Tag Archives: Sacrifice

2012 Day 296 – Hebrews 1

22 Monday Oct 2012

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Sometimes, I try to imagine what it would have been like to be a Jewish believer during the time the book of Hebrews was written; in 70 AD and as a Jew who believes that Christ is the Messiah. You have non-believing Jews on one side and Romans on the other who are persecuting you from all sides. This Letter is intended as encouragement and to assure believers of who Christ is as the Son of God. Verse 3 further established Christ’s role in God’s kingdom, The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. When it says that Jesus sat down it means His work was complete. Christ’s sacrifice was final and all we need for salvation and relationship with Him.

2012 Day 274 – Philippians 2

30 Sunday Sep 2012

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While they are not meant to be a complete statement about the nature and work of Christ, verses 5-11 give us a pretty good blueprint for the example He left for us.

5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!

9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,

10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

As believers we must take the example of Christ and lose our attitude of entitlement and allow ourselves to be used by God for the service of others. We should also adopt Christ’s attitude of humility as we serve even in the absence of recognition. Everything we do should point back to Christ and His saving grace for the salvation of others. That is our most important purpose. All glory must ultimately go to Him and God the Father.

2012 Day 214 – Romans 8

01 Wednesday Aug 2012

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I have a couple of thoughts today from a couple of different verses. The first one is from verse 17, Now if we are children, then we are heirs–heirs of God and co‑heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. My thought is simple in that I feel privileged to be called a co-heir with Christ. I am so undeserving of this, yet Christ willingly provided it to me through His sacrifice.

The second thought is from verse 26, In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. My pastor talked about this verse a few weeks ago. Even when our minds are troubled to the point where we don’t know what to ask God in our prayers, the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf. This doesn’t mean I should be lazy about my prayer life, but it does mean I don’t have to be perfect in the way I communicate with God. In fact, I don’t even have to use words as long as I make myself available to Him. The Holy Spirit is so powerful in my life and yet I feel like I don’t even use a fraction of what He is capable.

2012 Day 194 – 2 Corinthians 5

12 Thursday Jul 2012

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I’ll be honest, I struggle with verse 17, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! The reason I struggle with it is because we still sin. I still feel very imperfect when I compare myself to God’s perfection. But then I read the first part of verse 19, that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. This doesn’t say we are now perfect, it simply says our sins are not counted against us. This brings me back to the frustration I have with the “church” when it comes to expectations on believers. Yes, we are to be a reflection of Christ, but we are still imperfect beings who are very capable of sin. The church should be a place where people, including believers, come to be renewed and refreshed in the knowledge that we are reconciled to God, not through our own efforts, but through the accomplishments of Christ on the cross. The older I get, the more I realize the futility in trying to be perfect. It is only through Christ and keeping my eyes and focus on Him that I am able to strive for perfection. Not that I will ever be perfect, at least not on this rock, but by His grace and His sacrifice my sins are not counted against me.

2012 Day 134 – James 2

13 Sunday May 2012

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Ahhh, I just love the book of James… Did I mention that already? Anyway, in James 2 there are some powerful words about faith and works we Christians love to wrestle with. There are some of us who like to believe that faith alone is sufficient. Then there are those of us who think works are necessary for either salvation or proof of a changed heart. My humble opinion is there is more to the story. Verses 17 – 19 bring a lot to the discussion, 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that–and shudder. Faith alone implies that belief is sufficient and in verse 19 it clearly states that “even the demons believe”. Our faith and our belief should lead us into relationship with God, which in turn should compel us into action and to serve Him. We simply can not take Jesus’ sacrifice and accept it as the end of our responsibilities when He clearly commanded us to be His hands and feet. Remember Matthew 25:44-45?? 44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45 “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ If we are not producing action and following His commands based on our faith then as verse 17 says it is dead. For some reason there are Christians who believe that works somehow cheapens Christ’s sacrifice for us. I believe that our actions reinforce the power of a changed heart that can only come from His sacrifice and perfect love for us.

2012 Day 86 – Mark 15

26 Monday Mar 2012

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Jesus was the perfect man! Even the way He died showed His perfection. In verse 39 it says, And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” I’m sure the centurion had seen many people crucified and witnessed how evil men died. Jesus was not like those men. He was perfect and He was on the cross for a purpose and it showed by the way accepted His death.

2012 Day 82 – John 15

22 Thursday Mar 2012

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There is so much information in this single chapter that I could write something about every sentence, but I’ll just choose two. The first thing that jumps out at me in this chapter is verse 5 where it says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” Jesus is talking about how our efforts are unfruitful without Him. More importantly, Jesus is the one who provides the nourishment we need to keep us going. He also provides the life that only He can offer us.

The second is in verse 13 where it says, Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. Jesus was talking about the sacrifice He was about to make on our behalf. He was also giving us an example of how we should love each other and showing us that even the unloveable deserve His love and in turn ours.

2012 Day 80 – John 13

20 Tuesday Mar 2012

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The passage describing Peter and Jesus’ interaction when He washes the disciples feet it’s humorous and a good parallel to how we sometimes choose to interact with God. When Jesus goes to wash Peter’s feet, he refuses. This is very much the way we sometimes react to God’s attempts to bless us. We feel unworthy and sometimes feel we need to earn it. Jesus takes the time to make Peter understand that he can not have a place in God’s kingdom if he doesn’t accept God’s gifts and blessings. While we may sometimes not be worth, Jesus’ mercy and grace are sufficient for us.

2012 Day 39 – John 6

08 Wednesday Feb 2012

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“Lord, to whom shall we go?” Those are the words of Simon Peter in verse 68 when Jesus asked the Twelve “You do not want to leave too, do you?” At this point in Jesus’ ministry people were beginning to realize that following Jesus was going to cost something. But the Twelve realized the cost had eternal implications for their lives. Simon Peter goes on to say, “You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” I get goose bumps reading those words! Here was Peter, a simple fisherman, who was standing in the presence of the Holy One of God and he knew he could never go back to the life he had before. This is how we should view our lives! He has changed us for eternity and we should never be able to look at our existence in the same way again, especially when we view our future and the amazing plans He has in store for us.

2012 Day 26 – Luke 7

26 Thursday Jan 2012

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Picture Jesus talking in verses 33-35, “33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ 34 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.” ’ 35 But wisdom is proved right by all her children.” As Jesus talks to the people He is describing how both He and John the Baptist are received and judged for how they act and who they hang out with. They reject John even though he is righteous and they reject Jesus because He hangs out with sinners, but the point Jesus makes in verse 35 where He says “wisdom is proved right by her children” is that they should be able to see who John and Jesus are by the changed lives in those who followed them. This is a powerful statement and challenge to me because people should know I am a Jesus follower because of the change in my life.

I am humbled by verses 44-47. I read it and put myself in Simon’s shoes because in this context Jesus is probably talking to me, “44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven–for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.” This woman came and unashamedly loved and served Jesus in front of people who knew who she was and knew the sin in her life. It must have been humiliating for her to put herself out there, but she did it because of the love she had for Jesus. As I read this I am humbled because there are times when I am ashamed to worship and love Jesus in front of others and get self-conscious about worshipping Jesus even in front of others at church. I should be willing to do whatever it takes to give Him the glory He deserves every chance I get under any circumstance.