Absolutely yes. But we must remember that his answer is always filtered through his foreknowledge of those who love him and are called according to his purpose to make us look like Jesus according to Romans 8 verses 28 and 29.

We also know that he allows or even sends trials to help us grow to be more like Jesus according to Romans 5 verses 3 and 4 as well as James 1 verses 2 through 4.

Jesus even said when we are persecuted for living a godly life, we will be blessed in Matthew 5 verses 10 through 12.

Do you want to escape from the day of trouble and miss the blessings he has for us?

But the Psalm says the Lord will protect us and send help from his sanctuary. The Holy Spirit comes directly from his heavenly sanctuary, the eternal Zion. The Holy Spirit will aid and support us in our trials. He will give us the desire to live a godly life which is what verses 3 and 4 are talking about because we don’t offer burnt offerings anymore and our desires are to please the Lord and not just have a happy, problem-free life.

When we put these verses that seem to say we can name and claim whatever we want from God in perspective of the whole Bible, we see that it is more about the way the Lord saves us than it is us getting what we want. When our focus is on becoming more like Jesus in our days of trouble, we will shout for joy over our salvation and those prayers will be answered.

If you don’t know Jesus, watch my video on YouTube
, "The Gospel."

May God Bless you!

 

Heart Check Up

“How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart?” (Ps 19:12). Only by surrendering our lives to Jesus.

How’s your heart? When was the last time you had it checked? I don’t mean your physical blood pumping heart. I’m talking about your inner being what motivates you to do good or evil.

David wanted a heart check up and he wrote about it in Psalm 19:12-14

How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart?
Cleanse me from these hidden faults.
Keep your servant from deliberate sins!
Don't let them control me.
Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin.
May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing to you,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

David understood that our hearts are so screwed up that we can’t really understand the evils that are hidden there. Sometimes other people will point them out and we are surprised and even embarrassed. But we get defensive and ignore them.

So, David goes to the Lord and asks him to cleanse his heart from these sins that he doesn’t even realize are there. You see, only when we turn to Jesus Christ to cleanse our hearts will we be given the power of the Holy Spirit to confess our sins and get rid of the idols in our hearts that produce the sins.

When we turn to Jesus for salvation, we will be freed from the guilt of our sins. Jesus took all our guilt away and when the Father looks at us, he doesn’t see even our great sins. He sees us through Jesus, his Son and there is no guilt.

That doesn’t give us the freedom to sin so we will pray along with David for all that comes out of hearts, our words, and our thoughts, our meditations, to be pleasing to the Lord. All because he is our Lord and Redeemer.

If you want to know more about this, watch my video on YouTube, "The Gospel."

May God Bless you!