We Would Like to Say We Wouldn’t Be Pharisees

Isaiah 53:3-4“He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.

I think we would all like to say we wouldn’t be Pharisees if we were in Jesus’ day, however, sadly, most of the “Christian” population and just the world’s population in general would be wrong, would reject Christ. Interesting thought, well truth, Jesus wasn’t like the Jesus we saw on flannel graph as small children, or even here about from televangelists, etc. He was the son of woman who was pregnant out of wedlock (didn’t fly well back then, if Joseph hadn’t been a man of God, she could’ve been killed) and well, He was just different. As an adult of course He did those miracles we all heard about, but He did so much more too! He ate with the sinners, talked with the lowly, the poor, to put it in relevant terms, he had dinner with the “johns” and prostitutes and showed them love in a different way than anyone had, through His Father. We depict Him as blue eyed and soft featured, when really, he was most likely brown eyes, probably some scraggily brown hair, beard, etc. All to say, if you haven’t read it already, you should check out Phillip Yancey’s “The Jesus I Never Knew”. And yeah, if we saw him back then, if we were honest, we would probably have rejected him as well sadly. He loved everyone, yet most rejected Him.

Ransom

1 Timothy 2:5-6“For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.

God’s one and only Son gave Himself as our ransom. We were in prison, ready to be killed, we were on death row, sentenced for life…Christ came and said, “I love you so much, I will take your punishment for you, go, be free, and tell everyone of who I am and how I love”. Did we, do we deserve that? NO. Think on that.

Suffer with Christ

Philippians 1:29“For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him,” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.

SUFFER? Are you kidding?! oh yeah, great, we’re called to be miserable. Whoa-HOLD UP-did we miss something? like the part where God gave up his FAMILY (son) for us and how Christ left EVERYTHING to save our grimy selves, and not only us or our generation, but the ENTIRE population past, present, and future. He took the sins of us all, all at one time. He took all of the murders, abortions, lies, adulterous relationships, etc. etc. ALL of the sins of ALL of mankind of ALL time. And here we are, barely willing to give Him a moment of our time during the day to be in His Word and in communion with Him?! oish, HE CREATED TIME! He blesses us beyond belief and gives us big and little blessings everyday, we most of the time pass them by and don’t even recognize them. He is patient with us daily and we complain when He calls us to do stuff out of our comfort zone. No matter how much we suffer here, is it nothing close to how much Christ suffered for us because He loves us. It is a joy and honor to suffer for Christ and even though we don’t deserve it, he will bless us for it. He’s pretty amazing like that :)

Take A Stand!

Ephesians 6:10-11“[The Armor of God] Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.

I think as believers today we forget that we are in a spiritual battle, warfare. YES, this journey and life IS going to be HARD, buuuut, the more we fight, the more we align with God, the more joy we will be filled with. So, we must FIGHT.

Trust in the Lord

Jeremiah 17:7-8““But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.

Trust in the Lord! Though it is one of those “easier said than done” however, that’s why it’s a battle, a war. Last time I checked, there hasn’t been a war or battle that was easy or without some cost…otherwise it wouldn’t be war. We have to FIGHT! God deserves our EVERYTHING yet we give Him next to nothing. How is that fair? it’s not…we’re just cheating Him big time. So, pals, lets do our best to encourage one another and strive towards Christ, which starts with being in His Word and in prayer with Him. Our trust will grow over time, and then, the more we trust Him and are rooted in His Word, the harder it is to bring us down or quiet our hope filled hearts.

Faithful God

 

Deuteronomy 7:9“Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.

 

Our God is faithful no matter what…through generations He has always been and always will be faithful!

Called to Holiness by Grace

2 Timothy 1:9“He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.

 

Isn’t it amazing that imperfect rather horrid and awful scum like us humans can be completely redeemed and changed by a God who sees everything we do, say, think, feel…etc. and still loves us intimately and desires us anyway?! Crazy…but completely and utterly amazing. THAT is a miracle.

Search Me Lord

Psalm 139:23-24“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.

Look in my life and heart, see if there is anything against you, if there is, take it out Lord, lead me on by your grace and for your glory!

Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Hallelujah what a savior.

Isaiah 25:1“[Praise to the LORD] LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago.” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.

Those prayer requests we feel are going unanswered or those situations which seem so unclear and uncertain, well though we may not take it as much, we can rest assured in the fact that our great God, in His sovereignty and faithfulness already knows the outcome and is already working each situation out for HIS glory which is ultimately for our BEST.