Honor the Son

For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

John 5:22-23

All judgment has been given to One

Jesus is judge so honor the Son

The Father’s will is Jesus as Lord

Follow Him and obey His Word

Honor the Son, God is praised

All glory to the One the Father raised

All authority is now in the Risen One

Honor the Father by honoring His Son

There is no worship of anyone

other than the Father’s Son

Jesus is judge as we now see

so bow your heart and bend your knee

Trusting in Jesus alone

He will sin atone

We trust Him as the only One

honoring God we honor the Son

both feasting and fasting

The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.

Mark 2:20

Jesus feasted with sinners and it brought questions from many. He called Levi the tax man to follow Him and the grateful guy threw a party inviting all his notorious friends to join Jesus at his table (Mark 2:13-17). There the questions that were meant to put Jesus on the spot began. First the disciples were grilled on Jesus’ choice of company: tax collectors and sinners. Jesus makes Himself the answer. Jesus replied that He was obligated to be with them in order to call them to repentance.

Then the people questioned the appropriateness of the feast itself given that both John the Baptist and the Pharisees taught their disciples to fast. Again Jesus makes Himself the answer: “I’m here now, so celebrate what God is doing. There will be plenty of time for fasting when I’m gone.”

The disciples slowly got that Jesus was the center. The Pharisees never really did! But will Christians today, both with feasting and with fasting make Jesus the sole focus of our lives? Will we celebrate and commemorate our Bridegroom Saviour as His Church, His Bride, His people?

authority to forgive

“But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.”

Luke 5:24

The Pharisees, who were the religious leaders in Jesus’ day, challenged Jesus when He first forgave the sins of a paralytic whose friends had the determined faith and initiative to break through a rooftop to lower him to Jesus for healing. The Pharisees were right to believe that only God can forgive sin. But when Jesus both forgave the man’s sin (the greatest spiritual miracle) AND made the man walk (the lesser natural miracle) His authority as God should then have been unchallenged.

When the paralytic picked up his litter and walked away while praising God, Jesus proved Himself to be God in the villages of Galilee. All the people saw it. They witnessed extraordinary things. They saw God at work healing bodies and souls.

Even today, Jesus makes us whole. We are forgiven by the power of His work on the cross and victory over the grave. We are made whole by Jesus to live now in praise of His extraordinary power and person!

on to the next

And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.”

Mark 1:38

Jesus made His teaching and miracles known from town to town throughout all of Galilee. He had a reputation based not on a few isolated incidents. Instead, literally everywhere people lived, Jesus went to preach His good news, heal the sick, cast out demons, and change lives.

So from town to town, village to village, in synagogue after synagogue, Jesus made Himself known. Crowds followed and the gospel was preached. Sickness was healed and demons fled. And it was always moving on, gaining momentum, growing in reach. The gospel expanded from town to town, a missionary effort from the very beginning.

And so it is today. Christians should not sit still. We move on. We make the gospel known. We are on the move from person to person, place to place, just like Jesus, so that the world can know!

authority that astonishes

And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.

Mark 1:22

When the authority of God speaks, lives are impacted with the message. That was the astonishment of the people who heard Jesus teach. The authority of the Word of God came to them from the God Who had authority over His Word! No one else could ever teach like this.

That is why the gospel has a level of authority unmatched by any other message. Jesus preached the good news first… with authority. He backed it up with miracles and great power… with authority.

And this same authoritative Jesus sent His disciples out to preach the gospel of His death, resurrection, and forgiveness with all authority given to Him in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:19-20). We now, called to make disciples, do so with the authority of that command under Christ’s powerful authority. And we are constantly astonished as the gospel keeps transforming us to live more like Him. When it comes to Jesus, there is no higher authority! 

an altar by the oak

Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

Genesis 12:7

In Shechem, at the oak of Moreh, Abram built an altar believing the call and promise of God. Implicit with an altar are two practices of obedience: sacrifice and thankfulness. This first altar built by Abram as he embraced the nomadic call to walk the heighth and breadth of Canaan shows his trust in God.

At the altar sacrifices would have been made. The text does not say that any were, but the first readers of Genesis knew altars were where animal sacrifices were made to atone for sin. Abram built an altar recognizing his need as a sinner for God to forgive him. Thus an altar points to the cross.

Abram also built an altar to praise and thank God. Thanksgiving offerings would have been made to God there. At the altar Abram would have been grateful to God for His covenant care and promises. There Abram would praise God for His provision and guidance. Altars for Abram meant worship, just as a cross for us calls us to worship our Savior.

amazingly rejected

And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Luke 4:21

The scripture that was fulfilled in the Nazareth hometown synagogue of Jesus was Isaiah 61:1-2. Jesus was claiming in the fulfillment of this passage to be the Spirit-empowered anointed Messiah sent by God to save His people.

He would preach good news to the poor, a ministry He had already begun. He would set captives free, bring sight to the blind, liberate those under oppression, and proclaim a new favor of grace coming from the Father.

And within the hearing of the town that had seen Jesus grow up, raised as the son of Joseph the carpenter, the mood began to shift against Jesus. At first they were amazed that Jesus spoke such gracious, yet bold words. Jesus knew however that they craved the spectacular, jealous that Jesus had already performed miracles elsewhere. 

They truly did not believe the words He said were prophesied about Him. They rejected the Word of God and the Son of God. When they set out to toss Him off the cliff after He confronted their unbelief, Jesus calmly walked through the mob, leaving Nazareth behind for Capernaum, intent to continue His gospel calling. Nothing could stop Him as He proclaimed the gospel, healed the sick, made disciples, and marched on eventually to give His life at the Father’s appointed time as the only Lord and Savior.

Jesus knows and saves

“Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”

John 4:29

This compelling and eye-opening invitation led an entire Samaritan village out to their well to meet Jesus. They were intrigued by the truth that Jesus knew a woman’s sinful past, yet chose to invite her to know Him and believe Him by accepting her just as she was.

Jesus had two full days of hospitality and ministry among these willing seekers. He left behind a village filled with believers. Having heard Jesus for themselves at the conclusion of His visit they proclaimed “this is indeed the Savior of the world” (John 4:42).

Jesus loves people that society rejects. He calls them to believe and trust Him. And when they do, a ripple effect draws even more people to a God Who knows, loves, and saves sinners who will come to Him as they are, eventually to be transformed by the God Who knows, loves, and saves in Jesus!

born of the Spirit

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

John 3:6-7

The mystery of Spirit birth was revealed by Jesus in His conversation with the seeker Nicodemus. The new birth is new life. It is true conversion. It is a way of new living, no longer led by selfish fleshly impulse, but instead renewed by the Spirit’s refreshing breath of life motivating us into true, holy and different changed lives.

Jesus inaugurated this change with His death and resurrection. He sent the Spirit of God to indwell His followers. Rebirth is now a reality for all who repent, believe, and are raised to walk in a new life led by the Spirit to live like Jesus.

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for the reality of being born again in the Spirit of God! Thank You for abundant life in You! Thank You for eternal life that is everlastingly new!

Amen

The devil is an opportunist.

And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Luke 4:13

When hungry

when weary

in a season of heat or want

the devil will taunt

so be wary

and ready

with scripture to answer

his clever lies

When glory

or authority

is what we crave

do not cave

to the devil’s trickery

change the story

resist in the worship

of God alone

Cause to doubt

or lack of trust

the devil exploits slyly

but turn to Satan dryly

if you must

and shout out

“God will not be tested!

Satan, you are bested!”

eye witness to Jesus

“I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

John 1:33-34

Here are some observations from John the Baptist’s own words about Jesus:

1)  John did not know Jesus was the Messiah until His baptism. He wasn’t in some sort of king-making conspiracy to hype Jesus. By John’s own testimony he was still waiting for the Messiah to be revealed to him when Jesus came to him to be baptized in the Jordan.

2). God Himself gave John the means to recognize the Savior. The Holy Spirit would descend on Jesus in a form visible to John the Baptist. This convinced him that Jesus was the One for whom he had been waiting.

3). John knew Jesus was God by this sign. He believed Jesus was the Son of God and would immerse His followers in a new relationship with God by Spirit baptism. Jesus was greater than John because He is God!

Spirit and fire

John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

Luke 3:16

With these words John was preparing Israel for the ministry of Jesus among them. A massive spiritual movement was occurring as John baptized along the Jordan river. Vast crowds came to hear him preach in the wilderness of Judea and to submit to a baptism of repentance before God. Souls were receptive to God’s new message through John.

John freely pointed to another greater ministry soon to come after him. He prepared the way. Mightier ministry and mightier messages would come from One Who would immerse His followers in the Holy Spirit and this world in a fire that would separate good from evil, useful from useless, wheat from chaff.

Reflecting on this part of the gospel at Advent brings perspective today. Even as John’s voice cried out in the wilderness to be heard by crowds, so let the gospel ring forth today from our own places! Jesus is the Mighty One. Jesus has baptized His Church in the Holy Spirit. Jesus will immerse this world in a refining fire. 

The Sifter

His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.

Matthew 3:12

Lord Jesus

even now with Your

winnowing fork in hand

in every corner of every land

You carefully sift hearts

Separating wheat and chaff

distinguishing good from bad

thought, attitudes, and deeds

You can tell motives of heart

Gathering those who believe

You welcome those in gospel relief

while singularly distinguishing

rejectors for judgment set apart

Joined with Your salvation celebration

from every language, tribe, and nation

holy ones can praise You

with recreated hearts!

Jesus knew.

And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?”

Luke 2:49

These are the first words chronologically that we hear from Jesus in the gospels. He is twelve years old when He asked these two questions. Every other thing about Jesus up to this point is said by angels, prophets, or His own family. The gospel narrators have filled us in on settings, details, characters, and background to get us to Jesus Who has already been announced to be a Savior, the Messiah, and God.

At twelve years of age, not even bar mitzvahed, Jesus knew the Law and astounded Rabbis at the temple. And He was already on mission in His Father’s house. As a boy, Jesus knew Who He was and acted like the Son of God. The gospels show us this plainly. He wasn’t deified by a later generation of followers. Instead, Jesus is shown to be God, and shows Himself to be God in the flesh, from the very beginning!

Lord Jesus,

As I reflect on Your coming as Savior, Deliverer, and Lord, I pause in thankful worship today. You are my King. You are my Savior. You are my God.

Amen

simply a Son and a Savior

When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Matthew 1:24-25

Joseph was a just man. And God gave him a humbling and powerful assignment. He was to finish his engagement to Mary with a wedding, taking her as his wife to raise a unique child that an angel informed him would be a sin-savior. He was commanded to name this boy Jesus. He was to rise above his fears and risk his reputation to obey God.

So both Joseph and Mary knew that God was doing something brand new. The child that they would raise was the Son of God. The task at hand for them was to parent this Son Who would be the Savior. All of this was God’s doing. Even the social rumors and potential whispering. It would not be easy.

God chose to use a simple Galilean Jewish family to carry out this important task. All we know of Joseph was that he was a just, righteous, and obedient man. A simple construction contractor in the backwoods of Palestine was honored by God. The gospel is rooted in simple lives in order to make maximum impact in our lives! The gospel is rooted in obedient lives so that we might obey the call to trust this incredibly true story.

What did Mary know?

And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior..”

Luke 1:46-47

Q: Mary did you know?

A: YES!

The End

Son of God - King forever

And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.”

Luke 1:35

And with this announcement the world has changed. We are just a little over a month away from this year’s Christmas celebration. And if we can strip away the ribbons, tinsel, hype, and hustle, we will find this powerful truth in the center of the Nativity manger: Jesus is the Son of God.

The angel promised Mary that Jesus would be the inheritor of David’s throne (Luke 1:31). His reign would be greater than David’s. As the Son of God, He will reign forever. His kingdom will never end. From that moment on that fact has driven world history and still does even now. Jesus reigns!

Christmas is more than remembering a birth. It is a season to celebrate the King and His kingdom. Praise God that this world is under His rule today. And Jesus will never cease to lovingly, wisely, firmly, and justly rule over us! Amen.

In the beginning… the Word

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

John 1:1-2

I just started a fresh Bible reading plan today. The goal: read through all the Bible chronologically by testament in one year. So my OT reading today was Genesis 1-3. And this opening to the gospel of John is part of my NT reading. And what a perspective John gives us on what Genesis teaches. When the universe was spoken into being, Jesus announced the words. When Adam and Eve walked with God in the garden, Jesus was walking beside them. And when sin broke everything in a moment, Jesus was there, knowing He would have to redeem what our sin had wrecked.

Christians worship God when we worship Jesus. We obey God when we repent and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. We pray for God’s will to reign in Creation when we pray in Jesus’ name. We are restored to what Creation was meant to be through Jesus!

Lord Jesus,

I know You are my Creator and my Savior. Nothing escapes Your knowledge and wise control because You are God. I trust in You!

Amen

distinction

Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.

Malachi 3:18

God has no problem with absolute thinking. He is holy and righteous. And He asks us in worship of Him to live in the righteousness He gives to us. There are firm descriptions of how He expects that throughout Malachi’s prophecies as He prepares His people for a refining fire of His judgment in which the righteous will emerge to offer their lives again as a pleasing offering to the Lord (Malachi 3:3-4).

There is in this refining work of God a clear distinction. The unrighteous will be known by their actions that show they do not fear God: sorcery, adultery, lying, oppression of the poor, and mistreatment of immigrants. Their actions start at personal worship (sorcery) evidence in personal selfishness (adultery and lies), and then defile society in their disregard and hatred of the lowest people on the social ladder. And because of this they are prepared for judgment in a greater Day of the Lord (Malachi 4:1).

And what is left when one day God judges the earth completely? The unrighteous are burned to ashes. A distinct righteous people rejoicing in their unique, loving, gracious relationship with God their Savior go on to enjoy all that He has for them (Malachi 4:2). The distinction is drastic. The unrighteous are ashes under the soles of the dancing feet of those who fear God and are saved.  

redeeming, restoring, revitalizing God

“I will whistle for them and gather them in,

for I have redeemed them,

and they shall be as many as they were before.”

Zechariah 10:8

God revealed through the prophecies of Zechariah that the exiled Jews would one day be regathered from all corners of the world. The scattering would end. Jews would flock to Jerusalem and Israel again, no longer flung across the far countries of the world, but gathered together as one nation to once again worship their God. That’s the vision Zechariah proclaimed.

Their coming re-gathering preached by the prophet would be accomplished by a true revitalization of Israel as a nation. The world scene would be reconfigured. The old superpowers weaken and crumble (for Zechariah that meant Egypt and Assyria). Israel rises in strength internationally and in the worship of God supernaturally as the nation walks in God’s name, known again as the people of Yahweh first and foremost.

God redeems and restores. This has always been true of Him. He is doing so in honoring His name among His people. He is calling Jews and Gentiles to repentance now in Christ. He is redeeming the nations. And God is indeed also sovereignty regathering and building Israel as Jews immigrate to modern Israel even today. God is moving before our very eyes. Will we believe He is even now showing how over generations He revitalizes His people?

relentless goodness

For thus says the LORD of hosts: “As I purposed to bring disaster to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the LORD of hosts, so again have I purposed in these days to bring good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; fear not.”

Zechariah 8:14-15

With the rebuilding of God’s temple in Jerusalem described in Zechariah’s prophecy, and the recommitment of God’s people to worship the Lord, God gave a renewal of the gifts of His covenant in a season of revival. When God is worshiped, He brings blessing.

The past did not change. God reminded them that their forefathers brought upon the nation His unrelenting wrath. But the present was changing in their obedience. God purposed to now bring unrelenting good to a people who once suffered under the wrath of His judgment. And a new future of bright and better days awaited them as they obeyed. No longer did they need to suffer in the hard way of the transgressors. They could again know and possess the joy of the gifts of covenant commitment to the Lord.

Grace is God’s relentless goodness. And He loves to show it to sinners who repent and come to Him. He now forever blesses in Christ all who should deserve His wrath but turn to Jesus for mercy and life. Thank and praise our God for His good purposes!

Silent

Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.

Zechariah 2:13

Be silent.

In the stillness

ponder the everlasting wonder:

God is on the move.

On the earth His will to do;

His Spirit is alive.

Be silent.

Cease your striving and

hear that our God is very near.

God is with us.

We have life in Jesus.

His kingdom will arrive.

Be silent.

Let the uncomfortable 

calm be your soul’s healing balm.

God calls you to end your strife;

look at His gift of eternal life

your weary soul now to revive.

Be silent.

This response is

best considering His holiness.

Worship quietly Your Lord.

Richly meditate upon His Word.

In His presence you now thrive.

obedience and better blessing

Then Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, spoke to the people with the LORD'S message, “I am with you, declares the LORD.”

Haggai 1:13

And with this simple four word encouragement, “I am with you”, God stirred the people of Jerusalem from stagnant complacency back to active, worship-motivated obedience. The particular task at hand was for the returned exiles to re-commit themselves to finishing the task of rebuilding the temple of God. They had started, then drifted to focusing only on their own needs. Then they stopped.

At first God sent Haggai to explain that their selfish disobedience ultimately made their lives much harder. Their crops were meager. A drought had struck them. Through an awareness of this reality, God was calling them to repent and return to Him. Selfishness ultimately led to never having enough. Service would lead to blessing. And then God gave them Himself as the promise!

God was with them. They would be forgiven if they returned to Him. They would be blessed by returning to restoring God’s house of worship. They would thrive again in the presence of the God they obeyed! Obedience made life better. 

marks of a rebel heart

She listens to no voice;

she accepts no correction.

She does not trust in the LORD;

she does not draw near to her God.

Zephaniah 3:2

The prophet points out four aspects of Jerusalem’s rebellion for which God was bringing His judgment. They are marks of impending judgment even today for those who reject God.

1. Refusal to take any direction. The people would not listen to (follow) the voice (Word) of God.

2. Unwilling to be corrected. They were set in wrong ways and refused to accept any course correction despite repeated warnings and loving calls to repent.

3. Lack of trust in God. Faith was placed in the nations around them (culture). Trust was placed in false worship (idols).

4. Incapable of the worship of God. Trusting in other things rejects God and the heart will then recoil at the thought of submission to Him. 

Lord,

Give me a soft heart to seek Your direction, hear Your Word, obey correction, trust in You, and truly worship You alone!

Amen

rapid fire end

Neither their silver nor their gold

shall be able to deliver them

on the day of the wrath of the LORD.

In the fire of his jealousy,

all the earth shall be consumed;

for a full and sudden end

he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Zephaniah 1:18

Spending time in the minor prophets quickly slaps me to the reality of human vulnerability and culpability before a holy God. He has appointed a day in which His fire will burn in total judgment. And it will be unlike anything we can imagine or this planet has every seen.

Some features of judgment from this verse:

• It is inescapable. Nobody can buy a reprieve, no matter how wealthy or influential or powerful.
• It is a display of God’s wrath upon sin. It is all poured out.
• The fire of God’s judgment is fueled by the lack of His worship. He deserved human worship and so jealous judgment is unleashed.
• It is a global event with nothing spared. The entire earth is consumed to cinders.
• It is instant. A full and sudden end comes quickly to everything.

But this bleak day is mitigated by one other reality: God sent His Son, not to condemn, but to save the world (John 3:16-18). Those who are kept by faith in the saving work of Jesus are delivered to a new heavens and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

a prayer of waiting

If it seems slow, wait for it;

it will surely come; it will not delay.

Habakkuk 2:3b

Lord,

What You reveal as Your will seems so far off in this wicked day. I believe Your kingdom is coming. I believe Your will must be done on earth as it is in heaven. And yet I can stumble if I look at how much You are resisted and mocked here and now. It is disheartening.

“For still the vision awaits its appointed time,” You say. I believe You and trust. “It hastens to the end — it will not lie,” You promise. I know that from Your eternal perspective these statements are absolutely certain.

And as You comforted Your prophet so long ago, now You console me. It DOES seem slow. So I will wait on You. It WILL surely come to pass. Nothing is delaying Your rule. I still wait. I will silence my complaint. I will trust in You. “Maranatha, Lord Jesus!”

Amen

when God does judge

And all who look at you will shrink from you and say,

“Wasted is Nineveh; who will grieve for her?”

Where shall I seek comforters for you?

Nahum 3:7

In the story of the prophet Jonah God spared Ninevah because the people repented of their violence and evil. But with the prophet Nahum God decrees their final end. Their repentance was short-lived. Their attitudes became proud, their worship idolatrous, and their violence pervasive and oppressive to all the nations around them.

When God finally brought Ninevah down, there was nobody left in the ancient Near East to mourn them. This was a result of their own oppression. Everybody rejoiced when Assyria fell. When evil is toppled, the righteous and the oppressed are relieved. You get a sense of why Assyria’s slaughter went unmourned: They had slaughtered countless people themselves.

And so God’s justice turns. He has the right to restore the repentant. He has the right to destroy the depraved and demented. We should believe and pray with this history in mind.

surviving a wicked culture

I will bear the indignation of the LORD

because I have sinned against him,

until he pleads my cause

and executes judgment for me.

He will bring me out to the light;

I shall look upon his vindication.

Micah 7:9

Waiting in a season when a sinful culture will only be remedied by the judgment of God is hard. This was where Micah was as he looked at both Israel and Judah. In addition he saw the coming oppression from violent and sinful gentiles and grieved. Nothing looked good for a long time.

Micah was spiritually starving in a drought of God rejection around him (Micah 7:1). He observed that the godly had perished from the earth, that wickedness ruled cultural practices everywhere, and that small and great alike conspired evil and could not be trusted. The evil rot went right into the very core of the closest family relationships (Micah 7:2-6).

Micah responded by turning to God. When a culture is evil, we must double-down on our focus on God’s power and goodness, wait for His justice and our deliverance, and accept the consequences. We should repent and grieve over our personal sin, not cling to self-righteous judgmentalism and know that God WILL bring His vindication!

instruction or destruction?

And in anger and wrath I will execute vengeance

on the nations that did not obey.

Micah 5:15

When we understand the Day of the Lord as the prophets foretell we see a two-fold future. In one part of the world yet to come, the nations of the world stream to Zion, to the temple of the Lord where He rules and puts an end to war. They are eager to worship God. They want to learn His law and follow His ways. From God Himself the nations receive INSTRUCTION (Micah 4:1-2).

On the flip side of this vision of the world yet to come, there are some people will will not obey God. They do not stream to His temple to repent and learn from Him. Instead, they will continue to trust in chariots and horses. They will still brag on their cities and strongholds. They will still turn to sorceries and the occult. Idolatry will still have their hearts. For those nations that did not obey, God decrees that they receive DESTRUCTION (Micah 5:15).

So the future Day of the Lord has two parts: 1) Reception and instruction for those who will repent and turn to God their Savior. 2) Rejection and destruction for those who do not obey God’s call to repent and worship Him. And today the gospel bears this outcome in view as well. To believe Jesus, repent, and obey Him as Lord brings life and a lifetime of learning from Him. He is meek and gentle of heart and rest is found in Him. To reject Jesus brings misery and an eternity of destruction under the wrath of the Lamb. Both facets of our faith motivate us to keep sharing the gospel with nations that need to stream to Jesu!

false prophets & dark days

But as for me, I am filled with power,

with the Spirit of the LORD,

and with justice and might,

to declare to Jacob his transgression

and to Israel his sin.

Micah 3:8

God’s prophet, Micah, stands in sharp contrast to the false prophets that the people of God rejected their God to believe. Starting in Micah 3:5, God gives Micah a message to declare against the false prophets. And this would put an end to the influence of these deceivers. They were shown for what they really were, weak and selfish liars when compared to the Spirit-empowered true prophet of God!

• The false prophets would go dark with no “vision” to empower them. Micah’s voice as the true prophet of God would ring true (Micah 3:6). Micah would be empowered by God’s Spirit.
• The false prophets were motivated by greed and material gain (Micah 3:5). The true prophet was consumed with matters of God’s justice and might.
• The false prophets loved to proclaim peace and prosperity (Micah 3:5) while God was declaring through Micah the sins and transgressions exposed in a coming day of reckoning God had for His people.

God would be true. Always. Those who claimed to speak for Him falsely would be silenced by God. Their motives would be exposed. Their light would go dark. There sin became their shame. Their lies became their disgrace.

The truth of God will stand. God need not be “propped up” or defended. You do not defend a lion… you just set him loose! And so it is with God’s Word. We proclaim it. We stand with it. The false will be shown for what it truly is.

May we share the gospel in this darkness. May we be unafraid to preach in a culture dominated by false prophets that deny God. In the end, the truth will always win out! God’s Spirit will speak! God’s power wins! God’s justice and might will be shown!

a great God saves a great city

And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.

Jonah 3:5

God sent Jonah to preach a message of judgment against wicked Nineveh. God knew the Assyrian empire, headquartered in Nineveh was evil and violent. And He also cared enough to to warn them of judgment. Why? God’s own assessment was that Nineveh was a “great city”. It was large. It was influential. It was home to a lot of souls ignorant of God. In His mercy He sent His prophet to warn this great city. Four times in the four short chapters of Jonah God reminds His prophet that Nineveh is a great city.

One of the features of the little story of Jonah is the amount of superlatives packed into the book. Here is a short list of a few… there are more than this:

• Nineveh is a “great city” (1:2; 3:1, 3; 4:11). In 3:3 Nineveh is “exceedingly great”.
• God sends a “great wind” and a “mighty tempest” when Jonah flies by ship to Tarshish (1:4, 12).
• Sailers are “exceedingly afraid” when they find out Jonah was fleeing God’s command (1:10).
• After they took Jonah overboard, the sailers “feared the Lord exceedingly” by offering sacrifices, a precursor in their pagan repentance of what Nineveh would eventually do (1:16).
• God sends a “great fish” to swallow Jonah (1:17).
• The “greatest” to least repent at Jonah’s preaching (3:5).
• The king called Nineveh to cry out “mightily” to God for mercy (3:8).
• Jonah is displeased “exceedingly” at Ninevah’s repentance (4:1).
• God “abounds” in steadfast love (4:2).
• Jonah is “exceedingly glad” about a plant (4:6).

God does great things to save a great city. His mercy and grace are given to heathen Ninevah in order to show His greatness. This is true even as Jonah greatly runs from God and greatly hates Ninevah. God moves the greatest to the least in salvation. He does so despite the greatly misplaced values and emotions of His prophet. God can save still, through Jesus, today. He will use us, despite us, to reach great cities. Will we believe this, or will we hatefully hope to see God damn “the wicked” to judgment?

What we know

O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me.

John 17:25

We know

that the world does not know You

the world is ignorant of a holy God

the world needs a loving God

the world rejects the Son of God

We know that the world does not know You

We know

that the Father knows the Son

and has revealed Jesus as the Holy One

Who can save a fallen world

Who offers us the righteousness of God

We know that the Father loves the Son

We know

that Jesus was sent from God

that He is the world’s only Savior

that He is our Lord and our Master

that faith calls us to follow as His disciples

and live by His truth, word, and principles

We know that Jesus was sent from God

Can we even be what Jesus prayed for?

And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.

John 17:11

The great prayer of Jesus as He prepared to go to Calvary to fulfill His great purpose was for God the Father to keep His followers together in unity. He prayed this specifically for His earthly disciples (John 17:9). He would repeat this same request not only for His immediate eleven disciples, but also for the generations of Christians to follow (John 17:20-21). That means Jesus wants current Christians to demonstrate unity. Twice Jesus asked the Father to unify His followers. He wanted His people to experience the kind of perfect agreement, love, and submission He knew with the Father.

Why did Jesus want this for us? An answer is clear later in the prayer: “so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as You loved me.” (John 17:23) Unity in the Body of Christ is meant to show a lost world the incredible reconciling love of God. We are to be together to show God’s love. We are to be one in the Father’s love to draw others to repent of sins, follow Jesus, and be one in the Father’s love.

Sadly, Christians lose this perspective and have to be reminded all the time. The immediate disciples scattered in fear when Jesus was tried and crucified. It took a resurrection to unite them. And today we need to get a sense of the power of our Lord and STOP FIGHTING. I see us lose this perspective profoundly every 24 months here in America. We look to the world, not to Jesus, and we fight with one another. The worthless reason we sacrifice the passionate desire Jesus begged the Father to give us? Petty human politics. Yep… every election cycle, like clockwork, we decide human power is more immediately important than the sovereign love of the Father to unite us. Fights erupt. It is ugly.

This week I was saddened on social media to see Christians I love fighting and dividing and saying the nastiest, most self-righteous things. They were dividing over a brief cultural moment known as a governor’s election in the state of Kansas. Think about how insignificant that is in the light of the gospel! Jesus offers us a focus on the eternal unity of the Godhead for ETERNITY! Instead we focus on the next 48 months of an insignificant midwestern’s state occupant of an office in minuscule Topeka, Kansas. Really? C’mon people! Get it together. Jesus is asking us to unify around Him, not a political party! Jesus has to be shaking His head! God help us to be one!

the prayer at the beginning of redemption

“Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.“

John 17:1b-2

The seventeenth chapter of the gospel of John is a mountain peak of scripture. It is Jesus’ extended high priestly prayer that beats with a heart for all of those He was headed to the cross to save. I’ve always been amazed by this prayer. It read it several times throughout each year, often every Passion Week reflection, and am just blown away every time by the love of Christ. Nobody can say that the death of Christ was a tragic misunderstanding. Jesus did not blindly stumble to the cross. He knew what He was doing.

From the very beginning of this prayer, Jesus commits to the “hour” that “has come”. God’s sovereign plan to redeem all who will trust in the death and resurrection of His only Son had begun. Jesus was poised to redeem and save. He was destined to suffer, die, bear the sin of the world, and thus glorify God the Father Who will give eternal life to all who will believe and follow the Son.

Jesus was going to bring glory to God by providing the sacrifice once for all on the cross. God the Father was going to glorify God the Son by raising Him from the dead as proof that He has given Jesus all authority in heaven and earth. All those who trust in Jesus forever will possess eternal life in His salvation. And from this prayer, a commitment to our salvation brings the fresh change of the gospel to the world. All we do as Christians centers on and perpetuates this good news! God has saved us! The Father has been glorified by the complete sacrifice of His only Son! The Son has all authority and has been glorified by the Father as King of Kings and Lord of Lords! And we shall rule with Him forever. Nothing is more exciting than this.

The Father loves you.

…for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.

John 16:7

Will you believe that this is true:

your Heavenly Father loves you?!

Because of what Jesus has done

when you believe Jesus is the One

Who saves and rules you from above

You can know the Father’s love.

Will you live under His care

spreading the gospel everywhere?

God loves the world by His Son

and wants His message heard by everyone.

Will the world know this salvation

spread abroad to every nation?

The Father loves you.

This is always true.

Jesus will save you.

Faith will grow you too.

Encouraging words for me and you:

in Jesus Christ the Father loves you!

praying in the name of Jesus

Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

John 16:24

Praying “in Jesus’ name” is more than just some Christian formulaic way to get what we want. When I was a kid, I used to think that ending prayers with “in Jesus’ name, Amen” was some sort of formal way to tell God you were done praying. It was like a soldier on a walkie-talkie saying “over and out”. But there is much to what Jesus meant when He personally instructed His disciples to ask of the Father in His name (see John 14:13).

What does it mean to pray in the name of Jesus? It means to ask of God in a way consistent with the character and the will of Jesus. This gets lost a bit culturally on us, but in biblical times a person’s name represented who they were as a person. If they were a person of authority, it represented their power. Much like an ambassador acts in the name of the leadership of their country, so praying “in Jesus’ name” represents that we want our prayers to represent what Jesus wants in our world. So we really cannot pray selfishly in Jesus’ name.

And just as Jesus submitted to the will of the Father, so do our prayers in His name do the same. Praying “in Jesus’ name” is an act of submission. We acknowledge God will move, will care for us, will bring answers to our prayers as we submit to His sovereign work in our lives. We cannot be demanding when praying in Jesus’ name. We never pray to tell God what He must do from our viewpoint. We instead ASK Him to act as Jesus acts, but we surrender and submit to His wisdom, His mercy, His grace, His timing, and His ways. And He will probably change our expectations as He works. Praying in the name of Jesus humbles us, empowers us, helps us, heals us, and exalts our Lord and Savior.

Advantage: Holy Spirit

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

John 16:7

Jesus warned His disciples that after He left them to return to the Father, they would experience rejection in the world. This would be because the world would treat them with the same contempt. He even warns them that death would await some who would dare to follow Him (John 16:2). All in all, it did not seem like a very good thing for Jesus to leave this world.

But there was something God would do that would give Christians and Christ’s church an advantage… even with Jesus gone and the world against them. Just as the Father had sent His Son into the world, so Jesus would send His Holy Spirit to His followers. When this occurred, His followers had the advantage. They would be kept, empowered, and assisted by the comforting, teaching, strengthening Holy Spirit of God.

What’s more, God’s Holy Spirit does a great work in the world at large. The world is moved by the gospel and the convicting work of God’s Holy Spirit.

The Spirit now convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Sin will be apparent in those who do not, as yet, believe in Jesus. Righteousness will be known in the absence of Jesus. His life will still present a holy standard that the Spirit uses to convince of the difference. And judgment will come as the work of the devil will be exposed by the greater work of God’s Spirit.

I may be tempted to wish I could see Jesus physically in the world, under a false belief the world would accept Him that way.  But the fact is, the world rejected Jesus when He was in it, and God is active by His Holy Spirit right now. And Jesus Himself said we have the Spirit as an advantage even as the world hates us. I believe that with a grateful heart.

These statements explain a lot…

Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.

John 15:20-21

These words from Jesus explain a lot of what we see around us. Jesus Himself told us that since even He was rejected, how much more should we expect to be rejected by those who hate Him. We should expect the gospel to be opposed. We preach it anyway. We should expect to be hated by those who reject Jesus. We love the world anyway. When we are experiencing rejection in the world, it is happening because of the name of Jesus, on account of the name of Jesus, for the sake of Jesus, to bring glory to Jesus. Rejection is a sign that the world does not know Jesus, nor know the Father Who sent Him. The world always hates Jesus in us when we are hated. And that is ultimately an encouragement. It means we are faithfully modeling our Savior.

This is why political solutions for spiritual issues are always a wrong direction for Christians to go when feeling rejected. We should instead preach Jesus and want His gospel to change hearts. Any attempts to enforce a Christian morality by human force are evil and gospel-rejections.  The gospel is hated by world powers and always will be until Jesus returns to judge this earth. We can’t end worldly rejection by worldly means. We can only advance the kingdom one way right now: making disciples of Jesus, baptizing them in the name of a Triune God, and teaching them to obey all that Jesus teaches. That is what our world needs, even as many in power hate what Jesus brings and oppose who Jesus is.

Loving Jesus means obeying Jesus.

If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.

John 15:10

Loving Jesus is what being a Christian is all about. How can I not love the One Who has given all to love me supremely? Jesus left a perfect love at the Father’s side, was born on this earth to live a simple, hard-working life, speaking the truth to reveal God’s love and His judgment, dying to pay the penalty sin-debt owed by all sinners everywhere for all time, and then rose again the third day to bring me and all who will believe Him eternal life! How can I not love Him most for that?

Jesus Himself expects His followers will not only believe Him, but also love and obey Him. And they show this love supremely by obeying Him, just like Jesus loved His Father by obeying Him, submitting to saving the world. Those who love Christ obey Him. And that obedience is what forges a strong link of abiding in Christ. I am obligated in my love for Jesus to keep His commands.

Lord Jesus,

I love You and seek to live in You by obeying You. And by the power of Your Holy Spirit and the clear direction of the Word of God I have every means to do so. I praise You for this love and for this day to obey and follow You!

Amen

Abide and Ask

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

John 15:7

Abide in Jesus.

Live in Him.

Draw your strength,

Draw your life,

Draw your future,

from His amazing grace.

Hear His word,

Believe His truth,

Live following Him,

and run the race.

Abide in Jesus.

Ask of Jesus.

Pray in His name.

Ask from the Father

by the authority of the Son

praying in the Holy Spirit

and know His power.

Believe He answers,

Trust His provision,

Boldly pursue Him,

each day and each hour.

Ask of Jesus.

at home with us

Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

John 14:23

In relationship with God through Jesus Christ we love and keep (obey) what God’s Word says. That is a central core commitment as a Christian. We believe and trust the gospel for eternal salvation. We keep God’s Word because we love Him and want to please Him. We seek to glorify God by worshipping Him in obedience to Him.

But this is not a rote, letter-of-the-law, legalistic, rigid kind of adherence. It isn’t that way at all. It is a liberating relationship entered into and kept by faith. God meets us in our love and obedience. He joins us in the journey of faith, making His home with us along the way, even as we obey looking toward the day when we are in our eternal home!

We gain intimate relationship with God and Christ. His Spirit brings us peace and assurance as God lives with and in us (John 14:26-27). Loving God brings God close to us. Obeying His commands is an intimate journey with Him alongside. It is not a distant, fearful, “obey or else” kind of dread. God becomes our friend in Jesus. He is our Guide and Helper with His Spirit with us. He is at home with us. And being at home with God Almighty is truly the peace, purpose, and provision our lives need.

how we keep His commands

If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

John 14:15

This has always been true of God’s people. They are called to love God and obey Him. It was what was asked of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. It is what determined the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is what the Law that Moses brought down from Sinai demanded of Israel. To love God we respect and do what He reveals. We keep His commands.

When Jesus asked His followers to do the same, He gave them a new means to do so. His death would supply His righteousness so that our sins would not keep us from a holy God. And the gift of the Holy Spirit to be our Helper (John 14:16) would provide the way for us to keep His commandments. By the Spirit of God given by God we can forever obey God’s commands. We have a capacity to keep His commands because of the forgiveness provided by the Son. We have the capacity to obey in relationship with God’s Holy Spirit. And we have access to acceptance of the Father by the gifts of His grace in sending His Son to save us and His Spirit to live in us.

We are not left alone to try to figure out how to obey. Through the Spirit we are drawn to keep faith and love God. He seals us until the day of our redemption. And Jesus will love us and be made known to and in us (John 14:21). We love Jesus and keep His commands not because we are so great, but because He is, and He has provided all we need to do so!

Christ’s authority

Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.

John 14:10

Jesus is Who He is because He is God. There is no debating that the gospels show us that Jesus claims to be God. This is one of the most vivid examples. Jesus teaches about His deity to the disciples who were closest to Him. His closeness to the Father is because Jesus is God, just as the Father is God. And He submits to the Father’s authority, only speaking, and only doing, what the Father would say or do. Whoever has seen Jesus has seen the Father. Whoever has heard Jesus has heard the words that God has spoken. Whoever has seen the works of Jesus has seen what the Father does.

Jesus’ authority is God’s authority. That is why regularly reading the gospels is so important for Christians to do. We need the constant reminder of what Jesus says and does so that we too can see and hear from God. We need exposure to our Savior. We need God’s authority in the words of Jesus. We need God’s authority in the works of Jesus. We need to see God at work in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Today, Lord, may I keep my eyes on You. As I see You, Jesus, I see the Father. As I hear and heed Your voice, I surrender to the authority of God. As I worship You and Your saving work by faith, I am changed to glorify God the Father through the work of His Son.

Amen

all glory to Jesus

If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once.

John 13:32

These words, spoken by Jesus, are part of His teaching to His disciples about His upcoming atonement. So much of John is devoted to the last night Jesus had with His followers before His arrest, trials, and crucifixion. John records five chapters of lengthy discourse by Jesus. These words about the glory of God in His upcoming death are at the very beginning. Jesus makes some claims about His death that only He could make.

God is glorified in the atonement. What Jesus would offer would not only satisfy His Father but also bring glory to Him. The act of giving Himself in obedience to the Father to atone for the sins of the world was also an act of worship. It honored and uplifted a holy God for Jesus to be lifted up in sacrifice for us.

God will glorify Jesus. Not only is His Father glorified, but so is the Son. God the Father will lift Jesus up because of His sacrifice. The resurrection will be the historical proof of this. And the Father will glorify the Son in Himself. Because Jesus is one with the Father, this will be a mutual glory together.

The glory to Jesus is immediate. God will show His acceptance of the sacrifice of His Son. At the crucifixion this was evidenced in earthquakes, in a supernatural darkness, and in a vast number of Old Testament prophecies fulfilled in that moment. And three days later with an empty tomb and resurrected Lord, the glory of Jesus will be apparent for all to know. The One Who obeyed to death is crowned with glory and honor!

ALL GLORY TO JESUS

All glory to Jesus begotten of God
The great I Am is He
Creator sustainer but wonder of all
The Lamb of Calvary

To think that the guardian of planets in space
The Shepherd of the stars
Is tenderly leading the church of His love
By hands with crimson scars

The King of all kings and the Lord of all lords
He reigns in glory now
Some day He is coming earth's kingdom to claim
And ev'ry knee shall bow

my place

Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.

John 13:16

I know my place, Lord.

     Although I crave recognition

     all honor should only be Yours.

     I am not in the position

     to receive the applause.

I know my place, Lord.

     I am the servant.

     You are the Master.

     To reverse this is arrogant

     and the way to disaster.

I know my place, Lord.

     With the gospel message

     by You I’ve been sent.

     It is You that save

     and I’m Your servant.

I know my place, Lord.

     You are the Great One.

     I worship Your glory.

     You are the Father’s Son.

     I tell Your story.

I know my place, Lord.

     What Your give me

     I will share.

     As You live in me

     I will care.

I know my place, Lord.

     Your kingdom has come

     to rule over me.

     You are the Saving One

     Who is remaking me.

peace & friendship

Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, each by name.

3 John 15

“Sometimes you wanna be where everybody knows your name…” Yeah, that was a theme song for a TV show about a fictional Boston bar, but given the ending admonition to the third letter of John, it kind of captures what the church is supposed to be. There are two things in these three short sentences that show us how warm the relationships with believers in the church should be.

First, the church is a place of peace. We should have an experience of peaceful unity when we meet together. Gathered Christians know peace because Jesus has made peace with God for us. And gathered Christians should know peace because Jesus Himself is our peace and broken down barriers between us. When we truly center around Him we can know peace and unity. It is beautiful.

Secondly, Christians should know one another. The admonition to “greet the friends” is more than a brief nod of “Hi, how are ya?” It is a connection of care. We care about friends. We know friends. We want to be with them. We are in involved in their lives. We enjoy them. We love friends. It is a warm relationship that strengthens us, builds us up, gives us joy, and provides a culture of care and peace where the gospel thrives in the church. It attracts those seeking to see Jesus. We know one another as friends. And it is Jesus Who exclusively makes this possible.

God,

Save Your church from superficiality in our connection. Make us legitimately, intimately connected as friends in Jesus, with one another so we will know Your peace together, know Your love together, and know one another well! Be our peace. Be our friendship.

Amen

into the world as light

I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.

John 12:46

I notice four profound observations from this simple declaration Jesus has made. First, Jesus came into this world. He came from the presence of God the Father, down from heaven’s throne room, to enter into this world. He was born a human, yet God. He chose to enter this place. But Jesus is not from this world. Heaven invaded earth when Jesus came into the world.

Secondly, Jesus came into the world and lit this world. He is the light. And just as light is the first creation God spoke into being in the universe, so Jesus as light is the beginning of all new creation that He does. We must be drawn to His light before we can see Him as Lord or know His saving grace. Jesus is the light!

Third, Jesus calls us to believe Him. Not just that, but to believe IN Him. His words are truth. And Jesus Himself is the truth. He is Who and what we believe. Jesus is what corrects what is wrong in the world. The world offers no useful perspective on Jesus, but rather, we believe Him for perspective on everything else. It is central to Christianity to have faith in Christ adjust our view and understanding of all the rest of life.

Finally, Jesus dispels the darkness. By believing Jesus, Who came into this world as the light, we see clearly and are no longer in the dark. This also means that what is outside the light is indeed hopelessly dark. We see the darkness we once were in and go toward the light! We reject the dark and follow what the light reveals. And in the bright life that Jesus shines on us we rejoice and live confidently in His revealed truth as we believe Jesus and now walk in the light that is Him!

that you may know

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.

1 John 5:13

God’s Word is explicit

with truth that will show

Jesus is Savior and Lord

that you may know

Faith has a confidence

so you are not slow

to believe Jesus saves you

that you may know

Belief in Jesus

Builds your commitment to grow

daily you walk with Him

that you may know

Grace, mercy, and peace

God will always bestow

in the name of the Son of God

that you may know

You look always to Jesus

as you live here below

knowing eternal life is yours

that you may know

witness to resurrection

The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness.

John 12:17

In John’s account of the Triumphal Entry he adds this detail on the motivation of the enthusiastic crowd. A large portion of those waving palm branches and shouting “Hosanna!” to Jesus as King of Israel were also present in Bethany when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. They had witnessed Jesus perform a resurrection. Now they were hoping for a resurrection of Israel’s own kingdom.

Moreover, this group of people “continued to bear witness”. That’s John the apostle telling us that they couldn’t stop talking about how Jesus raised a man from the dead. It was spreading all over Jerusalem among the crowds of pilgrims in the city to celebrate Passover. It was the talk of the town. And the crowd kept growing around Jesus to the chagrin of the Jewish religious leaders because new people kept hearing that Jesus had done this miracle.

Today we are still drawn to the One Who gives life. Of course the Triumphal Entry is the start of Passion Week… the events that led to the trial, crucifixion, and eventual resurrection of Jesus. This would lead to an even greater hope… not just that One Who raises the dead would be on the throne in Jerusalem… but that He would rule our hearts as more than Messiah of Israel… Jesus is Savior of the world!

Jesus,

Because You raised the dead and were raised from the dead, we have hope and assurance that death is only the door to eternal life in You! And in that truth we rejoice and bless Your great name!

Amen

living with God

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

1 John 4:15-16

To believe and proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God is to live in the love of God and live with God. God lives with us and in us by faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only Savior. And faith in the gospel is more than just wishful thinking. It is life… life from God… life with God… now and forever.

For more than half a century I have had God living with me. I distinctly remember what life was life without Jesus. Although I was just a a child, Jesus was totally absent from my family. And then my parents believed the gospel and Jesus came to live in our home. And it wasn’t too long after their conversion when the newness of the gospel captured my seven year old imagination and I realized that I too was a sinner, I needed God’s forgiveness, I believed Jesus is the Son of God Who gave Himself a sacrifice for my sin, I believed He rose from the dead, and I trusted and confessed Jesus as Savior and Son of God.

And now, from that time on God abides in me. I believe the love that God has for all of us. I’ve trusted it, confessed it, and lived in it. I want my life to always confess the gospel! And God lives with me… and will be my God forever!