What’s the difference between living FOR Christ and living WITH Christ? Let’s see…

What does it mean to live for Christ? Paul told us in Philippians 1:21, “For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.” But, it’s not like going to the Captain’s tent and receiving orders, then going away and carrying out those orders on our own. It’s more like the Captain telling us to walk with Him and be a participant in what He is doing. Let’s take a page out of Jesus’ life and how He interacted with the Father,

¹⁷ Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.”
¹⁹ So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. ²⁰ For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing. John 5:17, 19-20

Jesus was completely reliant on the Father and the Spirit for everything. Their communication was constant and complete. We might say, “Well, He’s God in the flesh; of course He can do that!” Yet, Jesus said that we are to be the same way,

⁵ “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain [abide] in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5

It still sounds impossible, doesn’t it? It helps if we consider ourselves in training. We are being trained in righteousness through godly living. God is intent on making us holy, “And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth” (John 17:19). Understanding that we are always in His presence, and His presence in us is what gives us joy, peace, and conviction of sin in our lives along with the promise and steps to victory over it. As He reveals things about ourselves to us, we have an opportunity to repent, turning away from those things that bind us, deceive us, or trap us in “chasing the dragon*” and turning to Christ for life, love, and the next right step.

Are you ready for that close of a relationship with Jesus? Were you aware that we can even HAVE that close of a relationship with Him? He desires it; let’s take Him up on it!

Abba, the sheer fact that You live in us is evidence that You want a personal, ongoing relationship with us. If you can “barely tolerate us”, then I don’t believe that You would have gone to the trouble to make it so You could live in us. You went through the Incarnation, the Cross, the Grave, the Resurrection, the Ascension, and Pentecost in order to dwell in us! Thank You, Jesus, for loving us so much!!! Amen.

*”Chasing the Dragon” is a term used by drug addicts who, having had a wonderful first experience, chase after that high, which they can rarely reproduce. The only way to get it is to increase the dosage, which can lead to an overdose. Cravings for power, sex, gambling, thrills, and other “vices” follow the same pattern; they always lead to the craving for more.

When it comes to our salvation, there’s no better proof than our sanctification. Transformed lives tell it all.

The reason Baptists believe in the “security of the believer” is because we believe that once we choose to follow Christ, surrendering our lives to Him, He begins working in us making us more and more like Christ each day. Consider Philippians 1:6, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Granted, Paul was talking to the church at Philippi, thus making the main thrust of the verse about the church through history until Christ returns. At the same time, there is room for the interpretation that God is working in each of us and will bring our lives to completion when we are called home to heaven. Ephesians 5:27 and Jude 24 tell us that Christ will present us to Himself in this complete form,

²⁷ so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. Ephesians 5:27

We are members of Christ’s church, therefore, we are included in this description.

²⁴ Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, Jude 24

I love the “with great joy” part. So, the pressure is off! We can now follow Jesus without feeling like we must perform in order to stay in His good graces. He loves us and desires our company. He wants to create new moments with us and to include us in His work, the work of calling others to Himself, ministering to the needs of others, and bringing praise and glory to the Father.

Jesus is joyful about us. Let’s be joyful about Him.

Lord Jesus, thank You for so great a salvation! You have separated our sins from us as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). You have crowned us with Your glory and Your honor (Psalm 8:5). And, You will present us to Yourself (and the heavenly Father) whole and complete in You, blameless and holy. WOW! That’s something to rejoice about! Amen.

Our ability to choose is what makes us gods, be it good or evil.*

In the beginning, God created man in His own image,

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” ²⁷ So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:26-27

But, what does that mean? The difference in humans and all other life forms on earth is our ability to choose between right and wrong. Essentially, we prefer to decide what is good and what is evil. The problem is that God has already established what is good and what is evil. We were meant to work together with Him to mature and learn to distinguish between the two. Take Eve for an example. She might have gone to God and asked Him for clarification rather than take the word of a serpent over His. Take Adam as an example. He might have protected Eve, banished the serpent, and reported him to God. Instead, they chose to make their own judgment, and when they realized what they had done, they hid, blamed each other, the serpent, and even God rather than confessing and repenting of their wrong choices. Sound familiar? Haven’t we all done some form of this scenario at some time in our lives? We all have a natural desire to choose for ourselves rather than consulting God.

What is the answer? How do we discern what is best versus what we want? At some point in our lives, the Spirit makes us aware of the choice we must make between His will and our will. What we choose determines how our lives will go from then on. We can:

1. Choose to go our own way, making our own choices of what is right and what is wrong, even knowing that our way will eventually have destructive consequences, or…
2. Choose to believe God, trust Jesus, receive the Spirit, and make His way our way, which leads to life with Him now and eternal life with Him later (it’s actually all eternal life since we’re with Him).

Jesus said it several ways:

1. I am the Narrow Gate (Matthew 7:13-14),
2. I am the Door (John 10:1-3),
3. I am the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25-27),
4. And then the classic, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

Once we get it, it’s easy to see–still hard to do, though, because we are so used to doing things according to our limited perspective and according to how we feel. It’s a lifelong process with Him teaching, reproving, correcting, and training us in righteousness so that we may be thoroughly equipped for every good work He invites us to do with Him (2 Timothy 3:16-17 adapted).

Abba, please train us in righteousness. We want to be like You, to please You, and to be with You always. When we turn away from You, we cannot sense You; help us to keep our eyes fixed on You, Jesus. You are our Savior and our God. We love You; thank You for loving us first! Amen.

*Psalm 82:6-7 ⁶ I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you;
⁷ nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.”
John 10:34-36 ³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? ³⁵ If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— ³⁶ do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?

An EPIC Story:

In God’s creation, He established a scaffold of natural and spiritual laws on which everything hangs. The natural laws are obvious (thermodynamics, gravity, etc); the spiritual ones are not as obvious to us. God made His spiritual law and its consequence concerning disobedience plain to Adam (Genesis 2:16-17), and Adam made it plain to Eve. The consequence of their disobedience was concrete: Death.

Satan knew these spiritual laws and their consequences and worked them to his benefit. He sought to control mankind through our own natural desires and through a stronghold of fear: fear of death, fear of poverty, fear of infertility, and many other fears including an unnatural fear of God convincing us that God can’t love us anymore and is against us. But God, through Christ, restored mankind to the original relationship–an even better one through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit*! The price that was paid was what it took to reverse the consequences of our sin (disobedience). It was not paid to Satan, but to the natural and spiritual laws that God had set in place**. Using His own laws, He came and did for us what we could not do for ourselves. At the same time, He does not force everyone to follow Him, but He freely offers restoration to those who choose it.

God’s design had everything to do with His love for us and honoring the free will He gave us when He created us in His image. EPIC!!!

*¹⁹ Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, ²⁰ for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

**⁹ For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. ¹⁰ And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News. 1 Timothy 1:9-10

We are free to represent Christ to the world. That means we need to look like Christ–how do we do that?!

Our passage is 2 Corinthians 5:14-20,

¹⁴ …Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. ¹⁵ He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.
¹⁶ So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! ¹⁷ This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
¹⁸ And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. ¹⁹ For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. ²⁰ So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”

Notice that:

1. We have died in Christ and now live through Him;
2. We are not to live for ourselves any longer, but for Him;
3. We don’t think of others by their current lifestyles, but how they can be in Christ. We now see them as Christ sees them;
4. God has reconciled the world to Himself through Christ. Our Good News is that all they have to do is turn to Christ for help–help with their chains, their deceptions, their obsessions, and the evil desires that tend to draw us into sin. The personal relationship that Jesus extends to them is HOW He helps them. It’s a daily thing for the rest of their lives.
5. We have been enlisted to plead with them, “Come back to God!”

We are not meant to do it alone. He wants to do it with us. God is all about connecting first to us, and then to the world around us. In this way, the Gospel will go out to the ends of the earth! Listen to what Jesus said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. ⁴⁷ It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.” (Luke 24:46-47). We proclaim the message in His name by being IN HIM. Sometimes, we get to speak our message; sometimes, we only get to show people what we believe. There are even times when our sheer presence convicts of (reveals) sin in people’s lives, and they react violently to us. That’s okay; Christ is still working in their lives. We count it a privilege to suffer for His name.

Being free in Christ is the best and highest way for us to live. Let’s walk closely to our Savior and in step with the Spirit each day, every day.

Abba, we are free to sin, but we no longer want to because it leads us back into bondage and even destroys us and makes the people around us suffer. Instead, we are free to love You, each other, and even ourselves! Keep teaching us to love, Abba. It’s who You are and it’s who we want to be. Amen.

They say that the best advertisement is a happy customer. Christians are that–and more!

Our last view into freedom in Christ (not all of them by a long shot) is: We are free to represent Christ to the world! It’s a high honor and a great responsibility. A person can’t share what he doesn’t know, right? In this case, it’s not “what” but “who.” The best way to share Christ is to show Christ. When our lives begin to change to look like Him, then the world will notice. Many won’t like the change; that’s okay. We’ll pray that their attitude will change in time. But, there will be some who respond to the Spirit when He says, “See that person? Don’t you want what they have?” Now is the time to tell them about how we came to believe, and how Christ has changed our lives for good.

Let’s review our freedom in Christ:

1. Our chains of bondage to sin have been broken!
2. We have been given access to the throne of God!
3. We can talk to God anytime!
4. We are free to choose right!
5. We can serve others with no expectations!
6. We can now live life without worry!
7. We are free to pursue righteousness and godliness!
8. Today: We are free to represent Christ to the world!

¹⁴ …Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. ¹⁵ He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.
¹⁶ So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! ¹⁷ This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
¹⁸ And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. ¹⁹ For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. ²⁰ So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 2 Corinthians 5:14-20 NLT

There is so much here that we are going to take a closer look at this passage tomorrow. For today, let’s focus on being Christ to others so that we shine “like stars in the universe” (Philippians 2:15 adapted).

Abba, we know that our lights shine brightest in dark places. May we not be afraid to take our light wherever You lead. In fact, that old Falls Creek song says it best,

Wherever He leads I’ll go,
Wherever He leads I’ll go,
I’ll follow my Christ who loves me so,
Wherever He leads I’ll go.

And, as we go, may we represent Christ so that others may choose Him, too. Amen.

I just had a wonderful experience. I would like to share it with you…

Before I do, let’s review what we have learned so far about being free in Christ:

1. Our chains of bondage to sin have been broken!
2. We have been given access to the throne of God!
3. We can talk to God anytime!
4. We are free to choose right!
5. We can serve others with no expectations!
6. We can now live life without worry!
7. We are free to pursue righteousness and godliness!

Today, we discover that We are free to participate in the divine nature! Our text is 2 Peter 1:3-4,

³ By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence [goodness]. ⁴ And because of his glory and excellence [goodness], he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

Now, for my experience: #2 says that we have been given access to the throne of God because we are seated with Him in heavenly places even while living here on earth (see 3-30-24). The idea of being two places at once is confusing, so I determined last night during a concert that I would focus on being at the throne of God even while I was playing percussion with Robin at a Singing Churchwomen concert in Skiatook, OK. Using the concept of turning in my mind to Him in prayer, I saw with my mind’s eye “my concept” of the throne of God and the vast area in front of it. Remembering that Jesus is seated next to Him and we (all Christians) are seated next to Him (somehow), I did my best to envision that the nearly 400 of us who were participating in the concert were in the area in front of the throne. All of heaven paid rapt attention while we sang and played, “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,” and joined in with us as we sang and played, “Behold Our God.”

I observed several things about the experience:

1. It surprised me that everyone seemed to know the words to the songs we were singing;
2. I was dismayed that I couldn’t keep the “vision” going throughout the entire concert;
3. The joy was overwhelming at times. I’m sure some of it was because I was “with the Father” in Spirit, but most of it was coming from the throne itself. The entire room seemed filled with it!
4. We who were worshiping in the physical were joining those who are already around the throne. There was no separation between the living and those who have passed over into the eternal! This point was particularly poignant because one of our ladies had lost a son to cancer just last week.

Here is the thought process behind the experience:

• I turned in my mind to myself, where I was, what I was doing, and what I desired to do;
• I then turned in my mind to the Lord in prayer and asked Him for help;
• I then turned in my mind to the throne room of God (my attempt to envision it, anyway) as we played. It was amazing!

Experiencing the divine nature of God doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s a matter of turning in our minds to God and His ways. He desires greatly an intimate and continuous relationship with us. WE are the ones who pop in and out of our awareness of His presence. Practicing the presence of God is one of the disciplines of the Christian life as we work on it everyday. We get to experience Him in the process! When we turn to Him in prayer, thanksgiving, or praise, let’s envision in our minds actually being in His presence at His throne. We really are already there!

Abba, I desire to continue practicing envisioning myself in Your presence. I look forward to your Spirit teaching me how to make this more and more possible in my daily life. I pray that all of Your children will desire to learn do so, too, so we all may enjoy the love, joy and peace that flow from You. Amen.

Want to be like Jesus? He wants you to be like Him, and will help you grow to be like Him if you let Him.

The freedom we have in Christ allows us to share in God’s “divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires” (2 Peter 1:4). We can “say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age” (Titus 2:12). In fact, we are free to pursue righteousness and godliness, “But you, man of God, flee from all this [the love of money], and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness” 1 Timothy 6:11).

Let’s review what we have learned about being free in Christ:

Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free. John 8:31, 34

1. Our chains of bondage to sin have been broken!
2. We have been given access to the throne of God!
3. We can talk to God anytime!
4. We are free to choose right!
5. We can serve others with no expectations!
6. We can now live life without worry!
7. Today: We are free to pursue righteousness and godliness!

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6). Have you tasted of “the fruit of righteousness that comes from Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:11) and wanted more? Then, start asking Him to lead you, and as He guides you, follow Him with all you have and with all you are. The more we invest in eternal things, the more the Spirit rejoices within us and gives us the desires of our hearts (Psalm 37:4). One caveat here: Our desires must be godly desires. He will not fulfill any desire that will hurt us or others. We must remember that sin destroys us and those around us. But, when we pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness, we can’t help but win, and everyone around us wins with us!

Abba, You have created us in Your image. We would like to get back to that image. When we walk with the Spirit and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness, we become more and more like You with every step we take. Grow us, Lord, and grow in us that which makes us like You. Amen.

Worry is a preoccupation of how things will turn out. We can trust Jesus for the outcome!

The next declaration of freedom in Christ is: We can now live life without worry! Earlier declarations are:

1. Our chains of bondage to sin have been broken!
2. We have been given access to the throne of God!
3. We can talk to God anytime!
4. We are free to choose right!
5. We can serve others with no expectations!

There is a caveat to today’s declaration: Responsibility, yes; worry, no. We are always to be aware that we are accountable for our actions (and inactions). The concept of worry is basically a trust issue. If we trust God to save us from a situation, or carry us through the situation, or take us home to be with Him, then we have nothing to worry about. We might say, “What about my family? my stuff? my reputation? my life?” Each of these questions is wrapped up in the idea that God either doesn’t know what He’s doing or cannot do what He has promised, which is to take care of us all the way to His place. Consider what Jesus said about worry:

²⁴ “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money [or anything else].
²⁵ “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? ²⁷ Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
²⁸ “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, ²⁹ yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. ³⁰ And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
³¹ “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ ³² These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. ³³ Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
³⁴ “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Worry is when we picture the future without God’s presence, participation, provision, power, and peace. The longer we walk with the Lord, the more we learn to trust Him with today, and then tomorrow, and so on.

Abba, You are trustworthy. You promise to meet all our needs according to Your riches in glory (Philippians 4:19). You promise that upon death, You will take us home to be with You (John 14:3). You want us to be with You and see You in Your glory (John 17:24). You have promised us Your mercy and grace in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16). You will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). We trust You, Lord, all the way to Your place. Amen.

Our greatest thrill comes from serving the Lord Jesus. Why? Because He serves right along with us!

Being free in Christ has a surprising benefit: We can serve others with no expectations!

The other four benefits so far are:

1. Our chains of bondage to sin have been broken!
2. We have been given access to the throne of God!
3. We can talk to God anytime!
4. We are free to choose right!

¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17

⁷ Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people… Ephesians 6:7

²³ Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, ²⁴ since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3:23-24

When we understand that all we do for others is actually for the Lord, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40), we no longer have to worry about whether they knew who it was, that what we did achieved its intended purpose, or that it was appreciated. We live to hear Jesus say, “‘Well done, good and faithful servant!…Come and share your master’s happiness!’ (Matthew 25:21). At the same time, our service is in collaboration with the Holy Spirit, so we can be fine with “not letting the right hand know what the left hand is doing” because we did it together with the Lord,

³ But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. ⁴ Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. Matthew 6:3-4

²⁹ That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me. Colossians 1:29

²⁰ Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Ephesians 3:20

Abba, may we keep our eyes on what is eternal rather than what is physical, knowing that what is physical is temporary, but what is eternal follows us into eternity (2 Corinthians 4:18). We can now serve with abandon knowing that we cannot outgive You, that death does not scare us, and that serving WITH You is our highest privilege and our greatest reward. May we listen for Your voice each day, look to see where You are working, and join You in Your work. Amen.

To consistently choose what is right does not come naturally to us. We need help, the help of the Spirit!

As we continue our study on what it means to be free in Christ, we look at our combined key verses,

Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free. John 8:31, 34

So far, we have discovered that,

1. Our chains of bondage to sin have been broken!
2. We have been given access to the throne of God!
3. We can talk to God anytime!

Today, we investigate the mechanics of our freedom in Christ: We are free to choose right.

¹⁹ I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life… Deuteronomy 30:19

⁹ Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Romans 12:9

²¹ but test everything; hold fast what is good. 1 Thessalonians 5:21

² Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2

How do we learn to consistently choose right when the lure, the deceit, and our ingrained subroutines are too strong for us? Without the Spirit in us and a good, healthy relationship going on with the Lord, we would be overwhelmed, “Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord…” Romans 7:24, 25). This is our training. Among other things, God even uses our sin to train us in righteousness as He opens our eyes to what is good and pleasing and perfect. We learn just how destructive sin is, not only to ourselves, but also how it destroys our relationship to others. Learning to live righteous and godly lives by the power of the Spirit is what transforms us into His image. We are becoming holy! This process will be completed as we step across the barrier of death and Jesus presents us to Himself as His radiant bride, blameless, without fault, and holy (Ephesians 5:26-27).

Abba, You are making us to be like Jesus! We trust You to walk with us each day and we look forward to the day when we step across that threshold of death into the New Life where we are radiant, blameless, without fault or wrinkle, and holy before You, Lord Jesus. We know that it will give You great pleasure (Jude 24). May we be teachable children, Abba, choosing life and holding fast to what is good. Amen.

Can we talk to God anytime and anywhere? Absolutely! We’re already with Him!!!

Yesterday, we began looking at what makes for a victorious Christian life. We looked at some verses in John 8,

³¹ Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. ³² And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

³⁴ Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. ³⁵ A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.

What does it mean to be free in Christ?

1. Our chains of bondage to sin have been broken! (yesterday’s topic)

Today, we find that we have been given access to the throne of God!

¹⁶ For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. ¹⁷ And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. Romans 8:16-17

¹⁶ So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. Hebrews 4:16

²¹ And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, ²² let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. Hebrews 10:21-22

⁶ For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:6

If Christ is sitting at the right hand of the Father (Ephesians 1:20), then we are seated with Him in the heavenly throne room. Don’t ask me how; it’s above my pay grade. All I know is that even though we live here in the flesh in this world, part of us is already in heaven with Him! That’s exciting!!! It frees us from fearing death, and causes us to look beyond this world for motivation and incentive for righteous living. Being seated with Christ brings a new dimension to 1 Corinthians 13:12, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”

If only we could understand that when we connect with God through prayer, and that we are already at the throne of God, we would take praying a lot more seriously. The part of us that is with Christ is directly connected to our physical bodies. What we do here spiritually, we are also doing there, such as praying (speaking and listening), praising, and worship. There is nothing mundane about any of these! Developing an awareness of this connection is a big part of maturing in Christ.

Abba, through the finished work of Christ, You have given us freedom to enter Your presence. May we do it with singing and shouts of praise, with fervent prayer (speaking and listening) and deep-felt worship. You deserve nothing less! Amen.

“The Victorious Christian Life” … what in the world is that?!

One of my favorite set of verses is found in John 8,

³¹ Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. ³² And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

³⁴ Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. ³⁵ A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.

What does it mean to be free in Christ? The first victory is:

1. Our chains of bondage to sin have been broken!

“²² Repent of your wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive your evil thoughts, ²³ for I can see that you are full of bitter jealousy and are held captive by sin.” (Acts 8:22-23)

¹⁴ So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. (Romans 7:14)

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. (Romans 8:1-2)

Jesus Christ now gives us the freedom to choose whether we want to stay in (or enter into) bondage to sin. We now recognize it for what it is and know that He has much greater things in store for us. We now have the Spirit who urges us to choose righteously, and we are rewarded greatly with the love, joy, and peace that emanate from Christ as we turn to face Him and bask in His presence. And, with each victory, we become a little more like Christ. This choosing, turning, and facing is called “The Victorious Christian Life.” Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to live the victorious Christian life today.

Abba, I pray for my readers that they will choose life today and every day. Having You working in our lives leading, exhorting, and empowering us gives us courage and victory in our everyday lives. I look forward to tomorrow’s devotional as we continue our look at the freedom we have in You, Lord Jesus. Amen.

Last night, my church observed the Passover Seder (meal) from which we get our Lord’s Supper. Steve Harris, a Messianic Jew, led the evening with explanations for each of the items in the meal and what they represent. His son then explained how they relate to Christ and His fulfillment of the Passover. I was struck by the fact that God went to great lengths to give us pictures of what was coming. Yet, many did not see it then and most don’t see it now.

The main reason for Christ’s Coming was to conquer death, as was manifested in the resurrection. Only the Giver of Life could do such a thing. Those who accept what He has done for us and receive it as their own come into a relationship with Him that is eternal. By choosing to believe that Jesus has conquered death, which is the consequence of sin, His light shines on us and we begin to see all of the many pictures that God has given us. We also see the things in our lives that hurt us and mar our image of Him.

We were created to be reflectors of His glory, “So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image” (2 Corinthians 3:18). The Spirit continues to reveal His glorious image to us as we seek to be like Him.

May we strive today to seek His face, to see His glorious image as the Spirit reveals Him to us through His Word (the Bible), other people (both Christian and non-Christian), circumstances, and prayer. This last one, prayer, is where we face Him and converse with Him. We climb up on the “altar” and offer ourselves to Him just as He offered Himself to us. This process is how we live victoriously in Christ each day.

Abba, You are our Example. May we come after You, deny ourselves daily, take up our cross and follow You (Luke 9:23). Thank You for showing us the Way. You ARE the Way. Amen.

It was not Jesus’s will that the religious leaders turn against Him, but in His omniscience, He knew that they would. Even so, it grieved Him greatly. We see His angst as He neared Jerusalem,

⁴¹ But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep. ⁴² “How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes. ⁴³ Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you from every side. ⁴⁴ They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not recognize it when God visited you*.” Luke 19:41-44

*Greek did not recognize the time of your visitation, a reference to the Messiah’s coming.

Again, in Christ’s omniscience, He knew that Israel would rebel (A.D. 65), that Caesar Nero would order his general, Vespasian, to go to Israel and subjugate it again: that he would start in the area of Galilee and sweep south, encircling Jerusalem and then besieging it. Christ knew that Nero would kill himself and that there would be a series of three Caesars in a short amount of time, that Vespasian would be recalled to Rome to become Caesar and bring Rome back from the brink of utter ruin, and that Vespasian would send his son, Titus, to reinstate the siege on Jerusalem. This 3 1/2 year siege was horrific on the inhabitants of Jerusalem. It ended on August 29, A.D. 70 when Titus broke through the walls, took the city, and burned the temple to the ground. The inhabitants were either killed or enslaved and shipped all over the empire. The gold that had melted between the stones caused people to pry the stones apart to get the gold, thus fulfilling Jesus’ prophecy, “Do you see all these buildings? I tell you the truth, they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another!” Matthew 24:2

Jesus knew that there would be another rebellion in A.D. 132, and that the city and area would be renamed: “Hadrian renamed the province of Judaea to Syria Palaestina (Palestine), dispensing with the Jewish-associated name. Jerusalem was renamed Aelia Capitolina [in A.D.135] and rebuilt in the style of its original Hippodamian plan, although adapted to Roman use.” Wikipedia

Jesus foresaw all the hardships that so many of the Jews would face because of their refusal to trust in Him as their Messiah, and it broke His heart. Still, He allowed them–and He allows us–to make their own decisions. Thanks to the Holy Spirit, we can learn to make righteous choices and to grow in godliness and holiness. May growing be our goal!

Abba, Your understanding of humanity proves once again that You are Creator. How You allow us to make our own decisions and yet guide history to its certain end is beyond our capacity to comprehend! We trust You, Lord, to “cause everything to work together for the good of those who love You and are called according to Your purpose for them.” You are certainly a Romans 8:28 God. Amen and amen.

Jesus’ motivation is always love. Even when we face dire consequences of our actions, Jesus is with us and wants to heal us.

Another way that Jesus’ interpretation of the law was a personal offense to the religious leaders of His day was His unabashed accusation of their manipulation of the law for their own benefit,

Some Pharisees and teachers of religious law now arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They asked him, ² “Why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition? For they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat.”
³ Jesus replied, “And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God? ⁴ For instance, God says, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’ ⁵ But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’ ⁶ In this way, you say they don’t need to honor their parents. And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition. ⁷ You hypocrites! Matthew 15:1-7

The tradition of ceremonial hand washing was not in the law, but was in the tradition of the elders (Mark 7:3). Jesus didn’t even address the issue, but turned the conversation to a more important issue. The Pharisees were breaking the fourth commandment of honoring their parents! They were “giving” their future revenues to the temple instead of making that money available to help their aging parents. The loophole was that they got to use the money until they no longer needed it, and then it became temple property. The parents received no help from their sons when they did this. Jesus continued in Mark 7:9,

⁹Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition.
¹³ And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.”

For this exposure and many others, they plotted to kill Jesus. Oh, that they had listened to Him! Many did later, “So God’s message continued to spread. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too” (Acts 6:7).

May we heed the revelation of the Spirit in our own lives and repent of the things that are contrary to our Savior’s love.

Abba, when it comes to sin, You don’t mess around! Sin destroys everything it touches, especially us. Please reveal to us the areas in our lives that need to be cleaned out, swept, mopped, and then filled with Your love, mercy and grace. May You start today! Amen.

The object of keeping the Sabbath was holiness. It was about God, not keeping rules, which made it all about the religious leaders.

Jesus’s interpretation of the law was a personal offense to the religious leaders of His day. The Pharisees had originally taken the law and added to it in order to keep the people from sinning, but over time wound up twisting it to their own advantage over the people. Jesus gave us the true meaning of the law by boiling it down to two commands:

Love God
Love people

One of the commands that had been blown out of proportion was the Sabbath. The original restriction was to do no regular work (Exodus 20:10). How were the people to interpret this command? By not doing whatever they do every day of the week. The restriction included men, women, servants, and even livestock. The only work allowed were the chores that were necessary, such as feeding and watering the livestock (Luke 13:15-16). Jesus chose to heal on the Sabbath; it wasn’t work for Him–certainly not “regular work:”

• Jesus cured a man of a demon (Luke 4:33-36),
• Jesus healed a man with a deformed hand (Luke 6:6-11),
• Jesus healed a woman who was bent over for 18 years (Luke 13:10-17),
• Jesus healed a man blind from birth (John 9),
• Jesus healed the lame man at the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-15)

Jesus’s revelation of the true law concerning work on the Sabbath undermined the authority of the religious leaders. They felt they had to get rid of Him in order for them to keep their positions and power. Jesus saw them as “the blind leading the blind” (Matthew 15:14). Had they listened to Him, they would have learned true freedom. The Sabbath commandment tells us to keep it holy, which means that we use the day to honor our Lord by resting, worshiping, and enjoying all that He has given us and done for us.

Abba, You have given us so much and done so much for us! We will endeavor to take time to rest, to worship, and to enjoy as we relish the fellowship we have with You. Teach us to step out of this world and find true enjoyment in You as You give us seasons of refreshing. Amen.

Want to make religious leaders mad? Re-interpret their rules. That’s what Jesus did.

Jesus did and said things that made the Pharisees and teachers of the law really mad, mad enough to kill Him. Before we look at three of them, let’s lay some foundation work:

¹⁷ “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. ¹⁸ I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. ¹⁹ So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. Matthew 5:17-29

Verse 17- Jesus wanted to make it clear that He was not teaching anything aberrant or heretical, but was correctly interpreting them the way they were meant. Jesus was the ONLY ONE qualified to do it because He IS the Word, “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). “So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son” (John 1:14). The law pointed to the One Sacrifice who would fulfill the law and complete it. That would be Jesus.

Verse 18- Notice that Jesus put a qualifier on His statement about the law. That qualifier is, “until its purpose is achieved.” Jesus was going to achieve its purpose through the cross and subsequent resurrection. That purpose is to make possible the reunion of man to God through the Person of Jesus Christ.

Verse 19- Jesus’ statement about ignoring the least of the commandments was not referring to the law itself, but His interpretation of it, which made the Pharisees and teachers of the law reject Him. Also, Jesus put obedience on everyone’s level. We are to obey His law of love (John 13:34-35 and Romans 13:10) by loving others and teaching them to do the same, like your spouse, your children, your friends, etc. It particularly applied to His disciples.

Based upon His qualification as the Son of God and the Word of God, Jesus had the right to interpret any of the laws according to what they were originally meant to be or to His fulfillment of them. Tomorrow, we begin our look at several of them. For today, let’s praise Him for caring enough about us to come and “set the record straight.”

Jesus, we praise You for taking what was bent and making it straight. Your interpretation of the law is summed up in loving You and loving others (Matthew 22:37-40). May we keep Your “golden rule,” “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7:12). With Your Spirit directing us, we learn to love as You loved. We love You, Lord. Amen.

Jesus knew what He was doing, and He was doing it for us!

As we continue our march toward Easter, let us consider Jesus’s view of what He was about to endure,

John 12:23-28 (NLT) Jesus replied, “The time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory. The truth is, a kernel of wheat must be planted in the soil. Unless it dies it will be alone—a single seed. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives.

Jesus was using a page from everyday life to illustrate what He was about to do. In dying, He would be the firstborn (Romans 8:29), the firstfruits (1 Corinthians 15:20), of many brothers and sisters.

Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who despise their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. All those who want to be my disciples must come and follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And if they follow me, the Father will honor them.

Jesus would go through death first so that we could follow Him through it to new life on the other side. This “death to life” is both spiritual and then physical. We experience it spiritually when we turn to Christ for life and place our life in His. When we are baptized, we are buried into death with Christ, and then raised to new life with Him (Romans 6:4 and Colossians 2:12). When we die, we experience the new life completely without earthly barriers.

Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from what lies ahead’? But that is the very reason why I came! Father, bring glory to your name.” Then a voice spoke from heaven, saying, “I have already brought it glory, and I will do it again.”

Jesus knew His reason for coming to earth; He knew what was needed in order to restore us to fellowship with the Father. He stuck to the Plan and made the death march to the cross, went through the grave, and then rose victorious at the resurrection!

Jesus accomplished this victory for us on the cross. Through His death, Jesus restored our ability to live forever in the Presence of the Trinity. The power/sting/wages of sin is death, so Jesus went through death to conquer it. Now, we no longer need to live in fear of death (Hebrews 2:14-15).

Let us live today with no fear of death as we enjoy the company of the Trinity.

Abba, thank You for restoring our relationship with You. We were broken and You healed us! May we take full advantage of our new life in Christ. Amen.

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Jim Elliot

The account of the rich, young ruler is in Matthew 19:16-29 and Mark 10:17-30, but Mark includes a descriptive phrase that elevates his narrative,

Mark 10:21 (NLT) Jesus felt genuine love for this man as he looked at him. “You lack only one thing,” he told him. “Go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Jesus loved him! In fact, He invited the young man to follow Him as His disciple. How did the man respond?

Mark 10:22 (NLT) At this, the man’s face fell, and he went sadly away because he had many possessions.

Jesus’ answer was not what this man was expecting. We don’t know if he never believed or if he went home and did as Jesus asked. We might get the impression that he did not follow Jesus because we never hear from him again. At the same time, we cannot write off the power of the truth and the Holy Spirit. How did Jesus respond to the man’s rejection?

Mark 10:23 (NLT) Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for rich people to get into the Kingdom of God!”

Jesus understood the young man’s reluctance to give up his wealth. At the same time, Jesus knew exactly what he needed in order to be free from the chains of wealth, such as indulgence, entitlement, a false sense of security, and the lust for power, entertainment, and more money. Jesus offered him a choice to give away what he could not keep in order to gain what he could not lose.

The patience and gentleness with which He handled this exchange with the young man springs from Christ’s compassion for him. He has that same compassion for us. Let’s praise Him for loving us so greatly.

Abba, You do love us and demonstrated that love on the cross. Jesus, may we always follow You with gratitude in our hearts. Thank You! Amen.

Jesus takes it personally when we treat our fellow humans right. He also takes it personally when we treat them disrespectfully…

Yesterday, we talked about Jesus’ humility, gentleness, and compassion, and how we can learn to demonstrate those same character traits. Today, we will look at how Jesus demonstrated these traits to those around Him. Our goal is to see how we might incorporate His “how-to’s” in our interaction with others.

If we were to see people with compassion, we would see hurt people, broken people, deceived people, addicted people, and prisoners of sin. We would see hungry people, thirsty people, people in rags, sick people, and dying people. In fact, many of these folks are described in Matthew 25:34-40,

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. ³⁶ I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
³⁷ “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? ³⁹ When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
⁴⁰ “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

The next few verses tell us what happens when we ignore our fellow humans or treat them disrespectfully. Meeting people’s basic needs is something that Jesus holds in very high regard. His parable was not directly about evangelism, but in acting like Jesus, we display Jesus to those in need. The Holy Spirit takes it from there. We personally cannot meet the needs of everyone on our planet who are struggling, but we can be sensitive to those whom the Spirit prompts us to help with the resources we have.

There are others with whom Jesus dealt. We will look at some of them tomorrow. For today, let’s look around us and ask the Spirit if there is anyone who is in need of the basics so we can display Jesus to them.

Abba, how might we display Jesus to those around us? We are counting on You to reveal these opportunities to us. May we not turn You down on Your invitation to join You where You are already working! Amen.

The purpose of the cross was to reunite us with God in sweet fellowship.

God became flesh (Jesus Christ) in order to show us how to live and to demonstrate God’s great love for us through the cross. What now?

Recap: Galatians 4:19 reveals God’s goal for each of us, “my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!” The NLT says, “Oh, my dear children! I feel as if I’m going through labor pains for you again, and they will continue until Christ is fully developed in your lives.” If we want to know God’s goal for us, we need to look at Jesus Christ and His life to determine His character so that we know what we are to become. What was Christ like? Yesterday, we looked at Jesus through the lens of Isaiah 52 and 53. Today, we will look at His humility, gentleness, and compassion.

²⁹ Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:29

What is Jesus telling us? “This is what Your heavenly Father is like.” What else is He saying? “This is what I want you to be like.” How can we possibly accomplish this feat? Only with the Holy Spirit helping us to play down the proud and arrogant side of our humanity and seeing each other through the eyes of Christ. How did Jesus see people?

Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” Mark 1:41

Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. Mark 6:34

Compassion– “a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.”

If we were to see people with compassion, we would see hurt people, broken people, deceived people, addicted people, and prisoners of sin. We would see hungry people, thirsty people, people in rags, sick people, and dying people. Tomorrow, we will look for some of these people in the Scriptures and watch Jesus with them. For today, let’s focus on continuing to learn how we can be humble and gentle in heart toward others. I’m sure we will have opportunities to practice with the people around us…

Abba, You have worked on gentleness with me for a long time. It has not come easily, and I still must constantly be aware of the struggle. May Your church express Your humility and gentleness in the way we treat each other, and may we have compassion on everyone who is struggling. May they see Christ in us as we work with them. Amen.

“Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows…so we could be healed.” Isaiah 53:4-5

The purpose of the cross was to reunite us with God in sweet fellowship. God became flesh (Jesus Christ) in order to show us how to live and to demonstrate God’s great love for us through the cross. What now?

Galatians 4:19 reveals God’s goal for each of us, “my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!” The NLT says, “Oh, my dear children! I feel as if I’m going through labor pains for you again, and they will continue until Christ is fully developed in your lives.” If we want to know God’s goal for us, we need to look at Jesus Christ and His life to determine His character so that we know what we are to become. What was Christ like?

We begin in Isaiah 52-53,

^52:7 How beautiful on the mountains
    are the feet of the messenger who brings good news,
the good news of peace and salvation,
    the news that the God of Israel reigns!

Jesus brought the good news that God loves us and calls us to follow Him. We can share that same message to the people in our lives.

^53:2 My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot,
    like a root in dry ground.
There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance,
    nothing to attract us to him.

This verse encourages me greatly in that I don’t have to be anything special physically because Christ’s physical appearance was not what drew people to Him. For us, it’s about what is on the inside. Notice that Christ grew up in the Lord’s presence “like a root in dry ground.” In other words, Christ’s environment (the spiritual attitude of the world) was not conducive to growing up in the Lord’s presence, yet, He did. We can, too, with the Spirit of Christ in us.

³ He was “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;“

Jesus can identify with the sorrows in our lives and the grief we bear. We, too, can identify with those who grieve and have sorrows, and point them to Jesus even as we grieve with them.

We will continue our exploration into the character and life of Jesus tomorrow. For today, let’s praise Him for His ability to connect with us humanly, and let us consider the great sacrifice He Himself made setting aside His glory and coming to live among us as one of us.

Abba, the lengths You have gone to in order to reunite us with You is more than our minds can fully comprehend. We will gratefully delve the depths of Your love for all eternity! Amen.

“Walking in another person’s shoes” and “seeing through someone’s eyes” help us understand that sometimes we need to keep an open mind.

Yesterday, we discussed idioms and looked at the prophecy of Jesus in Matthew 12:40, “For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Was the phrase, “three days and three nights” literal, or was it possibly an idiom?

Idioms are phrases or expressions that don’t literally mean what the individual words in the phrase stand for. Idioms emerge from an incident or past story. Overtime, however, they lose their meaning and become figurative. For example: a piece of cake
The literal meaning of this is cake slice (lava cake, anybody?). But, when you use it as an idiom, you mean something that’s easy to do — that’s this phrase’s figurative meaning. From Writer’s Room

We looked at Abraham leaving his house on day one, traveled on day two, and arrived at Mount Moriah on day three. We read Jesus telling His disciples that on the third day He would rise. If we read “three days and three nights” as stressing a continuous action with no breaks, then the phrase becomes an idiom.

The Great Flood is another example of the concept of continuous rain for 40 days rather than a specific timeline of 40 days and 40 nights:

⁴ For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” Genesis 7:4

¹⁷ The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. Genesis 7:17

The idea was continuous rain for 40 days. In fact, that type of rain was a deluge, one like the world had never seen nor will see again. We find the same language, “on the third day,” in Matthew 16:21, 17:23, 20:19 as Jesus described to His disciples what would happen to Him in Jerusalem, and again in 27:64 as Matthew describes Jesus’ resurrection, all indicating that Jesus went into death on the first day, continued in death the second day, and rose from the dead on the third day. The length of time is the same as Abraham’s journey and Esther’s fast (Esther 4:16-5:1).

And lastly, there is Church Tradition. The early church fathers never considered any other day. Regardless of our belief about the timing, WHAT we believe about Jesus, the crucifixion, the grave, and the resurrection is ALL-IMPORTANT. He is risen! He is risen, indeed!

Abba, thank You that we “serve a risen Savior who’s in the world today. We know that He is living whatever men may say.” (from the hymn, He Lives). It’s exciting to discover truths about You and Your Story–even if we are merely rediscovering what has been taught from the beginning. Continue to open and expand our minds, O Lord, not for the purpose of “being right,” but for the purpose of understanding Your great love and how we are to demonstrate that great love to others. Amen.

Ever been somewhere new and heard a phrase that didn’t make sense? You may have heard an idiom.

Descriptive phrases are easy to understand, but idioms are “a bird of a different feather.” What is an idiom?

Idioms are phrases or expressions that don’t literally mean what the individual words in the phrase stand for. Idioms emerge from an incident or past story. Overtime, however, they lose their meaning and become figurative.
For example: a piece of cake
The literal meaning of this is cake slice (lava cake, anybody?). But, when you use it as an idiom, you mean something that’s easy to do — that’s this phrase’s figurative meaning. From Writer’s Room

We will look at a possible idiom today. “If Jesus was to be in the grave three days and nights, how do we fit these between Good Friday and Easter Sunday?” (from Answers in Genesis.org)

Jesus quoted Jonah 1:17 when telling the people the only sign they would receive that they needed to heed, “And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” From this quote have come several theories concerning the day of the week that Jesus was crucified.

“There are several solutions to this problem. Some have suggested that a special Sabbath might have occurred, so that Jesus was actually crucified on a Thursday. However, a solution, which seems to me to be more convincing, is that Jesus was indeed crucified on a Friday but that the Jewish method of counting days was not the same as ours.” (from Answers in Genesis.org)

First, let’s look at a good example of how days are considered,

After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ² He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” ³ So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. ⁴ On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. Genesis 22:1-4

Day one was the day they left. Day two was a traveling day. Day three was the day they arrived. Most people count days this way. So, why the confusion? The added phrase, “and three nights,” throws us off. Esther 4:16 gives us insight into how to see the timeline:

¹⁶ “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”

Mordecai was exhorting Esther to fast with no food or drink for three successive, unbroken days. It wasn’t about the specific timeline, but about it being unbroken. We see the same “timeline” as Abraham’s in the next chapter,

5:1 On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, in front of the king’s quarters, while the king was sitting on his royal throne inside the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace.

To keep this post from being so long, I am splitting it into two posts. We will “pick it up” (idiom) here tomorrow.

Abba, thank You for being such a patient teacher with us. There is so much we don’t know; how do You choose what to reveal to us? We acquiesce to Your Omniscience and trust You implicitly. May we “get onboard” (idiom) with You on whatever You think is important for us to know. Amen.

The wrath/wages/consequences of sin is death. Jesus came to conquer death for all mankind by dying for us and rising again.

I was surprised when I heard that the sin offering was not a sheep, ram, lamb or goat, but a bull. I have to admit that I was a bit confused. Let’s look:

³⁵ “Thus you shall do to Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. Through seven days shall you ordain them, ³⁶ and every day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement. Exodus 29:35-36

² “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If anyone sins unintentionally in any of the Lord’s commandments about things not to be done, and does any one of them, ³ if it is the anointed priest who sins, thus bringing guilt on the people, then he shall offer for the sin that he has committed a bull from the herd without blemish to the Lord for a sin offering. Leviticus 4:2-3

So, how did we get the idea of Jesus being the Passover Lamb and would take away our sin? From John the Baptist, “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29). It wasn’t about our “sins” (individual), but our “sin” (collective). Jesus died for sinners–all sinners. John used John the Baptist’s declaration to call us back to Isaiah’s description of Jesus in 53:6-7,

⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray;
    we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.
⁷ He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
    yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
    and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
    so he opened not his mouth.

It would seem that both John and John the Baptist wanted us to see Jesus as one of us: a sheep, but also as the One Sheep that would carry all of mankind’s burdens and transgressions and heal us. Isaiah 53:4-5 tells us,

⁴ Surely he has borne our griefs
    and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
    smitten by God, and afflicted.
⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed.

Each day, the priests at the Temple were to offer a lamb in the morning and a lamb in the evening as burnt offerings (Numbers 28:1-8). This practice was one of the major ways that foretold how Israel would be able to recognize their Messiah, the One Lamb, Jesus. Isaiah told us as much. As the daily offerings reminded Israel of her fallen state, John and John the Baptist declared Jesus as the Redeemer of mankind. Jesus easily forgave individual sins (Matthew 9:2, John 8:11); His main goal was the salvation of mankind and the world’s fallen state,

¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. John 3:17

Our sins are forgiven! They have been carried as far as the east is from the west! Praise the Lord!

Abba, what a wonderful thought: Our sins, past, present, and future, have been washed away by Your blood on the cross! The veil has been lifted and we can see You for who You really are: Our loving heavenly Father! Would that everyone might believe You love all mankind and care for us. Then, all would follow You wholeheartedly and without hesitation. Teach us, O Lord, to walk in Your truth with You every step of the way. Amen.

Atonement = At-One-ment, the rejoining of that which was disconnected or broken. This is what Christ did for us on the cross.

This atonement (at-one-ment) was about fixing what was broken, healing that which was diseased, and making right that which was wrong about humanity, which was sin. When we choose our own way rather than the right way, we sin. How do we know what the right way is? We ask the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit. Our moral compass is wrapped up in two commands that Jesus fused together. The first one is to love the Lord our God. The second one is to love others,

³⁷ Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40

Luke records this dialogue that actually joins the two together,

²⁷ The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
²⁸ “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!” Luke 10:27-28

Jesus exemplified this fused command by loving God supremely and by dying for us, thus demonstrating the love of God for mankind. He came to fix our sin problem. Here is a super description of what Jesus did:

…inasmuch as this Lamb of God is said to take away “sin,” John’s reference here certainly signifies the Old Testament’s “sin offering,” chatta’ah. The purpose of this sacrifice was to heal and repair the spiritual state—the inner self, the nephesh—of the offender. The “sin” (chet’) in the context of this sacrifice was not so much the act of the sinner as the moral, cultic, and/or spiritual impairment—even the ritual contagion—that resulted from his moral, physical or social failing. The chatta’ah did not attempt to satisfy a divine claim but to rectify, cleanse, and consecrate the human being.*

Jesus came to “heal, repair, rectify, cleanse, and consecrate” us in order to make us one with Him again. He achieved His goal through His death, burial and resurrection, and then by sending the Holy Spirit. This is Easter.

Abba, we are so grateful that You came to make atonement (at-one-ment) for us. We couldn’t do it by ourselves; we needed a Savior–still do as we walk through this broken world! Help us to take full advantage of our oneness with You by talking to You constantly and obeying You religiously (pun intended). Amen.

*The Lamb of God

The Bread of Passover is representative of the sacrificial body of Christ. The Church still celebrates it today in the Lord’s Supper.

We can read many differing possible theories on the timing of all the events of Passion week and each may have merit and can be fun to discuss, however we must keep our focus on what Jesus did for us more than the timing of how His great demonstration of love unfolded that week. My thinking and pondering on the timing has changed over the years (and may change again!), but currently, I lean toward the arguments presented for Jesus and His disciples most likely celebrating the Passover meal on Thursday night (the beginning of Preparation Day), the day before Passover and Sabbath, and for Jesus dying on Friday, but that “friendly discussion” will have to wait for another day.

Jesus and His disciples did not observe the Passover meal on Passover, which was also the Sabbath. They observed it the night before, which was actually the beginning of Preparation Day (see yesterday’s post). The Passover lambs were slaughtered on Preparation Day beginning at 3:00p.m. They would not have had a lamb prepared according to the requirements in Exodus 12:1-28. If they did not eat meat that evening, then Jesus’ statement about the bread takes on special significance since John the Baptist proclaimed Him to be “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Matthew tells us,

²⁶ While they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take and eat. This is my body.” Matthew 26:26

Receiving the bread as Jesus’ body harks back to another exchange between Jesus and many would-be disciples. They wanted Him to feed them again (the feeding of the 5,000 was the day before), to show them a sign, and many would want to crown Him king of Israel. Let’s read what Jesus told them,

 ⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness and they died. ⁵⁰ This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that whoever eats from it will never die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven (the true manna). Whoever eats this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” John 6:48-51

Hindsight is 20/20, and looking at this passage from this side of the cross, we can easily see that Jesus is telling them that He will give His life for the world, that He is the “living bread,” and that trusting in Him is how we will live forever. It’s all metaphor, but with eternal ramifications. What else did He say?

⁵³ Jesus said to them, “I assure you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood [metaphor], you have no [eternal] life in you. ⁵⁴ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood [metaphor] has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. ⁵⁵ My flesh [Jesus’ life and ministry] is true food and my blood [His willing self-sacrifice] is true drink. ⁵⁶ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood [metaphor] remains in me and I in them. ⁵⁷ As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me [metaphor] lives because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven. It isn’t like the bread your ancestors ate, and then they died. Whoever eats this bread [metaphor] will live forever.”

You might ask, “How do we know that Jesus was speaking metaphorically?” I’m glad you asked. Let’s look in verse 63, “The Spirit is the one who gives life and the flesh doesn’t help at all. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” Jesus was speaking about spiritual truths in earthly terms. He was also speaking in a kind of code. For those who were seeking Him and His true message, they heard Him correctly; those who were seeking a free lunch or a Messiah who would overthrow Rome, they could not understand what Jesus meant. Jesus often used this phrase, “He who has ears, let him hear,*” meaning, “He who hears my words and perceives the truth, and then puts them into practice, let him keep on listening and obeying” (my own paraphrase). Let’s have “ears to hear” today as we read His Word and ask Him for direction.

Abba, we truly want to “hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches” and to follow You with all our hearts and lives. Only then will we know true freedom from the bondage of sin and avoid the consequences of poor choices. We are trusting You, Lord. Amen.

*Matthew 11:15, Matthew 13:43, Mark 4:9, Luke 8:8, Luke 14:35, . For Jesus’ full explanation, see Matthew 13:9-16. Jesus also used a similar phrase in His letters to all seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.“