II Corinthians 5:20-6:2
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ,
Personal representatives of Christ Jesus in an official capacity.
as though God were entreating through us;
Just like God is the One pleading with you.
we beg you on behalf of Christ,
We are begging you, imploring you, please, as though Christ Jesus is asking you.
be reconciled to God.
Change yourself, your attitudes, your beliefs, to agree with God's character and God's Truth. When I reconcile my checkbook to my bank statement, I don't ask the bank to change, I change my checkbook to agree with the Bank.
He made Him, Who knew no sin, to be sin
God the Father caused God the Son to actually bear our sin-nature that three hours on the Cross that the sun did not shine. Jesus was born as a human in order to be able to die our human death. He did not die for certain sins, but He carried the whole basket, and everything in it. His Blood had enough value to purchase all of Creation, which makes Him the rightful judge of us all.
on our behalf
For us, in our place, as the penitent would bring the animal to the priest, laying his hands on the head of the beast conferring his sin onto the animal, which then died in his place in sacrifice. Jesus is our Sacrifice, not just covering, but actually taking away our sins forever, for each one of us. The wages of sin is death, and He took that death for each one of us. That's how much He loves me and you.
That we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Just as Jesus became sin, not just some, but the very root and fountainhead of all our sins, small and great; so we might become, not definitely will, but might if we recognize that, as having sinned, we deserve the death we've earned, and let Jesus die in our place; then we can actually be, not just have, God's very righteousness. This is amazing to me, it boggles my mind.
And working together with Him,
Again, cooperating with God in His plans and His ways.
we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain--
God really doesn't want you to take His grace for granted.
For He says, "At the acceptable time I listened to you, and on the Day of Salvation I helped you" (Isaiah 49:8 Septuagint);
God says that He would listen to our requests and would help us at a time He will accept, and a Day that He would provide Salvation.
behold, now is the "acceptable time," behold, now is the "Day of Salvation."
"Look, right now is the right time, see, today is when you can be saved!"
Today is a new beginning, the first day of this New Year of 2017. My prayer is that we all can begin this new year with new life, God's life living inside our own bodies, His Holy Spirit making our own dead spirit alive.
Then it will really be a New Year! A fresh start, not held back by any of the things that have ever held us back before. With a new, unshakable faith, a trust that is invincible in our Lord God, Jesus Christ, and our Father in Heaven.
Happy New Year!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, January 1, 2017
Saturday, December 31, 2016
New Year's Eve Thoughts
Psalm 144: 3-4
O Lord, who are we that You should notice us? Mere mortals that You should care for us? For we are like a breath of air; our days are like a passing shadow.
This year has gone by like a breath taken, in and out; or a shadow passing by. This is the finale of 365 days; what have I done with them? What differences have I made in this world or another's life? Or my own life? Have I brought light where there was darkness? Have I brought life where there was deadness? Have I brought any joy where there was sadness or grief?
Or have I pushed people away from the light; from life; from joy? Have I blundered forth in the weakness of my own flesh, instead of resting in the strength and power of my Lord and His Spirit that lives inside me?
O my Father in Heaven, please forgive me and cleanse me of all the foolish and selfish choices I have made this year. Strengthen me to start this new year tomorrow fresh, with a new dependence on You, disregarding my own understanding for Your wisdom, my own comfort for Your training in righteousness, my own will for Your plans for me.
For I know that only You are righteous, only You are wise, only in You is there life. Without You there is only darkness, despair, loneliness. Show me Your ways, Your path for my feet, Your frame of mind in all the situations I find myself in. Teach me to hear Your voice in my quietness, and to follow Your ways all the days of this new year. Bless this year to draw Your own ever closer to Yourself, protect us and bring all the honor and glory to Your Name.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
O Lord, who are we that You should notice us? Mere mortals that You should care for us? For we are like a breath of air; our days are like a passing shadow.
This year has gone by like a breath taken, in and out; or a shadow passing by. This is the finale of 365 days; what have I done with them? What differences have I made in this world or another's life? Or my own life? Have I brought light where there was darkness? Have I brought life where there was deadness? Have I brought any joy where there was sadness or grief?
Or have I pushed people away from the light; from life; from joy? Have I blundered forth in the weakness of my own flesh, instead of resting in the strength and power of my Lord and His Spirit that lives inside me?
O my Father in Heaven, please forgive me and cleanse me of all the foolish and selfish choices I have made this year. Strengthen me to start this new year tomorrow fresh, with a new dependence on You, disregarding my own understanding for Your wisdom, my own comfort for Your training in righteousness, my own will for Your plans for me.
For I know that only You are righteous, only You are wise, only in You is there life. Without You there is only darkness, despair, loneliness. Show me Your ways, Your path for my feet, Your frame of mind in all the situations I find myself in. Teach me to hear Your voice in my quietness, and to follow Your ways all the days of this new year. Bless this year to draw Your own ever closer to Yourself, protect us and bring all the honor and glory to Your Name.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, December 30, 2016
Misunderstanding God
I Kings 13:16-17
"No, I cannot," he replied. "I am not allowed to eat or drink anything here in this place. For the Lord gave me this command."
The name of this man of God is not given. Even though he's given God's messages to proclaim, and is obedient and bold to proclaim them, he still doubted his own "sure word" from God for his own conduct when this old prophet (who also is not named) lies to him to convince him to return for a meal. He did not have a clear understanding of God's character, that He would never contradict Himself ("I am not a man, I would never change My mind," see I Samuel 15:29, Numbers 23:19, Malachi 3:6 and also James 1:17). He cast doubt on his own word from the Lord in deference to this other man, and ended up disobeying the clear command of God to him. You may read this whole chapter to understand the whole story.
May we remember this unnamed prophet when we are offered a different word than we have already clearly received from God, no matter who it is that gives it. We know that even Your people can be weak in Your Word, Lord, and even mistaken in their understanding of Who You are. May we never esteem another human being over our respect and obedience to God and His Word.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
"No, I cannot," he replied. "I am not allowed to eat or drink anything here in this place. For the Lord gave me this command."
The name of this man of God is not given. Even though he's given God's messages to proclaim, and is obedient and bold to proclaim them, he still doubted his own "sure word" from God for his own conduct when this old prophet (who also is not named) lies to him to convince him to return for a meal. He did not have a clear understanding of God's character, that He would never contradict Himself ("I am not a man, I would never change My mind," see I Samuel 15:29, Numbers 23:19, Malachi 3:6 and also James 1:17). He cast doubt on his own word from the Lord in deference to this other man, and ended up disobeying the clear command of God to him. You may read this whole chapter to understand the whole story.
May we remember this unnamed prophet when we are offered a different word than we have already clearly received from God, no matter who it is that gives it. We know that even Your people can be weak in Your Word, Lord, and even mistaken in their understanding of Who You are. May we never esteem another human being over our respect and obedience to God and His Word.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, December 29, 2016
What We Can't Do, God Does
Psalm 130: 1-4
From the depths of despair, O Lord, I cry for Your help. Hear my cry, O Lord. Pay attention to my prayer. Lord, if You kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive? But You offer forgiveness, that we might learn to fear You.
As we examine our lives and our ways in the light of God's ways, we find that in many ways we come up short of what God wants for us, and even of what we want to be, ourselves. There is no way that we can always be and do and treat others perfectly; we will find ourselves resorting to our flesh and reacting with sarcasm or hurtful comments; or we think that no one's watching, or we excuse our behavior by blaming someone else. Or any of a great number of ways we fail to show Love to ourselves, to God and to others.
God knows this. That's why He gave us The Law, so we would know how far we fall short. Then He gave us the Perfect Sacrifice, to not only cover over, but to actually take away our sins. We are all born "by nature, vessels of wrath" (Ephesians 2:3). But God has provided a "new birth" for us, in placing His Holy Spirit into our dead human spirit, making us alive spiritually. He does this when we recognize that Jesus is our Christ, Who took our death on the Cross for us. Each of us deserves death ("the wages of sin is death," Romans 6:23), and Jesus was born as a human to die our human death in our place: "God made Him Who had no sin to be sin for us," (II Corinthians 5:21): "to be sin," take our sin-nature on Himself; "for us," in our place, each one of us.
If you have never admitted to God that Jesus took your place on the Cross, then ask Him to grant you the gift of faith to believe. "For we are saved by grace," God's undeserved blessings, "through faith," believing, trusting God implicitly, "which is not of yourselves," we cannot do this in our own selves, "it is the gift of God, not of works" (Ephesians 2:8-9). God draws us and gives us the faith to believe His Truth; anything we do ("works") is polluted by our sin-nature, and is not acceptable to God. That's why Jesus said that "no one can come to Me except that God draws him." But God also said that, "If you seek Me, you will find Me, if you seek Me with your whole heart."
So I pray for all of you who have yet to be born into God's family, that He would draw you by giving you the desire to know His Truth, and to grant you that faith to believe. Then you will have God's power to help you do the right thing, every time.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
From the depths of despair, O Lord, I cry for Your help. Hear my cry, O Lord. Pay attention to my prayer. Lord, if You kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive? But You offer forgiveness, that we might learn to fear You.
As we examine our lives and our ways in the light of God's ways, we find that in many ways we come up short of what God wants for us, and even of what we want to be, ourselves. There is no way that we can always be and do and treat others perfectly; we will find ourselves resorting to our flesh and reacting with sarcasm or hurtful comments; or we think that no one's watching, or we excuse our behavior by blaming someone else. Or any of a great number of ways we fail to show Love to ourselves, to God and to others.
God knows this. That's why He gave us The Law, so we would know how far we fall short. Then He gave us the Perfect Sacrifice, to not only cover over, but to actually take away our sins. We are all born "by nature, vessels of wrath" (Ephesians 2:3). But God has provided a "new birth" for us, in placing His Holy Spirit into our dead human spirit, making us alive spiritually. He does this when we recognize that Jesus is our Christ, Who took our death on the Cross for us. Each of us deserves death ("the wages of sin is death," Romans 6:23), and Jesus was born as a human to die our human death in our place: "God made Him Who had no sin to be sin for us," (II Corinthians 5:21): "to be sin," take our sin-nature on Himself; "for us," in our place, each one of us.
If you have never admitted to God that Jesus took your place on the Cross, then ask Him to grant you the gift of faith to believe. "For we are saved by grace," God's undeserved blessings, "through faith," believing, trusting God implicitly, "which is not of yourselves," we cannot do this in our own selves, "it is the gift of God, not of works" (Ephesians 2:8-9). God draws us and gives us the faith to believe His Truth; anything we do ("works") is polluted by our sin-nature, and is not acceptable to God. That's why Jesus said that "no one can come to Me except that God draws him." But God also said that, "If you seek Me, you will find Me, if you seek Me with your whole heart."
So I pray for all of you who have yet to be born into God's family, that He would draw you by giving you the desire to know His Truth, and to grant you that faith to believe. Then you will have God's power to help you do the right thing, every time.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, December 28, 2016
What God Wants
Micah 6:8
No, O people, the Lord has already told you what is good, and this is what He requires: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
No sacrifices of animals, oil, or even firstborn children would please the Lord, would make up for our unfaithfulness to Him. To walk humbly with our God is to have an intimate relationship with Him. When we learn of Him and follow His ways to re-mold our character into His character, then we will be humble before Him, we will do what is right because we will discern between right and wrong, and we will have access to His power to do right; and we will have mercy because we will realize how much mercy He has had on us, so we will also be merciful to others, forgiving their offences.
God looks at our thinking processes, our attitudes. That's why He wants to teach us His ways, to think His thoughts, see His viewpoints; and live our lives as people who are loved beyond what we can ever imagine.
It's all about Love, that Love Relationship we have with God and the Love we demonstrate to the others in our lives.
Lets begin this New Year with a renewed Relationship with our Father in Heaven through His Son, Christ Jesus: our Redeemer, our Lord, our King and our espoused Husband; and let us show this Relationship to our families, our friends, our co-workers, and the strangers we meet on the street or parking lot and in the stores, seeing them all as beloved creatures made in the image of God.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
No, O people, the Lord has already told you what is good, and this is what He requires: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
No sacrifices of animals, oil, or even firstborn children would please the Lord, would make up for our unfaithfulness to Him. To walk humbly with our God is to have an intimate relationship with Him. When we learn of Him and follow His ways to re-mold our character into His character, then we will be humble before Him, we will do what is right because we will discern between right and wrong, and we will have access to His power to do right; and we will have mercy because we will realize how much mercy He has had on us, so we will also be merciful to others, forgiving their offences.
God looks at our thinking processes, our attitudes. That's why He wants to teach us His ways, to think His thoughts, see His viewpoints; and live our lives as people who are loved beyond what we can ever imagine.
It's all about Love, that Love Relationship we have with God and the Love we demonstrate to the others in our lives.
Lets begin this New Year with a renewed Relationship with our Father in Heaven through His Son, Christ Jesus: our Redeemer, our Lord, our King and our espoused Husband; and let us show this Relationship to our families, our friends, our co-workers, and the strangers we meet on the street or parking lot and in the stores, seeing them all as beloved creatures made in the image of God.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
Patience And Self-Control
Proverbs 16: 32
Better to be patient than powerful; better to have self-control than to conquer a city.
How were your Christmas Day family times? Did everyone get along sweetly, and express thankfulness for all the gifts exchanged? Or were there arguments, fights, resentments or envy expressed?
If everything didn't go well, like the picture-books and holiday pictures, then what was it that marred the picture? How could we have made things better? Do we need to apologize? Do we need to forgive? Do we need to make amends for past wrongs, that are spoiling our relationships today?
Holidays are meant to be joyous, happy times. But so often there are things that spoil and destroy our joy. Let's examine ourselves to see if there is anything we can do to remedy whatever rifts there be in our relationships with those who should be close to us. People are precious, and need to be handled with care. And we are, too; so we need to grow a thick skin that negative words can roll off of, instead of sinking in. Let us learn how to love one another the way God loves us, and forgive one another as God, in Christ, has forgiven us.
May we determine today that this coming year will be the beginning of a whole new way of doing things. May we decide to say only positive words that will encourage others and build them up, and see others as God sees them, through His eyes of love for them, and consider their needs that we are able to help them with, no matter what it costs us. And stay in prayer every day, practicing the presence of God, to do what He prompts, say His words, and go where He would lead each one of us. May this be a new beginning.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Better to be patient than powerful; better to have self-control than to conquer a city.
How were your Christmas Day family times? Did everyone get along sweetly, and express thankfulness for all the gifts exchanged? Or were there arguments, fights, resentments or envy expressed?
If everything didn't go well, like the picture-books and holiday pictures, then what was it that marred the picture? How could we have made things better? Do we need to apologize? Do we need to forgive? Do we need to make amends for past wrongs, that are spoiling our relationships today?
Holidays are meant to be joyous, happy times. But so often there are things that spoil and destroy our joy. Let's examine ourselves to see if there is anything we can do to remedy whatever rifts there be in our relationships with those who should be close to us. People are precious, and need to be handled with care. And we are, too; so we need to grow a thick skin that negative words can roll off of, instead of sinking in. Let us learn how to love one another the way God loves us, and forgive one another as God, in Christ, has forgiven us.
May we determine today that this coming year will be the beginning of a whole new way of doing things. May we decide to say only positive words that will encourage others and build them up, and see others as God sees them, through His eyes of love for them, and consider their needs that we are able to help them with, no matter what it costs us. And stay in prayer every day, practicing the presence of God, to do what He prompts, say His words, and go where He would lead each one of us. May this be a new beginning.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Monday, December 26, 2016
The True Christmas Story
Matthew 2: 1-23 (The whole chapter)
This is the account of the Wise Men of the East who came to worship the King of the Jews whose star they saw while they were still in the Far East.
They followed the star to Jerusalem, where they talked to King Herod, who consulted the Jewish priests to find out where this was supposed to happen, and sent them off to Bethlehem. Then the star came back, and led them right to the house (not stable) where they found Jesus and His mother Mary (Joseph was at work). Then they gave them their gifts. There were three kinds of gifts, so we think there were three Wise Men, but they were most likely a large caravan of camels and people.
Matthew is writing his Gospel to present Jesus as the prophesied King, and the gifts these Wise Men brought bring this out: gold, because He is King; incense, because He is our High Priest; and myrrh, because He is our Sacrifice, the Lamb of God.
When God warned the Wise Men to not go back to Herod, He also told Joseph to flee Galilee, because Herod would try to kill Jesus. So when Herod found out that he was tricked, he unwittingly fulfilled the prophesy that Rachel would wail with the loss of her children, when he ordered that all the children under 2 years old would be killed.
Then, when Herod died, Joseph brought Mary and Jesus back, but not to Bethlehem, back to Nazareth, where he and Mary were originally from. So Jesus grew up as a Nazarene (not Nazarite, that was someone who vowed not to drink wine for a specific time). So everything that happened, even the tragic and sorrowful things, all happened to fulfill prophesies that had been written hundreds of years before.
So we have the whole Christmas story, actually beginning with the angel telling Zacharias that he and his wife Elizabeth will have a son in their old age, and to name him John (Luke 1:5ff). Then when Elizabeth is six months along, Gabriel comes to Mary, with the news that she would also bear a Son Whose Father will be God, Himself! And also tells Joseph not to divorce her, but to go ahead and marry her. And Mary visits Elizabeth for three months, until John is born. Then they have to travel 120 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem to pay their taxes, when Mary is nine months pregnant; and the trip puts her into labor. And the rest of the story with the Angels and shepherds and Wise Men, with murderous Herod, the flight into Egypt, and their return back to Nazareth, where they started from.
This is the Christmas Story: How God's own Son became a Man, so that He could demonstrate to Mankind what God is like; to fulfill the whole Old Testament Law; and to be the Perfect Sacrifice, the sacrificial Lamb of God, that would not just cover, but actually take away our sins.
When the penitent would realize that he transgressed the Law, he would bring the animal to the priest, would lay his hands on the animal's head conferring his sin onto the animal, and the animal would die in sacrifice, taking the person's place in death so that the person could live. That is the same way Jesus took our sin-nature upon Himself to pay our "wages of sin" in dying the human death we all, each of us, deserves. When we repent and turn around our thinking to realizing that we deserve death for our sins, and Jesus took our place in that death, on the cross; that's when our sins are taken away, as far as East is from West, not covered temporarily. That's when God causes us to be born into His own Family, by placing His Holy Spirit into us making our dead spirit alive with His life. And with God's Spirit of Truth in us, we recognize the error and deception that formerly enticed us, and sets us free from its bondage. This is the True Christmas Story. Is it True in your life?
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
This is the account of the Wise Men of the East who came to worship the King of the Jews whose star they saw while they were still in the Far East.
They followed the star to Jerusalem, where they talked to King Herod, who consulted the Jewish priests to find out where this was supposed to happen, and sent them off to Bethlehem. Then the star came back, and led them right to the house (not stable) where they found Jesus and His mother Mary (Joseph was at work). Then they gave them their gifts. There were three kinds of gifts, so we think there were three Wise Men, but they were most likely a large caravan of camels and people.
Matthew is writing his Gospel to present Jesus as the prophesied King, and the gifts these Wise Men brought bring this out: gold, because He is King; incense, because He is our High Priest; and myrrh, because He is our Sacrifice, the Lamb of God.
When God warned the Wise Men to not go back to Herod, He also told Joseph to flee Galilee, because Herod would try to kill Jesus. So when Herod found out that he was tricked, he unwittingly fulfilled the prophesy that Rachel would wail with the loss of her children, when he ordered that all the children under 2 years old would be killed.
Then, when Herod died, Joseph brought Mary and Jesus back, but not to Bethlehem, back to Nazareth, where he and Mary were originally from. So Jesus grew up as a Nazarene (not Nazarite, that was someone who vowed not to drink wine for a specific time). So everything that happened, even the tragic and sorrowful things, all happened to fulfill prophesies that had been written hundreds of years before.
So we have the whole Christmas story, actually beginning with the angel telling Zacharias that he and his wife Elizabeth will have a son in their old age, and to name him John (Luke 1:5ff). Then when Elizabeth is six months along, Gabriel comes to Mary, with the news that she would also bear a Son Whose Father will be God, Himself! And also tells Joseph not to divorce her, but to go ahead and marry her. And Mary visits Elizabeth for three months, until John is born. Then they have to travel 120 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem to pay their taxes, when Mary is nine months pregnant; and the trip puts her into labor. And the rest of the story with the Angels and shepherds and Wise Men, with murderous Herod, the flight into Egypt, and their return back to Nazareth, where they started from.
This is the Christmas Story: How God's own Son became a Man, so that He could demonstrate to Mankind what God is like; to fulfill the whole Old Testament Law; and to be the Perfect Sacrifice, the sacrificial Lamb of God, that would not just cover, but actually take away our sins.
When the penitent would realize that he transgressed the Law, he would bring the animal to the priest, would lay his hands on the animal's head conferring his sin onto the animal, and the animal would die in sacrifice, taking the person's place in death so that the person could live. That is the same way Jesus took our sin-nature upon Himself to pay our "wages of sin" in dying the human death we all, each of us, deserves. When we repent and turn around our thinking to realizing that we deserve death for our sins, and Jesus took our place in that death, on the cross; that's when our sins are taken away, as far as East is from West, not covered temporarily. That's when God causes us to be born into His own Family, by placing His Holy Spirit into us making our dead spirit alive with His life. And with God's Spirit of Truth in us, we recognize the error and deception that formerly enticed us, and sets us free from its bondage. This is the True Christmas Story. Is it True in your life?
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)