Passage of the Day: Philippians 2: 7 - 8 - 7 … but [Jesus] made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross!
My Journal for Today: Though Jesus walked among mankind in those three years of ministry where people, especially His chosen Disciples, followed Him around, witnessing miracle after miracle, most of these people, who were looking for a Messiah, did not really recognize Christ’s Lordship. As I said, even His closest followers, the twelve Disciples, couldn’t or wouldn’t accept Jesus’ claim to being THE Son of God, the Second Person of the Godhead … even though He did many things they witnessed that only God could do (see all of John 6).
In Christ’s humility and manhood, Jesus, except for His sinlessness (see Heb. 4: 15 cited below) was fully identified with man in His incarnation and walk on this earth. And that’s why His being 100% man actually added something, i.e., perfect empathy, to His omniscience, rather than His being reduced by His emptying of His majesty in the kenosis of becoming “human likeness.” [see again Phil. 2: 6-7] So, now, we look back on THE LORD in His ascension, coronation, and re-glorification, especially after the reality of this resurrection with awe; well, at least I do! Now, we know we have a risen Lord, still sinless as the God-Man, Who could become our High Priest, fully able to have perfected, infinite empathy with our plight and weakness as mankind. He is everything declared by Heb. 4: 15 …
SCRIPTURE: Heb. 4: 15 … we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have One who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.
As we’ve been reviewing this month, Christ’s humility is our great, yes, even perfect, model for the pursuit of the attitude God’s Spirit, through Paul, exhorted us to have in Phil. 2: 5 – an attitude just like Jesus! We often think that it would have been an advantage to have been there and witnessed Christ’s deity on display, seeing all those miracles first hand. But you know, as I alluded above, the Disciples saw all of that; and yet, they still had doubts and fears … fears that led even their strongman, Peter, “the rock,” to cringe in fear and even deny to his Lord.
Well, today we actually have one advantage over those who walked with Jesus and saw Him first hand. We have the codified history – inspired by God Himself – in the collated and cannonized Bible. We have the very real and historically documented resurrection, which only a few were able to see and touch the resurrected Lord in those days of the cross. Yes, men like the eleven remaining Disciples, and others, had the opportunity, to see the resurrected Christ first hand, even touch Him as did Thomas [read John 20]. But anyone who delves into the truths of the New Testament and reads the true account of Jesus can have, as MacArthur recounts, “… heart-felt assurance that He (Christ) was perfectly man and perfectly God.”
My Prayer Today: To know You, as my Lord, even as imperfectly as I do, dear Jesus, is my hope of salvation. Amen
Showing posts with label identification. Show all posts
Showing posts with label identification. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Monday, October 25, 2010
2010 – October 25 – When Mercy Means More
Study from God’s Word… See the Bible passages from the synoptic gospels selected for October 25 in The Daily Bible in Chronological Order, documenting a number of the Sabbath confrontations which Jesus had with the Pharisees and religious leaders over his interaction with sinners and his healing on the Sabbath, all of which were leading to Jesus being labeled as blasphemous and an agent of Satan … Passage for Reflection: Matthew 9: 13 [from Matt. 9: 9 -13] … NIV 9As Jesus went on from there [after healing the paralytic man lowered to Him through the roof], He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," He told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
10While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"
12On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'[from Hosea 6:6] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
My Journal for Today: Today, Dr. Smith in his chronological presentation of the account of the tax collector, Matthew, being called out by Jesus, we read an interested difference in the account of Matthew himself in the third person as “Matthew” [today’s passage above]. However, in the parallel accounts in Mark 2: 13-17 and in Luke 5: 27-32 [linked] both Mark and Luke refer to the tax collector as “Levi,” his given Jewish name; and Mark even refers to him as Levi, the son of Alpheus.
So, why is this important? Well, think about it. If you were Matthew, after being recognized and called out by Jesus, would you want to be known as “Levi,” which in Hebrew means “joined with the priesthood,” or “Matthew,” the Hebrew meaning “gift from God?” As a tax collector, Levi had joined in cahoots with many of the Jewish leaders, which you read about in the three parallel references from today’s Bible readings; and so the people would have thought “Levi” was an appropriate name for this tax collector, one of the most hated classes of people in that day, especially since he had connected himself with the religious leaders of that day. And so, Levi had dubbed himself “Matthew,” and that was the name that Jesus, Himself, referred to His new disciple, one who was about to become an Apostle. Levi wanted more to be known as “Matthew,” one who saves, rather than “Levi,” one who joins with the Pharisees.
Names were very important in Jesus’ times; and we know of names being changed by God and Jesus to describe the true character of a follower. Studying “Abram” becoming “Abraham” in the OT and “Simon,” becoming “Peter,” in the NT are examples. But what we call ourselves when challenged as Christians today is just as important. Dr. Smith asks today in his challenge question: ”If I proudly wear the name ‘Christian,’ have I forgotten that it is a word signifying God’s great gift of mercy to me?”
And note what Jesus said from the above text, which confronting the Pharisees. He told them to go and see what Hosea had said in the Old Testament (see Hosea 6: 6), which foretold of the One Who would desire mercy more than any other; and that, of course, was Jesus, The Messiah, who proclaims in today’s text, for the Pharisees to hear then, or for us to read today, For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” And is not that the greatest act of mercy of all.
And so, just like Jesus called out “Levi,” who would become “Matthew,” He has called out yours truly, a wretched sinner, whom Jesus would rename “Saint,” and give me the mercy of His great gift of salvation, which He laid upon me when I repented of my sin and received His gift of saving grace.
Again, my friend … here it comes … HALLELUJAH!!!
My Prayer for Today: Yes, Lord, … HALLELUJAH … for renaming this sinner as “Saint” by Your shed blood and my faith in You as my Lord and Savior. And I pray that all who read here have received that same eternal gift. Amen
10While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"
12On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'[from Hosea 6:6] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
My Journal for Today: Today, Dr. Smith in his chronological presentation of the account of the tax collector, Matthew, being called out by Jesus, we read an interested difference in the account of Matthew himself in the third person as “Matthew” [today’s passage above]. However, in the parallel accounts in Mark 2: 13-17 and in Luke 5: 27-32 [linked] both Mark and Luke refer to the tax collector as “Levi,” his given Jewish name; and Mark even refers to him as Levi, the son of Alpheus.
So, why is this important? Well, think about it. If you were Matthew, after being recognized and called out by Jesus, would you want to be known as “Levi,” which in Hebrew means “joined with the priesthood,” or “Matthew,” the Hebrew meaning “gift from God?” As a tax collector, Levi had joined in cahoots with many of the Jewish leaders, which you read about in the three parallel references from today’s Bible readings; and so the people would have thought “Levi” was an appropriate name for this tax collector, one of the most hated classes of people in that day, especially since he had connected himself with the religious leaders of that day. And so, Levi had dubbed himself “Matthew,” and that was the name that Jesus, Himself, referred to His new disciple, one who was about to become an Apostle. Levi wanted more to be known as “Matthew,” one who saves, rather than “Levi,” one who joins with the Pharisees.
Names were very important in Jesus’ times; and we know of names being changed by God and Jesus to describe the true character of a follower. Studying “Abram” becoming “Abraham” in the OT and “Simon,” becoming “Peter,” in the NT are examples. But what we call ourselves when challenged as Christians today is just as important. Dr. Smith asks today in his challenge question: ”If I proudly wear the name ‘Christian,’ have I forgotten that it is a word signifying God’s great gift of mercy to me?”
And note what Jesus said from the above text, which confronting the Pharisees. He told them to go and see what Hosea had said in the Old Testament (see Hosea 6: 6), which foretold of the One Who would desire mercy more than any other; and that, of course, was Jesus, The Messiah, who proclaims in today’s text, for the Pharisees to hear then, or for us to read today, For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” And is not that the greatest act of mercy of all.
And so, just like Jesus called out “Levi,” who would become “Matthew,” He has called out yours truly, a wretched sinner, whom Jesus would rename “Saint,” and give me the mercy of His great gift of salvation, which He laid upon me when I repented of my sin and received His gift of saving grace.
Again, my friend … here it comes … HALLELUJAH!!!
My Prayer for Today: Yes, Lord, … HALLELUJAH … for renaming this sinner as “Saint” by Your shed blood and my faith in You as my Lord and Savior. And I pray that all who read here have received that same eternal gift. Amen
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
2010 – June 01 – Identifying with the Righteous
Study from God’s Word… 1st Kings 12: 1-19 [2nd Chron. 10: 1-19]; 1st Kings 12: 20; 1st Kings 21-24 [2nd Chron. 11: 1-4]; 1st Kings 12: 25-33 [2nd Chron. 11: 15]; 2nd Chron. 11: 13-14, 16-17; 1st Kings 13: 1 – 32 … Passage for Reflection: 1st Kings 13: 31 … NIV After burying him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones.”
My Journal for Today: When one reads and studies 1st Kings 13: 11 – 32, the story of the interaction between two prophets of God, one younger and one older, the scenario can be perplexing. There is a younger prophet who has confronted the King of Israel and even refused to stay with him because of God’s decree. And he communicates that story of faith to an older prophet, who then lies to the younger man of God, luring him to eat at the table of the older prophet, which is against what God had told the younger prophet to do.
It’s all pretty confusing; but when it all sorts itself out, and the younger prophet is killed by a lion, apparently dispatched by God for the younger prophet’s disobedience; and we see the older prophet burying the younger man of God and instructing the son’s of the older prophet to bury him next to the bones of the younger man of God. Go figure! And to be honest I’m not sure I can figure this whole deal out, … except to agree what Dr. Smith says in his devotional today, which makes some degree of sense out of a very perplexing story.
Dr. Smith uses this passage and highlighted verse to teach that we need to identify with the lives of those who really have a heart for God and desire to be obedient to our Lord in what they say and do. I think of the man who mentored me for many years as I was being discipled from a new Christian into a more mature version of a sinner becoming the saint God desired for me to become. My mentor was not a perfect man, being a man, like all of us, with a sin nature. But Dr. G., my mentor, was like a David … a man after God’s heart; and he had the same attitude – and posture – of an Apostle Paul, … like when Paul said to the Church at Corinth (in 1st Cor. 11: 1), “You can imitate me because I imitate Christ.”
And I came to identify and follow the heart of my mentor, as well as many of his actions, decisions, and teachings. Like the younger prophet in today’s passage, my mentor was not perfect. The Apostle Paul was not perfect when he was in the middle of his years of ministry and mission work. King David certainly was not perfect, was he? But these were/are men we, as Christians, can identify and follow; because, like King David and the prophets in our story from God’s word today, these were men who had a heart seeking after God’s own heart. And when a believer becomes sold out and surrendered to God, he (or she) may, being human, make mistakes; but following God’s path as obediently as we can, especially by following His word, we will be led toward the righteous path in life; and that is the path to which we must aspire and walk with every fiber of our being.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, shine Your light on the path You desire for me to walk, … that I may follow the Light and be privileged to lead others to You. Amen
My Journal for Today: When one reads and studies 1st Kings 13: 11 – 32, the story of the interaction between two prophets of God, one younger and one older, the scenario can be perplexing. There is a younger prophet who has confronted the King of Israel and even refused to stay with him because of God’s decree. And he communicates that story of faith to an older prophet, who then lies to the younger man of God, luring him to eat at the table of the older prophet, which is against what God had told the younger prophet to do.
It’s all pretty confusing; but when it all sorts itself out, and the younger prophet is killed by a lion, apparently dispatched by God for the younger prophet’s disobedience; and we see the older prophet burying the younger man of God and instructing the son’s of the older prophet to bury him next to the bones of the younger man of God. Go figure! And to be honest I’m not sure I can figure this whole deal out, … except to agree what Dr. Smith says in his devotional today, which makes some degree of sense out of a very perplexing story.
Dr. Smith uses this passage and highlighted verse to teach that we need to identify with the lives of those who really have a heart for God and desire to be obedient to our Lord in what they say and do. I think of the man who mentored me for many years as I was being discipled from a new Christian into a more mature version of a sinner becoming the saint God desired for me to become. My mentor was not a perfect man, being a man, like all of us, with a sin nature. But Dr. G., my mentor, was like a David … a man after God’s heart; and he had the same attitude – and posture – of an Apostle Paul, … like when Paul said to the Church at Corinth (in 1st Cor. 11: 1), “You can imitate me because I imitate Christ.”
And I came to identify and follow the heart of my mentor, as well as many of his actions, decisions, and teachings. Like the younger prophet in today’s passage, my mentor was not perfect. The Apostle Paul was not perfect when he was in the middle of his years of ministry and mission work. King David certainly was not perfect, was he? But these were/are men we, as Christians, can identify and follow; because, like King David and the prophets in our story from God’s word today, these were men who had a heart seeking after God’s own heart. And when a believer becomes sold out and surrendered to God, he (or she) may, being human, make mistakes; but following God’s path as obediently as we can, especially by following His word, we will be led toward the righteous path in life; and that is the path to which we must aspire and walk with every fiber of our being.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, shine Your light on the path You desire for me to walk, … that I may follow the Light and be privileged to lead others to You. Amen
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