Easter

• "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1:3-5)
• "And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty" (1 Cor 15:14).
• "And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!" (1 Cor 15:17).

If it wasn't for the resurrection then my faith would be completely pointless and I would still be in bondage to my sin. Also, I wouldn't have hope for a future resurrection and I would be following a false Messiah. Think about 1 Peter 1:3. Because of the resurrection we have been born again. Amen!

Do You Get It?

I think the Lord is trying to tell us something in Psalm 136:

1 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!For His mercy endures forever.2 Oh, give thanks to the God of gods!For His mercy endures forever.3 Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords!For His mercy endures forever:4 To Him who alone does great wonders,For His mercy endures forever;5 To Him who by wisdom made the heavens,For His mercy endures forever;6 To Him who laid out the earth above the waters,For His mercy endures forever;7 To Him who made great lights,For His mercy endures forever--8 The sun to rule by day,For His mercy endures forever;9 The moon and stars to rule by night,For His mercy endures forever.10 To Him who struck Egypt in their firstborn,For His mercy endures forever;11 And brought out Israel from among them,For His mercy endures forever;12 With a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm,For His mercy endures forever;13 To Him who divided the Red Sea in two,For His mercy endures forever;14 And made Israel pass through the midst of it,For His mercy endures forever;15 But overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea,For His mercy endures forever;16 To Him who led His people through the wilderness,For His mercy endures forever;17 To Him who struck down great kings,For His mercy endures forever;18 And slew famous kings,For His mercy endures forever--19 Sihon king of the Amorites,For His mercy endures forever;20 And Og king of Bashan,For His mercy endures forever--21 And gave their land as a heritage,For His mercy endures forever;22 A heritage to Israel His servant,For His mercy endures forever.23 Who remembered us in our lowly state,For His mercy endures forever;24 And rescued us from our enemies,For His mercy endures forever;25 Who gives food to all flesh,For His mercy endures forever.26 Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven!For His mercy endures forever.

Now read the text without the "His mercy endures forever."

Psalm 136

1 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!2 Oh, give thanks to the God of gods!3 Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords!4 To Him who alone does great wonders,5 To Him who by wisdom made the heavens,6 To Him who laid out the earth above the waters,7 To Him who made great lights,8 The sun to rule by day,9 The moon and stars to rule by night,10 To Him who struck Egypt in their firstborn,11 And brought out Israel from among them,12 With a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm,13 To Him who divided the Red Sea in two,14 And made Israel pass through the midst of it,15 But overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea,16 To Him who led His people through the wilderness,17 To Him who struck down great kings,18 And slew famous kings,19 Sihon king of the Amorites,20 And Og king of Bashan,21 And gave their land as a heritage,22 A heritage to Israel His servant,23 Who remembered us in our lowly state,24 And rescued us from our enemies,25 Who gives food to all flesh,26 Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven!

Truly, His steadfast love endures forever. Because it is repeated so much, it is almost as if the Lord is trying to drill it in our heads: "My mercy endures forever."

Horses and God's Sovereignty

Well I am back on the farm in Norco. That is, I am house sitting for Phil's family and they a bunch of animals. You can get the full info by clicking on my previous post. So anyways, I have to take care of three huge horses. It is so interesting to be around them and gaze upon their strength and size.

In Job 39, God is listing all sorts of things that display his power in creation. He is asking Job, "Where were you when I formed this?" or in other words, "Did YOU make all of this?" He did this in order to show his infinite wisdom, power, and sovereignty.

Here is Job 39:19-25:

19 Do you give the horse his might? Do you clothe his neck with a mane? 20 Do you make him leap like the locust? His majestic snorting is terrifying. 21 He paws in the valley and exults in his strength; he goes out to meet the weapons. 22 He laughs at fear and is not dismayed; he does not turn back from the sword. 23 Upon him rattle the quiver, the flashing spear, and the javelin. 24 With fierceness and rage he swallows the ground; he cannot stand still at the sound of the trumpet. 25 When the trumpet sounds, he says ‘Aha!’ He smells the battle from afar, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

I must answer "No" to all of his questions at the beginning of these verses and admit that He is the creator, and I am not. He is the potter, I am the clay.

No wonder why I am sometimes nervous while standing next to the horses: their snorting is terrifying (v.20), they laugh at fear and wont turn away from the sword (v.22), they fiercely rage (v.24), and they can smell war (v.25). Wow!

So next time I complain about what God is doing, all I have to do is look at the horse and here Him say, "You see that beautiful and powerful horse that isn't scared of anything? Ya, did you make that?"

20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made (Romans 1:20).

The Lord is so powerful and I have to remind myself that he is in control of all things. Good thing I have a constant reminder because all I have to do is look at his creation. It can be as simple as looking at a horse!

Set Free

In Mark 5, a man named Legion who had an unclean spirit was living in some tombs and all day and night he would cry out and cut himself with stones. He was too strong to be locked with shackles and chains, that is, until he had an encounter with the Son of God.

Jesus said, "Come out of the man, unclean Spirit!" Then the demons begged to enter into some swine, so Jesus permitted it. Nearby people were amazed to see this once demon-possessed man sitting next to Jesus and being clothed.

The point of this is that Jesus has done the same for us. He has made us a new creation and clothed us with his righteousness. People can now look at us and be astonished that we can now sit next to Christ and be clothed. I am not saying that we were once all demon-possessed, but we were all slaves to sin. This man who was freed from being demon-possessed asked to go with Jesus as he left, but Jesus said, "Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you" (v.19).

We get to do the same: tell other people (friends) what great things the Lord has done for us, and how He has had compassion on us. We have the opportunity to do this because just as the demon-possessed man was set free from the unclean spirits, we have been set free from sin.

Power

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Cor 1:18).

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek" (Romans 1:16).

The message of the cross is the power of God and the gospel is also described as being the power of God. The message of the cross is the gospel, which is the power of God.

Isn't amazing to think that we have the power of God? Not that we have the power in and of ourselves, but the power is in the message we contain.

The power is in the message, not the messenger.

This message is powerful!

Self-seeking

6 "He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury" (Romans 2:6-8, ESV).

There are only two types of people here, believers and non-believers.

Believers: seek for glory, honor, and immortality = given eternal life.

Non-believers: self-seeking (contentious), do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness = wrath and fury.


What alarms me is that one of the descriptions about the people who will receive wrath and fury is that they are self-seeking. It is extremely contrary to our society to not be self-seeking. This is something we must battle. Lord, help us!

• Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others" (Philippians 2:3-4).

• "Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. 3 For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, "The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me" (Romans 15:2).
• "Let no one seek his own, but each one the other's well-being" (1 Cor 10:24).
  
• "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me" (John 6:38).

Let this not be a description of ourselves: "For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus" Philippians 2:21).

Don't take the credit.

Throughout the book of Acts, Peter is always giving glory to God for the miracles that happened. It is always recorded that the people glorified and praised God, not Peter, for the things that were done. Acts 3-4 is a great example. It talks about how Peter healed a lame man.

• "Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?" (Acts 3:12).
• "let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole" (Acts 4:10)
  
• 

  So let us give the credit to the Lord when He does something, instead of robbing him of his glory.
  

Mercy and Comfort

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort" (2 Cor 1:3).

"The God of all consolation. This most compassionate Father is the God, that is, the author, of all, that is, of all possible, consolation." —Barnes' Notes on the New Testament

Wow. The Father of MERCIES and the God of all COMFORT desires to show his mercy and comfort to ME, a sinner. Forever grateful.

This verse seems so simple but yet it is so profound. This verse will keep growing deeper and deeper; it is beautiful.

You're Preserved

As Jude is addressing his readers he says, "To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ" (Jude 1).

As a Christian, you are:

• Called
• Sanctified
• Preserved
  

Most Christians know that they are called and sanctified, but what a blessing it is to think that we are preserved in Christ. Preserved (tēreō) is to guard from loss or injury; properly by keeping the eye upon. What a great blessing that we are preserved, or kept, in Jesus Christ!

Beloved, Let Us Love One Another

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:34-35

We are called to both love the body of Christ and the lost. So many people within the body of Christ have disputes and tension with one another and it is horrible.

How can we love the lost if we can't even love the redeemed?

What a Great Reminder

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing" (1 Cor 13:1-3, ESV).

Nothing will be profitable unless it is done in love. This is a great reminder for me! No wonder Jesus told us to love God with all that we are and to love our neighbors as ourselves, because nothing will be gained unless it is done in love.

What love is: patient, kind, and it rejoices with truth. It bears, believes, hopes, and endures all things; it never ends.

What love is not: envious, boastful, arrogant, or rude. It does not seek its own, it is not irritable or resentful, and it does not rejoice at wrongdoing.

In order to know love we must know God, because "God is love" (1 John 4:8).

The only way we can act in love is if we are in love with the King!

"Glory!"

Psalm 29:9 (ESV)

The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth
and strips the forests bare,
and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
Psalms 29:9

Wow. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19), so shouldn't everything in us cry out "Glory!" to the Lord just as everyone, or all, did in Psalm 29? Shouldn't every single thing we do be crying out "Glory!" to the Lord? Oh Lord, help us.

God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in Him.

What Did Jesus Become?

But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption-- ³¹ that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the Lord” (1 Cor 1:30-31).

Jesus is all of my wisdom, all of my righteousness, all of my sanctification, and all of my redemption. These are wonderful truths and also great promises. I don’t have to try and seek great knowledge because Jesus is my wisdom. I don’t have to try to do righteous deeds to gain favor because Jesus is my righteousness. I don’t have to try to get closer to God on my own because Jesus is my sanctification. I don’t have to pay for my sins because Jesus is my redemption.

Most important of all:

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor 5:21).

When I reflect on what Jesus became for me, I cannot glory in myself. It forces me to “glory in the LORD.”