ALL – Psalm 134:1-3
ALL – Proverbs 30:1-4
OT – Micah 1:1-4:13
NT – Revelation 6:1-17
Interesting passage for the day: And when the fourth seal was broken, I heard the fourth Living Being say, “Come!” And now I saw a pale horse, and its rider’s name was Death. And there followed after him another horse whose rider’s name was Hell. They were given control of one-fourth of the earth, to kill with war and famine and disease and wild animals. – Revelation 6:7-8, The Living Bible
Thought: I’m sorry, but this is simply not a pretty picture. Who wants to face the horrors that Jesus Christ revealed in this verse? And not just in this verse. All of chapter six is filled with clip after clip of doom.
And you know what’s really ironic? Look back at yesterday’s passage and thoughts. You’ll see what I’m talking about. Yesterday, we saw Jesus Christ, the Lamb who has eclipsed all other beings by dying and shedding His blood as a payment to buy people from around the world for God, and that He was the only one worthy to take and open the scroll in God’s hand. Today we see what it is that only Jesus the spotless Lamb was worthy to open: a scroll of war, anarchy, killing, famine, disease, wild animals, vengeance, natural disaster—a scroll filled with the wrath of God.
Only Jesus is worthy to unleash God’s wrath. And He is worthy precisely because He shed His own blood for us—in other words, Jesus’ infinite love makes Him worthy to unleash overwhelming wrath.
You might think that these two realities wouldn’t meet up in Jesus Christ, but you would be wrong. This is how the perfect God planned the course of creation all along. He knew that His creatures would rebel against Him and deserve to die, but He withheld His wrath. He locked it up in a secure chest that could only be opened with the key of love. Only when so much love had been poured out on mankind that humanity had absolutely no excuse for their rebellion would God’s wrath be unleashed. And no one in all of creation was ever worthy to unlock that chest. Humanity (which really had no excuse already) could still hold up one piece of evidence against God: “You knew how painful life would be and how sin would take us captive, but You did not prevent it and you have not done enough to save us from our sins and their curse! YOU DON’T LOVE US.”
People still charge God with not loving us enough. And I just don’t get it. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” When God sent Jesus to earth that first Christmas, God sent Him to demonstrate the fullest possible extent of love—a love that would nullify every accusation against Him. Jesus’ death on the cross was a shout of divine love, a shout that declared, “I see your slavery to sin. I see your suffering. I see your pain. I see your fears and sorrows. And I will not let them last. They’re done. I’m willing to lay my life on the line for you, to die for you to live.”
And the love expressed through Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, finally provided the key to the chest of God’s wrath. No one ever has to experience God’s wrath, because everyone can be saved from it through God’s loving Lamb. God, in His love, chained up His wrath until all could be saved from it through Jesus Christ.
So the worthy and loving Lamb of God unleashed the wrath of God. But He did it only after providing for the safety of all who trust in Him.
Question: Which do you see more clearly, God’s love or God’s wrath? God’s wrath fell on Jesus so that God’s love could fall on you. But rejecting God’s love will still get you God’s wrath. What’s your take on it? Will you receive His love?
To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.
Showing posts with label save. Show all posts
Showing posts with label save. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Firefighting Gear
ALL – Psalm 127:1-5
ALL – Proverbs 29:15-17
OT – Hosea 10:1-14:9
NT – Jude 1:1-25
Interesting passage for the day: Save some by snatching them as from the very flames of hell itself. And as for others, help them to find the Lord by being kind to them, but be careful that you yourselves aren’t pulled along into their sins. Hate every trace of their sin while being merciful to them as sinners. – Jude 1:23, The Living Bible
Thought: Just as I was drifting off to sleep two nights ago, I had a horrible dream/imagination: flames had broken out in Emma’s and Michael’s room and they were trapped. They needed help. Fast.
I imagined myself diving, unprotected, through the flames in the doorway to snatch my screaming children out of their room. None of us made it out unhurt. All of us were scorched by the flames.
When we Christians go on our search and rescue missions to turn parents, neighbors, co-workers and children from the flames fueled by their sins to the life given us by Jesus, we can and should be more prepared than I was. We should be more like firefighters and less like desperate parents working to save children from flames. Both parents and firefighters are vulnerable to the very flames they’re fighting. The difference between them isn’t an inherent flame resistance. The difference is their readiness and protection.
As Christians battling to save other people from their sins, we too are vulnerable. It’s important that we protect ourselves from falling into other people’s sins. None of us is strong enough to walk through the flames of sin on our own without being burnt. We need Jesus for every step of the mission. We need to be depending on His salvation ourselves. We need to commit our minds and hearts into His hands to keep us holy, staying within the limits of His protection by obeying what He tells us to do. We need to belong fully to Jesus, who protects His children.
Question: Have you found that sometimes when you’re trying to pull people out of their sins, you end up falling into some kind of sin yourself? What kinds of sin do you usually fall into? When we fall into sins, we’ve reached beyond the limits of Jesus’ protective commands. Where do you find yourself stepping outside of Jesus’ commands in your efforts to save others?
To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.
ALL – Proverbs 29:15-17
OT – Hosea 10:1-14:9
NT – Jude 1:1-25
Interesting passage for the day: Save some by snatching them as from the very flames of hell itself. And as for others, help them to find the Lord by being kind to them, but be careful that you yourselves aren’t pulled along into their sins. Hate every trace of their sin while being merciful to them as sinners. – Jude 1:23, The Living Bible
Thought: Just as I was drifting off to sleep two nights ago, I had a horrible dream/imagination: flames had broken out in Emma’s and Michael’s room and they were trapped. They needed help. Fast.
I imagined myself diving, unprotected, through the flames in the doorway to snatch my screaming children out of their room. None of us made it out unhurt. All of us were scorched by the flames.
When we Christians go on our search and rescue missions to turn parents, neighbors, co-workers and children from the flames fueled by their sins to the life given us by Jesus, we can and should be more prepared than I was. We should be more like firefighters and less like desperate parents working to save children from flames. Both parents and firefighters are vulnerable to the very flames they’re fighting. The difference between them isn’t an inherent flame resistance. The difference is their readiness and protection.
As Christians battling to save other people from their sins, we too are vulnerable. It’s important that we protect ourselves from falling into other people’s sins. None of us is strong enough to walk through the flames of sin on our own without being burnt. We need Jesus for every step of the mission. We need to be depending on His salvation ourselves. We need to commit our minds and hearts into His hands to keep us holy, staying within the limits of His protection by obeying what He tells us to do. We need to belong fully to Jesus, who protects His children.
Question: Have you found that sometimes when you’re trying to pull people out of their sins, you end up falling into some kind of sin yourself? What kinds of sin do you usually fall into? When we fall into sins, we’ve reached beyond the limits of Jesus’ protective commands. Where do you find yourself stepping outside of Jesus’ commands in your efforts to save others?
To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.
Monday, August 16, 2010
People-Pleaser Evangelism
ALL – Psalm 34:11-22
ALL – Proverbs 21:14-16
OT – Nehemiah 11:1-12:26
NT – 1 Corinthians 10:15-11:2
Interesting passage for the day: That is the plan I follow, too. I try to please everyone in everything I do, not doing what I like or what is best for me, but what is best for them, so that they may be saved. – 1 Corinthians 10:33, The Living Bible
Thought: People-pleasing is often perceived as a bad thing. And it can be. When a desire to please people rises above a desire to please Jesus, we can be tempted to do shameful and foolish things. Because sometimes what pleases people is shameful and foolish.
But sometimes what pleases people is honorable. It may be honorable and ignorant, but it’s honorable. What do I mean by honorable and ignorant? I mean that sometimes people ask us to live up to really high standards—unnecessarily high standards (U.H.S.). People may be unaware (ignorant) of the fact that such high standards are unnecessary. But still, they are devoted to their high standards, and their high standards are honorable. Unnecessarily high, but honorable. And living up to those standards when it feels (is) unnecessary for us is another form of people-pleasing.
In Paul’s day, he dealt with whether or not to eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols. Some people’s U.H.S. said that no one should ever eat meat sacrificed to idols. In our day, we deal with things like whether to ever drink beer or wine, for instance. Some people’s U.H.S. say that we should never touch the stuff. And these are not the only U.H.S. There are many more. But when people ask us to live up to these expectations, they are not asking us to be sinful or shameful. In such cases, people-pleasing can be honorable.
So the next time you feel like saying, “Uh… you know you don’t have to worry about that, right?” perhaps it would be better to follow Paul’s rule. Do some people-pleasing. Some honorable people-pleasing. Please others not just for the sake of making them happy, but so that you help them to see that Jesus Christ is more honorable than any standard they can set. Please people so that they can be saved and please Jesus.
Question: Why do we not want to live up to other people’s expectations? What do you think of people who are zealously disciplined about their standards? Why would you not want to be associated with that?
To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.
ALL – Proverbs 21:14-16
OT – Nehemiah 11:1-12:26
NT – 1 Corinthians 10:15-11:2
Interesting passage for the day: That is the plan I follow, too. I try to please everyone in everything I do, not doing what I like or what is best for me, but what is best for them, so that they may be saved. – 1 Corinthians 10:33, The Living Bible
Thought: People-pleasing is often perceived as a bad thing. And it can be. When a desire to please people rises above a desire to please Jesus, we can be tempted to do shameful and foolish things. Because sometimes what pleases people is shameful and foolish.
But sometimes what pleases people is honorable. It may be honorable and ignorant, but it’s honorable. What do I mean by honorable and ignorant? I mean that sometimes people ask us to live up to really high standards—unnecessarily high standards (U.H.S.). People may be unaware (ignorant) of the fact that such high standards are unnecessary. But still, they are devoted to their high standards, and their high standards are honorable. Unnecessarily high, but honorable. And living up to those standards when it feels (is) unnecessary for us is another form of people-pleasing.
In Paul’s day, he dealt with whether or not to eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols. Some people’s U.H.S. said that no one should ever eat meat sacrificed to idols. In our day, we deal with things like whether to ever drink beer or wine, for instance. Some people’s U.H.S. say that we should never touch the stuff. And these are not the only U.H.S. There are many more. But when people ask us to live up to these expectations, they are not asking us to be sinful or shameful. In such cases, people-pleasing can be honorable.
So the next time you feel like saying, “Uh… you know you don’t have to worry about that, right?” perhaps it would be better to follow Paul’s rule. Do some people-pleasing. Some honorable people-pleasing. Please others not just for the sake of making them happy, but so that you help them to see that Jesus Christ is more honorable than any standard they can set. Please people so that they can be saved and please Jesus.
Question: Why do we not want to live up to other people’s expectations? What do you think of people who are zealously disciplined about their standards? Why would you not want to be associated with that?
To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.
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