Tag: faith

December 27, 2022 – Philippians 3 – The Excellency of Knowing Christ

Exodus 37, John 18, Philippians 3

The Apostle Paul is going through some of his many credentials in his letter to the Philippians… “…circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.” Philippians3:5–6NIV  There were also other things Paul could have valued.

However, Paul tells them that he no longer values the things of his past. In fact, Paul says he counts all the things he valued as garbage so that he may gain Christ. He says, “What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ” Philippians3:8NIV

Paul’s goal was to know Jesus. There weren’t some things in his life that pale in comparison to Christ. Everything prior to Christ was of no value in comparison. Paul said that he counted “everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus.”

That should help us as we work out our faith. Our goal is not to keep rules, our goal is not to get a ticket to heaven. Our goal is to know Jesus Christ and know him as completely as possible.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, thank you for making it possible for me to know you. Lord, please grow my desire to know you more and more every day. Amen.

December 16, 2022 – Galatians 4 – God’s Precious Child

Exodus 27, John 8, Galatians 4

Probably most of you have seen the musical Annie. It is about a girl named Annie, who became an orphan during the Great Depression. I will not give you all of the details, but spoiler alert, in the end she is adopted by a generous millionaire. It is fascinating to think about going from a dirty, penniless orphan to someone who lives in a mansion and has everything that could be wanted. Not only that, being adopted into the family also made her an heiress to the fortunes of Daddy Warbucks.

In Galatians 4, we realize that Annie’s story is our story too. We were filthy and penniless. We had nothing to offer God. Yet in his great love for us, he paid our ransom and redeemed us. He adopted us as his own children. The Apostle Paul says, “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.” Galatians4:4–5NIV

Paul tells us, “Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’” Galatians4:6NIV  Scholars have noted that Abba is an affectionate name for father, like dad or daddy. The idea that God loves us so much that he gave us the Spirit of Jesus so that we could call out to him as our dad is overwhelming! We are God’s adopted children and he makes no difference between us and his own beloved Son.

To be sure we understand the relationship, Paul says, “so you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.” Galatians4:7NIV  We share the full benefits of being a child of God. We are not slaves or ill-treated stepchildren. We are heirs who enjoy all the affection and benefits of being a child of God in his glorious kingdom.

Prayer:

Abba Father, thank you for loving me so much that you sent Jesus to ransom and redeem me when I was a filthy sinner with nothing to offer. Thank you for the Spirit of Jesus, living in me, that helps me to embrace you as my dad! In Jesus’ name.

December 13, – Galatians 2 – Love Is the Foundation of Relationship

Exodus 25, John 6, Galatian 2

When I was a child, I was taught the rules of our home. There are certain things you do and things you don’t do. When I went to school, I was taught the rules of school. The principals and teachers taught us what was allowed at school and what was not. When I went to church with my grandmother, she taught me what to do and not to do at church.

In all of these settings, I knew what was right and wrong. In all of these settings, I did both what was right and what was wrong. When I broke the rules, I was spanked as a child. Most of us in my generation were to some degree or another. I got spankings at home. I got paddled at school, from teachers, to the principal, and on down to my bus driver. My sweet grandmother who never raised her voice, even gave me a pop at church. She told me that I said, “Nanny, I deserved that” and it made her feel like “a sheep killing dog.”

I broke the rules in all of these settings yet I was never disqualified from love and kindness. My parents, my teachers, and my grandmother still loved me even though I had broken the rules in each of these areas of my childhood. That is because my love and  my relationships with these important people didn’t stand on me keeping the rules. My relationship with all of them stood on love.

In Galatians 2, Paul is relaying an important truth of our faith, the central truth of justification. We are made right with God, not by keeping the rules, but by our faith in Jesus Christ. Paul says it like this, “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.” Galatians2:15–16NIV

Our relationship with God stands on our faith in Jesus Christ, not on our keeping the law. Because of love, God sent Jesus to die for sinners. Because of love, God accounts the righteousness of Christ to us when we put our faith in him. We are right with God solely based on our faith in Jesus Christ, and that faith is a gift given to us because God so loved the world. Paul closes chapter 2 this way, “… The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians2:20NIV

If you have broken a rule or two, don’t disqualify yourself from being justified by God. The love and kindness we enjoy from God our Father, comes from faith in Jesus Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us. That is Good News!

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, Thank you for your love and kindness to me even when I broke your law! Thank you for Jesus Christ who loved me and gave himself for me! Help me to respond to your loving kindness by living in your will for my life. Amen.

December 13, 2022 – Exodus 24 – Confirmed With Blood

Exodus 24, John 5, Galatians 1

There are some churches these days that deemphasize the blood of Jesus. They don’t want to offend people with songs like Nothing But the Blood and the Old Rugged Cross. They believe that most people don’t understand about those things and so those churches are afraid blood talk will run them off. Sometimes, even well seasoned Christians wonder why Jesus had to shed blood to redeem us.

Just because we don’t understand something, doesn‘t mean we can discount it. There are many things in Scripture that we don’t understand and that is inevitable because we are finite and God is infinite. We cannot completely understand God because of our human limitations.

In Exodus 24, Moses is ratifying the covenant between God and the people. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.” Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” Exodus24:7–8NIV

There is no in-depth explanation in the Old Testament as to why God required blood to ratify a covenant. If you want to look at another example of a blood covenant, check out the covenant God made with Abraham in Genesis 15.

In the New Testament we hear these words of Jesus as he gathered to celebrate the Passover with his disciples. While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Matthew26:26–28NIV

Covenants ratified by blood were serious. We don’t completely understand why God required blood, but we do know one thing from the example of the covenants God made with the Israelites in Exodus 24, with Abraham in Genesis 15, and in all of his other covenants. God is faithful and keeps the promises he makes in his covenants. That is Good News for us! Our sins, though many, were forgiven through the blood of Jesus Christ that was poured out for us!

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, there are many things about the faith that I do not understand, but I am thankful to know one thing for sure! The blood of Jesus washed away all of my sins. Thank you Jesus for shedding your blood to ransom and redeem a sinner like me! Amen.

December 12, 2022 – John 4 – Spirit and Truth

Exodus 23, John 4, 2 Corinthians 13

In John 4, Jesus encounters a Samaritan woman at a well who has come to draw water at midday. His disciples have gone into town to buy food. Jesus asks this woman for water and initiates a series of verbal defenses the woman tried to use to avoid having to answer too many questions.

First, she points out Jesus’ race. Jews, John tells us, do not associate with Samaritans. Then she takes issue with what Jesus says about giving her living water. Next Jesus, confronts her about her husband and she is deceptive in her answer. After Jesus, calls her out for her half truth answer, she tries to make a defense with a religious argument. “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” John4:19–20NIV

Jesus had brought the woman to the place where she had just about exhausted her resistance to the Spirit of God. “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” John4:21–24NIV

She had one more argument. The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.” John4:25-26NIV

Through the Spirit of God, Jesus brought the Samaritan woman to a place where she could drop her defenses and worship in the Spirit and truth. He is doing the same thing in our lives today.

What defenses are you holding on to that keeps you from worshipping in the Spirit and truth?

Prayer:Lord Jesus, thank you for your persistence in leading me to the Spirit and truth. Help me to hear you as you tear down the walls I try to build. Help me to worship in the Spirit and truth. Amen.

December 8, 2022 – 2 Corinthians 9 – The Blessing of Cheerful Givers

Exodus 19, John 1, 2 Corinthians 9

When I was a boy my father told me, “you can’t out-give God.” At the time I didn’t understand that. However, later I was in a situation where I experienced that reality. Someone in our Sunday School class needed help covering a repair on a heat pump. My wife and I, essentially still newlyweds, had some extra money, but we had planned to use it for a trip we were wanting to take. We, along with others in our class, gave money to these friends. They were able to have their heat pump fixed. The interesting thing for us is that we got our money back plus some. It didn’t come from the friends that needed it for their heat pump. The money unexpectedly came from somewhere else, and it was more than we gave our friends, so we were still able to do the trip we planned.

In 2 Corinthians 9, the Apostle Paul is encouraging the Corinthians to support an offering for believers in Jerusalem who were in need. He says to them, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” 2 Corinthians9:6–8NIV

God blesses those who use what God has given them to bless others. We can’t out-give God. God allows others to have needs so that we can learn to be cheerful givers. He could just as easily bless them without us. However, he allows us to recognize their need and to participate in caring for them with him, so we can be like him… generous. In the process we are also more abundantly blessed ourselves. That may be a financial blessing. It may be a spiritual blessing. It may be both! Either way we are blessed by cooperating with our Heavenly Father. We come to know him better and we come to love him more.

In the end, it also glorifies God our Father. As their needs are met, they praise God. As we experience the blessing of being a cheerful giver, we praise God. Together, we all experience the love and power of God in our lives and praise him. Paul says it this way, “This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.” 2 Corinthians9:12NIV

This is not the prosperity gospel. This is not greedy motivation… giving so God will give us more. This is learning to be a cheerful giver, so that we, as well as those we bless, can experience the love and power of God.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank you for the showers of blessings that you have poured out in my life! Thank you for those around me who have blessed me with their cheerful giving! Help me to be generous like you, using your blessings to bless others. In Jesus’ name. Amen.