...Their Eyes Were Opened...

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Today I thought I would write a short word of encouragement on the Lords Supper. When I read this I was pleasantly surprised at the beauty of it. So let us take a look at Luke for a minute

Luke 22:19 “And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.””

Yes this is only a part of the communion process. We know that Jesus also did the same with the cup. But just as He gave this for us to remember Him and what He did for us. I believe that there is another side to this as well. Let us look after Jesus raised Himself from the dead.

Luke 24:13, 15-16, 27, 29-31 “now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem…So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him… And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself…But they constrained Him, saying, “Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” And He went in to stay with them. Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.”

When Jesus gave the bread to His disciples He told them to eat it in remembrance of Him. Then we see a few days later He did the same thing with the bread and their eyes were opened and they knew Him. What a great thing we have in Jesus. When you (we) take communion next let us do it in remembrance of Him, but let us also pray that He will open our eyes to all of His scriptures. That He would revile to us a new mystery to us. That our knowledge of Jesus would be increased. There is much more to communion then just eating bread and drinking a drink. Jesus wants to meet with us. He wants to dine with us. So lay down all you worries and carries and ask our savior Jesus to dine with us and to open our eyes too.

Your Brother in Christ

Nate Cook

Setting Captives Free Team Member

A Call to the Dead

Today I want to sent you a word of encouragement. One that calls us out of our sins and into the light of Christ. As I was doing my daily feasting the Lord brought me to Eph 5:14 “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light” As I read this my spirit was stirred in me. so today let us examine this verse a little bit deeper.

To start I want you to read Eph 5:14 out of the Message version “Wake up from your sleep, Climb out of your coffins; Christ will show you the light!” what a great picture this is drawing. Jesus is calling us out of our sleep, and to climb out of our coffins (to be raised from the dead), and He will show us the light!...

Now let us look at this again in the NKJV “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light” when I got this verse early in the week I asked the Lord if there was anything to go with it. He didn’t speak and add anything to this verse. So I just prayed it over my life. I asked Jesus to awaken me out of my sleep, and to call me from the dead, and to show me His light. It was only yesterday that Jesus spoke more on this scripture.

First I looked up the different words in Strong’s…. I will rewrite the verse using the Strong’s definitions, and the Message version.

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Awake (with a cause to be born), you who sleep (yielding and slothful in sin, indifferent to your own salvation) Arise from the dead, and climb out of your coffins (prepare yourselves for a journey, for a life once in destitution, but now recognizes and is devoted to God, because you at one time were given up to trespasses and sins), and Christ will show you the light (Christ will pour upon you the divine truth, as the sun gives light to men aroused from sleep)

What a great hope we have in Jesus! He calls us out of our deadness just like He did in Luke 7:14-15a “Then He (Jesus) came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said ‘Young man, I say to you arise.’ So he who was dead sat up and began to speak…” and in John 11:43-44a “Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice ‘Lazarus come forth!’ and he who had died came out…” Brothers, Jesus has and is calling you to arise out of your dead state. You are on your journey to freedom, and that first requires our savior to call us (which He already has). Then and only then are we able to act on that calling, we are to “climb out of our coffins” and devote our lives to Jesus.

Please consider this in Luke 9:23-24 “23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.” We must first die. We must come to a point where we no longer have the desire to live in our sins, and to a point where we know we need saving. That is where Jesus tell us to die to our flesh daily, that we may be raised (by Jesus) from our dead state, and made a live in Him!... yes it is a scary thing to die to yourselves, for fear of death is normal if your hope and strength is in yourself. But, if your hope and faith is in Jesus you know that His word is truth, living and powerful, therefore He will come to your death and call out to you “_____(your name) Come forth, arise from the dead!” Our lives are not to be lived for ourselves, but to be lived for Him. Put away all your cares and worries, for Jesus will give you new life! Just as Jesus rose from the dead, so will he raise you from the dead. Let your life be so changed, that when people come and seek you they will find not find “you” but will find an empty tomb. Luke 24:5b-6a “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen!”

Now is this process easy? No! Will we be tempted? YES! So what do we do? We pray! Look at these verses:

Luke 22:40b, 46b “…Pray that you may not enter into temptation…Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.”

1 Thess 5:6 “Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.”

1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

In your dead state the devil will keep you oppressed! He will keep you in darkness. That is what we call bondage. Brothers are we not all familiar with bondage? we know how devastating and how miserable being bound to sexual sins can be. For our sins (and the devil) is never satisfied. So when Jesus comes to you and calls you out of your tombs, and you climb out of your coffins and brings you into His wonderful light, the devil is and will be out on the prowl. It is for this reason that Jesus commanded us to “watch and pray lest we enter into temptation.” let us pray and seek Jesus, let us “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.(Rom 13:14)” for in Jesus we have a hope of rescue out of our temptations. Heb 2:18 “For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.” And Heb 4:15 “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” then look at 1 Tim 2:5 “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,” which He enables us to fulfill these scriptures in Heb 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” & Heb 10:19 “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,”

Brothers, Jesus has called you from the dead. He has called out into a new life in Him. Then He tells us to pray! He tells us to seek Him with all our hearts, for He knows that our flesh is weak, and that our first nature is to sin and live in death. But this is not the life He desires for you. He desires a life of fullness as one with each other (you and Him as one). Do not be afraid of the devil or the life of bondage that you are in. Jesus is calling out to you! ARISE! COME OUT OF YOUR COFFIN! Leave your old life behind and walk in the newness of life in Jesus!

Your Brother in Christ

Nate Cook

Setting Captives Free Team Member

Go Overboard

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As you know I am Mentor with Setting Captives Free ministries. While mentoring there is a lot of blessings that come from it. so I want to share with you something that one of my students wrote during lesson 40. As I read what he wrote it really blessed me and spoke to me. as I prayed for this student the Lord gave me scripture to go with it. 

Here is the devotional that i sent my students from being blessed. So lets take a look:

The Student said “If I didn't give myself totally to Jesus Christ, I'd still be worshiping the idols of pornography, lust, and self gratification. A friend of mine said to me yesterday, "You've become too radical! You've stopped playing video games and doing everything you used to do, I just don't want you to relapse and go crazy again. You've just become too radical, I don't like it... Your smile to much now." My reply was simple lol. I laughed and said, "Didn't the disciples give up everything they loved to follow Jesus? I don't think I've become radical enough. I smile now because I am happy and I can't not be happy knowing what I know now." Praise Jesus for the work in me. He is making me radical!!!”

As I was praying for this student and thanking Jesus for his words and encouragement and these words popped in my head “his friend thinks he is going overboard.” And that is when the Holy Spirit started speaking to me. look at this verse:

Mat 14:27-29 “But immediately Jesus spoke to them saying “be of good cheer! It is I do not be afraid.” And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord if it is You command me to come to you on the water. So He (Jesus) said “come” and when Peter had come down out of the boat he walked on the water to go to Jesus.”

Is that radical or what? The disciples are out at sea being tossed to and fro by the waves and Jesus shows up out of nowhere and commands Peter to get of the safe little boat and walk on water with Him. Isn’t this like us? Isn’t this like our fight for purity? Sometimes we are at sea being tossed to and fro by our enemy, and we don’t know how to brake free. we feel like we are going to die in the journey to the other side (freedom). it seems like we have tried everything to save ourselves. Just like I am sure that the disciples tired everything to keep the ship stable and under control. Then out of nowhere our savior Jesus comes and commands us to do something radical. He commands us to go “overboard!” …. Again we see out of this that we must be active in our fight for freedom. we must be radical in our pursuit for purity…. So again I ask you what in your life to do you need to be radical with? Is it confession, amputation, appropriation, accountability, and/or humility, etc….???

Now if we keep going in Matthew 14:30-31 “But when he (Peter) saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out saying “Lord, save me!” and immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him (and said) “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” and when they got into the boat the wind ceased.”

Look at Peter’s example. He was radical. He went overboard to meet Jesus. He was obedient to Jesus’ command to “Come.” Brothers Jesus is calling you to “come” overboard and to be radical in your obedience and pursuit of Him… now look when Peter was afraid, his first reaction was “Lord, save me!” and what did Jesus do? He “immediately” saved him. Brothers as you begin to go overboard and be radical in your obedience to Jesus you may feel “fear” but let your first reaction be “Lord save me!” and Jesus will rescue you out of you fears and out of your bondage.

Finally what did Jesus say to Peter when they got to the boat? “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” we could spend all day looking at this scripture, but for today I want to focus on the faith part. I am reminded of James 2:18 “But some will say “you have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith without your work, and I will show you my faith by my works.” Paul is simply saying that we will show are faith through our works. Brothers right now we are in a fight for purity, and our works of obedience to Jesus must be radical, we must go overbroad. Faith and works (actions,.. radically amputate, accountability etc…) go hand in hand…. We started today off with Mat 14:27 when Jesus said “be of good cheer! It is I do not be afraid.” Don’t be afraid to obey Jesus when He tells us “come,” come overboard.

Your Brother in Christ

Nate Cook

Setting Captives Free Team Member