Gracefully Saved

On May 1, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

2 Corinthians 6: 21

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

We have become the righteousness of God in Christ because Jesus took our sin onto himself. There is a song that, although pretty, kind of bugs me because it fails to reflect this great thing that Jesus did for us. The singer says in the chorus that he is just an old sinner saved by grace. Well, which is it? Are you an old sinner or are you saved by grace? You cannot be both. Now the song is trying to make a point about God’s grace saving us from our sins, but we need to be very clear on this point in our own minds. You cannot be both a sinner and saved by the grace of God. Jesus took your sin onto himself so that when God looks at you, he sees the righteousness of Christ. Jesus took away our sin. That’s what killed him. It wasn’t Roman soldiers. The wage of sin is death (Romans 6: 23). The sin of the world hit Jesus while he was hanging on that cross. It caused a separation between him and God because God cannot be in the presence of sin. That is why Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27: 46). For the first time in his life, he was without the presence of God. But Jesus endured that, even becoming our sin so that we might become his righteousness. That is why I don’t like the chorus of that song. Even though I know that the author meant to glorify God and has the very best intentions, it just does not represent the true nature of God’s grace and that is that we are fully and completely washed clean of our sin through the forgiveness of sin.

Don’t go around wearing your sin like some old garment. Throw it out with the rest of the rubbish. To do less makes Jesus’ sacrifice of lesser effect. It is like putting him back up on the cross every day. He died once for all; for all people, for all sin. You are not an old sinner anymore if you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and savior. His blood has washed you clean, and you are a new person in him, the old having completely passed away (2 Corinthians 5: 17). You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. That is what the Bible says. That is what God sees when He looks at you. You have been washed clean by the shed blood of Jesus the Christ. Glorify God in what Christ has done for you.

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Priestly Compassion

On April 30, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Hebrews 4: 15

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize without weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

Two ideas strike me about this verse: Jesus’ compassion and his sinlessness. The two work together for our good. Jesus was in all manner tempted just as we are and yet did not sin. He knows the temptation of sin and is compassionate towards us. He knows exactly what we go through. Yet he was able to face those temptations and turn away. His success should bring you hope rather than condemnation because if he did it (and he did) then he is able to help you withstand the pressures of temptation.

When you talk to Jesus about some habit or challenge you are facing, he is able to understand completely. But do not stop there. Go on to ask his help in overcoming the problem. He overcame so you also can overcome. Tap into his strength and wisdom. Don’t stop at his compassion. Move on to his power. Even though we have a high priest who is able to sympathize with our struggles, that does not mean we are supposed to fall to them. Our high priest is an overcomer and intends to lead you into overcoming as well. Let Jesus show you the path to your victory over temptation and every other challenge of life.

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Come, Gather

On April 29, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 50: 5

“Gather My godly ones to Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”

By now, most Christians have embraced the idea that God called us to Him so that we might be in relationship with Him. That relationship is one of kinship, it is a bond that is sacred to God. He seeks those who have covenanted with Him through sacrifice, forged a bond through sacrifice and He gathers those to Himself.

When we read the word “sacrifice” in the Old Testament, we usually think of lambs and bulls and goats offered on the altar. In verse fourteen we find that the sacrifice God was looking for was not the blood of animals but rather a sacrifice of Thanksgiving. In the Old Testament, there were prescribed offerings, but it isn’t the meat or the unleavened cake that God spoke about in this verse. He was looking at the thankfulness with which a person brought the sacrifice to the altar. The sacrifice is an offering of being grateful and expressing that thankfulness. In the Old Testament, that offering was not words alone but an actual offering that was taken to the temple and laid upon the altar. I personally like the outward expression. In other words, “Father I will tell you how thankful I am for what you have done for me but let me show you as well.” A sacrifice without an accompanying sentiment is empty. It is dead works. However, words can be empty too. I like an act being tied to our words and our sentiment of thankfulness. In modern times our offerings tend to be money. There are other ways to make a thanksgiving offering. If we gave something else of value, that would be a memorial before God too. The key is that it is an offering that means something to us.

There is a New Testament idea that we can drape over this covenant by sacrifice concept. It might be that when you hear the word “covenant” you think of the term “blood covenant.” A blood covenant is forged in blood and shows the serious intent of the parties as well as its immutable nature. It is a blood covenant that New Testament believers share with the Father, a bond so strong that it cannot be broken. The lamb was slain upon the altar and the blood from that unblemished, innocent lamb binds the Father to us in tethers which no one, not even God Himself, can sever. That sacrificial lamb, his flesh, his blood binds God to those who receive it as their thanksgiving offering.

If you think about it, the debate about who killed Jesus is resolved here. I sacrificed him; you did too. We are the ones who shed the blood of the innocent lamb and through him made a blood covenant with the Father. We are the ones who come to the altar and reap the reward of the thanksgiving offering. We are the ones who claim that blood. We put him on the altar as our thanksgiving that the Father loves us and was willing to slay the lamb in a joint act in order to forge that imperishable covenant bond between us. The blood of the lamb isn’t only a sin offering and a guilt offering. That perfect lamb is the thanksgiving offering of a grateful people. God gave us the perfect lamb so that we could come into spotless, unblemished union with Him, so that we would enter and enduring covenant with the Holy One.

Now, daily, the Father gathers His beloved to Him. He calls to those who, through sacrifice, have made a covenant with Him. So, there are two ideas I would leave you with. Gather to the Father. Hear His call to you for fellowship and togetherness. Second, don’t forsake the act of giving a thanksgiving offering. I think you will find it fulfilling. You can always give one just to memorialize the perfect sacrifice made for us, but you may also like to send Father a special thanksgiving offering just to express your thanks when something has gone well for you. I think it will touch the Father’s heart but just as importantly, it will boost your heart so that you will answer the bell which is ringing, calling us all to gather around Him.

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Milk

On April 26, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Peter 2: 2 – 3

Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.

Yesterday, we looked at the foundational scriptures John 1: 1 & 14. They are bedrock, that upon which we build. Today’s passage is one of the bricks which is laid upon the foundation. Now that we know that Jesus is the Word and that the Word is living and powerful, we are instructed to desire it like babies crave milk. It is our sustenance. It is that which gives us life and causes us to grow. I also like the Passion Translation version of this passage. It reads, “In the same way that nursing infants cry for milk, you must intensely crave the pure spiritual milk of God’s Word. For this “milk” will cause you to grow into maturity, fully nourished and strong for life— especially now that you have had a taste of the goodness of the Lord Jehovah and have experienced his kindness.”

Has the Passion Translation hit upon a goal of yours? Do you desire to “grow into maturity, fully nourished and strong for life?” I hope your response is “Yes,” and I believe it is, otherwise you would not read a devotional daily. One thing I personally like about this devotional is that it is based on the Word. To me that means the even if you don’t read the part I write, you get a bit of Word every day. You have a verse that comes right to your inbox each morning and you can spend the rest of the day pondering it and finding what it means to you. That is really the key piece. Every day I seek God on what verse He would have me send and what He would have me write but then we get the bonus track. That is the part He conveys to you directly. The Word of the Day may be your jumping off point to a whole day of communing with Him. I love that, and I am always interested in hearing what the Lord has said to you.

When God gave me this to do back in 2006, He had His reasons for beginning it with His Word. I like to think of it as receiving two words from the Lord each day; the first one is His written Word and the second is what He gives me to write. I hope, pray and expect the part that I write to be a rhema word every day. Often it is an idea or nuance which is new to me and that is always exciting. I have journaled verses before just between me and Father and received revelation on it but then when I used that same verse for the Word of the Day it came out completely differently. That tells me that He is on the job writing and supervising.

You can take the verse I send you and journal it with Dad. He will tell you things He did not tell me or sometimes He will expound on what I sent. He has more to show you and more to say and every Word we receive from Him helps us grow and mature. That should be a goal each of us desires. The only way to gain that maturity is the sup on the milk of the Word. So, get as much milk as you can. Crave it like newborns crave milk.

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Alive

On April 25, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

John 1: 1, 14

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.

The reason I send you a scripture each day is because I believe the Word of God has the power to improve your life. The Word of God is alive and powerful. It is not just a collection of writings by a bunch of dead guys. The Word is Christ. He was the Word and was with God and He still is the Word. He is life and power.

You see, too many people think the Bible is just a book. But to Christians it is so much more. We can understand it at great depths depending on our own level of development. As we grow, we understand it to be a “how to” manual on how to live in this earth, a book of promises, our covenant, and it is the sword of the Spirit. The more we grow and learn the more we recognize it as vibrant and animated. For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4: 12a). The sword of the Spirit is not some dead thing. How much good would that do us? It is alive and viable even to the separating of joints and marrow (Hebrews 4:12b).

To those who believe the Bible is just a dead book they will only be able to get theology and philosophy from it. But, for those who understand that it is alive and that it is part of the trinity in the person of Jesus Christ, then it is life and hope and power and salvation. It is the light in dark places and deliverance in the storm. It is the answer to life’s problems and the herald of the new life.

Do not let yourself be deceived into devaluing the potency of the Word of God and the power that it can have in your life today. Grab hold of it in Spirit and truth and let God’s Holy Spirit lead you into all truth and into victory. Live your life on the Word of God and let it breathe life into every area of your life. It is not just a book. It is the life, the light and the way.

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Show Me

On April 24, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

John 14: 23

If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word.

I don’t know where I first heard it said but this statement has always stayed with me, “Don’t just tell me you love me, show me.” That is what I hear when I read today’s verse from Jesus. Don’t just tell me you love me, show me by keeping my word.

Many people identify themselves as Christians but then there are some who are actually trying to live the Word. Now, that is an entirely different matter. Keeping Jesus’ Word means that first you need to read it. Okay, we lost a few there. You guys read the WORD of the Day every day. You are doing something that we can’t get a lot of “Christians” to do. That is to partake of the Word every day. This is a first step. One cannot keep Christ’s Word if they don’t first take it.

By “keeping” his Word, Jesus meant that we should do what his Word says. If he says, “Fear not” then we must learn to trust in him. When the Word says, “Pray without ceasing,” we have to become people who pray, and often. We are told to roll our cares over to Him which must mean that we should not “take” care. Do not judge and forgive your enemies aren’t suggestions but rather requirements of love.

“If you love me, he says, “you will keep my word.” So, we must challenge ourselves to learn what his word says and then do it. I am not trying to convince you it is easy to follow the word but we have him to help us and all things are possible with him.

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Amalgamation

On April 23, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

2 Corinthians 3: 18

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

I was thinking about this verse last week, so I looked it up. You know, it is even better than I remembered which is a lesson unto itself. Don’t rely on your memory when it comes to verses because, just as happened with me last week, Father will show you something new or deeper in it. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God, not by having “heard” the Word. That is an important distinction.

Last week when I went to my Bible to look at the part about the mirror, I was captivated by the word transformed. When you look in a mirror, whose image do you see? Really, that is a bit of a trick question because you are being transformed, bit by bit, from glory to glory. So now, with that I mind, whose image do you see? If you said your own, you are right but if you said Jesus, then you are righteous. I remember one time telling a friend that Jesus looked good on her. It was funny how that came out but after some thought I realized that Jesus showing through is exactly what transformation should be.

After you are born from above, you begin a transformation process. We are supposed to be transformed through the renewing of our minds (Romans 12: 2). Of course, that is elective. You can be born again and become a Christian couch potato. God has called us to transformation though. Remember that He said to work out your salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2: 12). The Bible does not say, lay on the couch and I will rain salvation down on you and transform you while you watch TV. Nope.

As you enter into this transformative process of renewal by the Word of God, the image in the mirror begins to change. The image of you begins to blur a bit and a shadow image begins to emerge. Bit by bit, and from glory to glory the image in the mirror begins to look a lot more like Jesus and a whole lot less like the old you. Hallelujah!

And don’t miss the last bit of this verse. The glorious transformation of our former selves into a glorified version comes by the Lord, who is the Spirit. The mention of the Lord being the Spirit is relevant to the rest of the verse, but it also stands apart as its own revelation. Many of us have not quite figured out, beyond a theoretical sense, that the Holy Spirit is Lord. In the Old Testament believers called God, “Lord,” and they were not wrong. Today we call Jesus, “Lord,” and that is right but now comes the third revelation in the series. The Holy Spirit is Lord. He is God. So, the Holy Spirit, who is God and who is Lord, is the one who is transforming each of us into the very image of Jesus. You will increasingly become the Jesus version of yourself, the glorified version of yourself as you cooperate with the transformation process of the Holy Spirit. He in you, you in Him, forever. You become an amalgamation; no longer just the human, flesh version of yourself but forever a divine version of you and Jesus together as one. Isn’t that amazing? Joining with Jesus; branches grafted into the vine; this is our right and our divine destiny. Amen!

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