April 13 – Holy Wednesday – When a Seed Dies

“And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” John 12:23-24  (ESV)

 

During the last week before Jesus died on the cross he was in contact with many people in Jerusalem. In John's record we read in Chapter 12 about some people from Greek regions who came looking for Him. They said, “We would like to see Jesus.” When the disciples tell Jesus what the Greeks asked, His reply is found in today's verse. Instead of responding to the curious sight-seers Jesus begins to talk about his coming death. When Jesus says “the hour,” He refers to the time of His death, resurrection, and exaltation. Up to now, Jesus’ hour had always been future. He knew that by dying on the cross He would do more good for those Greeks (Gentiles) than by just satisfying their curiosity.  We think of Jesus' death like a seed planted which sprouts to bear many seeds. So Jesus, through his death and resurrection has brought many people into the family of God. We don't know if those Greeks ever believed in Jesus as their Savior but they could have. They wanted to see Jesus. Maybe they did. Because He died, we have come to know Him and one day will see Him in heaven.

 

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June 6 – Absolutely Truthful

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.” – Romans 5:8-9 (NASB)

Truth has always been absolute – even when mixed in with untruthful statements, the part that is true is absolutely true. Today we hear that there is “my truth” and “your truth” even when they contradict one another. This leaves “truth” that cannot really be trusted, doesn’t it?  It’s relative truth which isn’t truth. A politician’s promises are spoken and we understand that there is little if anything to trust in those false promises. We learn to distrust because of the pattern of untruthfulness. God has a different way His truth is absolute and based on His character. We can trust Him because of His pattern of truthfulness. When God says He loves us, we can know it is the truth. He demonstrated and proved His love before we were redeemed by Him, when we were still separated from Him by our sin. Doing nothing for it, God demonstrated His love toward us. We have been justified by Christ’s shedding His blood His death and resurrection. The promise He gave us is that we will be saved from the wrath of God’s judgment through believing in Christ Jesus. We’re secure in His Absolute Truthful Word.  

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March 2 – Trust Only One Way

“The [this] saying is trustworthy,
for if we have died with him,
    we will also live with him;
if we endure, 

    we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, 

    he also will deny us;
if we are faithless, 

    he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself.”
                - 2 Timothy 2:13 (ESV)

We have heard quotations repeated and often we hear “That’s true.” tagged on for emphasis. The Apostle Paul used the ‘trustworthy-sayings’ formula in his letters to individuals to introduce a familiar saying. It was Paul’s way of confirming the truth in a common saying. In our verse today four comparisons or couplets are set forth. The first two are positive; those who have identified with Christ’s death as a sacrifice accomplished for them, are assured that they will enjoy eternal life with Him. “If we endure” is our identification with Christ through until the end. Our present suffering is related to our and glorification later. Then two negative couplets. Those pretending to believe but are found to be faithless deniers of Jesus will indeed be denied by God. There is no way we can by being good enough to save ourselves. We must believe and trust Jesus Christ and what He did and said for us. The players, the deniers, and the faithless can’t affect any change to Christ’s offer of new life. God’s promises remain true. He cannot deny the truth for He is the Truth and the only Way to eternal Life. God: forever faithful to His word.

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May 17 – The Value is Above

“Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.  For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”  - Colossians 3:2-4 (ESV)

There is a much greater value in spending our time thinking about and making use of the eternal “things above” than becoming busy with the many temporal “things on earth.” We do not have to consider this for very long for us to understand that temporal things have no lasting value. They fade away and are gone like a wisp of smoke when compared to things of heaven that are eternal and come from God.  Before we were born again by the Holy Spirit and became one of God’s adopted children, we had no concept of anything that was better than what we knew. Now we learn this truth from our promise today, since we have died to sin through faith in God, our lives have been hidden with Christ in God.  If one has difficulty understanding that, it may be because they have not yet agreed with God and sought the salvation He freely gives to all who believe on Him. One day, it will become obvious to all the world, we will no longer be hidden but we will be revealed with Christ, who is our life source, in all His glory.

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June 22 – There Is A Purpose

“And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”  2 Corinthians 5:15 (NIV)

The Apostle Paul is speaking of Jesus Christ as he writes these words in his second letter to the believers in Corinth, Greece.  For there are many reasons and many purposes that brought Jesus obediently to the cross and His death by crucifixion.  The reason given here is that it was for all people.  There was and is only one way to please God in this life and that is by accepting what He did for us.  This reminds us of what God wants us to do in return.  He died for us and now we no longer live for ourselves.  Jesus knows those of us who have believed in Him and He expects that this will have an effect on how we live.  He wants us to live for Him so that our actions, activities, and attitudes will bring glory to Him.  We are called to this each day, to follow not our own personal goals and ideas but to look to Jesus for His guidance and then trust Him for the ability and strength to follow in His steps.  Let's do so today.

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January 14 – Called to Where We Are

“God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”   1 Corinthians 1:9 (NIV)

When we believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior we should be aware that we have responded to a call given by the great and only God of the universe.   Our verse today reminds us that God has called us into a fellowship with His Son, Jesus.   Therefore we need to keep in mind that when Jesus died for us by taking our place and punishment, that was just the beginning of His involvement in our lives.  As we believe in  Him He becomes a definite part of our experience of faith and this goes on day after day without end.  Let's remember that Jesus is involved each day, He is there as we turn to Him in faith and He is faithful as His Father is also faithful.  Let's take advantage of this and be sure we experience His involvement through this day, and tomorrow, and each day from now on.  

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March 28 – Holy Wednesday – When a Seed Dies

“Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” John 12:23  (NIV)

During the last week before Jesus died on the cross he was in contact with many people in Jerusalem. In John's record we read in Chapter 12 about some people from Greek who came looking for Him. They said, “We would like to see Jesus.” When two of the disciples inform Jesus what the Greeks said, he replied beginning with the words in today's verse. Instead of responding to the curious sight-seers Jesus begins to talk about his coming death. He knew that by dying on the cross He would do more good for those Greeks (Gentiles) than by just satisfying their curiosity.  Just think of the results of Jesus' death like a seed planted which sprouts to bear many seeds. So Jesus has brought many many people into the family of God. We don't know if those Greeks ever believed in Jesus as their Savior but they could have. They wanted to see Jesus. Maybe they did. Because He died, we have come to know Him.

March 24 – At the Right Time

“For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” Romans 5:6 (NASB)

Easter is on the horizon of our calendars. We will spend the next week looking at the last days of our Lord Jesus before he was crucified and died on the cross. We rejoice because we know “Sunday is coming” after that. When Jesus died on the cross it was no accident. During His last days He knew what was going to happen as He had always known it. That is what he had come for and our verse reminds us that He died at just the right time – the time God had set.  And the reason He had to suffer and the reason he did die was because we could not save ourselves – we could not and can not bear the penalty of rejecting God. We were powerless to clear ourselves before the God of heaven. Jesus did this for us what we could not do for ourselves. And now by faith we become members of God's eternal family. God did not wait until we were good enough, he did it when we were utterly helpless. 

March 25 - Good Friday

“And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.  At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.”  Matthew 27:50-51 (NIV)

The death of Jesus on the cross was a part of God’s great plan for you and me. As we read the record of the crucifixion we find that one of the events that occurred gave a sign of what his death has done for us. We read in John’s record that the last words of Jesus were “It is finished.”  Then he died and at that very moment the curtain in the temple in Jerusalem was torn from top to bottom. Do you remember what that curtain was for? It was to show that people did not have access into God’s presence. His death opened the way for us to come to God. Let’s take advantage of this.