Thankful for the Cross of Christ✝️

Blessings and Grace (God’s riches at Christ’s expense) to all of you!  Today is Thanksgiving in America, and I just wanted to write a short post about how REALLY THANKFUL I really am for Jesus. 💕 This morning, I was reflecting on my life, and on what God has given me, and felt very thankful for the Cross of Christ.  This blog was created to bring truth to whomever would read in a world that is filled with deceit and lies.  Literally every worldly institution, regardless of how legitimate they seem (education, media, entertainment, sports, religion, medicine) has been infiltrated by the “god of this world”, satan, who has been using these avenues to “brain wash” the people of this world.  But God LOVES the people, which is why He gave us His Word, His Laws, His Son Jesus, who is THE TRUTH.

John 14:6: Jesus said to him, “I AM the WAY, and the TRUTH, and the LIFE; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

Just consider this.  For literally THOUSANDS of years, the Jewish people have been LOOKING for a prophesied Savior (Messiah).  Jesus did NOT appear out of thin air to a Christian Church. This is not the truth.  Let us look at some of the prophecies of Jesus and consider how the Jewish people LONGED for their Messiah to come and rescue them.  Now, here we are on the “other side of the Cross”, and are we excited about this?  Or do we fail to recognize the blessing that has been given to us?

Let us set the stage…..Eight days after Jesus’ Birth (not Dec. 25th), He was circumcised according to the Law of Moses, and named Jesus (Yahushua in Hebrew), a name given to his mother Mary by the Archangel Gabriel.  Yahushua, in Hebrew, literally means “YHWH’s SALVATION”.  Salvation is another way to say, “God Saves.” In our modern culture a title defines the position, or character, of an individual while a name is nothing but an identifier with no meaning. In Hebrew all names are words with meaning and represent the character of the individual.

Luke 2:21 And when eight days had passed, before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus (Yahushua), the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.

²² And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed (Lev. 12:1-6), they brought Him (Jesus) up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (YHWH) ²³ (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), ²⁴ and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” 

²⁵ And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 🕊️ ²⁶ And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. ²⁷ And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, ²⁸ then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said,

²⁹“Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace,  According to Your word;

³⁰ For my eyes have seen Your salvation, (Your YAHUSHUA)
³¹ Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
³² A Light of revelation to the Gentiles (non-Jews),💡
And the glory of Your people Israel.”💕

Here was this man Simeon, a devout Jew who was very old.   The Jewish people KNEW that God had promised a Savior (Christ)!  God had revealed this to them through the prophets, through the Holy Spirit, the Ruach Ha Kodesh.  Simeon, who had waited all of his life, finally was able to see Jesus (YAHushua) come into the Temple as a baby, and Simeon was OVERJOYED!!!  Jesus WAS THE promised MESSIAH!!!  After seeing the Savior of mankind, Simeon was ready to “depart in peace”, overflowing with joy!

Now, on the “other side of the Cross”…are we overjoyed?    Even Simeon likely did not understand what Jesus REALLY would do for mankind. ✝️ Simeon, as well as other Jews, were looking for a MESSIAH.   They were looking for someone to free them from Roman Occupation and Oppression. 

At the time of Jesus, the Jewish people were living in the land of Jerusalem; however, the POWERFUL Roman Empire had taken them captive and were occupying Jerusalem with force.  The Jewish people NEEDED a Savior, but Jesus was not what they expected. They were expecting a KING, a WARRIOR, a MIGHTY MAN to defeat the Romans and free them from oppression.  Even though there were many, many prophecies that DIRECTLY pointed to Jesus as the Messiah, they still did NOT expect a tiny baby, born to a humble family, growing up in Galilee (not the “greatest neighborhood) in Israel, and dying a sinner’s death on a Cross. ✝️Pretty much nobody expected that, which is why they did NOT recognize their MESSIAH...

But Simeon DID recognize Jesus!  Simeon was different.  Simeon was AWAKE (spiritually), in touch with God, and BELIEVED that Jesus, this tiny baby, WAS the Jewish Messiah as Holy Spirit revealed this TRUTH to him! 🕊️

Now, here we are 2000 years later.  The Jewish people and leadership rejected their Messiah, BUT that was the plan all along so that Messiah could be SHARED with all of mankind!  Jesus has a plan for the Jews, which we will discuss in a later blog. He hasn’t abandoned them, even though they rejected Him.  As Jesus rescued us Gentiles (non-Jews), He will also rescue HIS chosen people, the JEWS.

Here are some scriptures from the Old Testament (Jewish Tanakh which include the Torah, the Writings, and the Prophets), that literally prophesy the Jewish Messiah JESUS…This is why the Jewish people were LONGING for their MESSIAH, but even with all of these prophecies that DIRECTLY point to Yeshua (Jesus), most of them still failed to recognize Him.

Although the majority of Jewish people failed to recognize Jesus (YAHushua) as the Christ (Messiah), God is not finished with the Jewish people yet. Jesus is coming back, and they will look upon the One whom they pierced and mourn as one mourns for the loss of an only Son. (Zechariah 12:10).