Category Archives: Life
The I AM
John 11:25-26 “Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”
Resurrection and Life is not an event or a time. Resurrection and Life is a person. Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life, not a theological expression anymore but a living breathing human being. Jesus stood there and Martha was pointing to a future event and Jesus said, ‘I am Alpha and Omega, Read the rest of this entry
The Son!
John 5:24 “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life” (emphasis added).
Jesus says, “those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins…” It is not that these people do not have sins, but Jesus says they will never be condemned for their sins. Read the rest of this entry
Paid
Gen. 22:8 “Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.” (NRSV, emphasis added)
Isaac was a type of Jesus and in today’s scripture reference, Abraham was speaking prophetically when he said, God will provide a lamb for Himself. And that was exactly what happened; even in the time of Abraham, God provided a lamb for Himself. In humanity’s case, it is not the blood of bulls and goats that can make a difference to our sin. It is the spotless Blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, that makes a difference. Totally beautiful! Hesed begins to make a lot more sense; ‘when the person from whom I have a right to expect nothing gives me everything.’ “Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” When the person from whom I expect to receive nothing gives me everything!
Let us shift our emphasis to what the Lamb has come to do. John 1:29 “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’” (NRSV emphasis added). The word “Sin” in this scripture is singular, not plural. It is sin – past, present, and future lumped together, nailed to the cross. Unbelievable! It means that the sin ‘from Adam till rapture’ is nailed to the cross, lumped up in one sacrifice. If this does not get you excited, I do not know what else will. ‘What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the Blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the Blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow, that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing but the Blood of Jesus.’ In the Old Testament, the concept of ‘atonement’ is the concept of ‘Covering’. In the Old Testament, an atoning sacrifice refers to a sacrifice to cover the sin. But when Jesus came, He became the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, not the Lamb of God that covers the sin of the world. Jesus is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.
In the New Testament, atonement has the underlining foundation of propitiation. Jesus became the propitiation of our sin. Propitiation is a complex word, complex not in understanding but complex in meaning. Propitiation, on one hand, means to appease the wrath of someone that has been offended. And on the other hand, to restore in fellowship with the person that has been offended. Read the rest of this entry
In Person
John 1:14 “The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us. We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father’s only Son.” (GNT).
If you have a good relationship with The Truth, you are righteous. If you have a right standing with God, you are righteous. Knowing the truth is not necessarily about being right and proving that others are wrong. You can know the truth and be wrong, but you still know the truth. Read the rest of this entry
The Witness
John 1:6-7 “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.” (NRSV, emphasis added)
The story is told about a young man who told his Pastor that he had consecrated his life to Jesus. The Pastor looked at him intently and said, “We are going for evangelism tomorrow and we will need your car tomorrow morning.” Read the rest of this entry
In Light
Eph.1:18 “I pray that the light of God will illuminate the eyes of your imagination, flooding you with light, until you experience the full revelation of the hope of his calling—that is, the wealth of God’s glorious inheritances that he finds in us, his holy ones!”(TPT)
We kick-off today’s devotional with our final thought from yesterday; every kingdom that has tried to extinguish the Church expired and the Church continued. The Roman Empire collapsed; the Church is still alive today with billions of members all over the world. Read the rest of this entry
Life Light
Jn.1:4 “The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.”
Dabar, God’s Word, gives life and that life brings light. It is not the other way around; we will like to have light first before we put life into a situation. But God puts His life and His life brings the light. In Gen.1, in the beginning the earth was without form and void, Read the rest of this entry
Word & Deed!
Ps. 33:6 & 9 “The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born… For when he spoke, the world began! It appeared at his command.”
Heb.4:12 (AMPC) “For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.” The Word of God has everything in it to bring it to pass. Once spoken, it goes out and executes what has been spoken. In John 9:7, all Jesus needed to say was, “go” and that Word opened the eyes of a blind man. In John 11:43, Jesus said, “Lazarus, come forth…” and that Word brought Lazarus out from the grave. The Bible says that, “he that was dead came back alive”. Every Word God has spoken to You will come to pass. I have heard it said a couple of times and I think I agree that, if all Jesus said when He stood by that graveyard was, “come forth”, everybody that had been buried in that graveyard would come out – everybody!’ Think about it, word and deed. So, Jesus had to choose His words carefully, “Lazarus, come forth!”
Begin to experience and relate to God and His Word not according to the English meaning [word] but according to the Hebrew meaning [dabar]. When we see and receive God’s Word [dabar], we do not struggle to believe it or try to make it work by ourselves because sometimes that is what we do. We get God’s Word and say, “I believe it, I confess it, I receive it.” Read the rest of this entry
The Fruit
Eph. 5:9 (AMPC) “For the fruit (the effect, the product) of the Light or the Spirit [consists] in every form of kindly goodness, uprightness of heart, and trueness of life.”
Gal. 5:22-23 “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” (emphasis added). Read the rest of this entry
