Posts

Intimacy

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Jeremiah 3-4; John 11 “’I myself said, “How gladly would I treat you like sons [my children] and give you a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.” I thought you would call me ‘Father’ and not turn away from following me. But like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you have been unfaithful to me, O house of Israel,” declares the Lord.’” Jeremiah 3:19, 20 The intimacy of God’s covenant with Israel and with us is like that of family. His pain over our sin and rebellion is because of his great love for us and because of his holiness. Even in the law-based righteousness of his covenant with Israel, God was pursuing intimacy. How much more is that God’s purpose for us now through the Gospel of Christ? If we have been unfaithful to him, his love is reaching out to us now and calling us home. Like an unfaithful spouse, we are invited back into covenant. Like a prodigal son, we are invited back home. God’s love in Christ pursues us. He has an amazing inheritance for u...
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The Reality of Knowing Jesus

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Jeremiah 1-2; John 10 “’My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.’” John 10:27-10 Jesus describes what it means to know him in a relationship like sheep who know their shepherd. This is more than intellectual assent to doctrinal statements. It is a knowing of Jesus’ voice as our spirit is united with his Spirit. When we belong to Jesus, we know it! We know the reality of eternal life and the inner peace and confidence that our lives are in his hands. We know our value to the Father and his value to us. We know the reality of his presence and protection in every circumstance, and we experience his love. This is not religion, but a deep, abiding relationship with God through faith in Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit. Is this relationship a r...
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Seek the Lord

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Zephaniah 1-3; John 9 “…those who turn back from following the Lord and neither seek the Lord nor inquire of him. Be silent before the Sovereign Lord, for the day of the Lord is near…Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger.” Zephaniah 1:6, 7; 2:3 One of the evidences of humility in our lives is that we seek the Lord; we know how to get alone with God and seek his face. To seek the Lord is different than to inquire of him. We can inquire of the Lord for guidance through his Word and through others; but to seek the Lord is to personally cry out to him. Those who seek the Lord know he values humility and righteousness. We know he judges sin and that the day of the Lord is a day of accountability. It is the grace and mercy of Christ and his salvation that shelters us from the wrath of God. We seek the face of God through the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which ...
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Live by our Faith

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Habakkuk 1-3; John 8 “I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint…’See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright – but the righteous will live by his faith.’” Habakkuk 2:1, 4 We are often waiting on God’s timing, on God’s Word, and on God’s promises. Habakkuk received a revelation of God’s judgment on Babylon; the nation God was using to discipline Israel. As a “watchman on the wall,” Habakkuk lived by faith and with faithfulness between the “now” and “not yet” of God’s prophetic promises. What has God promised us that requires that we, too, stand in faith and faithfulness? Abraham is called the father of the faith because he waited patiently for the promises of God to be fulfilled over decades in his life.   In our culture of instant gratification and the glorification of self, will we choose to live by our faith in God, his Word, and his promises? “Lord Jesus, you are th...
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Rivers of Living Water

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2 Kings 23; 2 Chronicles 35; John 7   “On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive…” John 7:37-39 The water ceremony at the Feast of Tabernacles commemorated Moses striking the rock and water pouring out so the people could drink. Paul pointed out that the Rock symbolized Christ, the source of the Holy Spirit. It was Jesus the Messiah who came to baptize with the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 10:4). The promise Jesus gave was that those who believed in him would not just be baptized in a river of the Spirit, but that rivers of living water would flow from within them. The life of the Holy Spirit within us both transforms our lives and satisfies our deepest longings but should also flow from us to other thirsty live...
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The Cost of Revival

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2 Kings 22; 2 Chronicles 34; John 6   “When the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his robes…’…This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard: Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before God when you heard what he spoke against this place and its people, and because you humbled yourself before me and tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard you, declares the Lord.’” 2 Chronicles 34:19, 26, 27 King Josiah began cleansing the land of idols and rebuilding the temple even before he had read the Book of the Law. When the Book of the Law was rediscovered during the temple renovations, Josiah greatly humbled himself before the Lord. He tore his robes and wept before the Lord for his sin and the sins of his people. That is what revival looks like. We become very aware of how our sin has grieved God. When sin is tolerated in our lives and in the Church, the state of spiritual life declines. Revival is costly. Leaders mu...
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Our Work

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Nahum 1-3; John 5   “Jesus said to them, ‘My Father is always at work to this very day, and I, too, am working…I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does…For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me.’” John 5:17, 19, 36 Jesus understood his work was to join his Father’s work. Grace is not opposed to work. Salvation is by faith and grace alone. However, citizenship in the kingdom of heaven is just the beginning. For followers of Jesus there is now much work to be done. Not work for Jesus, but work with Jesus, the Lord of the harvest. We, too, are apprentices with our eyes on Jesus, working in his harvest just as he worked. This lifelong discipleship in mission is for every Christ-follower. Are we working for ourselves, for the Church, or for Jesus? Does our work testify that we have been sent on a miss...
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