I See Jesus Everywhere!

    I recently was inspired to write this new chapter, to show how God continues to reveal Jesus to me in scripture. I have written this chapter in the style I wrote my book. I want you to see Jesus through scripture and not by my writings. I am only pointing to what God has revealed, so that you can see Jesus everywhere in his word—for yourself. May you be blessed by what God has revealed in scripture.

    I am constantly looking for Jesus in scripture—Old and New Testaments. Jesus did not just pop out of the book of Matthew and say, “Here I am.” The prophet Isaiah presents Jesus in this very short Song of Praise to the Lord in chapter 12 of the book in the Old Testament named after him. This chapter is only six verses long, but it presents the Messiah very clearly when you are looking for him. We must find Jesus throughout scripture because it is taught he came to fulfill all that was written about him in the Old Testament. Jesus, after his resurrection, himself said this:

Luke 24: 40-47 40When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, "Do you have anything here to eat?" 42They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43and he took it and ate it in their presence.

44He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."

45Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46He told them, "This is what is written: (Jesus is referring to the Old Testament writings.) The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.(NIV)

Keep this in mind—“repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations” as now we turn back the pages and time to see Jesus being written about in a unique way by the prophet Isaiah approximately 700 years before Christ. He could see the Messiah in all of his glory and he tells us so accurately what Jesus has done for us— as described in Luke 24: 46 above: "The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day."

Let us begin to see Jesus in this song of praise to the Lord found in Isaiah chapter 12: Songs of Praise

1 In that day you will say:
"I will praise you, O LORD.
Although you were angry with me,
your anger has turned away
and you have comforted me. (NIV)

The Bible teaches us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. In our sins, God’s wrath remains on us. Our sins will be stored up against us and God will judge us in our wickedness. This is confirmed by the apostle Paul:

Romans 2: 5 5But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.(NIV)

Isaiah sees God wrath that is on us, but he also sees our way out. God’s anger can be turned away from us and he will comfort us if we will let him—If we will trust in him. Now Isaiah begins to show us as we read further Starting in verse 2:

2 Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust and not be afraid.
The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation."(NIV)

This is what Jesus Christ came into the world to do! Jesus is God and is our salvation. By believing in him, he has become my salvation and God’s wrath has turned away from me and he now comforts me. But not allowing God to become your salvation, God’s wrath will remain on you. Using all of scripture, we can see Isaiah is speaking of Jesus here and we can see the apostle John attests to it.

John 3: 36 36Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." (NIV)

Whoever believes in the Son "HAS" eternal life! Please note how the verse reads, "has eternal life", it is written in past tense! Jesus saving work on the cross is finished, accomplished for all who believe. What a wonderful message, and Isaiah says it in a matchless way with verse 3:

3 With joy you will draw water
from the wells of salvation. (NIV)

God clearly shows us what Isaiah is seeing in verse 3 above by what the apostle John wrote below when he shares the conversation Jesus had with the Samaritan woman at the well: (remember: we are tying together prophecy written by Isaiah with what John wrote approximately 700 years later!)

John 4: 10, 13 and 14: 10Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."

13Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,

14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."(NIV)

Jesus is asking you right now to drink from the living water, so that you may have eternal life. It is offered to all that is thirsty. What Jesus gives to those who ask, they will never thirst again. At the end of this chapter, I am going to show you how the Bible tells us to ask God for eternal life. He has given us simple steps to follow in order to receive his free gift of salvation and eternal life. In the meantime, let us finish up this Song of Praise written by Isaiah and see what it asks us to do. See how it ties in with the verse in Luke 24 when I asked you to remember—“repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations”.

4 In that day you will say:
"Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done,
and proclaim that his name is exalted.
5 Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things;
let this be known to all the world.
6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion,
for great is the Holy One of Israel among you."(NIV)

The Holy One is my Jesus! He has brought me into eternal life. He is my salvation by what he has done for me (and you) on the cross. And now I want to share and make known to all what he has done for us. I want to proclaim Jesus Christ and exalt his Holy Name. Jesus had to pay the penaly for our sins so that we could have eternal life. God, being righteous, had to deal with the problem of sin. He had to sacrifice his own Son to give eternal life to all who ask. We know God did this for us and not man. Jesus is more than a man, a prophet, or a miracle worker—he is God in the flesh.

1 Timothy 3: 16 16And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory."

In Psalm 49, the psalmist verifies that there is no power to receive eternal life through sacrificing the life of a man—It took someone greater than man! Only God could do it for us!

7 No man can redeem the life of another
or give to God a ransom for him-
8the ransom for a life is costly,
no payment is ever enough-
9 that he should live on forever
and not see decay.

It took the Son of God—It took Jesus! God has revealed in scripture what we must do to inherit eternal life.

Steps To Enter the Kingdom of God:

1) Confess: Confess you are a sinner. Confess you have broken God's commandments. Confess you were not seeking God in your life.

1 John 1: 8-9 8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

2) Repent: God calls us into repentance. He wants us to be sorry for our sins. He wants us to turn away from our sin nature. We must want to turn away from our sins. Ask God for forgiveness for rebelling in sin.

Jeremiah 15: 19 19 Therefore this is what the LORD says:
"If you repent, I will restore you (NIV)

3) Invite: Ask Jesus to come into your life. Let the broken relationship with your Creator be healed. Begin a relationship with him that will last forever! Seek the kingdom of God.

Matthew 7: 7-9 7Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
8For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
9Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?

4) Pray. You are now able to speak to God as your Father, something that you have never been able to do.
One last thing; begin a relationship with fellow believers by attending church and getting involved in Christ’s ministry and work.

I once was in a broken relationship with my Creator just like you may be right now. I was 23 years old before I came to Christ; I am now fifty-three. After I heard and believed the gospel, I spent a few years struggling before asking Jesus into my life because I was scared that I would miss out on this earth's pleasures. I was scared that a commitment to Christ would take the fun out of living. It is Satan's lie. I have found true joy in life with Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I have been restored in my relationship with God. I found that God accepted me just the way I was, and He changed me a little bit at a time by changing my heart.

How can I know this assurance that my sins are forgiven? It is written in the scriptures:

Hebrews 10: 14: 14because by one sacrifice (Jesus sacrifice made on the cross) he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

Then God adds:

Hebrews 10: 17-18 17And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
18Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

Jesus was and is our everlasting sacrifice for sin. There is no longer any other sacrifice for sin. There is no way to earn or pay God for his love-it is a gift.

Revelation 22: 17 17The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.(NIV)

Jesus invites all who is thirsty to drink from his cup- the cup that gives living water. For those of you who did drink from his cup by doing the steps above, welcome to the Kingdom of God!

God loves you and so do I!