Jesus said unto them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.” John 6:35
“It is written, MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.” Matthew 4:4
Here Jesus is speaking to the devil who was trying to temp him to use his super natural powers to turn stones into bread. Jesus had been in the wilderness fasting and without food for forty days so at Jesus’ weakest point the devil came to him trying to get him to prove who he was by doing a supernatural miracle. However, Jesus quoted him the Word of God which was written in the book of Deuteronomy Chapter 8 verse 3. Saying that man does not live by bread alone, (the natural bread) but by the Spiritual bread which is the Word of God. We need to allow God’s Word to fashion us on the inside and feed our spirits more than we need the natural food to feed our bodies. Jesus said in John 6:35 that He is the Bread of Life. When we learn and accept the Words of Jesus we will have life, the kind of life that heals,saves and gives us life eternal.
In Today’s society there are many religious thoughts that twist the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ. It is my hope that this page can bring the real truth and that those who are in the world will have an opportunity through this message to hear and understand the gospel of Jesus Christ.
As a personal testimony of my own experience I had lost all hope in God as a young adult. Life was very difficult and I lost hope that God existed. I spent the next twenty-five years of my life in darkness. With four young children and a lot of problems I had no where to turn without God. Finally at forty-three years of age I found my way to a church where I felt love for the first time ever. We think we know about love, the world is full of songs about love but let me say this; It is not the kind of love that God has for us. As I continued to feel God’s love in that little church I eventually decided to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ and one evening I walked down to the altar for the very first time in my life and confessed that I believed in Jesus. God changed my life THAT DAY! It has been now twenty-four years and Jesus Christ is LORD!
THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST
Matthew 1:18-19
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her planned to send her away secretly.
Betrothed – Webster’s Dictionary says that the word Betrothal is 1. to promise to marry 2. To give in marriage.
The betrothal is the selection of the bride which was followed by the espousal. Sort of like our present day “engagement”, but it was a formal proceeding undertaken by a friend or legal representative on the part of the bride. It was confirmed by oaths and accompanied with presents to the bride. These presents were described by different terms, to the bride it is “a dowry” and could also be considered a price paid to the father for his daughter. This custom still prevails in certain parts of the East at the present day.
The act of betrothal was celebrated by a feast, and among the more modern Jews it is the custom in some parts for the bridegroom to place a ring on the bride’s finger. The ring was never the less regarded among the Hebrews as a token of fidelity and adoption into a family.
By the Holy Spirit: Luke 1:26-35
“Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth. To a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, ‘Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.’ But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. The angel said to her, ’Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end’. Mary said to the angel,’ how can this be, since I am a virgin?’ The angel answered and said to her The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.”
Mary had an encounter with the angel Gabriel, God’s messenger angel, otherwise she would not have known what happened to her. Because of this angelic visitation she knew this was the will of God. Even though the situation was extremely difficult and could cause her to be put to death; and yet by God revealing this to her through the angel she was able to put her trust in God and be what He wanted her to be.
Came Together – They were considered husband and wife due to the betrothal but they had not consummated their marriage (meaning they had not yet entered into a sexual relationship) “Came together”.
Joseph considered putting Mary away. He didn’t want to publicly shame her even though he must have had some serious emotional and social problems because of this unexpected and unbelievable pregnancy. Mary’s pregnancy was punishable by death. Joseph considered putting her away secretly but God intervened in a super-natural way. If he had decided to do that a divorce would have been required to break a betrothal.
People are generally interested in the super natural when they see things on TV such as the exorcist, haunted houses, physic’s and so forth but God’s kingdom is more super natural than any of those things. Actually there are two sides to the super – natural of this world, and that is the side of God which is Holy and leads to improvement in our lives and the other side is Satanic which leads to deceit and destruction. Satan is a liar and all who operate in the super-natural through the means of satanic powers even though they say they are of God; are bringing serious harm to those who participate. The Bible says in II Corinthians 11:13-15 “For such mean are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servant of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.”
While Joseph was thinking on these things an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Matthew 1:20-21
Have you ever heard from God in a dream? The Bible tells us about many who heard from God in dreams. Some times it is a warning about something that will cause great harm to you. Some times it is a confirmation about something you have been wondering about. Sometimes God communicates to you through dreams and visions to give you directions about which way to go. God does communicate with people. Don’t ever laugh when someone says that they heard from God. Many times God is that still small voice that nudges you to think something or do something. God has many ways to communicate with people and you can learn more about that later on. God also communicates with his people many times prophetically. That is He reveals in dreams, visions, and words, things that have not yet come to past. Why does He do that? Mostly so that when it comes to past you will know that it was God’s plan. God gave the Prophet Isaiah information about Jesus around seven hundred years before Jesus was born. Why? Because of the prophecy, we can understand that this is the truth. God gave prophecy to Prophets about many other details of things to come including the crucifixion. There is no way some of the details of the crucifixion could have been staged when you see how God spoke about it through the prophets hundreds even thousands of years before it came to past.
As an example the scriptures in Matthew 1:22-23 says that “Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the LORD through the prophet: BEHOLD A VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL, which translated means ‘God with us’”.
Verses 24-25 “And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the LORD commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to s Son; and he called His name Jesus.”
The book of Matthew speaks of the Old Testament being fulfilled, i.e. events in New Testament times that were prophesied in the Old Testament. A powerful testimony to the divine origin of Scripture and its accuracy even in small details.
Isaiah 7:14 written about seven hundred years before Christ was born.
“Therefore the LORD Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” This was written way before the time of the birth of Jesus Christ. It is provable. The Old Testament Scriptures have been hand printed and published for thousands of years. When God speaks to a prophet about something that is yet to come it is called a PROPHECY. There are many prophecies in the Bible including the whole book of Revelation.
As we can see from the above lesson, we find that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, (a miracle birth) and that Joseph and Mary both were given supernatural revelation from God through Angelic visits and revelation, so that they could understand what was happening. Also that God revealed this to the Prophet Isaiah (and others) about seven hundred years before it happened so that when it happened people could understand that Jesus was the Son of God.
Even though there are many religious groups including some who call themselves Christians trying to make people feel that as long as they are good or as long as they believe in a God, or as long as they respect other peoples beliefs that they are candidates for Eternal Life and Heavens home. They will also try to tell you that the Bible is not the only Book with God’s Word in it. However, the Bible is the WORD OF GOD and has been written through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. In the book of John Chapter 14:6 Jesus says “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Almost all of the OTHER religions talk about Jesus, but they make him simply a prophet, a teacher, however, he was MUCH MORE THAN THAT! JESUS IS THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD. As the very famous verse in John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten (that means that God fathered Jesus by the Holy Spirit) Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
How do we know for sure that we will go to Heaven if we were to die today? We must understand that we are sinners. For the Bible says that “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. “As it is written there is none righteous, no not one.” Romans 3:10
And “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:13. The Bible also says in Romans 10: 9-10 “That is thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
The day I decided to believe in Jesus and made that trip to the altar to pray and confess that I believed, I was saved. Won’t you pray today? All you have to do is believe and trust in Jesus Christ for your personal savior. Confess that you are a sinner and that you believe that Jesus died for your sins and rose again from the dead and you shall be saved.
You can pray this prayer if you believe and God will hear you.
Dear Heavenly Father, I come to you today a sinner, needing a savior. I do believe that Jesus Christ is your only begotten son and that he died on the cross for my sins and rose again from the dead. Lord Jesus I’m asking you now to forgive me and come into my heart and I will live for you. Thank you Jesus for saving me.
Now the next thing to do is tell somebody about Jesus. If you have prayed this prayer please let us know so that we can send you some more information to help you in your faith. Or better yet, call us and come to church. May God richly bless you.
