True Vine Talk

The Merging Of Hope and Truth Found In Jesus Christ

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  • The Redeemed in Christ

    4/3/2022

    In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. Ephesians 1:7-10 (NIV)

    The Scriptures paint a picture of humanity being in bondage to sin. It can control our nature, drive our passions and keep us entangled in the chains of guilt. But the Bible also speaks of a great victory over the consequences of sin through redemption. Redemption is the act of buying back or paying the price for an obligation or debt. Jesus Christ was on a rescue mission to secure our freedom and pay the purchase price required to set us free from sin.

    Colossians 1:13-14 says it best: “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”  

    Those who are in Christ have had the shackles broken and the weight of sin lifted through His blood spilled on the cross. No sin, no guilt and no burden is too great for our Lord Jesus Christ. For he has taken all the weight of sin on Himself.

    How To Know Jesus Christ

  • Heavenly Realms

    04/01/2022

    Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. Ephesians 1:3-6

    We all love to receive gifts and special blessings. It is one of the tiny pleasures in life that brings us joy, especially the anticipation ahead of time.

    The Scripture verses today are a brief glimmer to build anticipation for the blessings that are reserved in the heavenly realm for those who belong to Christ. It is a bit of a sneak peek into those gifts without the reality of their immeasurable worth and grandeur.

    God is saying “they’re yours and you were chosen before time to receive those blessings”. To be chosen by God speaks of the immense beauty and value the Father sees in you. Yes, He knows you by name and has freely given you these treasures in the One He loves, Jesus Christ.

    How To Know Jesus Christ

  • Can God Forget?

    3/31/2022

    “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” Isaiah 43:25 (NIV)

    Who would do such a thing; to make a choice to intentionally forget wrongs and offenses, remembering them no more? God does! God’s love is anchored in radical mercy and kindness.

    In Psalm 103:12 it says God casts our sins as far as the east is from the west.  Like God’s love, the distance of the east to the west is immeasurable.  

    We see that immeasurable depth of love in action through the Lord Jesus Christ – “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)”.

    It is because Jesus Christ bore our sins that God can forget them all. In Him (Christ) we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. (Ephesians 1:7). 

    Yes, God wants to lavish His love and grace upon you. And it is Jesus Christ that makes that possible for all who receive Him!

    How To Know Jesus Christ

  • An Everlasting Love

    3/29/2022

    The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying:
    “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;
    Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.     Jeremiah 31:3 (NKJV)

    God’s love never abandons us. He is always calling us back to His affection. It is man who shakes off His love and pursues a kind of love that never totally satisfies.  As Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday He wept over the people. Even as they were singing praise to Him, He knew those voices soon would be the same shouting “Crucify Him”. (Luke 19:37-44).

    Even when we scorn Him, God’s everlasting love is always calling us into the arms of His protection through His Son, Jesus the Savior.  His call may only be in a gentle whisper or it may be a shout from the housetops. Is He calling you today to His everlasting love?  

    How To Know Jesus Christ

  • I Desire Mercy

    3/28/2022

     While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples.  When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:10-13 (NIV)

    If you have ever been in court as the defendant and have been found guilty as accused, you hope that the judge would show mercy. Expecting mercy when we commit a wrong is somehow easier than showing mercy to others.  When someone wrongs us, we want justice; we want vindication.

    In these verses, Jesus calls out the religious holy men known as Pharisees because they were blind to mercy. Jesus quotes from the Old Testament book of the prophet Hosea (6:6), “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” which the Pharisees knew well. Jesus expected the Pharisees to show mercy as followers of God instead of condemnation.  In the same way, those who follow Jesus are called to be merciful because we have been shown great mercy in that our sins are not counted against us.   

    But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared,  he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior….  Titus 3:4-6 (NIV)

    How To Know Jesus Christ

  • The Law of Sin and Death

    3/26/2022

    There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.   For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2 (NIV)

    An incredible and supernatural reset occurred at the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The power of sin and death over humanity was transformed and emasculated. From the days of Adam and Eve to the day of the first Resurrection when Christ overpowered the grave, humanity was in bondage to sin and death.

    But now a great rescue and emancipation has taken place through Christ to conquer both sin and death. The Spirit of life now reigns victorious and the chains of our slavery have been crushed. Condemnation and the weight of sin along with its power have been vanquished “for those who are in Christ”.  The Lord Jesus has set me free and how sweet is that freedom.

    “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” 1 Corinthians 15:54-55

    How to Know Jesus Christ

  • The Revelation Of Christ

    3/24/2022

    To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”  Revelation 1:5-8 (NKJV)

    The Book of Revelation opens up with a powerful prologue that characterizes the supernatural mission, power and eternal nature of Jesus Christ. As the Alpha and the Omega, the Eternal One, one day soon He shall come with the armies of Heaven to take possession of that which is His and the true Peace on Earth shall reign. On His robe it shall be written “King of Kings, Lord of Lords”.

    At the name of Jesus every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11). To those who willingly bow their knee and call Him Lord and Savior He will bestow on them the crown of king and priest.  For He has loved them and made them clean by His blood. And then those who mourn at His coming, they will sorrow knowing the time has passed to willingly bow their knee; for they loved their sin more than the One who freely offers the crown of eternal life.

    “You are worthy, O Lord,
To receive glory and honor and power;
For You created all things,
And by Your will they exist and were created.”  Revelation 4:11
    How To Know Jesus Christ

  • No Expiration – Eternal Life in Christ

    3/21/2022

    Jesus said to her,“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26 (NIV)

    Buying any consumer product can be risky today. It seems most are designed to fail within a certain amount of time after the purchase. I have had many a gadget that stops working shortly after the warranty period has expired. I know many of you have experienced that frustration also. It is very unusual to find a product with a lifetime warranty. If you happen to find one, they are usually well made but cost substantially more than comparable models. Usually I am willing to pay more for great products with a lifetime guarantee.

    There is a saying that life offers no guarantees. Our gadgets break, our warranties expire, and life knocks us down in a thousand different ways. But there is One who gives us a life guarantee that will not expire, will not fail and will not disappoint. It is a guarantee that has no equal and is free for the asking. Sound like a great deal? Well it is the best ever because it lasts for eternity.  Jesus Christ offers an eternal life guarantee to all who will trust in Him. Can we put a price on a guarantee like that?

    “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”  Romans 10:8-11

    How To Know Jesus Christ

  • Eternity in Our DNA

    3/19/2022

    He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.  Ecclesiastes 3:11b (NIV)

    Our life and society have been shaped and molded by incredible advancements in science and technology. Small hand-held devices access a virtual “universal mind” to provide instant answers to our every question and our every musing. So much so that we now seem to have simple, succinct answers for all of the complex questions about life, death, the universe and our origins. Those virtualized answers all center around a supposition of a benign beginning where elements and matter came together by chance.

    However, the elephant in the room is that those answers do not address the innate mystery that nags at us all.  We cannot deny there is a longing in the human heart to know the how and why, especially the why when it comes to our existence.  The why is the definitive question science and technology cannot answer because God is that the core of the eternal why. God has placed the longing in the heart of our spiritual DNA to ask the why. We can ask how and ask why but without God at the center who can understand the mystery of the eternal why. Jesus has the answer to the eternal why.

    Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.  John 14:6 (NKJV)

    But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.  Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)

    But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father inspirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”  John 4:23-24 (NKJV)

    How To Know Jesus Christ