John 18:33-40 KJV
33 Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?
34 Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me?
35 Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done?
36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.
39 But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews?
40 Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.

John 19:1-15 KJV
1 Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.
2 And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe,
3 And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands.
4 Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him.
5 Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man!
6 When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him.
7 The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.
8 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid;
9 And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.
10 Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?
11 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.
12 And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.
13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.
14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!
15 But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.

I was thinking this morning does Christ prove himself Lord with the resurrection himself, what about going to the cross. Without prophecy who is Jesus, without knowledge of who he is, who is the man crucified. Does he take his journey to his cross with truth, could anyone else done this as well? His humanity to be truthful, to speak truth when necessary before the crucifixion never changed. Yet when asked if he was king, his response is that is kingdom is not of this world.

Does the resurrection make Jesus Lord? The resurrection in itself does not. After all Lazarus was raised after four days in the tomb, the young man on the stretcher was being carried out for burial, yet we know not how the long the funeral last, or the weather at the time of funeral that might of allowed for a few days before burial. Did the resurrection make him the only begotten Son of God. Perhaps in truth we need to understand Christ own death and resurrection did not solve the issue of his Lordship or kingship. The idea of who he was is not solved even with his declaration. The ones that tried to over throw the tabernacle in Moses day was swallowed up by the ground, by the will of God. Yet the temple was over thrown after that time. The tabernacle more powerful then the temple? Was Israel still following Moses laws to live by or Rome? It is clear God has never stop man from rejecting him without his purpose in mind, yet Jesus would lay down the law of faith to pick it back up with the cross and crucifixon, symbolizing this very act.

Who is God looking for the lost to be saved, or those he uses for the battle of faith. Most have made their choice and yet even those he call he allows them that choice within their own soul to decide his lordship, but each time he comes declaring his word, he allows man to eventually destroy it. Why because God is not of this world, though he created it. Man is not of this world but it is a place of exile from Eden. There are things we do not know and can not understand about faith, God and our own faith. It has to come more then Christ declaration.

I for one know that Jesus is Lord, not by anything I personally declare to make him that way, but by what he does to declare himself in our world that he is who he says he is and I believed him. The cross does not make him God's son, or equal to the Father. Strong words, no because he is the word of God that became flesh in John 1 and yet he is also God with us, Emmanuel/Immanuel in scripture. Yet he is crucified in our world and yet rise again. God allows the choice of his word or man's world. The choice of the legal system or God's rules. Our legal system in American allows freedom of religion so Christianity remains intact even when other religions will come and go in our land. if I think about government it perhaps that most peaceful solution to our difference, and yet it can cause much conflict between the people of faith no matter religion and faith. What makes Christ the Son of God is not Rome, but who he declared by God before his birth, at his birth, at the transfiguration(yesterday's scripture for reference in Luke), always by the Holy Spirit who declares Jesus as being his Son. Is this enough information for people to declare his Lordship? This is where the Holy Spirit has to intercede to the believe, as he did Peter when Peter declares Jesus was the Christ(Gospel of Matthew). The book of John is about who God declared Jesus to be. The gospels have this one element in it that even Matthew who deals more with Jewish prophesy, though you still have to hunt for it through the Old Testament, it still is referenced to Christ walk and journey on the earth.

What is earth but the battle ground of our faith in him, the acknowledge of choosing God's way when it matters and even doesn't matter. What to you doesn't matter? I think getting dress, brushing your teeth and making the bed part of chores in life that are part of good discipline, but whether or not a Christian one should be doing, yet do we. How many wait til the weekend to straighten things out, or the days they have off. Thumbing through other Gospels about Christ crucifixion John probably does a better mental picture of the event surrounding it in regards to the crowd demanding it and why. The crowd made the decision of Christ fate, and yet God allowed it to demonstrate his power to resurrect faith.

Many car wrecks and accidents that man survive spur on faith, but was there faith before the accident? My own faith is not turned on and off with a switch, it is something I believe but not always follow perfectly. Does that make me a devil, perhaps in one since and in another since it means I still learning and growing in faith. In fifteen years of typing, I still at a loss how something our very clear, but are still done by human response and not the christian response of faith. That is the place God is wanting to tear down and re establish in one's personal life, who is lord in this are, allowing him to be Lord of this area of faith and life.

God allows the Jews to reject Jesus even with the knowledge of who he was from the time of his birth, to the time of the cross. The Jews already decided they wanted an earthly king back at the time of King Saul. This rejection of the cross was not new. Yet it came with each generation making a choice, and each individual choice at the cross. Is there times as individual we reject Christ leadership only to realize later it is where we wrestle and struggle in faith. God used the Jewish nation as a symbol of a national decision and an individual struggle of the believer. Yet if I claim the laws outside of faith even of my own nation is good, I must still decide if God's way is best. If I choose the world over him, then I to will face his judgment, but if I allow him to show me his way and I choose it, then, God settled the issue in my life. Why would I believe this, because the laws and government can be corrupt at times. Allowing God not man to judge is sometimes far better understood as being good. Yet God word says to pray for our enemies, and it should include stop smirking at God's response. Beware of what you pray for, because God's desire is to turn the heart of man to him. Yet remember this we are influenced by many things in our world including God, and our hindsight of disobedience is 20/20 and our ability to understand his instruction is often blindly. Walk of faith has to be blind, because we can not grow without being blind for what we seek. Jewish nation would be scattered why because the desire to have another law besides God as law giver.

Is the church in disarray in our land because it choosing legal way or God's way. Or is the church allowing for decision of faith to be so individual they take no responsibility of allowing God to lead or control the church? Every believer that sits in a church if we would cry out and say Lord I want you to be King and Lord of my church and its services, then something changes the make up of church, not with one prayer of decision but the corporate prayer of the congregation. Just like corporate prayer of the saints in social media, where we worship God in our hearts in solitude of our homes or location of bordom. The moment of flipping phones on and going forward with God and not the crowd pleasers of the world. We are in control of what we view, witness and see, but we are also in control of our response of what we see, hear and know that effects even the juggle information that effects us spiritually. Most would say faith matters not on social media world only groups in which they thrive. Yet the witness of faith comes with social pressures of do not be a witness, and lets see who you really are as a person. Who we are, does it matter, do we need a score card? Know we need the human response at times of saying Yeah I hear you too. I feel ya, and never touch the person, meaning we understand that emotion, that response, that attitude that not always of faith.

What is faith, but what makes us strong in the knowledge of who God is verses man. Knowing with choice we declare who rules our hearts, our government or our faith in God. We in this struggle because of the original sin of choice of God or our way. Now it God's way, our fellow man's way or our way. I watching one of them bridal things, and the biggest influence for one wedding gown was going to be based on the brides friends reaction and not her own. In other words her friends could of picked out the ugliest wedding dress and she would of been fine with it. We need to as believers and even non believers to learn to make choice of faith on our own and not by the crowd. Will you follow the crowd to the gullotine if asked, or over the cleft, if necessary. Then you following the crowd and not God. In Daniel, God took Daniel faith and expanded it when he went to the lions den, instead of following the king or the crowd. Where the line drawn to following in faith. I am reminded there many things done in the name of religion or God that not of God and something if we understood the full situation may of been God. If we allow God to knock down Dagon in our land, we allow God to destroy the enemy, if we allow God to fight our battles and we only do as God instructs as far as Gideon being raised up and so forth, then we have to ask, did Gideon not win his battle. Do you think God would loose his battle? No his battle just began with that cross, no, but it was testimony of what man thought of God, and yet God sees the heart of man, and knew there were those of faith left on the earth and rose up Jesus and gave us the Holy Spirit to teach us his ways.

Beware of who side you truly are on, knowing God wins no matter what even if it looks like he lost, with the resurrection, it proved God was unstoppable. Man is stoppable, man is not God, there is only one begotten of the Father and that is Jesus. God is going to give this earth a response of his rejection with his wrath. It more can you undo what God has done for us, or to us. The answer is the earth can not rebuild itself once it destroyed by God's wrath, and our heaven is no more. This New Jerusalem is not of this earth, yet many believers look to Israel to see it progress. Nations try and control it without understanding God is in control of our world. Where is your faith, to stand as Christ stood going to the cross and to his resurrection.

Remember the world may of put Jesus on trial, but they could not win that trial, without God allowing man to win, and on the third day Christ rose again. Where is your faith in God, is it enduring no matter the trial. What are you putting God through in your rejection of his way? What are you putting God through by not following in Christ footsteps all the way? God has a white robe and gate wide open for those that follow in Christ footsteps. Christ' pathway was love. Can you follow in love and only stand against enemy of faith by testify of who God is? He died for the sins of the nation, but also the world. He die for man's rejection of him, do we still struggle in areas of our life, consider yielding all to him today, and allow him to teach you and to cleanse you in those areas you are weak in and only strong because of his word.

Dear Heavenly Father, help us to stand in faith following in Christ footsteps, who stood the trial that was set before him and rose in victory, to sit on the right hand of God. In Jesus precious name, Amen.

Continual Scripture Study: Hebrews 1:1-3 KJV
1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Hebrews 2:17-18 KJV
17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.