Romans 15:4 "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."
8 Therefore there is now no condemnation [no guilty verdict, no punishment] for those who are in Christ Jesus [who believe in Him as personal Lord and Savior].
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father and the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now and end ever shall be, world without end, Amen, Amen.
Romans 8 shows how to live by the Spirit and let peace rule in our hearts.
The Holy Spirit within us continually testifies to us that we are children of God.
He gives us assurance with God to convince us that nothing will ever separate us from His love.
This is a passage of 100% hope because we know our future is bright in Christ.
Romans 8:1 New King James Version
Free from Indwelling Sin
8 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who [a] do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
Why did the Apostle Paul feel the need to write to the followers living in Rome of their need to know and understand they have one ultimate source of hope?
Freedom from Sin
Sin is our mortal enemy.
Our battle against sin is ongoing and constantly wounding us in some way.
No matter how hard we fight against sin, we cannot keep from being hurt.
The wounds just keep coming from every directional point on the compass.
No matter our personal resolve to never surrender, we get tired of the battle.
Our wounds, our guilt, shame, remorse from our weaknesses are debilitating.
These like a diagnosis of heart disease or diagnosis of cancer threaten our will to keep going, keeping us motionless, defeated and unworthy of our calling.
If we are unable to move on, move past our wounds, move past what we have done in life, we will never fully grasp God’s grace, loving kindness towards us.
We feel the mounting urge to surrender to sin, acknowledge our defeat by sin.
Raise the white flag and wave it high and and wave it weakly for all to see that – Sin WINS.
Sin’s love for the battle is too much for us.
Our love for the battle is done – gone.
We have No love of self left to fight with.
Where now is our hope that while our love feels thoroughly depleted, that all love is not thoroughly depleted, indeed, is not, has not been utterly defeated?
God loves us, He sent Jesus to die for you and He has completely forgiven you.
So any condemning feelings you have toward yourself are not from God.
His utmost desire for us is that we become free from indwelling sin and to live and to be ultimately moving ever forward in our life fulfilling His destiny for us.
Not only so, but He wants us to ultimately experience this freedom daily, fully and completely, this Holy Spirit driven ability to stand up on our two feet again.
To walk as Christ walked.
That is why the Apostle Paul penned these words…
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” ( Romans 8:1 ).
What a glorious verse!
Paul has just unequivocally given us the answer posed in Romans 7… Who will rescue us from the left over effects of the sin nature that trips us up in life?
Praise be to God, it happens by Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
When we live according to the Spirit of God, he gives us the power to escape all the condemnation and guilt that our war like sinful nature throws into our way.
Because of Jesus, there is no condemnation unless we void this amazing gift by condemning ourselves.
Understanding this grace is the key to living free, pursuing the life that the Lord has set you apart for.
This is one of the incredible foundations of Christianity.
We are freed from the effects of guilt and shame because of the blood of Jesus, but sadly many do not know this wonderful truth.
God does not, nor will not condemn us.
We will never face judgment or punishment for our sins because Jesus has paid for each and every one of them upon the cross.
God placed all judgment and all sin upon his Son once for all in order that we would never have to bear it.
By faith in his blood, we are completely forgiven.
He has reconciled us to God the father and brought us incredible peace in the process.
We, as believers should experience this right here and right now and not let guilt or unworthiness hinder us.
(John 3:16-18, Romans 5:1, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Colossians 2:13-15, Hebrews 10:12, Hebrews 10:18, Hebrews 10:22, I John 2:2, I John 3:5, I John 3:16, I John 3:19-20 )
God provided everything with your redemption to enable you to live a life worthy of your calling.
He wants you to live a victorious life by the Spirit of God.
You are worthy on the basis of the value that Jesus assigns you.
He died for you to bring you into fellowship with the Father, who are we to disagree with such a wonderful gift.
Today, it is my prayer that you will drop whatever burdens you are carrying at the feet of Jesus.
He has already bore them so you should not have to.
Grace sets us free in Jesus from our most destructive bondage, our fear of God’s judgment.
God’s grace and our faith in Jesus liberated us from the law, which convicts and leads to death.
The Holy Spirit sets us free, not just to fulfill what the Law intended but also to deliver us from the penalty of death that the Law required.
In Jesus, by the power of his Spirit, God sets us free to be his children forever!
May you understand this incredible grace to which you were called, sanctified and set apart. Amen!
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Abba Father, thank you for your deliverance. I know you paid a very high price to give it to me. Forgive me for not letting that deliverance make my heart soar with confident joy. Lead me by the power of your Spirit so that I can experience the freedom and joy of your salvation — not just at the end of my days, but in the moments of today. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
Glory be to the Father and the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now and end ever shall be, world without end, Amen, Amen.
Days are filled with sorrow Days are filled with sorrow and care Hearts are lonely and drear Burdens are lifted at Calvary Jesus is very near
Burdens are lifted at Calvary Calvary, Calvary Burdens are lifted at Calvary Jesus is very near
Troubled soul, the Savior can see Every heartache and tear Burdens are lifted at Calvary Jesus is very near
Burdens are lifted at Calvary Calvary, Calvary Burdens are lifted at Calvary Jesus is very near
Burdens are lifted at Calvary Calvary, Calvary Burdens are lifted at Calvary Jesus is very near Jesus is very near
Author Hal Lindsey said, “Man can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air… but only for one second without hope.”
Hope not only affects how we live, it determined whether or not some people survive such catastrophic events such as natural disasters, devastating family, financial or healthcare news or the sudden unexpected loss of a loved one.
So, how is your hope?
Does it bounce back after being hit?
Or does it pop like a balloon lanced by a pin?
On what or WHO is your hope based?
The Bible shows us that people of faith are people of hope.
That makes sense, doesn’t it?
Those who trust God have more reason for hope than those who don’t.
But hardcore problems without visible solutions test the faith and challenge the hope of even the most devout.
Even when we are “poster children” for disappointment, guess what …
The Bible says to encourage each other every day (Hebrews 4:13).
Romans 5:3-5 The Message
3-5 There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
Romans 4, the Apostle Paul recounts the story of the Patriarch Abraham.
Romans 4:1-3 English Standard Version
Abraham Justified by Faith
4 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
For the new followers in Rome, Paul greatly emphasized Abraham’s faith.
Paul said even Abraham, who was considered a God-fearing and good man, was praiseworthy not because he was so good but because in faith, he believed God.
If we ourselves go read the story of Abraham in Genesis, we will find quite a few examples of Abraham making substantial mistakes and committing great sins.
For example, twice focused only on what mattered most to himself and he lied and told an Egyptian that his wife, Sarah, was his sister (Genesis 12 and 20).
Abraham was a good man in many ways, but he was an ordinary, flawed person, like anyone else.
The great thing about Abraham was not anything about Abraham himself; it was his focus on the “one thing:” he faithfully put his trust and hope in God.
Abraham slowly disciplined his focus on what mattered most: believed God’s promises, Abraham faithfully put his hope in God’s being true to his promises.
The same is very much true for our disciplining our focus away from us today.
If we focus all of our hope in our own power or our own goodness or strength, we will constantly and continuously be indescribably hopelessly disappointed.
In ourselves, we do not have enough goodness to give us hope for the future.
Focus on faith in God, given to us by Holy Spirit, is the surest source of hope.
Do you and I have any of that self same disciplined focus on hope in God alone?
A Disciplined Focus on God’s Brand of “Sure Hope”
Hebrews 12:1-3 The Message
Discipline in a Long-Distance Race
12 1-3 Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!
A disciplined focus on Hope.
It’s the oxygen our souls need to thrive.
Hope is the wild-eyed creature that pops up after the enemy tries to eradicate the very beating of faith in our hearts.
It’s the essence of being a disciplined Christ-follower and as a hopeless, broken world watches us under an electron Microscope, as they scornfully question, “If hope does not disappoint us, why are you Christians disappointed all the time?”
However, before we can answer that question, we need to define what hope is.
Hope looks like light, seeing hundreds of fireflies lighting up a dark night.
Hope is the long barren heavily scorned and mocked Hannah praying fervently, disciplined in her knowing God hears her while she’s taken for a drunken fool.
Hope is a father staying at hope forgiving his undisciplined wayward child.
Hope is the oxygen our souls need to breathe to stay alive.
Hope is a category 5 torrential downpour that washes the world clean.
Hope is uncountable millions of little green shoots being nourished, unearthed after a long and cold winter’s nap and stretching and reaching to the heavens.
Hope is praying your loved one will be found alive after tragedy strikes.
Hope is knowing we will be reunited with our loved ones on the other side of heaven.
Hope is the soldier at war in a far away land who begged God to use His words to care for, to heal and to love his son or daughter miles away.
Hope is a foster child finally finding his forever home in a family that fiercely loves, protects and cares for them.
Hope is watching your autistic child make a friend.
Hope is walking hand in hand with God the Father, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit.
What Does ‘Hope Does Not Disappoint Us’ Mean?
The biblical definition of hope is “confident expectation.”
Christian hope is rooted in faith in the divine salvation in Christ (Galatians 5:5) and through the love poured into us through God’s Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5).
What have you and I been hoping for?
Have we been trying to discipline our hope away from the world and unto God?
Where have we been disciplining our minds, where are we focusing our Hope?
Did anything above resonate with your heart?
Or have you given up?
Maybe you and I are too afraid to invest in hope again because we dread the possibility that if we try too hard to discipline ourselves, we will lose all hope?
Or perhaps we simply don’t remember what hope even feels like anymore.
We are physically, mentally, spiritually exhausted from trying to recall what hope looks, tasted, feels, sounds like – we do not care to know what hope is.
If you’re in this camp, we need to go back to the Bible, discipline ourselves back unto Word of God, to understand God’s hope isn’t the same as the world’s hope.
God’s hope is not and never will be the same as the world’s definition of hope.
Both denote a positive expectation, but the world’s hope is rooted in a fallible person, situation, or thing. God’s hope is rooted in Him.
The basis of Christian hope is found Hebrews 11:1,“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for.”
The Greek word for hope in this passage is ‘hypostasis.
The anonymous author wrote in the book of Hebrews, “Faith is the ‘hypostasis of things hoped for…” which literally means “that which underlies.”
Meaning our faith in Christ underlies our hope, the deeper our faith is, the more difficult it is for hope to be overthrown and turned into disappointment.
A hope that does not disappoint means God has given us hope that raises up to our defense – to become our sword and shield in the midst of disappointment.
This kind of hope is found not in our avoidance of suffering but our working through it with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit because, suffering produces joy, perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. (James 1:2-4)
What Is the Context of Romans 5:5?
“Therefore, since we have been declared righteous (justified) through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us,” Romans 5:1-5.
We learn what hope means in God’s kingdom through the words of Paul beginning in the fifth chapter of Romans. Full
Here, Paul tells us we have justice, peace, grace, perseverance, character, and hope which is all built on the faith we have in Christ.
The kind of hope that does not disappoint that Paul is talking about here is the kind of disciplined hope that only God can give.
This kind of hope Fully Relies On God—His power, His promises, and the sacrifices He alone made for us.
This type of hope carries a promise because of what He has accomplished.
As we read through the rest of Romans 5, we learn we have this hope because Jesus died for us while we were yet his utterly worst enemies (Romans 5:8).
We have been justified and we will be delivered from all things.
God didn’t save us based on our own righteousness.
We were saved because of our faith, hope and belief and love for God’s Son.
This hope points directly to the glory of God – “we boast in our hope of sharing in the glory of God” (Romans 5:2).
This means, no matter what comes our way: suffering, turmoil, tragedy, death, and heartbreak. God will conquer it all.
In other words, “Hope has a sanctifying effect. We who look expectantly for the return of Christ, knowing that when we see him we shall become like him, and purify ourselves “as he is pure” (1 John 3:3 ).
Hope also stimulates good works.
Following his teaching on the resurrection of the dead, Paul exhorts readers to do be “steadfast and immovable doing the Lord’s work abundantly since such “labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:51-58 ).”
Then, How Exactly Can Christians Hope When They Experience Disappointments?
Throughout Scripture, we find the same message trusting in God’s promises and hoping in the Lord:
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful” Hebrews 10:23.
“I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance”Ephesians 1:18.
“I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word, I put my hope” Psalm 130:5.
If we read in between the vast array of scriptures about hope, we will also find hundreds of people inside the Bible who experienced true utter disappointment: Adam, Eve, Hagar, Job, Hannah, Moses, Sarah, David, Jacob, Gideon, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Jonah, the exiles, Nehemiah, Jesus, the Disciples, Paul, Elijah, others.
Yes! Even Jesus experienced disappointment during his ministry: when the people didn’t receive His message, when His disciples struggled with doubt, or when He encountered those legalistic religious leaders who wanted to kill Him.
Yet, each and every one of these biblical accounts of real-life people are marked by moments of every single one of them decisively overcoming disappointment.
They also went to accomplish great things for God and some even accomplished things beyond their wildest dreams.
The common thread of each of them was their hope in God.
Their belief in God was bigger than their disappointment.
Instead of blaming God when tragedy struck, instead, they turned to God.
“Hope in God transcends the lost hopes of human frailty and sin and begins to take effect in our lives precisely when human hopes are gone” (Romans 4:18).
How can Christians hope when we experience disappointments?
We put our hope in the Lord as we look at Paul’s example in Philippians 4:4.
Here, Paul was suffering greatly but he was writing to the church in Philippi which happened to be a church that was exceptionally poor.
But Paul was writing to them from a Roman Prison to encourage them to keep a disciplined, focused hope as they learn to be content with having much or little.
Paul wrote to encourage them through his example walking with Christ, even in the midst of disappointment, he could deal with humble means or prosperity.
No matter the circumstance Paul persevered through hope because no matter what came, he “can do all things through Christ’s strength, (Philippians 4:13, ESV).
The exact same One whose Grace strengthened Paul and provided contentment, courage, and a disciplined and focused hope is exact the same One working all things together—even disappointment—for our good too (Romans 8:28).
Because of the Sovereignty of God, Jesus’ resurrection power at work in us, the Holy Spirit interceding and praying for us when we have not the wherewithal to intercede for self, we can breathe in His kind of Hope that does not disappoint.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Prayer for a Hope That Does Not Disappoint
Lord God, our Creator, Author of our Life and Perfecter of our Hope, we raise our hearts, our souls, our hands high to thank you for your peace and for being our true source of hope. No matter what we walk through, may we lean on you. I believe that the hope you give us will not disappoint. You are working through every struggle and hardship we face. We will not be disappointed because of the salvation and blessing of a heavenly inheritance through Jesus Christ. Help us to abound in joy and to rest in your loving arms. Give us grace, strength, to lean on your powerful promises today.
Dear God, we praise you because you are true to your promises, we thank you that you are the true source of hope. Help us, by your Holy Spirit, to put our hope in you.
1 These are the words of the Quester, David’s son and king in Jerusalem:
2-11 Smoke, nothing but smoke. [That’s what the Quester says.] There’s nothing to anything—it’s all smoke. What’s there to show for a lifetime of work, a lifetime of working your fingers to the bone? One generation goes its way, the next one arrives, but nothing changes—it’s business as usual for old planet earth. The sun comes up and the sun goes down, then does it again, and again—the same old round. The wind blows south, the wind blows north. Around and around and around it blows, blowing this way, then that—the whirling, erratic wind. All the rivers flow into the sea, but the sea never fills up. The rivers keep flowing to the same old place, and then start all over and do it again. Everything’s boring, utterly boring— no one can find any meaning in it. Boring to the eye, boring to the ear. What was will be again, what happened will happen again. There’s nothing new on this earth. Year after year it’s the same old thing. Does someone call out, “Hey, this is new”? Don’t get excited—it’s the same old story. Nobody remembers what happened yesterday. And the things that will happen tomorrow? Nobody’ll remember them either. Don’t count on being remembered.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
The timelessness of Ecclesiastes is evident in our modern, existential age of excess with every possible pursuit, pleasure, and provision readily available through the click of a mouse or touch screen, and yet, people are still miserable.
Money cannot buy happiness.
The Preacher in Ecclesiastes clearly demonstrates this point by cataloging all his attempts to gain meaning and joy in life, and still concludes, “All is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:2).
But what is vanity?
Is vanity just a piece of bathroom furniture with a countertop and mirror for getting ready in the morning?
My mental image for vanity is the witch in Snow White, seeking affirmation for her beauty and worth with her magic mirror every morning, expecting to be the center of attention to her daily request of “Who is the fairest of them all?”
Does vanity mean that life is empty, worthless, or meaningless?
It is like washing your car in the rain or polishing the brass on the Titanic as it sinks – “What’s the point?”
The first chapter of Ecclesiastes seems to present a hopeless image of life, reporting “I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after the wind” (Ecclesiastes 1:14).
All Is Vanity
The author explains the cycle of life, noting how each generation will come and go, striving and seeking meaning and purpose, but die all the same, not even leaving behind a lasting memory (Ecclesiastes 1:11).
The author proceeds to detail his vast wealth and pursuits for pleasure and meaning, describing how nothing was outside his access or ability, and yet, he concludes this pursuit of pleasure by saying,
“What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night, his heart does not rest. This also is vanity” (Ecclesiastes. 2:22-23).
If all of life is meaningless and we simply strive to suffer and struggle each day, what is the point?
Where is our hope and where is our purpose to be found in life if ultimately life is meaningless?
There seems to be no hope in life.
If this were the meaning of vanity, life would be meaningless, but the Preacher is instead explaining a critical truth that we have yet to grasp these thousands of years later.
Vanity does not refer to absolute meaninglessness, but instead to a cyclical repetitiveness.
Our experience of life is such a small slice across all of human history, the value of our contribution and purpose for living gets utterly lost in this broader scope without an anchor for context to the bigger plan across time.
Hope is found in the meaning and purpose God provides to connect us to His story as integral players for His purpose and glory.
The theme of Ecclesiastes is that life is short, death is certain, and seeking meaning apart from God is like attempting to grasp the wind or wrangle vapor.
Meaning is not something we can control. Hope is found in the meaning and purpose provided as a free gift in love from God through His Son.
The Genre and Authorship of Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes sits at the end of the Wisdom literature in Scripture, preceded by Job and Proverbs, but all three tied together to provide critical lessons about the meaning of life.
Mirroring the virtues of faith, hope, and love, with love as the greatest (1 Corinthians 13:13), Ecclesiastes, Job, and Proverbs provide meaning to these ultimate questions of boredom or empty pursuit with the necessity of faith in God’s provision (Ecclesiastes), suffering is resolved through hope in God’s care (Job), and love as the ultimate meaning of life (Song of Solomon) demonstrated through God’s pursuit of us as His beloved.
Proverbs unites all these themes with a contrast between Wisdom and folly, or pursuit of God versus pursuit of self, proclaiming faith, hope, and love are found in a life lived in pursuit of Wisdom (Proverbs. 3:1-8).
Historically attributed to Solomon because of the opening credential of the author as “the son of David, king in Jerusalem” (Ecclesiastes. 1:1), the writing style, language differ from Proverbs and Song of Solomon, which are directly attributed to Solomon within the texts (Proverbs. 1:1; Song of Solomon 1:1).
While the exact dating and authorship are uncertain, the timelessness of Ecclesiastes is evident in its vivid descriptions of our modern struggle for meaning and purpose.
The book introduces the content of the book as “the words of the Preacher” (1:1), used alternatively throughout the book as Qoheleth (which is the Hebrew word for preacher, convener, or collector), suggesting that an editor or disciple of Qoheleth has compiled his teaching for this book at an uncertain date.
This authorship does not negate the possible influence or content from Solomon, but just that the book is not directly from Solomon but compiled and edited by another to provide a call to elevate faith in God for the people of Israel.
How Does Hope Play a Part in a World of Vanities?
If life is just vapor or breath, like “chasing after the wind” (Ecclesiastes. 1:14), from where does our hope come from?
The Preacher described his ceaseless pursuit for knowledge, self-indulgence, and pleasure, wisdom for wisdom’s sake, and work, concluding that everything comes from the hand of God and attempting to live apart from God is “vanity and a striving after wind”(Ecclesiastes 2:26).
Ecclesiastes 3:9-13 provides the context and answer to this issue.
The Preacher combats the cyclical repetitiveness inherent in vanity by proclaiming there is a fixed and appointed time for everything and it is according to this timeframe, which is outside of our control, that God orchestrates His purpose and plan provided to us as a gift (Ecclesiastes 3:13).
Life is short with our appearance on the planet like a breath compared to eternity, but this awareness of scope is given to us by God to provide an unsettling or discomfort in this place as a distant reminder of a home we have lost, a motivation to pursue God who controls time, place, purpose (3:14-15).
As C. S. Lewis stated, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world” (Mere Christianity).
Eternity in our hearts is the echo of the Garden, the place of perfect relationship with God, self, others, and creation.
We were made in the image of God, designed to be “naked and unashamed” (Genesis 2:25) with the purpose to image God through our creating, ordering, and sustaining His creation (Genesis 1:28).
Hope is the recognition of this glimmer, this reminder of God’s continued connection, continued relationship with all of us, as is realized through the incarnation and provision of new life through Christ’s death and resurrection.
Ecclesiastes is the echo of the Gospel message that we are more sinful than we ever thought but more loved than we could ever imagine.
In the Fall, we sought independence from God in desiring to define good and evil for ourselves, seeking meaning and purpose apart from our Creator.
God demonstrated mercy and grace by limited our lives in this empty pursuit in blocking continued access to the Tree of Life (Genesis 3:24), providing hope in the promise of a Savior (Genesis 3:15).
The message of the Gospel is the message of an upside kingdom because our values and desires have flipped with the influence of sin.
Our pursuit of independence and pleasure leaves us isolated and in despair while our dependence on God provides a connection to Him in His love for us and for the world (John 15:9-12).
Mark 8:35-37 summarizes Ecclesiastes well by noting,
“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?”
While our lives feel short and quick, our hope is found in the timing and plan of God, who has ordered our lives and “every matter under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).
How to Live with Hope in the ‘Already but Not Yet’
Hebrews 11 provides a glorious parade of faithful followers of God designed to bolster the endurance of the author’s audience and reinforce their faith in God’s promises.
The author of Hebrews is speaking to an audience struggling to retain the truth of God’s promises within the overwhelming appearance of reality as enveloped by meaninglessness and vanity.
Suffering and struggles are real and in the midst of these experiences we lose sight of the bigger picture and the “now” feels all-consuming.
The author of Hebrews seeks to encourage his audience by reminding them of God’s bigger plan and purpose while providing concrete examples of those who lived according to this faith and assurance in unseen things.
Hebrews demonstrates scope and context for God’s provision and plan, opening our eyes again to the hope of our calling to something greater (Ephesians 1:18).
The suffering, struggle, and death of these saints did not consume their vision.
They did not lose sight of the bigger purpose of God even when the breath of their life exhausted without receiving what was promised, their faith remained (Hebrews 11:39) because their hope was on something more permanent, an “anchor within the veil” (Hebrews 6:19).
The faith and hope of these saints looked backward to the promise of the Messiah (Genesis 3:15) with a culmination in their future, fulfilled in Jesus Christ (Mark 8:29).
Our faith and hope also look backward to Christ’s death and resurrection and forward to His return (1 Peter 5:10-11; Revelation 22:20).
We live in the joyful expectancy of the “already but not yet.”
We live in the Saturday of passion week, assured in the provision of redemption through the cross and resurrection while awaiting our own resurrection and glorification to follow Christ (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).
In the same way that the saints of Hebrews 11 endured in their faith, waiting in “the assurance of things hoped for” (Hebrews 11:1), we retain our purpose and meaning in time, awaiting our own resurrection, looking to Jesus as the anchor point to “run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).
Because we only perceive life through this finite experience, it is so easy for anyone and everyone to get caught up inside the vanity of repetitive pursuit, feeding our desire for independence and pleasure.
The Preacher calls us to attention, however, to remind us that because life is short, this reality should spark our motivation to get working and make sure our direction and desires align with God’s purpose and plan for us.
It is easy to become distracted and lose sight of the hope of our calling and the author and perfecter of our faith.
The scope of our task and role is bigger than us and extends beyond us.
Just as we have the hopeful, hope-filled example and encouragement of a great crowd of witnesses who have gone before us (Hebrews 12:1), so too we are all now leading others in the hopeful, hope-filled treads of our footsteps as well.
Maintain your hopeful, hope-filled, faithful faith-filled perspective as meaning it all comes from God and in spite of all the “vapor-ness” of life, motivates us all to significantly fruitful, fruit-filled Kingdom of God action in this short time.
Our hope in God is unaffected by circumstance or situation because God is always in control and we receive what He provides as from His hand, both, whether good or bad or completely catastrophic all is for His glory alone. (Ecclesiastes 7:13-15; Job 2:10; Romans 9:22-24).
Keep your eyes on Jesus.
Look full into His Wonderful Face.
And the Things of This Earth Grow Strangely Dim.
In the Light of His Glory and Strength.
In the name of God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Lord, my teacher, I’m often confused when I need to make important decisions about my life, my family, my work, my relationships, my health, or finances. Show me the way I should go when I don’t know which way to turn. Help me remember to come to you, rather than trying to figure everything out on my own. Guide me along the best pathway, your pathway for my life. Lead me and Advise me and watch over me. Help me to give both of my ears to listen to your guidance and not resist it as much as I have been. I thank you that your unfailing love surrounds those who trust you. Amen.
3 Blessed [gratefully praised and adored] be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts and encourages us in every trouble so that we will be able to comfort and encourage those who are in any kind of trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For just as Christ’s sufferings are ours in abundance [as they overflow to His followers], so also our comfort [our reassurance, our encouragement, our consolation] is abundant through Christ [it is truly more than enough to endure what we must]. 6 But if we are troubled and distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted and encouraged, it is for your comfort, which works [in you] when you patiently endure the same sufferings which we [a]experience. 7 And our [b]hope for you [our confident expectation of good for you] is firmly grounded [assured and unshaken], since we know that just as you share as partners in our sufferings, so also you share as partners in our comfort.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
Come! Listen! Let Me Tell You What My Savior Has Done For Me.
Psalm 66:16-20 The Message
16-20 All believers, come here and listen, let me tell you what God did for me. I called out to him with my mouth, my tongue shaped the sounds of music. If I had been cozy with evil, the Lord would never have listened. But he most surely did listen, he came on the double when he heard my prayer. Blessed be God: he didn’t turn a deaf ear, he stayed with me, loyal in his love.
The writer of Psalm 66 wants to tell us his “GOD story” when he says, “Come and hear, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me.”
The psalmist does not want to talk about his accomplishments or achievements.
The Psalmist wants to talk about what God has done for him throughout his life.
His life had not been easy.
He had been tested and refined like silver.
He had experienced many burdens.
But through it all God had been with him and by listening to his cries for help,
God had led him, guided him, directed him to “a place of abundance.”
Like the Psalmist, each and every one of us has a strikingly similar story to tell.
All of us can bear great witness to the weight of burdens we have had to carry.
All of us can testify to hardships in our lives—but also to the one irrefutable fact that God, and God alone, has always been there and always acted on our behalf.
We must make sure we tell our story.
We must make sure you tell about God’s presence in our life and about his amazing grace in the midst of our much diverse and various degrees of trials.
We must wake sure we tell, re-tell it to our children and our grandchildren.
Someone once said to me,
“If something were to ever happen to you, I am sure I would not know anything about any legitimate kind of relationship to God or His Son or the Holy Spirit.”
Don’t let that happen to you.
Start contemplating your story.
Start writing or telling your story today!
A story which begins with (Song by Bill & Gloria Gaither and Ladye Love Smith)
Days are filled with sorrow Days are filled with sorrow and care Hearts are lonely and drear Burdens are lifted at Calvary Jesus is very near
Troubled soul, the Savior can see Every heartache and tear Burdens are lifted at Calvary Jesus is very near
and ends with ….
A repetition of this guided affirmation of faith in our Savior Jesus Christ ….
Burdens are lifted at Calvary Calvary, Calvary Burdens are lifted at Calvary Jesus is very near
Burdens are lifted at Calvary Calvary, Calvary Burdens are lifted at Calvary Jesus is very near
Burdens are lifted at Calvary Calvary, Calvary Burdens are lifted at Calvary Jesus is very near
Let Us Now Lift Up Our Hearts Unto Calvary Because Jesus is Very Near
I want us to imagine that we are each standing at the end of a long hallway.
The hallway represents the entirety of our life so far on earth.
To begin with, look down to your feet, where you are standing is todays date; all the way down at the far distant other end of the hallway is the day of your birth.
Now, just begin walking – please do not run, skip or jog or sprint or fast walk, Neither get on your skateboards, roller blades or roller skates or your bicycles.
Leave your car keys, your truck keys, your mini-van, your hybrid or EV car keys.
You are not driving anywhere – you are only and just walking with Savior Jesus.
Go outside of self and stretch your legs a bit, start working that heart muscle.
As you begin walking down the hallway heading back in your life, I want you to take notice of all of the notice various and diverse sizes of pictures on the wall.
These pictures are all of the “events” from your life; it’s like a photo album of your entire life which someone has taken the time to paint or print and hang.
Some are large framed pictures; they are the most significant experiences you have had so far.
Some are good; some are bad; some are happy; some are sad.
As you steadily walk down this hallway of your life, I want you to take a long and considered look at the content and context of all of these large pictures.
What significant events from your life do you see that stand out?
Is there a wedding?
The successful purchase of your first home?
The Birth of your first child?
Are there family vacations or sporting events pictured on the walls?
Is there an achievement like a high school or college diploma or an award?
Is there a significant milestone depicted – high professional achievements?
Is there a significant milestone depicted – your long awaited retirement?
Are there spiritual experiences like your coming to faith in Christ or a time God miraculously entered into your sub-conscience, especially touched your life?
Are there significantly painful experiences—a divorce, the death of someone you really loved, a failure, a betrayal, abuse, alcoholism, a difficult to care for child which leads to a hardcore challenging, difficult marriage, a significantly threatening health diagnosis, an over abundance of “no money,” an addiction?
Take some time now to walk beyond all of that, walk all the way to the end of this hallway of your, notice “self-portraits” in all these significant experiences in your life… contemplate, take notice of all the ones named “my aloneness.”
[NOW TAKE SOME QUALITY TIME WITH GOD IN SILENT REFLECTION].
As I pray, for you like the Psalmist did, I plead with you to realize that all these experiences have actually shaped who you are today, whether you like it or not.
I pray for you to realize there is no time for self-blame, or blame God, He didn’t cause all of these hard things to happen, but did allow them to happen to you.
What GOD wants to do with us, within us, is to use all of these experiences–Good and Bad–to grow us spiritually and mold us into the likeness of our Lord and Savior Jesus and to shape us for the unique purposes He has for our lives.
His intent is not to cause us any harm (1 John 4:7-12 The Message)
God Is Love
7-10 My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.
11-12 My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!
By the unmeasurable enormity of this love He expressed through Calvary,
He does not intend nor want even one of our life experiences to be wasted.
With a very God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit specific long term intention:
Romans 8:28-30 Amplified Bible
28 And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew [and loved and chose beforehand], He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son [and ultimately share in His complete sanctification], so that He would be the firstborn [the most beloved and honored] among many believers. 30 And those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified [declared free of the guilt of sin]; and those whom He justified, He also glorified [raising them to a heavenly dignity].
God takes every single one of our life experiences—whether positive or painful, intentional or accidental, known or unknown, avoided or not, caused by you or by someone else, to shape all His Children for His unique calling in their lives.
Romans 8:28-30 may be, for some of us, the most personal verses in the Bible:
We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.
Your life experience and my own are one of the most overlooked ways that God uses to mold, shape, and transform us for the way He wants each of us to serve Him and others in this world, to edify, that is, to build up, His Kingdom alone.
The Bible says that God is working in every experience you have—our mistakes, our decisions, our successes and failures, our education or lack thereof, all of our different jobs, relationships, our lack of relationships, our unemployment, our disabilities, our marriages, our health issues, our finances—you name it.
God is working in every single thing in our lives—even in and through our own continued and continuous bent to our sins–to accomplish His purpose for you.
What Is The “God Specific” Purpose For Which God Is Even Now Working In Every Single Thing In Our life?
He is always working for the good in our lives.
Reverend Rick Warren puts it this way:
God can take the mess in our lives and bring a message out of it.
He can take the tests in our lives and create a testimony out of it.
He can take any crisis and show all of our Savior Jesus Christ through them.
GOD does not, never will, waste any experience any one of His Children have.
Moses murdered a man and had to flee into the wilderness between Egypt and Israel to save his life.
Some 40 years later God came to him in the vision of a burning bush and said, Moses, I have chosen you to go back down to Egypt to set my people free from slavery and guide and lead them through the wilderness to the Promised Land.
Moses knew the wilderness; he had lived there, learned its ways for 40 years.
Likewise, as Moses did, that through God, not our wits, God wants to use the wildernesses of our lives to help guide others, to find God’s way for their lives.
Joseph, his father Jacob’s favorite, was conspired against, thrown down a well and eventually sold to merchants into slavery by his hyper jealous brothers.
He ended up a slave and a prisoner in Egypt, but God gifted him and made a way for him to become the Prime Minister of Egypt and second only to the Pharaoh.
When famine threatened the very existence of God’s people, God used Joseph to plant, grow, harvest, store, manage the supply the grain that His people needed.
And when his brothers came to him starving, Joseph said to them: You intended to harm me, but God long intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the housing, settling and feeding, ultimately the saving of many lives.
But notice carefully God does not just do this for everybody.
God works His good for those who love Him and follow His plan.
The promise of Romans 8:28 is not for everybody.
God does not work His good in our lives when we don’t love Him or we turn our backs on Him.
It’s not that God turns His back on those who don’t follow His plan for their lives – God loves everybody, but He cannot help and use those who close their hearts, souls, minds, strengths and lives to Him and His plan for their lives.
One of the most common ways God uses our life experiences for good is to help others – to empathize, give comfort and encouragement while God works.
God can and does take each and everyone of our experiences, especially the painful ones, and turns them around, transforming them in a positive way.
Who better to help someone who is struggling than another person who has gone through the same struggle?
2 Corinthians 1:4 says, God, through Christ at Calvary, comforts and encourages us in all of our troubles so we can then, in turn, comfort and encourage others.
From Calvary then, when others are troubled, we will be able to reciprocate, to give them the same comfort and encouragement from Calvary God has given us.
Our troubles can become the very ministry God will use to help other people.
That uniquely painful experience in your life that you keep locked in the inner recesses of your soul could become your singularly unique, greatest ministry.
God has used the failures and hurtful experiences of my own life more than anything else to mold, shape and transform me exclusively for His purposes.
Those bad life experiences of my have helped me grow uniquely, spiritually.
Truthfully, in the good and happy times of my life, I have usually just coasted spiritually, taking God’s grace for granted that He will always, forever be there.
I have to see, from the long shadow extending outward from Calvary, and into eternity, God does not want me to allow my experiences to count for nothing.
I have to become the better person, through Christ, God needs me to become.
Now, it is my relationship with God which continues to keep me looking more forward versus more backwards, instead, a day at a time – Sweet Savior Jesus.
He was my Best Forever friend, much better than a brother I never had.
I was so “at ease, more comforted, more encouraged” with my Sweet Savior Jesus, stark comparison to the “disease of sin” I was struggling to recover from.
He truly brought wholeness to my life, an indescribable joy and immeasurable degrees of comfort that will always and forever be etched deep in my memory.
In His time on earth; Jesus had completed God’s mission for His life; and there is no doubt God touched uncountable many lives through him.
Through Calvary, by my walk to Calvary, My Sweet Savior Jesus helped me to see how life is supposed to be lived—in tune with my GOD and the Holy Spirit.
He helped me to find God and my family, the church to which my wife and I go.
On more than one occasion, the Bible says that God chooses to use weaker vessels to do His work so that He may get the glory.
In 2 Corinthians 12:9, God says: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Paul responds: “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
God can help people more through their weakness than we can through our strengths.
That’s why we need each other; it’s why we need the supportive fellowship of the church.
You can learn from others who have gone or who are going through the same struggles you are.
Perfection, if we could achieve it, would help nobody.
What experiences have we had to confront in our own lives which GOD could use to help comfort and encourage others?
“I Thirst” and then “It is Finished”
John 19:28-30 Amplified Bible
28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said in fulfillment of the Scripture, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar full of [a]sour wine was placed there; so they put a sponge soaked in the sour wine on [a branch of] hyssop and held it to His mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and [voluntarily] [b]gave up His spirit.
At Golgotha, the Place of the Skull, At Calvary, the death of the perfect Son of God was the darkest moment in world history, but look back at the portraits in the length and breadth and width of your hallway at how God used Jesus’ death.
Jesus’ death atoned for every single one our sins and everybody else’s sins and made for each of us an unobstructed way back to God, into heaven when we die.
Out of Christ’s crucifixion, God brought to all mankind the ultimate comfort and encouragement – God brought salvation for all who trust and follow Jesus.
This is our hope in Jesus Christ!
On that first Easter Sunday two millennia ago, God brought life out of death.
Jesus Christ died, three days later he arose from the dead and is now a living presence among us right now— forgiving us, delivering us, shaping us, guiding us, loving us, living in and among us and wanting to use us for His purposes.
God can use all your life experiences, good and bad, to shape you for His unique calling in your life—if forego any resistance to any, all change, if we let Him.
Hebrews 3:12-16 Amplified Bible
The Peril of Unbelief
12 Take care, brothers and sisters, that there not be in any one of you a wicked, unbelieving [a]heart [which refuses to trust and rely on the Lord, a heart] that turns away from the living God. 13 But continually encourage one another every day, as long as it is called “Today” [and there is an opportunity], so that none of you will be hardened [into settled rebellion] by the deceitfulness of sin [its cleverness, delusive glamour, and sophistication]. 14 For we [believers] have become partakers of Christ [sharing in all that the Messiah has for us], if only we hold firm our newborn confidence [which originally led us to Him] until the end,15 while it is said,
“Today [while there is still opportunity] if you hear His voice, Do not harden your heart, as when they provoked Me [in the rebellion in the desert at Meribah].”
16 For who were they who heard and yet provoked Him [with rebellious acts]? Was it not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses?
“Today, while there is still opportunity, if we WILL hear His voice …”
“Do not harden your hearts again and again, with further acts of open rebellion …”
God’s Call and Invitation to each and everyone of us through Mount Calvary:
God has 3 callings in the lives of each and everyone of His Children:
(1) He calls you to salvation and a new life in Jesus Christ;
(2) He calls you to be an active part of His church;
(3) He calls you to serve Him and comfort and encourage others in the unique way He has gifted and shaped you.
Encouraging one another is an important part of our daily walk with Christ.
Comforting one another is an important part of our daily walk with Christ.
We live in a world corrupted by unbelief, sin, and, at times, persecution.
How can we stay firm in our faith?
Scripture gives us this recipe:
Comfort, Love, Encourage, and Daily Pray for one another.
In God’s grace, the Holy Spirit uses these acts of mutual and shared comfort, care and encouragement to guide us, see us, through the most trying of times.
When fellow believers are struggling, be quick to extend your helpful, sharing hand.
Be graceful and be generous.
Be gentle and be merciful as unto the Lord.
Be comforting and be encouraging.
Offer words of comfort and prayer, as well as tangible acts of help, encourage people around you, and be surprised by how much you are encouraged yourself!
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Would you pray this prayer with me?
Almighty God and my Everlasting Father, Lord of my life, I offer back my life to You. Everything I’ve been through, Lord, use it for Your glory. Jesus, I give You my all. In your name I pray and commit myself to Your continuing work in this world. Lead, Guide and Direct my Steps back towards Calvary from whence comes my Savior. That I may be a comfort as I was comforted, I may be an encourager as I was encouraged. For indeed, there is no other name under heaven through which mankind is saved.
19 So when it was evening on that same day, the first day of the week, though the disciples were [meeting] behind barred doors for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them, and said, “[a]Peace to you.” 20 After He said this, He showed them His hands and His side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they were filled with great joy. 21 Then Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you [as My representatives].” 22 And when He said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of anyone they are forgiven [because of their faith]; if you retain the sins of anyone, they are retained [and remain unforgiven because of their unbelief].”
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
In those moments of the death and resurrection, behind those barred doors of the Upper Room, can we even begin to imagine those disciples’ state of mind?
Many of Jesus’ followers had scattered for fear of their lives, and his closest disciples were hiding behind closed doors in fear of the religious authorities.
Their much beloved Rabbi (“Teacher”) had been crucified and then buried.
They had walked with Him for three long years and witnessed much, they had believed in him as the Messiah (the “Anointed One”), their promised deliverer.
Now, “cast off” doubts came rushing in – had it all been “too good to be true”?
Sure, they had just heard Mary’s highly excited message that Jesus had risen.
Peter and John had run to see the now-empty tomb, but that wasn’t even close to being the same thing as what Mary had experienced – seeing “Jesus IS alive!”
Was Mary mistaken?
Was it all “wishful thinking?”
Standing at the tomb in the dark, in her indescribable, immeasurable grief, had she only imagined seeing Jesus, through tear stained eyes, in an empty garden?
Did she see only what her impossibly desperate state of mind needed, wanted, to see, that she might find the only means of coping with the unbelievability?
Had others taken the body?
And Mary could not “handle the gravity” nor implications of, that possibility?
Where was her Rabbi that believed in her when no one else had dared to believe?
Bad news can be so easily believable!
Good news can seem so easily unbelievable!
Crucified and buried men don’t roll away unmovable stones, walk out of graves!
Were they being asked to believe: “impossible” witness and testimony of Mary?
Jesus didn’t keep his disciples waiting long.
That evening, “Jesus came and stood among them and said,‘Peace be with you!’”
He stood before them, and then He spoke these words to them.
He showed them his wounds.
He greeted them with a familiar blessing, “Peace Be With You.”
Jesus gave them the peace and presence they had been missing.
And they were overjoyed.
Things had not been the way they were supposed to be, but now they were!
Today we too celebrate that God is with us!
God’s Peace is With Us!
Christ has risen!
He is alive, and he lives in us! Hallelujah!
Peace is possible!
But, how can we know such a magnitude of God’s Peace through Christ is real?
I cannot claim any similar experience as those disciples in the Upper Room.
I do not know if anyone outside of those disciples in the Upper Room can claim the Resurrected Jesus just appeared to them in their homes or anywhere else?
So we read the post resurrection texts from the Gospels of Luke and John and because I believe in the Word of God for His Children, I “accept” their efforts.
But still, there are the questions being asked by everyone of this moment such a sequence of events are wholly, miraculously unique to the Christian experience.
How about our giving God, through Christ Jesus the benefits, prayers of doubts?
How about our confidence in the Word of God regarding “God’s Perfect Peace?”
How about our confidence in ourselves such a magnitude of Peace is achievable?
You know, actually believing more in the promises of God than the promises of our enemies rust laden promises which we grow fat on, we obsessively feed on?
How Can We Know God Will Keep Us in Perfect Peace?
Isaiah 26:1-4 Amplified Bible
Song of Trust in God’s Protection
26 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
“We have a strong city; He sets up salvation as walls and ramparts. 2 “Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter, The one that [a]remains faithful and trustworthy. 3 “You will keep in [b]perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You—in both [c]inclination and character], Because he trusts and takes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation]. 4 “Trust [confidently] in the Lord forever [He is your fortress, your shield, your banner], For the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages].
Peace is possible even in our stressful, troubled world.
In Isaiah 26:3, the Bible promises that God and God alone “will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.”
Here’s what it means to do that, so you can experience peace in any situation.
What Does ‘He Will Keep in Perfect Peace’ Mean?
Everyone who chooses to keep their minds steadfast because they trust in God can count on experiencing perfect peace while they do so, according to this verse.
That means you can enjoy a state of perfect peace as long as you focus your mind from beyond your circumstances to God, and trust him to help you no matter what.
As a result of choosing to trust God, you welcome God’s peace into your mind.
Some people chase after peace of mind from worldly achievements, such as through the wanton pursuit health and wealth and wellness.
Good circumstances may help you enjoy a temporary feeling of peace.
However, only God can actually provide complete and lasting peace.
God, who alone is perfect, is the only reliable source of peace.
Thankfully, God is willing to give that perfect peace to everyone who decides to trust him to provide it.
Trusting God involves being at peace with God through Jesus Christ since Jesus made it possible for all humanity to have relationships with God.
Ephesians 2:14 says about Jesus: “For he himself is our peace” and Ephesians 2:17-18 points out that, “He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.”
When we have that close connection to God, we can experience peace even during the most challenging circumstances, because “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
“this peace is true, real, and solid; in which sense the word “perfect” is used, in opposition to a false and imaginary one; and it will end in perfect peace in heaven: moreover, the word “perfect” is not in the Hebrew text, it is there “peace, peace”; which is doubled to denote the certainty of it, the enjoyment of it, and the constancy and continuance of it; and as expressive of all sorts of peace, which God grants unto his people, and keeps for them, and them in; as peace with God and peace with men, peace outward and peace inward, peace here and peace hereafter; and particularly it denotes the abundance of peace that believers will have in the kingdom of Christ in the latter day.”
What Is the Context and Background of Isaiah 26:3?
Isaiah 26:3 is part of a song of praise in which the biblical prophet Isaiah celebrates God’s trustworthiness to provide all that people need, including their ultimate need: salvation.
Isaiah sings about how Israel will be judged for their sins yet also restored by God, in his mercy. Isaiah predicts that God will save people from their sins.
Although people may sometimes be faithless toward God, God will always be faithful to his people, Isaiah emphasizes.
God is willing to redeem and restore, and his perfect peace enters the souls of all who decide they have worn out their trust in the world to just trust in Him.
So, Isaiah urges readers to trust in God.
He writes that it is “because they trust” in God that God “will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast”.
The very next verse after Isaiah 26:3 emphasizes trust: “Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal” (Isaiah 26:4).
How Can We Be Sure That We Will Be Kept in Perfect Peace?
We can be sure that God will keep us in perfect peace.
The Holy Spirit will renew our minds whenever we ask for help doing what’s necessary to be at peace: focusing on God and trusting him.
Romans 12:2 urges us all:
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his pleasing and perfect will.”
The Spirit will help us access the perfect peace that God offers us.
Jesus promises in John 14:26-27:
“But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
Peace is one of the nine “fruit of the Spirit” listed in Galatians 5:22-23.
As you invite the Holy Spirit to renew your mind, you can count on the Spirit’s help to do what Isaiah 26:3 calls you to do: trust in God with a steadfast mind.
A powerful way to pursue peace is to pursue wonder because experiencing wonder expands your awareness of God’s work in your life, and that gives you the assurance you need to trust God and be at peace.
And it can be a wonderful way for anyone to seek the perfect peace that only comes from God.
Here’s how it works:
Visualize Jesus on the cross, visualize the specific things that are troubling you.
Then see yourself walking toward Jesus and laying those things down at the foot of the cross for him to take care of for you.
Through a brief prayer, ask Jesus for help with every specific thing you’ve left there for him.
Entrust it all to his care.
See yourself walk away afterward, with your mind and heart open to receiving peace from Jesus.
Prayer ushers peace into your heart and mind,
according to Philippians 4:6-7, which says:
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Characteristics of God’s Perfect Peace
We can be confident that the perfect peace God gives us will last.
The temporary peace of mind we may find from good circumstances in our lives can relieve some stress and anxiety for a while.
However, the peace that God gives isn’t limited to certain times or tied to specific circumstances.
The perfect peace of God is much more than simply the absence of stress and anxiety; it’s a deep and abiding knowledge of being loved and cared for by God no matter what.
Although that peace is beyond our understanding, it will guard our hearts and minds, promises Philippians 4:7: “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Psalm 139 describes how near God’s Spirit is to us at all times and in all places.
Verses 7-10 point out:
“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”
We can be sure that we’re never out of the Holy Spirit’s reach.
So, we’re always able to access the perfect peace that God offers us through his Spirit.
After celebrating God’s sovereignty over all circumstances in life, the psalmist ends with a plea for God to renews his mind:
“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.”
That can be our prayer in any situation.
When we pray to experience God’s peace through a steadfast mind that is focused on him, we can count on that happening.
The Holy Spirit will strengthen our faith by renewing our minds, and peace will come to us as a result.
“Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” Romans 5:1 explains.
When you follow the advice of Isaiah 26:3, you can be confident that you’ll experience perfect peace from God.
Simply pray and ask the Holy Spirit to renew your mind whenever you need help centering your focus on God.
The Spirit may direct your attention to a wondrous sign of God’s work in your life, or simply quiet your mind.
In the process, perfect peace will flow into your soul!
Perhaps that is why John added the words ofJohn 20:22 to this narrative:
John 20:22 Amplified Bible
22 And when He said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
Words of Purpose!
The first words Jesus spoke to his frightened disciples after his resurrection were words of reassurance: “Peace be with you!”
Then he quickly gave them a renewed sense of purpose: “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
With those words, Jesus was passing his mission on to his followers.
Perhaps you’ve seen a relay race in which one runner comes up behind the next and passes off the baton.
That’s what Jesus was doing here.
He was passing off the baton to his followers and saying, “Go! Finish the race!
Carry on the mission I began!
I ran the first leg; now you run the next.
Just as God the Father sent me into the world, now I am sending you into the world! Go!” (See John 17:18.)
18 Just as You commissioned and sent Me into the world, I also have commissioned and sent them (believers) into the world.
Later, Jesus would remind his disciples again of that mission:
“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).
With whom can you and I share this good news of God’s Ultimate Peace today?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Dear Lord, Help me daily to remember you are indeed Lord of my life. You have the right to rule all that I think, believe and do. When I allow my mind to run to places that destroy my peace, remind me these are unauthorized thoughts. You do not want me to dwell on thoughts and emotions that contribute to unreasonable fears.I know my mind will remain in perfect peace as I fix my thoughts on you; so Lord Jesus, let your peace rule in my heart. Remind me of the peace I have in the shadow of Your Cross and in your family, and I pray the Holy Spirit to teach me how to be thankful for those circumstances that cause me to run to you, focus on you, and abide in you. I never need to live with fearful, anxious thoughts. Truth is, you alone are in control!
24 Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, [a]and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. 2 But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 And it happened, as they were [b]greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. 5 Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, 7 saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ ”8 And they remembered His words.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
There is a new song of Triumph coming forth from the Heavens above.
Psalm 19 The Message
19 1-2 God’s glory is on tour in the skies, God-craft on exhibit across the horizon. Madame Day holds classes every morning, Professor Night lectures each evening.
3-4 Their words aren’t heard, their voices aren’t recorded, But their silence fills the earth: unspoken truth is spoken everywhere.
4-5 God makes a huge dome for the sun—a superdome! The morning sun’s a new husband leaping from his honeymoon bed, The daybreaking sun an athlete racing to the tape.
6 That’s how God’s Word vaults across the skies from sunrise to sunset, Melting ice, scorching deserts, warming hearts to faith.
7-9 The revelation of God is whole and pulls our lives together. The signposts of God are clear and point out the right road. The life-maps of God are right, showing the way to joy. The directions of God are plain and easy on the eyes. God’s reputation is twenty-four-carat gold, with a lifetime guarantee. The decisions of God are accurate down to the nth degree.
10 God’s Word is better than a diamond, better than a diamond set between emeralds. You’ll like it better than strawberries in spring, better than red, ripe strawberries.
11-14 There’s more: God’s Word warns us of danger and directs us to hidden treasure. Otherwise how will we find our way? Or know when we play the fool? Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh! Keep me from stupid sins, from thinking I can take over your work; Then I can start this day sun-washed, scrubbed clean of the grime of sin. These are the words in my mouth; these are what I chew on and pray. Accept them when I place them on the morning altar, O God, my Altar-Rock, God, Priest-of-My-Altar.
Except, who is listening to these raucous words of song and triumph?
The heavens sing their words of the Glory and Triumph of God!
They emanate from the deepest reaches of heaven down to the earth below.
They begin echoing outward unto a sleeping humanity from a place of death.
Hushed and Quiet though they may be in this moment at that place of death, they are none the less quite real and quite audible to those who will come to it.
The song will come unexpectedly to those whose hearts and whose souls were prepared to be curious about it, receive it and see it and then utterly believe it!
In this place of uncleanness and death, there is a sure and certain witness here!
In this place of darkness and stench, there is a sure and certain testimony here!
Let us now lend our eyes and ears to what this witness and testimony might be.
“Welcome to this Happy morning!”
“Welcome all ye curious ones!”
“Welcome all ye despondent ones!”
“Welcome all ye silent and tearful and mournful ones!”
“Welcome all ye defeated, downtrodden and broken ones!”
“Welcome all ye faith-filled and faithful and hope-filled hopeful ones!”
“It is wonderful to gather in our beautiful Kingdom of God to celebrate the glory and triumph of God and the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Yes! there is, emanating from here a new, fresh song of witness and testimony.
Except, no one in particular is hearing, even listening to the words of welcome.
In fact, if we were to look at this place in that moment, we would see nobody.
Perhaps because the deafening silence of the glorious words “He is not here!” “praise God” are coming from an empty tomb which has been beckoning others where no others are paying attention, in close proximity or listening distance.
The expectancy of the glorious and triumphant message found from within the empty tomb is not one that is even the least bit anticipated, shared nor shouted.
The “Behold, Our God Wins!” witness and the living breathing testimony of the empty tomb sits all alone in a darkened silence in a place of the unclean dead.
Now, finally – a group of women come over the hill and down a path leading to the tomb of the one whom in life had been believed to be their “Messiah King.”
Three days ago, he had been brutally killed, humiliated as the ultimate criminal.
Because of Sabbath rules, he had been hastily buried and sealed behind a rock.
The women came bearing spices which they had prepared to finish preparing the not so pleasant smelling body of their dead best friend and their king.
But instead of finding a sealed tomb they came upon an open one.
Amazingly, unexpectedly, the stone had somehow been rolled off to the side.
Curious and probably just a wee bit afraid of what they would or would not find, they enter the tomb of their Rabbi and find it empty – there was just no corpse.
The women had come to anoint his body for the burial when they suddenly encountered a pair of angels asking this question – “so, why are you here?”
Followed up by the good news, “He is not here; he has risen!”
What a great and wholly unexpected sequence of “GOD” events for their souls.
Such wonderful good news.
The faith-filled faithful of God went to the tomb before all others were awake.
With their whole selves, in the darkness, their eyes beheld an open tomb and a rock much too heavy for them to remove by themselves rolled off to the side.
Instead of running away and screaming into the night to tell somebody else, the curiosity of the words to a new song reached their souls, so they all went inside.
They lingered inside and witnessed to an unanticipated, unexpected, emptiness inside the tomb of their fallen Rabbi they could not understand nor easily grasp.
As they were all greatly perplexed by this sequence of events, they clearly see the two men in shiny garments standing there, they clearly hear their words:
5 Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, 7 saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ ”
“He is NOT here!”
“But, IS Risen!”
Jesus is alive!
Death is defeated!
Witness to, Testify that, The Stone Was Rolled Away
Luke 24:5-8 The Message
4-8 They were puzzled, wondering what to make of this. Then, out of nowhere it seemed, two men, light cascading over them, stood there. The women were awestruck and bowed down in worship. The men said, “Why are you looking for the Living One in a cemetery? He is not here, but raised up. Remember how he told you when you were still back in Galilee that he had to be handed over to sinners, be killed on a cross, and in three days rise up?” Then they remembered Jesus’ words.
The gospel of Luke opened with angels delivering messages to Zacharias, Mary, some shepherds quietly going about their everyday duties protecting the sheep.
And to the shepherds, it was a melodious message of great joy for all people.
The message delivered here was also a message of great joy to all people.
Death had been conquered.
Jesus had defeated the power of death.
No longer do we have to fear death.
“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians. 15:55).
Implications: the Witness and Testimony of a Rock Rolled Away
When we consider Jesus as Messiah, most of us think immediately in personal terms: Jesus is my Messiah. He forgives my sins. He lives in me.
All of which, of course, is true.
But 1st-century Jewish expectations concerning the messiahship of Jesus were far broader than that.
If we had talked with a 1st-century Jew about his or her messianic expectations, we would have discovered hopes that were, in a sense far grander in their scope.
The Jews anticipated that their long-awaited Messiah would come to defeat the pagans who held sway over them, to decisively conquer their enemies, then to rebuild the temple, and to once again establish God’s just rule upon the earth.
Theirs was a nationalistic hope—a hope that the Messiah would come and vindicate the nation of Israel.
Jesus’ arrival, together with the miracles He performed, stories He told, and the prophecies He fulfilled, built to a great crescendo of high expectation among His followers, that Jesus was in fact sent of God as their true conquering king.
But just when they began to think that He really would be the one to politically redeem the people of Israel, at Calvary they saw all of their messianic hopes hanging up on a Roman gibbet, a gallows, an ugly instrument of pain and death.
And when Jesus cried out, “It is finished” (John 19:30), many of them must have quite literally agreed – any hope for their future of prosperity – was “finished.”
Now the question beckons us: How, then, did this group of believers, whose messianic hopes had been buried in a Palestinian tomb, not only continue to believe that Jesus was the Messiah but stand in the streets near where He had been executed and make an unashamed declaration of His messiahship?
The answer comes reverberating through the pages of the New Testament is found in the witness of an immovable rock having been summarily removed, somebody physically entering an empty tomb: the bodily resurrection of Jesus!
The angelic announcement to the women who had brought spices to embalm a corpse provoked a radical reassessment of what the believers had witnessed on the past Friday and a complete change in their view of their lives and futures.
When the Messiah reappeared among them, as alive as ever, these previously sad, sorrowful, defeated, brokenhearted disciples were radically transformed into bold, joyful witnesses with the loudest heartfelt songs of God’s triumph.
They now have a sure and certain witness, bearing testimony to the reality of Christ resurrected with a body that could be seen, handled, and touched, and yet also possessing capacities to do what His pre-resurrection body had not done.
His earthly work of salvation was finished;
His life and His reign were most certainly not!
By His Resurrection,
By God’s own Authority and only through God’s power,
His life and His reign were most certainly never going to end
Only in the disciples’ actions that night, seeing the rock moved away, their display of courage and not fear, to physically enter the tomb, enter, witness its emptiness, exit the tomb, hear the words of the two white clad angels, their recognition of His risen presence did Christ’s messiahship finally make sense.
Indeed, what the early Jewish believers discovered when they “found the stone rolled away from the tomb” (Luke 24:2) and saw “Jesus himself stood among them” entering through a locked and sealed door and into the Upper Room (v 36) was that an eternal hope, joy, and triumphant power ignited within their hearts.
And these remain available to all who put their trust in Jesus, the resurrected Messiah.
It is the triumph of the resurrection, and only the triumph of the resurrection, changes our witness of sadness, sorrow, and defeat into hope, joy, and power.
It is the resurrection, and only the resurrection, that declares that our Messiah will defeat His enemies, will restore His people, and will rule from sea to sea.
The Glory of God, The Triumph of God that morning, The resurrection of Jesus our Lord, Savior will change everything about how you go about your day today.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
We Are One with the Risen Christ
Lord of life, we lift our hearts to you. As the dawn breaks, may we carry the unity we share into every moment knowing that we are one with the risen Christ. Lord, we lift our eyes to you. As the sunrises, may this moment stay with us, reminding us to look for the beautiful colors of promise in your word. Lord, we lift our prayers to you. As the dew air falls, may we breathe this morning in and know that like the earth, you sustain us, keep us and work within us always. And so, we lift our voices to you. We celebrate the greatest day in history, when Jesus rose from death, defeated darkness and bathed the world in stunning resurrection light. May we ever live to praise you! Thank you Lord of my my life and my Salvation that, in you, I no longer need to fear death and its great unknown. Instead, I can face it with confidence, knowing that you have truly defeated it. And, that on the other side of death, I will be with you forever.
53 Who has believed [confidently trusted in, relied on, and adhered to] our message [of salvation]? And to whom [if not us] has the arm and infinite power of the Lord been revealed? 2 For He [the Servant of God] grew up before Him like a tender shoot (plant), And like a root out of dry ground; He has no stately form or majestic splendor That we would look at Him, Nor [handsome] appearance that we would [a]be attracted to Him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and pain and acquainted with grief; And like One from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or esteem Him.
4 But [in fact] He has borne our griefs, And He has carried our sorrows and pains; Yet we [ignorantly] assumed that He was stricken, Struck down by God and degraded and humiliated [by Him]. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was crushed for our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing]; The punishment [required] for our well-being fell on Him, And by His stripes (wounds) we are healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, We have turned, each one, to his own way; But the Lord has caused the wickedness of us all [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing] To fall on Him [instead of us].
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
Someone Familiar With Our Suffering
“You can’t truly know people unless you walk a mile in their shoes,” we sometimes say.
Two thousand ago, a man named Jesus walked into humanity’s full view, in our shoes, and showed that he genuinely knew the full range of human experience.
The Word of God for His Children often reminds them that Jesus was one of us.
The Word of God comes right out of God’s mouth to reveal to human kind He experienced joy and suffering and sorrow, feasting and hunger, the fruits of hard work and the setbacks of humiliation, injustice, poverty, life and death.
He also knew the grief of losing a close friend, which led him to weep (John 11:32-35).
In addition, Jesus was sometimes discouraged by the spiritual numbness of his disciples (Matthew 16:8-12), and weary from hot, dusty travel (John 4:6).
He became angry when people mistreated God and others (Matthew 21:12-13), he also took children in his arms, taught and blessed them (Matthew 19:13-14).
Countless times we read of him healing the sick and destitute, individually and by the village full, approaching the unapproachable, touching the untouchable.
In the account of his crucifixion, as Isaiah foretold, Jesus even experienced total rejection, complete betrayal and unimaginable physical and spiritual suffering.
The reality: Our salvation wasn’t won in the beauty and safety of a royal palace.
Jesus pioneered our salvation through the experience of human living in this world.
He faced all the temptations and struggles we meet daily—and yet he never sinned (Hebrews 4:15).
There is not one single human heart who can claim it has never been wounded.
There is not one single human heart which can claim it has not ever suffered.
His words from the cross “I am thirsty” (John 19:28) assure us that he willingly and obediently dealt with all human experiences as he worked to defeat sin.
For humanity, there must eventually, gradually, subtly, suddenly, come the realization that there is a very real place in God’s divine order – where all our hurting, our woundedness, our suffering, our brokenness, sin, come together.
From Genesis to Revelation, The Word of God reveals to all of God’s children Jesus is our ultimate example of the type of heart we need to turn to, we need to surrender to, because by his crucifixion, He is our healer, our wounded healer.
And we see this heart, the heart of Jesus, not only from His life but also in the death He died for us, not only by the death He died for us, but by the witness of the EMPTY tomb, the angels’ words, by His resurrection and by His Ascension.
A Wounded Healer’s Heart
Jesus is a Wounded Healer.
He experienced our wounds by coming in flesh so He could feel what we feel.
“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.”Isaiah 53:5. NKJV.
Are You A Wounded Healer?
Am I A Wounded Healer?
You and I may not even know there is a name for it; you are too busy doing what needs to be done.
You and I have almost certainly, surely been gravely wounded, hurt, maybe too even abused, maybe even bullied, maybe even betrayed, maybe even humiliated.
Somehow, by some means, in too many ways, we are all wounded throughout our lives, physically, emotionally, psychologically; some of us have been hurt in more ways than we can remember – the measure of trauma is too inconceivable.
A Wounded Healer is one who, although they have been wounded time and time again; discern they learn to take those experiences and use them to help others, to minister like Jesus, during their time of loss, tragedy, grief, pain or illness.
Even from hospital beds, with bodies wracked by severe illnesses, like Jesus, they realize that though they are suffering, have suffered in their bodies, they have also learned, by prayer, witness and their testimony of the work of their Savior Jesus in their lives, they can now benefit all others from that suffering.
Now they have become a Wounded Healer.
God isn’t causing their pain but He can use their pain to get your attention and help you and me and others grow, teach the many of compassion and grace.
By their example, you and I can learn how we too can share all our Savior Jesus Christ, minister to others in the middle of our own pain and it helps them heal!
Hebrews 13:1-2 Amplified Bible
The Changeless Christ
13 Let love of your fellow believers continue. 2 Do not neglect to extend hospitality to strangers [especially among the family of believers—being friendly, cordial, and gracious, sharing the comforts of your home and doing your part generously], for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.
When this passage in Hebrews was anonymously written, people were expected to show generous hospitality to travelers and strangers who might otherwise have nowhere else to stay as they went from village to village and town to town.
The context of this advice urges believers in God to show love and care for one another as well for others who may be in need, such as strangers, travelers.
This advice echoes the words of Jesus in Matthew 25:31-46, where Rabbi Jesus teaches us all that caring for the needs of others is like doing the same for him.
This passage in Hebrews also invites us to consider that a stranger or visitor we encounter might be an angel—that is, a messenger from God (also Genesis 18).
The point is that we should treat anyone we meet as being so valuable and fully worthy of our time that they might be sent from God, and that showing love and care and compassion to them would be like doing the same for the Lord himself.
This can be hard to imagine, especially if hospitality is not so common anymore in our culture and we need to be ever so much more wary of “stranger danger.”
But here the Spirit of God is challenging us simply to treat others well, showing love and kindness to everyone, no matter who they are.
In other words, we are called, even from the midst of our suffering, to love and care for others just as our Lord, Savior Jesus Christ has done for us at Calvary.
Angels of Mercy who will probably not have a set of initials after their name, they won’t ever claim to know it all, and they won’t ever have all the answers.
But they know how to listen, they know how to care, whose families will show up with a casserole, a care package, or sit with you through the night if need be.
Sometimes they say nothing at all.
They do not have to because they have been there.
They were wounded, they know.
Silence is golden, a hug is infinitely better than words.
Where Our Hurt and Our Healing Collides
Isaiah 53:3-5 Amplified Bible
3 He was despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and pain and acquainted with grief; And like One from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or esteem Him.
4 But [in fact] He has borne our griefs, And He has carried our sorrows and pains; Yet we [ignorantly] assumed that He was stricken, Struck down by God and degraded and humiliated [by Him]. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was crushed for our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing]; The punishment [required] for our well-being fell on Him, And by His stripes (wounds) we are healed.
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is all of mankind’s Wounded Healer.
He experienced our wounds by coming in flesh so He could feel what we feel.
“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.”Isaiah 53:5. NKJV.
If you have damaged emotions and physical and emotional scars, ABBA God the Father and Jesus His Son and God the Holy Spirit, are able to take care of those.
For God so loved the World that God sent His Son into the World that we should be saved – NOT CONDEMNED for our sins as we all so very righteously deserve.
Jesus gave His life at Calvary and rose again so that we could have eternal life AND be healers on this earth.
We cannot have open wounds and be a healer, we must have those taken care of.
Our resurrected Jesus is the only One who can overcome and heal our hurts so we can then recognize His Sovereignty and become the blessing God intended.
Maybe from your ailing’s you have never thought you had anything to offer.
My friend, I am certain you do.
If the Lord has forgiven you and restored you, pray for opportunities to give others hope and a light at the end of their tunnel.
Pray for the wisdom of God’s testimony and Jesus’ witness at Calvary above all, it is not an easy road to walk the road of suffering, but there are great rewards.
Are there areas in your life where you have opportunity to be a Wounded Healer?
I would love to hear about them!
Has someone else been a Wounded Healer to you?
Feel free to share Jesus Christ, your thoughts and encourage others here today.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Gracious God,
on this day we gather to remember the suffering death of Jesus.
He was despised and rejected,
oppressed and afflicted,
yet he was prepared to be wounded for our transgressions. We come overwhelmed by the depth of Jesus’ love for us,
and his commitment to defeat evil,
even when that meant his own suffering and his own death.
In his willingness to make us righteous, he poured himself out to death, even death on a cross, and so, in response to such love and sacrifice, we commit all of ourselves as his disciples to overcome evil with Your good, our suffering with Your wholeness, with love and compassion, acceptance and mercy for all, meeting oppression with Your justice. Thank you, Jesus, for being willing to enter the grit and grime of our humanity to save us. There has never been a greater sacrifice! Let that be our Witness and let that we our sure and certain Testimony unto the world. Jesus’ name, we pray.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
18 For I consider [from the standpoint of faith] that the sufferings of the present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us! 19 For [even the whole] creation [all nature] waits eagerly for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration and futility, not willingly [because of some intentional fault on its part], but by the will of Him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will also be freed from its bondage to decay [and gain entrance] into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been moaning together as in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only this, but we too, who have the first fruits of the Spirit [a joyful indication of the blessings to come], even we groan inwardly, as we wait eagerly for [the sign of] our adoption as sons—the redemption and transformation of our body [at the resurrection]. 24 For in this hope we were saved [by faith]. But hope [the object of] which is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait eagerly for it with patience and composure.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
So, how is your day so far today?
Did you dread getting out of bed this morning?
Will you be irritated by traffic on the way to work?
Are you facing unreasonable demands from your employer?
Is there ongoing tension in your marriage?
Do you find that your children are ever more appreciative of what you do on their behalf?
Did the evening news cheer you at the end of the day?
Are you simply tired of the same old routine, and longing for something new?
Chances are you feel burdened about one or more issues above.
You are certainly not alone.
In fact, the Bible states,
“For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now. Not only that but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the first fruits – we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:22-23).
All of creation groans, longing for redemption.
The Definition of Redemption
The dictionary defines redemption as:
1. the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil.
2. the action of regaining or gaining possession of something in exchange for payment, or clearing a debt.
Romans 5:8-11 specifies,
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”
Redemption is used in both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.
The Old Testament.
In the Old Testament, redemption involves deliverance from bondage based on the payment of a price by a redeemer.
The Hebrew root words used most often for the concept of redemption are pada, gaal, and kapar.
The verb pada is a legal term concerning the substitution required for the person or animal delivered.
The verb gaal is a legal term for the deliverance of some person, property, or right to which one had a previous claim through family relation or possession.
The meaning of the third verb, kapar, is to cover.
Fundamental to the message of the New Testament is the announcement that Jesus of Nazareth is the fulfillment of Israel’s messianic hope and that, in him, the long-awaited redemption has arrived.
Deliverance of humankind from its state of alienation from God has been accomplished through the death and resurrection of Christ (Romans 4:25; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19).
In the New Testament, redemption requires the payment of a price, but the plight that requires such a ransom is moral, not material.
Humankind is held in the captivity of sin from which only the atoning death of Jesus Christ can liberate. (“Entry for ‘Redeem, Redemption'”. “Evangelical Dictionary of Theology”)
Redemption is Necessary
When life gets hard we tend to say that we need a break.
What we really need, however, is redemption.
Instead of gaining a momentary respite from the madness that surrounds us, redemption is the promise of God to deliver us from the power and presence of sin.
If this promise sounds too good to be true, consider the fact that the world used to work this way.
Prior to their rebellion, Adam and Eve had unbroken fellowship with God, unparalleled intimacy with each other and undisturbed enjoyment in their Edenic environment.
There has never been a time such as theirs when humans exercised biblical dominion over creation, complemented each other so completely and joyously lived every moment of every day under the rule of God.
But there will be again.
The Bible envisions a day when these broken relationships will be forever restored.
God’s people will inherit a new earth that bears abundant food apart from the sweat of their brow and without the threat of thorns (Revelation 22:2).
They will never feel pain or cause others to experience hurt of any kind as their tears have been eternally wiped away (Revelation 21:4).
Death will no longer haunt the living as gentle lambs will rest side by side with formerly carnivorous wolves (Isaiah 11:6).
Best of all, God will dwell with his people (Revelation 22:3).
Nothing unclean will be allowed to enter the new creation.
There will be no trees that trick or serpents that tempt.
Worship, not worry, will characterize the family of God in a world without end.
In a word, this fallen world will be redeemed.
Thus, the Christian worldview is premised on two realities:
God’s good world spoiled by human sin (fall) and sinful humans made fit to enjoy God forever (redemption).
In spite of the fall, the world continues to work – sort of.
After the fall, Adam and Eve’s oldest son proved remarkably adept at navigating through life.
Cain married a woman and loved their son (Genesis 4:17).
The curse of the ground notwithstanding, Cain became a farmer and then a city builder (Genesis 4:3, 17).
Even Cain’s descendants were known for their creative prowess, including advancements in shepherding livestock, playing musical instruments and developing sturdy weaponry (Genesis 4:20-22).
Put simply, even fallen people in a fallen world somehow manage to contribute to human progress.
On the other hand, even morally upright people manage to confirm the human predicament.
Noah is such a man who, in the midst of a moral sewer, managed to find favor in God’s eyes (Genesis 6:8).
His craftsmanship is demonstrated through his ability to build an ark that withstood the most destructive storm ever.
His attention to detail spared not only his life but that of his family and the entire animal kingdom (Genesis 6:14-22).
Nevertheless, in spite of God’s grace towards him, Noah later became drunk and passed out naked in his tent (Genesis 9:20-21).
When he awoke he cursed generations yet to be born (Genesis 9:24).
This is hardly the behavior one would expect from the man God used to rescue the world but Noah’s life confirms that “there is no one righteous, not even one”(Romans 3:10).
Redemption is Already Accomplished but Not Yet Complete
Humans still retain the image of God, which accounts for any semblance of goodness and enables any sense of progress (Genesis 1:26-27; 9:6).
However, life is not as it should be in this fallen world.
Theologians have differed over the means by which Adam’s sin has been passed down to every person but the reality of death provides sufficient confirmation that no one is exempt (Romans 5:12).
Though Charles Manson and Billy Graham took completely different paths with their lives, both are subject to the death sentence as are you and I.
The Bible thus describes our common plight: we are “dead” in our “trespasses and sins” and we are “by nature children under wrath” (Ephesians 2:1,3).
Redemption is the reversal of the fall.
In part, this reversal means that those who were spiritually dead are made alive (Ephesians 2:4) and those who were children of wrath are now children of God (1 John 3:1).
Though the Bible recognizes fallen people may make positive contributions to the world as a whole, the Bible is quite clear that no one can contribute anything positive to their own redemption (Romans 3:23-28).
The only person qualified to undo the effects of the fall is Jesus Christ who, as the eternal Son of God incarnated through the Virgin Mary. by the Holy Spirit.
This is not to say that he was not tempted as he lived in a fallen world and experienced genuine struggles that all humans face (Hebrews 2:14-18).
However, the Bible unflinchingly states that Jesus never sinned (2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22) and thus focuses on him alone as the one who can make sinful humans fit to worship a holy God (Acts 4:12).
Even the death of Jesus was not the result of any sin he committed but rather the most gracious act of love ever displayed, where he took upon himself the sins of the world so that all who believe in him will be saved (Romans 5:6-11).
The Big Picture of Redemption in the Bible
The doctrine of redemption extends even beyond the matter of individual salvation.
During his lifetime, Jesus provided abundant proof of his ability to completely restore a fallen world.
He demonstrated his lordship over heaven when he calmed the storms on the sea (Mark 4:35-41);
he demonstrated his lordship over hell when he exorcised demons from a troubled man (Mark 5:1-20);
he demonstrated his lordship over life when he healed a woman of her incurable disease (Mark 5:24-34);
and he demonstrated his lordship over death when he raised a young girl from the dead (Mark 5:35-43).
With these and countless other unwritten miracles (John 20:30-31; 21:25), Jesus provided ample reason for us all to conclude that this troubled world is not our home – in the end, He himself will make all things new (Revelation 21:5).
The final book of the Bible is, therefore, a fitting end to the story of the fall with its triumphant declaration of full redemption:
“Then he showed me the river of living water, sparkling like crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the broad street of the city. The tree of life was on both sides of the river, bearing 12 kinds of fruit, producing its fruit every month. The leaves of the trees are for healing the nations, and there will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and His slaves will serve Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. Night will no longer exist, and people will not need lamplight or sunlight, because the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign forever and ever” (Revelation 22:1-5).
Living in Light of Redemption
Living in a fallen world as Christians means we will experience trials and tribulations and will continue to struggle with our own temptations.
We are forgiven, but God is not finished with us yet(Philippians 1:6).
Consequently, longing for a better world, even a perfect world, is not a form of escapism.
Rather, it is the Christian’s rightful anticipation of a promise made by the One who justly pronounced a curse on this world and then lovingly took that curse upon Himself in order to, for once and all time, redeem people for His glory.
What are some practical steps that you can use to share the story of redemption with others?
Recognize that we are all products of the fall and in need of redemption.
It’s easy to forget that people who bother us are often people just like us.
We are all affected and afflicted by the fall.
When we view people through the lens of being fallen (instead of expecting them to live as if they were fully redeemed), we can be more sympathetic.
Thus, instead of bearing a grudge against them we should recognize the need to point them to their Redeemer.
Jesus stated it this way: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments”(Matthew 22:35-40).
Realize that the sufferings of this world are temporary.
This is not to diminish the pain we feel when our bodies fail or when friends betray us.
Pain is hurtful and we will feel it.
Yet, the promise of redemption is that our pain and hurt are not final.
We have hope because God Himself has promised to redeem all of creation.
If we want others to share in our story of redemption, we do this best when we live in light our future redemption.
1 Corinthians 2:9 states,
“But as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived’ – God has prepared these things for those who love him.”
Respond to God’s grace in your life by offering grace to others.
One of the joys we will experience in the new heavens and new earth is knowing that we are there because someone shared the good news of the gospel with us.
How much more will our joy be to know that someone has been redeemed because we shared the story of redemption with them!
We can do this with gentleness and kindness: “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15).
Creation is Groaning as in the Pains of Childbirth.
Romans 8:22 Amplified Bible
22 For we know that the whole creation has been moaning together as in the pains of childbirth until now.
God created a paradise and sin ruined it.
Fortunately for us that is not the end of the story, creation is longing to be restored to the state it was created to be in, based on the promise of God.
This promise was fulfilled in Jesus and now Paul describes the physical fulfillment of this promise as something creation is in anticipation for.
He likens this waiting period to the labor pains of childbirth.
The process might be hard and might take awhile but once started there is no way to stop it.
And the end result makes the whole thing worth it.
Many people look around and make a judgment call based on what they see.
They look at the state of our natural realm and see death and decay.
Our news channels are filled with warnings of global warming ruining our environment.
Many organizations rally the governments and it’s citizens to save the planet.
However, the Bible says that creation as already been saved.
After taking all of this in it would be easy to say that God hasn’t fulfilled his promise to creation yet based on the natural evidence of this.
However, when Jesus came, I John says, that he came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).
Since he has already come, Satan’s power over creation has been destroyed.
We know this because Jesus came the first time to reconcile us to the Father and he will come the second time to redeem us and take us home.
Based on this we understand that creation has already received the first fruits of it’s redemption because Jesus has sent to us the Holy Spirit to testify that we are his children.
Paul said earlier in this chapter that this revelation of the sons of God is what creation has been waiting for (Romans 8:19).
Paul uses the illustration of childbirth to illuminate this very truth and to help us understand that just because we cannot see it, does not mean it has not happened yet.
Pregnancy is a sign that new life is something which is already taking place, awaiting the moment when God and God alone calls the new life into being.
Psalm 29:8-10 Amplified Bible
8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; The Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the Lord [a]makes the doe labor and give birth And strips the forests bare; And in His temple all are saying, “Glory!”
10 The Lord sat as King at the flood; Yes, the Lord sits as King forever.
When a child is conceived within the womb of the mother, the evidence of this isn’t apparent for a time, even to the women – but changes are already starting.
Psalm 139:13-18 Amplified Bible
13 For You formed my innermost parts; You knit me [together] in my mother’s womb. 14 I will give thanks and praise to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was being formed in secret, And intricately and skillfully formed [as if embroidered with many colors] in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were appointed for me, When as yet there was not one of them [even taking shape].
17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I could count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.
The body of the mother is already beginning to adjust itself to receive the new life and attach it to the walls of the uterus where it may be nourished by mom as it steadily comes together and grows and grows as God has ordained it to be so.
A women doesn’t become pregnant when there is evidence to support that she is bearing a child, a women becomes pregnant at the conception of this child.
This illustration helps us to understand that the physical evidence always follows the act.
The spiritual always births the physical.
Creations’ redemption is already complete in the spiritual realm and now it is experiencing the labor pains which have started announcing to the reader the physical manifestation of this.
The amazing thing about labor and childbirth is that afterward comes fullness of joy.
The pains and hardship experienced are quickly forgotten once a baby is held in arms.
Countless women cannot recall any details of their labor because the joy of motherhood is so great.
Knowing what this type of suffering produces gives courage to all to endure it.
The same is true with creation.
Expectation of being restored to a perfect sinless existence is enough to endure hardship right now.
Creation is waiting in anticipation for it’s final redemption because it knows the One who promised is faithful.
Today, I join with creation in praising our God, looking forward to that day when I will see him face to face.
May you also join with us in celebration our full redemption through Christ Jesus, Amen!
The First Fruits of the Spirit
Romans 8:23 Amplified Bible
23 And not only this, but we too, who have the first fruits of the Spirit [a joyful indication of the blessings to come], even we groan inwardly, as we wait eagerly for [the sign of] our adoption as sons—the redemption and transformation of our body [at the resurrection].
Heart change comes quickly on the heels of Salvation.
This is because at Salvation our entire being and nature is completely changed when we get the Holy Spirit deposited inside of us testifying to the fact that we now belong to the family of God.
The Holy Spirit is given to us as the first fruits of our eternal redemption through Christ Jesus.
This is a foretaste of the blissful things that are to come.
Our bodies long to be clothed with Christ and like creation, we groan inwardly a waiting for this adoption to take place.
If the world and it’s desires held anything over you, once you are born again, the illusions of this world seem to fade away.
Replacing them comes a longing to be reunited with Christ.
Paul talks in detail about this desire.
In 2 Corinthians 5 Paul talks about a inward groaning in which we long to be further clothed and fitted with our heavenly dwelling.
On this earth we long and groan under the burden of this body because we are being fitted with a heavenly body fashioned after Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:2-5).
But in the same way that he is preparing us and making us fit for this heavenly body, the Holy Spirit is given to us as a guarantee of the fulfillment of this promise while on this earth (2 Corinthians 5:5 Amp).
So in this we can rejoice knowing that we have already received the first fruits of our redemption.
The amazing thing about knowing this promise is that we can rest assured of our future with God.
He left nothing up to chance but has done everything to bring restoration to us through his son Jesus.
Today I am so blessed to be called a child of God.
I am so blessed to have the Holy Spirit inside of me to testify to this wonderful truth every moment of the day.
I pray that this scripture based truth will come to bless you mightily today!
Amen!
In the name of God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Everlasting God, as our hearts yearn and groan within us waiting for the fullness of your kingdom, help us to pray, help us to wait, help us to not be misled by deception, but with undivided hearts look for the true light of your coming. Heavenly Father, thank You that in Christ I have been made a new creation. Thank You that the day is coming when the curse on the whole of Your groaning creation will be lifted. Until that time I pray I may live and work to Your praise and glory in Jesus name I pray,
Dear Father, you have blessed me with so many wonderful blessings. I thank you for each and every one of them. At the same time, dear Father, I do long to be brought into your presence in glory as your child. The pain and heartache of the world, the fragility of my body, and my frustration with my own vulnerability to sin keeps me longing for the day that your Son returns in glory. Until that day, help me as I try to be your holy child, let the Body of Christ be Your Church. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
21 When they approached Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples [ahead], 2 saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and at once you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you should say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and without delay the owner will send them [with you].” 4 This happened so that what was spoken by the prophet would be fulfilled, saying:
5 “Tell the daughter of Zion (the people of Jerusalem), ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, Gentle and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”
6 Then the disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them, 7 and they brought the donkey and [a]the colt, and [b]placed their coats on them; and Jesus sat on the coats. 8 Most of the crowd spread their coats on the road [as before a king], while others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of Him, and those that followed Him, were shouting [in praise and adoration],
“[c]Hosanna to the Son of David (Messiah); Blessed [praised, glorified] is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest [heaven]!”
10 When He entered Jerusalem, all the city was trembling [with excitement], saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.”
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
Triumphal Entry? Great Expectations? A King on His Donkey?
At first observation after a few readings of this narrative account of the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, I realized something about the two images disconnected.
The picture would have been perfect if Jesus had been riding a white horse, used in those days by warrior kings to symbolize conquering power, decisive victory.
But the narrator Matthew specifically highlighted: Jesus rode on the back of a donkey – the disciples celebrated and paraded their Messiah King on a donkey.
Why?
What image were they hoping, planning to project to the gathered crowds?
What were they expecting the gathering crowds to see and understand of this?
What of the gathering crowds at the gates of the city of Jerusalem?
What were their expectations of the coming of their “Messiah King?”
What were we expecting to see?
What “coming new thing” were we expecting to learn about or be reminded of?
An unarmed conquering warrior Itinerant Master Rabbi?
Long ago, prophet Zechariah said the Messiah would come in righteousness, riding on a donkey, a symbol of humility and peace (Zechariah 9:9 Amplified).
Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O Daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King (Messianic King) is coming to you; He is righteous and endowed with salvation, [a]Humble and unassuming [in submission to the will of the Father] and riding on a [b]donkey, Upon a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Though most of the people would have probably seen Jesus fulfilling this prophecy as their Messiah (see also Psalm 118:25-26 Amplified),
25 O Lord, save now, we beseech You; O Lord, we beseech You, send now prosperity and give us success! 26 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord; We have blessed you from the house of the Lord [you who come into His sanctuary under His guardianship].
Jesus came in triumph into His city under God’s guardianship, they expected him to announce the arrival of a war of rebellion against Roman oppressors.
But he didn’t.
Instead he had no army behind him, nobody is waving any swords or spears.
He was not even armed with a spear or a sword nor did anyone hand him one!
Perhaps with expectations crushed that’s why the chanting crowds changed their tune from “Hosanna” to “Crucify him!” 5 days later (Matthew 27:22-23).
Matthew 27:22-23 Amplified Bible
22 Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all replied, “Let Him be crucified!” 23 And he said, “Why, what has He done that is evil?” But they continued shouting all the louder, “Let Him be crucified!”
Considering our state of current events, I don’t guess, and I wont prophesize that things will have actually changed much from then until now, have they?
People are still willing to rally around the banner of Christ if it goes along with their own interests, if their expected understanding of Christ comes to them as they always expected, approved because their expectations have been fully met.
We also desire, even to go so far as to expect we can maintain a good Christian confession while trying to avoid standing too close to the lingering shadows of the cross, or getting too close to actually running to the tomb to see emptiness.
But Jesus, the King who actually rode on an actual donkey, calls us to actually examine our much paraded walk with him as we come to the cross this Friday.
Center yourselves and dig deep and CRY,
“Am I just here for the Parade?“
Am I just coming along side of everyone else, because everyone else is here right now or everyone else is going along for the ride because it all looks so very interesting and might even be a measure of fun or something I and my business might profit from?
If I have to actually get serious about all this, to decide between God and my job, my reputation, something else in my life—will I also change my expectations?”
The celebration of Palm Sunday is about King Jesus riding to the cross in total obedience to his Father – about His grace and peace come by way of the cross.
Will we with our packed luggage of preconceived expectations receive him in the same way he was presented by the Gospel narrator Matthew in chapter 21?
Our Expectations – A Humble, Triumphant King?
Matthew 21:5-11 Amplified Bible
5 “Tell the daughter of Zion (the people of Jerusalem), ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, Gentle and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”
6 Then the disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them, 7 and they brought the donkey and [a]the colt, and [b]placed their coats on them; and Jesus sat on the coats. 8 Most of the crowd spread their coats on the road [as before a king], while others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of Him, and those that followed Him, were shouting [in praise and adoration],
“[c]Hosanna to the Son of David (Messiah); Blessed [praised, glorified] is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest [heaven]!”
10 When He entered Jerusalem, all the city was trembling [with excitement], saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Jesus was getting near the end of His ministry.
He had been telling the disciples that He would be killed.
Now He comes riding into the city, sitting on donkey’s foal.
This was to fulfill a prophecy made by Zechariah.
Kings, leaders, presidents and others in high authority are known for arriving with a lot of pomp and circumstance – it is expected to show them great respect.
There is always a lot of fanfare going on to bring in someone of high leadership.
Whenever the President of the United States arrives at a building where he is going to speak, he arrives with a great fanfare and a great entourage of people.
There are multiple vehicles in front and behind him.
When he walks out into a room, there is always some music playing, people rise up for him, and He is announced.
The same goes for famous celebrities.
Standing room only crowds
There is a lot of pictures and videos being taken.
All kinds of busyness, posting and sharing activity across social media outlets.
Celebrities arrive in a large limousine.
There is flashing of jewelry and expensive clothing.
There are red carpets.
There are lots and lots of television and journalists, and paparazzi’s.
It is a show of pride and luxury, with no sign of humility.
In many countries, when their leader arrives, there is also a great show of their military power.
Soldiers, weapons, and military equipment tour d’ force go paraded before the visiting leader to show who is in control and who exactly has all the power .
Jesus did not do any of this.
He came in riding on a baby donkey.
In the biblical times, a king would arrive on a horse showing great power.
Jesus did not show any of that, even though He had more power than all the kings on the earth combined.
He created the earth and all who are in it (John 1:1-5).
John 1:1-5 Amplified Bible
The Deity of Jesus Christ
1 In the beginning [before all time] was the Word ([a]Christ), and the Word was with God, and [b]the Word was God Himself. 2 He was [continually existing] in the beginning [co-eternally] with God. 3 All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him not even one thing was made that has come into being. 4 In Him was life [and the power to bestow life], and the life was the Light of men. 5 The Light shines on in the [c]darkness, and the darkness did not understand it or overpower it or appropriate it or absorb it [and is unreceptive to it].
The purpose of His arriving in that way, was to show love and compassion.
He is a king who can understand where people are, so He comes in humility.
Most people do not have the grand horse to ride on, but just have the donkey.
Even today, our Savior, our King Jesus comes to you in love and compassion.
He does have the power, but will not show a force of threat to get you to follow.
Jesus wants you and me to want to follow Him.
He understands where we and our “great expectations” are and is there for you.
As we proceed through this Holy Week,
Let’s take a slightly longer look at our “great expectations,”
our Godly versus Worldly priorities;
Matthew 6:33Amplified Bible
33 But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also.
He is not unapproachable.
He is not unknowable.
He is not unreachable.
He is not untouchable.
Do not fear your king.
Do not fear your Savior.
He is gentle.
He is always and forever in and within our very midst …
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
1. Come, thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free; from our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in thee. Israel’s strength and consolation, hope of all the earth thou art; dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart.
2. Born thy people to deliver, born a child and yet a King, born to reign in us forever, now thy gracious kingdom bring. By thine own eternal spirit rule in all our hearts alone; by thine all sufficient merit, raise us to thy glorious throne.
___Charles Wesley___ 1707-1788
I pray today that you will know this Jesus riding on the donkey’s back as your king; you will know Jesus is gentle and loving; that you and I will seek him as he seeks you and me to find Jesus in our life; that we will show His love and humility in your life. Lord Jesus, may we ever so lovingly and willingly obey you and joyfully follow you, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, Savior of us all, in whose name we pray. Amen.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God [a]who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I and has priority over me, for He existed before me.’ 31 [b]I did not recognize Him [as the Messiah]; but I came baptizing [c]in water so that He would be [publicly] revealed to Israel.” 32 John gave [further] evidence [testifying officially for the record, with validity and relevance], saying, “I have seen the [d]Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. 33 I did not recognize Him [as the Messiah], but He who sent me to baptize [e]in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this One is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I myself have [actually] seen [that happen], and my testimony is that this is the Son of God!”
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
The Preacher, with an inviting tone, filled the air with, “Who wants to testify about the goodness of the Lord?”
Testimonies of the goodness of God are a sure and certain motivation for the saints of God to keep going forward when the struggles in life weighed heavy.
John the Baptist had a sure, certain testimony about the goodness of God.
John 1:29-34 declares God has invaded the world in the person of Jesus Christ.
John 1:29-34 gives every Christian a sure and certain model testimony that we can draw powerful inspiration from, to learn to give about our own life journey.
First, John the Baptist knew instantaneously that in the salvation business, his ministry was decisively limited, only the perfect Lamb of God can take away sin.
Second, John the Baptist surely and certainly accepted the role of second chair.
He declared without hesitation that he absolutely was not the main thing.
John the Baptist unequivocally said, “A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.”
He was a humble servant to Jesus.
Third, John the Baptist gave a testimony of what he saw and experienced.
Without hesitation, the story John the Baptist told throughout his ministry is this: “I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”
On this day before Palm Sunday, we too will have a powerful and inspiring testimony: tell your family and friends the story of Jesus, the Lamb of God!
That is our Witness!
That is our Testimony
That is our Coming Story!
“BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKETH AWAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD”
Why Is the ‘Lamb of God’ So Significant To Us?
The Bible talks about the “Lamb of God” and often features imagery about lambs.
Spiritually, the Lamb of God is incredibly significant because it expresses the core of our faith.
In these our most contemporary of times, two thousand years after the words of John were first spoken and resoundingly declared, our learning why the Lamb of God is so significant can inspire us too with awe, to deepen our trust in Jesus.
Who is the Lamb of God?
The phrase “Lamb of God” is a name given to Jesus in the Bible.
The Bible first mentions the Lamb of God in John 1:29, John sees Jesus and declares, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”.
John the Baptist continues to testify about Jesus and concludes in John 1:34:“I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”
Whenever the Lamb of God appears in the Bible, it refers to Jesus.
What Does the “Lamb of God” Mean?
Jesus as the Lamb of God expresses significant theological and symbolic meaning.
It highlights the sacrificial nature of Jesus’ mission as the world’s Savior.
Just as lambs – gentle animals who symbolize purity – were offered as sacrifices in the Old Testament to atone for sins, Jesus served as a sacrifice to atone for the sins of humanity.
The phrase “Lamb of God” refers to Jesus as the perfect and ultimate sacrifice provided by God for the single perfect atonement of all the sins of his people.
Why Is the “Lamb of God” So Significant?
Relating to Jesus as the Lamb of God shows us the heart of why our faith is important.
It is only by trusting Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins we can connect with a holy God.
Otherwise, we would perish.
John 3:16 celebrates the love behind this core sacrifice: “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.”
John 3:17 declares God’s intent behind this core sacrifice: “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge and condemn the world [that is, to initiate the final judgment of the world], but that the world might be saved through Him.”
It’s important for us to trust Jesus’ work as the Lamb of God in order for us to be able to enjoy relationships with God and grow in holiness and gentleness.
Apostle Paul wrote, “For our sake he [God] made him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Sacrifice is necessary because, as Hebrews 9:22 says, “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”
The entire sacrificial system established by God in the Old Testament prepares the way for Jesus coming to save the world as the Lamb of God.
In that system, lambs were often sacrificed in temples as offerings to God to atone for people’s sins.
A lamb was sacrificed for the sins of the people every morning and evening in Jerusalem (Exodus 29:38-42).
These sacrifices foreshadowed the perfect sacrifice of Christ on the cross that would happen later.
Interestingly, Jesus died on the cross at the same time the evening sacrifice was being made in the temple.
The Jews at that time were familiar with the Old Testament prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah, who foretold the coming of someone who would be led “like a lamb to the slaughter” (Jeremiah 11:19 and Isaiah 53:7).
Isaiah 53:5-6 prophesies about how Jesus’ suffering and sacrifice will redeem people: “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace [Isaiah 26:1-3] was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
This person was none other than Jesus, the Lamb of God.
God instructed the Israelites to sacrifice a lamb for the Passover feast (Exodus 12:1-30).
The innocent lamb represented purity, and its sacrifice was a symbol of repentance and submission to God’s will.
Similarly, Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross at Calvary to save humanity from sin shows he is the Lamb of God who makes the ultimate sacrifice necessary to ultimately and finally connect woefully sinful humanity to a perfectly holy God.
In fact, the slaying of the Passover lamb and applying its blood to the doorposts of the houses powerfully depicts Jesus’ atoning work on the cross.
If we trust Jesus as our Savior, we are spiritually covered by his blood, which protects us from spiritual death.
Romans 8:1-4 explains how Jesus’ physical sacrifice has made spiritual freedom possible for people:
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
Since humanity had sinned in the flesh (physically), and our holy God can’t be corrupted by sin, through Calvary, God made a way for our sins to be atoned for physically so we would no longer be separated from Him because of our sins.
Jesus’ work as the Lamb of God made it possible for all people to enjoy loving relationships with God, despite sin.
1 Peter 1:18-19 celebrates that redemptive work: “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”
Jesus has provided all we need to be forgiven forever for all of our sins, and he serves as our advocate for everything we need.
The entire chapter of Hebrews 10 describes the importance of Jesus’ work as the Lamb of God who takes away our sins.
As Hebrews 10:10 proclaims: “… we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
Now, there is no need to sacrifice animals like lambs to God in a temple, because Jesus has provided an everlasting sacrifice on our behalf so we can enjoy relationships with God.
The chapter goes on to encourage us to persevere in our faith with confidence because of Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice for us:
“Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”
Not only does the Bible look back to Jesus’ crucifixion as the Lamb of God, but it also looks forward to Jesus as the Lamb of God in heaven.
Revelation 5:6 describes Jesus in heaven as “a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain.”
This image reinforces the sacrificial nature of Jesus’ mission and emphasizes the victory he achieved through his sacrifice.
A few verses later in Revelation 5:11-13,
the Bible reveals all created beings in heaven and earth – angels, people, and other creatures – worshiping Jesus for his work as the Lamb of God:
“Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying: ‘Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!’ Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!’”
This passage shows the importance of our own selves learning, appreciating, the indescribable wonder of God’s work and responding to it with gratitude.
Revelation 7:9 shows Jesus in heaven as the Lamb of God, with a huge amount of people whose souls had been redeemed thanks to his sacrifice on earth:
“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.”
An angel explains to the apostle John in Revelation 17:14 that Jesus, the Lamb of God, will defeat evil and reign victorious over the universe:
“They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings – and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”
Significance of Jesus as the Lamb of God Conclusion
The Lamb of God refers to Jesus as the perfect and ultimate sacrifice for sin.
The significance of the Lamb of God speaks to the core message of Christianity:
that through Jesus’ sacrifice at Calvary, we can be reconciled to God and receive forgiveness for our sins.
The Lamb of God is undeniably significant and central unto the Christian faith!
Because it emphasizes Jesus’ sacrificial mission and symbolizes his innocence, purity, and victory over sin and death.
As we approach tomorrow, the umpteenth time of our “holding up our palm branches, shouting our Hosannas” celebrating Jesus’ arrival into Jerusalem;
As we reflect on the meaning of the Lamb of God, may we be inspired to the utmost by the great love God has for us, the price that Jesus paid to redeem us.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Loving Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Jesus as the true Lamb of God Who has taken away all my sins. I am so thankful that Jesus died on the Cross for me, becoming the only perfect substitute for my sins. In Jesus’ name I pray, AMEN.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 