Tag Archives: Jesus

January 9; Is There A Target On My Back?

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Job: 15-19

Job brings up a hard truth about God that we often try to ignore. We can talk all day about God’s love, His grace, His forgiveness, kindness, acceptance. But we don’t like to even think about His wrath.

Now, to be perfectly clear, chapter 1 tells us Job’s suffering is not a direct result of sin. God is not punishing him. In fact, Job is an upright citizen. God even calls him “righteous.” Yet awful things are happening to Job.

In chapter 16, Job says he feels like God has placed a target on his back. Job feels God’s anger as though God were ripping him to shreds with gnashing teeth. Job says he’s tried to bind his wounds himself, he’s cried endless tears. But Job realizes his helplessness to combat God and win.

It’s easy to say Job didn’t deserve this. But here is what God impressed on me: if Job, described by God Himself as a “righteous man,” has no defense against God, I’m in serious trouble.

Paul, in Romans 3:23 tells me everybody has sinned. Romans 3:10 actually quotes some Old Testament verses that tell me there isn’t a righteous man or woman anywhere. Not even one.

(I have no problem hearing God call Job “righteous,” then reading more than one Scripture that says no one is righteous. Job never lived like he was sinless. He continued to offer sacrifices for his sins and for those of his children. “Righteous” described Job because he had dealt with his sin.)

Scripture repeats these words, or words like them: Every sin is punished. Every sin deserves death. Every. Sin.

That’s why I think we should probably remove the word “deserve” from our vocabulary when talking about circumstances of life. We are all sinners, and God hates sin. Hates it. It’s hard to hear, but God considers sinners his enemies. (Romans 5:10; Philippians 3:18; James 4:4; I Samuel 12:14; and others)

Being sinners, we “deserve” God’s wrath. And, friend, you can’t handle God’s wrath.

As I look at the theme of worship in the book of Job, I am blown away that this man who is so lost, so grieved and alone, still looks to God. He begs God for an audience, not to give God a piece of his mind, but to present his case before God. Job longs for an advocate from heaven. Listen to this:

Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high. My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God; on behalf of a man he pleads with God as a man pleads for his friend. (17:19-21)

Read that again and let God speak to your heart. Hear Job’s confidence that there is Someone who is on his side, someone who pleads with God on his behalf like a man pleads for his friend. And Job had never even heard the name of Jesus. My soul is overwhelmed at the beauty of this truth. I love it so much.

Here’s something about God’s wrath: It’s real. And it’s frightening. It’s harsh and relentless. And we are absolutely, totally powerless against it.

But Jesus!

Jesus took God’s wrath directed at you and me. He faced God’s fierce anger – AND IT KILLED HIM.

But He didn’t stay dead! He defeated the last enemy – death. Now, by His grace, I can stand before God – not an enemy – but as His precious child. Not because of my own righteousness (which is non-existent) but because I’m wearing Jesus’ righteousness through the blood He shed on the cross.

God is no longer my enemy. He’s my Father. He calls me His friend!

Please understand that unless you have accepted what Jesus did for you on the cross, you are an enemy of God. You can try to bandage your own wounds, you can try to stand before Him in your own strength. But you don’t have any hope of winning that battle. No hope.

I don’t know what the circumstances of your life are like right now. But I know if you are blessed, you don’t deserve it. If you are suffering, you deserve much worse. You might feel like there is a target on your back, and you might be right.

But read again what Job said in the quote above. And know there is Someone in heaven who would love to be your advocate. Someone who would love to cover that target on your back with His own blood. Someone who wants to turn you from being an enemy of God, to being His most precious child.

January 7; Spider Webs vs Mountains

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Job 8-10

As I consider worship in the book of Job, I see a marked contrast between those whose worship is directed toward God, and those who worship anything else.

Bildad, in pointing to their history, says of the one who forgets God, “What he trusts in is fragile, what he relies on is a spider’s web. He leans on his web, but it gives way; he clings to it, but it does not hold.” (8:14-15)

Have you ever had trouble breaking through a spider’s web? Just a little pressure, and the strands give way. Have you tried to stand on a spider’s web? Or lifted yourself up on one? How did that work for you? With a swing of your hand, you can brush away the web, so that it appears it never even existed.

Then, in chapter 9, Job points us to God whose wisdom is profound, whose power is vast. God, who can move mountains, turn off the light of the sun and stars, who performs wonders that cannot be fathomed. God sees all, knows all, created all, and there is nothing in me or you that can match Him. You aren’t going to brush Him away with a swing of your hand.

Job also points us to Jesus (9:32-35). This awesome, powerful, fearful God has become a man! He is the arbitrator between the Father and us that Job longed for. And, unlike Job, I can speak to Him without fear because of Jesus.

If we worship science, self, or even a loving, soft marshmallow god we are basing our worship on something as fragile as a spider’s web. But we whose foundation is built on God, we who worship the God of the Bible, have placed our trust in the sturdy, solid, Truth of God Himself.

He deserves our worship. And when I am faced with the Truth of who He Is, I cannot not worship Him.

 

Revelation; No More Tears

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I don’t often sit down and read straight through the book of Revelation,  but I did today. I wanted to read John’s vision as he describes it without looking for hidden meaning in it. I discovered that the book of Revelation is a pretty accurate description of life.

And life for followers of Jesus comes with particular hardships. Sometimes it seems as though we are fighting against monsters and demons, and it is easy to get discouraged. But God assures us through John’s vision that He’s got this.

There is no demonic monster that is too powerful for Him, no false doctrine, no phony preachers, no anti-Christ theology that can change the Truth that is God. There is nothing that happens in this life that He didn’t see happen before Creation. And He wants us to know He is coming again to take His children home.

That’s the glory of John’s vision. That home-going! A place beyond human words where God is in all His glory. A place where He Himself will dry the tears of His children, no more sorrow, sickness, discouragement, anger, hurt feelings, or drama. Our past troubles will be forgotten forever, and we as His Bride will look into the eyes of our Bridegroom and know for the first time what true love is all about.

The book of Revelation is a book of hope. We win. And the victory celebration will be beyond imagination.

_________________

I trust you had a blessed Christmas as we celebrated the birth of Jesus, the One who made our home-going possible. And I pray that 2019 will find you growing  in grace and knowledge of our Savior, and that you will have many opportunities to share our Lord with people in your life who need him, that you will be blessed and a blessing.

I’m going to take a break from blogging for the next few days. Starting January 1st I am going to start to read through the Chronological Bible in 2019. I haven’t decided if I’ll post my thoughts every day, or not. I want to honor God with this thing, so I’ll be praying for God’s leading.

Thanks for going on this journey with me. I’m praying for you.

1&2 Peter; Too Late

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Can you celebrate the birth of Jesus and ignore the fact that He is coming again? He first came as a baby boy, grew to be a man, rocked the world at that time, and continues to rock our world after His death on the cross, and resurrection.

Christmas is not just a birthday. It’s the beginning of the end. Jesus will come again, and Peter reminds us it will be a day of reckoning. Are you ready?

I hope your Christmas holiday will be blessed with happiness and precious moments with family and friends. But I also hope – no, I pray – that when you consider that baby in a manger, you will consider how His birth has impacted you. That baby was born for love of you. That baby was born to save you.

Do you now Him? I pray you do. But if you’ve never confessed your sin and allowed Him to forgive you through the blood of Jesus, do it today. I can’t imagine a better birthday gift to give that Baby Jesus, than your heart.

Because He is coming again. It could be today. And when He comes it will be too late for you to suddenly accept what He died to give you.

May you celebrate the birth of YOUR Savior this season.

Hebrews 1-8; A Better Way

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I hope you have read, and considered, the Old Testament with its laws and regulations. Do you know the awesome responsibility Levitical priests carried? Have you looked at the intricate details they had to follow to first, make atonement for their own sins, then offer sacrifices for the sins of the people? The rules had to be followed down to crossing t’s, or God could not forgive sin.

Unless you’ve spent time looking at what God required for the sacrificial system, I’m not sure you can fully appreciate what Jesus did on the cross, or understand His role as our High Priest today. Jesus’ words from the cross, “It is finished,” take on a significant meaning in light of the Old Testament Law.

The writer of Hebrews celebrates our eternal High Priest, and the new covenant God made to us through Jesus. The truth, the anchor for the soul, our hope and assurance is this:

Therefore he (Jesus) is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. (7:25)

Jesus came, lived, died, and rose again 2000 years ago. But He didn’t complete the mission, then go home and put His feet up. He lives to intercede for us. Right now. Today. Jesus is working for you at this very moment.

What a blessing is ours to live this side of the cross, to know our Savior is alive, our High Priest is interceding for us. It is a better way.

Romans 1-5; Just-As-If…

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Paul spends a lot of time talking about sin and condemnation, faith and justification. When you read his letters you can’t help but see that we are all sinners condemned to an awful eternity separated from God. And you can’t help but see that Jesus went to the cross, while we were still sinners, and took our punishment on Himself so none of us ever has to be separated from Him.

But Paul also makes it clear that, although Jesus died for the sins of every man and woman who ever lived, not every man and woman will enjoy the fruits of His sacrifice. Only those who receive it by faith will be justified. No amount of rule-following, or kind deeds can do what Jesus did on that cross.

What does it mean to be justified by faith? I’ve heard it explained that when we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive and cleanse us, so that we can stand before Him, “Just-as-if I never sinned.”

Can you imagine? I have no fear of standing before a Holy, Holy, Holy God because He will only see purity, guiltlessness, holiness in me. I can hardly imagine.

But as I sit here today and consider this precious truth, I am overcome. Because, you see, I am a sinner. There is nothing pure or holy about me, and I’m certainly not guiltless.

It occurs to me that on that day, when I stand before the throne, God is not going to look at me as if I never sinned, so much as He is going to look at me wearing Jesus’ righteousness because HE never sinned. God won’t see me as something I’m not (holy, pure). He’s going to see my Savior’s blood that covered my sins. Every one of them.

I’m not going to stand there and look God in the eye sinless. But I am going to stand there before Him, gaze into those piercing and Holy eyes, forgiven!

 

John 8-11; Who Is This Guy?

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He healed a blind man. He raised his dead friend to life again. He forgave a sinful woman. He not only said He was God, He backed up His claims with action.

Who is this guy? Let’s look at who He says He is.

  1. I AM the light of the world. (8:12) He said in verses 31-32, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” The Truth of Jesus Christ is the light in a dark world. Chapter 8 is full of Jesus’ deity, ending with His bold pronouncement in verse 58: “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I AM!”  That’s the Light; the knowledge that makes everything clear, makes the world make sense, frees us from the chains of sin. Jesus is God!
  2. I AM the Son of Man (9:37) Once again Jesus is proclaiming His deity. Then He says to all of us, “Now that you know that, what you do with the Truth is on you. You will be held accountable.” (vs 41) Once you’ve read these words here in God’s Word, once you have heard it proclaimed, you can no longer say, “I didn’t know.” Because now you DO know. Jesus is God!
  3. I AM the gate. (10:1-10) Jesus is not only God, He is the ONLY way to the Father. There is no other way into the fold. Jesus is the protector and defender who knows His sheep by name. Which means He also knows who are NOT His sheep.
  4. I AM the Good Shepherd (vv 11-18) And not just for Jewish sheep! All of us who listen to His voice are part of His flock, loved and secure. Our Shepherd laid down His own life so we can live eternally! His sheep! Our Savior!
  5. I AM the Resurrection and the Life (11:25) From creation to the end of time and into eternity – Jesus IS.

The Great I AM.

Yes, Jesus made some bold claims, did some unexplainable things while He walked in human form here on planet Earth. And He did and said those things so that you and I could know Him.

If Jesus had been crazy or delusional like some have claimed, the Pharisees would have killed him the first time the words “I AM” came out of His mouth. I don’t believe a mere man would have been able to survive their attempts. They certainly thought about it often enough. They just couldn’t wrap their minds around what they heard and saw.

Can you? Who is this guy? Martha knew:

“Yes, Lord,” she told Him, “I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” (11:27)

He is that guy!

 

John 5-7; Jesus and the Father

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Did you notice what all Jesus said about Himself in these chapters today? The Gospel of John is such a good resource for getting to know the Savior, in the same intimate way John knew Him.

Jesus wants us to know His relationship with the Father. He calls God “MY Father,” and says His role as Son includes:

  1. Doing what the Father does (5:19)
  2. Raising the dead the like His Father does (vs 21)
  3. Using His God-given authority to judge (vs 22, 27)
  4. Deserving the same honor given to the Father (vs 23)
  5. Giving eternal life (vs 24)
  6. Doing that which the Father sent Him to do (vs 36)

Jesus points to the Old Testament prophets, then said they were talking about Him! In fact, He says, if you really believed Moses, you’d believe Me. Jesus in verse 43: “I have come in my Father’s name.”

In chapter six Jesus likens Himself to the manna that fed the wandering Jews in the wilderness as recorded in the Old Testament. He called Himself the Bread of Life! (6:35) Just like manna, Jesus came from heaven to save those Jewish people… and us! He said His body would be given for the life of the world.

I hope you’ll read these chapters today and get to know Jesus, your Savior. Oh what love the Father has shown us in the person of His Son.

 

Mark 11-16; One More Week

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Long before God separated the light from the darkness on the first week of Earth’s existence, He formed a plan. Man would be created with a will, and would need a Savior. Long before that first Word was spoken in the creation of this beautiful world, God determined to BE that Savior!

Then for thousands of years, God watched as His creation worshiped Him, then rejected Him, then repented of their sins, only to start the cycle all over again. God’s created people chose sin time and time again. How it must have hurt God to watch. Jesus, the Son, knew He was the answer.

I think of a third string quarterback, sitting the bench game after game, year after year. “Put me in, Coach. Put me in.” Not that there is anything third string about Jesus. In fact, He was the ace! But He was forced to sit on the sidelines while one quarterback tried and failed, then another, and another did the same. “Put me in, Coach.”

I believe it was with that enthusiasm that Jesus came to earth when, at just the right time, God did put Him in the game, to get the job done once and for all.

Now we read about Jesus’ last week on earth. We watch Him enter Jerusalem amid great fanfare. We hear Him tell His disciples His parting words to them. We are invited into the courtroom to see a sham of a trial, a defendant who never answered an accusation against Him because He wanted to go to the cross.

In fact, the only time we hear Him speak is when He was asked if He was the King of the Jews. “Yes. I AM,” He answered. Make no mistake about it. Jesus proclaimed that He Is God! And He wanted us to know exactly Who He is!

We see Him abused, tortured, lied about, and humiliated, and all the while knowing He had the power to crush His abusers at any moment. But he didn’t crush them because He wanted to die for them.

We hear the same people who, days before celebrated His coming, cry “Crucify Him!” Our hearts break as He is betrayed, rejected, denied, and hung on that cross. Yet that cross was why He was here in the first place. He was finally getting to do what He’d wanted to do since Adam and Eve.

I believe it was for the joy of my salvation, and yours, that Jesus willingly endure the cross. Victory over sin came because of that cross. But He didn’t stay dead! He is alive! And some day He will come again and take His children home.

The account of Jesus’ last days on Earth is recorded in all four Gospels, but I never tire of reading it. I believe this is the most important week anyone has every lived. It was lived by the One who loved us and gave Himself for us.

Thank you, dear Jesus.

Mark 9-10; Paradoxes in Christianity

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The Gospel of Jesus certainly wasn’t what the 1st Century Jews were expecting They had been living by the “what goes around comes around” philosophy of life, and were expecting the Messiah to give the Romans what was coming to them. Jesus blew that idea right out of the water.

The Gospel isn’t exactly what many 21st Century people expect, either. That all-loving grandpa in the sky who makes bad things happen to bad people and good things happen to good people doesn’t exist any more than a 1st Century political leader.

Warren Wiersbe, in his With The Word, (Thomas Nelson, 1991, page 660) points out that the true Gospel, in fact, is juxtaposed to the world’s philosophy of life. Just in these two chapters you’ll see several paradoxes that are at the core of our faith.

You’ll see victory out of surrender, when the world would tell you victory comes after hard work and personal effort. You’ll see greatness out of service, when the world would tell you you are great when people serve you.

You’ll see gain out of loss, when the world’s drive is for more possessions, more wealth, more, more, more. Jesus tells us we gain eternal life when we let go of all of that.

And ultimately, you’ll see glory out of suffering. Like Paul in Galatians 6, we can glory in the cross of Christ because, as awful as that death was, as humiliating and degrading, it was there Jesus paid the debt of our sin, the punishment we deserved. Jesus suffered and died for me. And for you. I love that old cross.

To many, the idea of letting go of material things, family members, our health, our reputations, our future, as well as our present, doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t sit well with some to humble ourselves, consider other people more important than ourselves in order to be of service to them. It doesn’t make sense to give up control of our situations and our future, and to trust Someone we can’t even see with it all.

That is, until you do. And you realize the flip side of that coin is amazing. It’s God Himself for today and eternity. Nothing can compare in this life. Nothing!

Paul, in I Corinthians 10 said he was crucified with Christ. He often said he died that day he met Jesus. But in I Corinthians 10:13 he tells us that because Christ lives in him, he is truly alive.

Life out of death might be the ultimate paradox in Christianity. But it’s real. I hope you have died, and know what it’s like to be gloriously alive.