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“Christ Upholds Truth! (C.U.T)”

Ramesh C. Reddy
Publisher

“If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell," (Mark 9:43-47, NIV)

APPROACH QUESTION:
What do you do when something causes you to sin?

OBSERVATIONS:
I asked myself what are all the observations I see in this passage?
1. Repetition:  If your (3), causes you to sin (3), cut it off (2), it is better for you to enter (3), life (2), into hell (2),
2. If-then relationship: Hand, foot, and eye's actions related to sin and hell.
3. Cause-Effect Relationship: Sin results in going to hell or being thrown in hell.

INTERPRETATION:
I asked myself why does Jesus go to such extremes and the significance of that?
Jesus is letting the crowds know how seriously he views sin. Sin is not something to be taken lightly to the point that if it involves our hand, foot, or eye, it is better to cut it off than face the alternative of being thrown in hell.  Jesus is making a significant point that all of us are bound for hell because none of us will cut our hand off, foot off, or gouge our eye out. Even if we were to do that, we would not have any hands, feet, or eyes and still be subject to the fires of hell on our own. The hands, feet, and  eyes are only the tools we use but the root cause is innate. They are tools just as out mouth, ears, private parts, etc are.  We are born into sin so no amount of cutting will keep us away from sin or hell on our own. We will sin one way or another. We need outside intervention and I believe that is the point that Jesus is making that we need Him in our lives to be victorious over sin. Only with His help can our hands, feet, and eyes be used for His honor and glory instead of being depraved by sin the rest of our lives. 

APPLICATION:
I asked myself what are the implications for my own life here?
The cutting off is a powerful imagery to combat sin and I need to do that in my life. Whatever is keeping me away from the Lord, I need to cut that off in my life in a figurative sense so that He gets first place in my life instead of putting myself in first place. But I need to remember that apart from the empowering, equipping, and enabling of the Holy Spirit, no amount of cutting off will do any good. Only by resting in Jesus realizing that He alone can justify me by faith and sanctify me by faith through His unconditional grace can I ever be set free and cut off from the evil desires of this world. It starts with Jesus where He is the initiator. I need to rest in the Lord so my hands, feet, and eyes can be used for His honor and glory as His hands, feet, and eyes were cut for me in my place. He took the punishment that I deserved.

HOW GOSPEL GIVES ME TESTIMONY REGARDING CUT:
I would not be here with any hands, feet, or eyes because they have caused me to sin and the outcome would have been hell. But the sad thing is that even if my hands, feet, or eyes were cut off, I would still not have escaped the fires of hell. Jesus is making a strong point about the destructiveness of sin in people's life. No amount of self-cut actions on my part can erase the root cause of sin which is not our hands, feet, and eyes. They are only the tools that sin  which is inherent in everyone utilizes for its destructive purposes when allowed. People with no hands, feet, and eyes still do sin with their mouths, ears, private parts, etc. My testimony is the fact that I have Jesus Christ who set a high standard to show the dangers of sin but also take the punishment upon Himself so that I can be freed from sin. Jesus' hands and feet were cut through with nails so His blood can cleanse me of all my sin and make me righteous through the eyes of God. His eyes, mouth, ears, and back were so disfigured because of the cuts He took to set me free from the bondage of sin and death. He paid the price we would have to pay. The only way to live an abundant life is to live in the arms of love of my Lord and Savior. This is not to say that I will never sin because when I go my own way and do not walk in the Spirit, I will fulfill the lust of the flesh but when my mind, heart, body, and soul are tuned into the frequency of our Lord and Savior's bandwidth then the outcome will not be garbage or gibberish but what would impact the Kingdom for His honor and glory. It can happen for you too and it starts with acknowledging what sinners we are and we are cut off from the presence of the Lord no matter what we do unless we accept what Jesus has done for us and that is all that is needed to receive the life He has for us. We cannot add anything on to grace because than logically, it won't be grace anymore. Grace is unmerited favor received not because of what we do to attain God's favor but because of His love to show us His favor just as we are in our sin and shortcomings. This is not to say that we cannot be victorious for one day we will be but sanctification is a life time process.

I ask you now dear friend, when are you planning to cut your hand, foot, or eye to escape hell?
Dear friend, if you are planning on escaping the fires of hell, you definitely won't do that with your hands, feet, eyes, etc because they will cause you to sin. They are just tools of the wickedness and deceit that lies in every human nature. That wickedness and deceit is a byproduct of sin. Cutting of the external will not cut off the sin that is inherently growing inside of you day by day. This sin will eventually lead you to hell without an alternative path. But there is only one alternative path to escape the fires of hell and cutting is involved. It involves the One who said, "I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life! No man comes to the Father except through me!" (John 14:6)

This means to escape the father of lies and enter into the presence of Father God, we need to deal with the sin inside of us but we cannot deal it on our own. We need to let Jesus Christ cut it out of us by being cut for us. Yes, friend, Jesus provided a way for us to escape the destructive nature of sin by becoming sin for us.

He who had no sin became sin for us that we could attain the righteousness of God.

While we were yet sinners, Jesus Christ died for us.

If we could go to heaven because of the things we do, then there would not have been any necessity for Christ's sacrificial death where His entire body was cut by whips, thorns, spears, and nails just for you and me. It is so that we do not have to be subject to the power of sin but can live in the Arms of Love of our Savior. Yes, friend, Jesus Christ is that Savior. He also wants to be your Lord.

Jesus died on the cross shedding His precious cleansing blood and came back to life on the third day to save. He alone can save you and me. When Jesus used the word 'CUT', Jesus was elevating the degree of the dangers of sin. Sin is the root cause and only Christ can cut it out of our system. We cannot and will never be able to do it on our own.

You and I need Jesus now and forever more! When you and I realize that we do not need our hands, feet, eyes, etc cut to live a victorious life in Christ, it should move us to tears because Jesus took the punishment upon Himself for our sin. Jesus does not want us to live in sin but live a new life in Christ. He offers it to you and me. He promises us when we 'Walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh'.

But to obey God's Word, we need God's help and live tuned to the Holy Spirit's frequency as we live our lives so whatever way we turn we won't be giving into the evil desires of our sinful nature but yielding to the life giving Spirit who has freed us from the power of sin and death. Romans 7 & 8 exposit it so clearly.

As you reflect on your life, even though you don't have to cut your body parts to escape the fires of hell because Jesus already escaped it for you if you have turned your life over to Him, you still should cut off areas in your life that do not have Jesus as first place in them. Every area of our lives should be governed by the King of Kings and Lord of lords. We can live for Christ in His power only and the best way to do that is utilize His manual for daily living: GOD'S WORD! Let us memorize God's Word and pray the Scriptures for His help using His Word to screen areas of our lives that He does not want us to be part of anymore.

May you experience Jesus' love knowing Christ upholds Truth!  

"Christ Upholds Truth!" (C.U.T)/"When are you planning to cut your hand, feet, or eye to escape Hell?"

PRAYER:
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you so much for feeding me Your Word and what I have learned from Your Word. You take sin so seriously that you preached on cutting of hand, foot, or eye that causes us to sin. We also know Oh Lord that even if we did that we will still continue to sin because the root problem is not external but internal in our human nature. So, we need your help to cut that nature off as you cleanse us of all our sins by your precious Blood and fill us with your antidote that fights this deadly virus. Help us Oh Lord for the glory and honor of Your Name. Thanks so much Jesus.  And Lord, please help us cut away things in a literal and figurative sense depending on what it is that keeps us from you Oh Lord. We need your help in all areas of our lives so please help us Lord. Thanks so much Jesus. I need you in my life. I thank you for loving me so much that you died for my sin and came back to life to save me. Thank you for bearing the punishment that I deserved. Thank you for being my Lord and Personal Savior. Thank you for hearing my prayer and answering me. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!

May my spoken words and unspoken thoughts be pleasing even to you, O Lord my Rock and my Redeemer." (Psalm 19:14)

If you want to turn to the Good Shepherd, make this your prayer.

Prayer:
Jesus, you say,  'I AM the Good Shepherd!' God alone used 'I AM' when speaking with Moses. You use it now to make it known that you are Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Wonderful Counselor, and Prince of Peace. Thank you for being born and all that you are to me.  I heard you are the Good Shepherd. I want to thank you most of all for being the Good Shepherd even for me. I need a Good Shepherd in my life to lead me and guide me. My sin has made me dirty on the inside and attacks of Satan have wounded me. I have gone astray and have done my own thing. Yet, you care for me and laid down your life for me on the cross to give me new life as you shed your blood for me to wash away all my sins. Your Blood became the transfusion for those wounded by Satan. Your blood heals all the wounded areas to give me a new life. I want that new life so I turn to you now as a sheep that has gone astray and ask for your forgiveness of all my sins, to come and save me Jesus. Deliver me Oh Good Shepherd! I know you can save me when I turn to you and ask you to be my Good Shepherd. I know you died for me and came back to life to save. Now I can hear your voice in my heart as I stay with you. I want you to stay with me Jesus in my heart and make my heart your home so I can always have you as my Good Shepherd with me knowing you are my God and my Savior. This way even when I am going the wrong way or fall in a ditch, you can pick me and set me in green pastures. I love you Jesus! Thank you for being with me. Thank you for loving us so much that you were born in a stable in Bethlehem so one day you could become our Good Shepherd. I acknowledge you as my Lord and Personal Savior. I thank you for being the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for me the sheep and for coming back to life on the third day to save. Thank you for being the Lamb of God. Help me to share you with everyone. I acknowledge you as my Lord and Personal Savior. Thank you for being my Lord and Personal Savior and changing me. Thank you Jesus you have heard my prayer and answered me. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!

May you experience the POWER OF CHRIST'S RESURRECTION this day, and give Him the LOCKED areas of your life too so you can experience His PEACE as you become an ACTOR in the film called LIFE being directed by your DIRECTOR, JESUS CHRIST who comes to give JOY and PEACE.

If you want to be a soldier in the Lord's army, you can become it right now. Now is the time of Salvation! You do not have to wait but can pray this prayer and give your life to Christ to serve Him daily! There is no draft but coming to Christ is voluntary. He loves you so much and wants you to come to Him! He will take care of you, guiding you and leading you!

No matter what you feel in your heart, know that Jesus has come in and resides with you! You are not alone! To make your walk strong with the Lord, spend time in prayer talking to Him as you would to a friend. You don’t need special words to talk to the Lord. Spend time in His Word reading Psalms and turning them into prayer. Next allow God to heal you and speak to you through the Gospel of John or Gospel of Mark before moving on to other Books of the Bible! Slowly, let the Lord show you to which Scriptures He wants you to go to next. It is also important to be part of a body of believers to help you grow in the faith. Find a Bible believing church that preaches the Word of God from Genesis to Revelation proclaiming Jesus Christ our crucified and risen Lord who brings us hope, healing, and help! But beware of churches who do believe in the Word of God completely but there is no freedom in Christ but legalism involved.

As a professional, it is not too late to join a church! As a student, it is not too late to join a fellowship on campus this  new year of 2009! May the Lord's presence and peace fill you with His love now and forever! Amen!

Friend, if you have prayed this prayer and meant it in your heart, you are a new creation in Christ and all old things are passed away and everything has become new! You may feel something or may not but don’t base it on feelings but base your new life in Christ on the promises of our Savior who will never leave you nor forsake you! Amen!

Spend time in His word and let the Lord speak to you! Start out in the Gospel of John! You can also check out the Gospel of Mark which are the devotionals I have been going through.  Learn from Jesus through study and prayer. Also find yourself a church fellowship and a college fellowship you can be part of where you can be part of a community of believers to supplement your own walk with the Lord. Let it be a Bible-believing and Bible-breathing church! Believe in Bible LIVE Eternally!

Feel free to email me at reddy4hisglory2004@yahoo.com if you want to meet to study the Bible, pray with, talk about Spiritual issues or whatever is on your mind! My number is 412-641-9426

"This is my work and I can do it only because Christ's mighty energy is at work within me." (Colossians 1:29, TLB)

Love in Christ,
Ramesh

Express Your View

 2010 DEVOTIONALS:

 "Why heed Jesus' W.A.R.N.I.N.G in your life?" (Jan 30, 10, 12:41 p.m.) By Ramesh C. Reddy