The Bible is full of heavy emotion, great emotional events that tug at our souls. In this blog I will mention 3 great events that are particularly so to me. Keep in mind that the whole Bible centers around the coming of Jesus. That is, the Old Testament builds to the coming of the NT, the coming of Jesus. And of course, the NT is all about Jesus and what we are to do as His Followers. So it is not surprising that no matter how far back or forward in the Bible we go, we see that the emotion of Jesus is shown.
We begin with the story of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22. God told Abraham to take Isaac to a place that He would show him and sacrifice Isaac on an altar. As they journeyed for three days and proceeded to climb Mount Moriah, Isaac turned to his father and asked, "Father." "What is it, my son?" "We have fire and wood, but where is the sacrificial lamb?" We can feel the emotion building in this trip and this conversation. And we can see that this is a type of God giving His only Son to be sacrificed. We know the end of this story is God stopping the sacrifice of Isaac......but not stopping the sacrifice of His own Son, Jesus the Christ.
This brings us to the most emotional of all events, the betrayal and torture and trial and death of our Lord. You know the story so I won't try to tell it all here....I couldn't do so anyway. But think of not only the pain and emotional stress of our Lord, but even the effect on His mother, His family, the apostles, the women that had helped Him, on all of the followers who had to stand by as He died.
That brings us to the final event to be cited here. It has always been a very emotional scene to me of seeing the great event recorded in Revelation 19. Here we see the Lord sitting on a white horse, draped in a cloak that is soaked in blood amidst an army of people on white horses, all draped in fine linen, pure and white. This is a view into heaven, a look into the future, of God's saved people who have been saved by the blood of the Lamb. It is us.....all clean and pure...because our Lord has taken our sins upon Him; thus, the blood soaked cloak He wears. That is an amazing sight! He is called "Faithful and True" and His name is Word of God. Written on Him is "Lord of Lords and King of Kings." And there is a name on Him that no one knows. To me this is a most emotional sight.
Thanks for reading. Keep the faith. Follow Him.
Friday, September 25, 2015
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Proof of Creation
It is interesting that God told us immediately at the beginning of the Bible that He created the earth. You are familiar with the wording:
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." He continued by telling in some detail the process, the order, by which He did that. But there are many other references to the creation in the Bible. We look at a few mentions in this blog.
Psalm 19: "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork."
Isaiah 40:21, "Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in."
And here is the purpose of man: "..For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2: 10
And how do we know that there is a God...and that He created the universe? Romans 1:20, "For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse..."
The Bible makes clear that God's power and creation can be seen just by looking up...and around you. His creation is obvious. And those who don't know if there is a God are without excuse because these things can be "clearly seen."
God made sure that we are told that He created the world...and He made sure that we can see that He created the world and all around it, all of the universe. Let us praise Him!
Thanks for reading. God bless.....
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." He continued by telling in some detail the process, the order, by which He did that. But there are many other references to the creation in the Bible. We look at a few mentions in this blog.
Psalm 19: "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork."
Isaiah 40:21, "Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in."
And here is the purpose of man: "..For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2: 10
And how do we know that there is a God...and that He created the universe? Romans 1:20, "For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse..."
The Bible makes clear that God's power and creation can be seen just by looking up...and around you. His creation is obvious. And those who don't know if there is a God are without excuse because these things can be "clearly seen."
God made sure that we are told that He created the world...and He made sure that we can see that He created the world and all around it, all of the universe. Let us praise Him!
Thanks for reading. God bless.....
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Practical Advice
Sometimes practical advice is practical, but not much fun to give....or receive. Today we look at Romans chapter 12 to see the teaching of Paul to us as Christians. We will put this advice into 3 categories:
Consecration
"I Beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service."
We are taught that our bodies are the "temple of God." Often, we would like to just do what we want to do. But we learn from God's Word that this isn't what is best for us; and it isn't what pleases God.
Transformation
"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
The solution to do what God wants of us starts in the mind. As we think, so do we do.
Evaluation
"For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith."
The following verses to this would seem to put the emphasis on "not thinking of himself more highly than he ought to think" in our relationship to other members of the church. People are given various gifts, but we are not all the same. Still, each is important...and each relies on the strengths and abilities of the others.
God wants our bodies, our minds, our service, our all. If we do His will, we will do much better. Only in serving God do we find real meaning in life.
Thanks for reading. Feel the love.....
Consecration
"I Beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service."
We are taught that our bodies are the "temple of God." Often, we would like to just do what we want to do. But we learn from God's Word that this isn't what is best for us; and it isn't what pleases God.
Transformation
"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
The solution to do what God wants of us starts in the mind. As we think, so do we do.
Evaluation
"For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith."
The following verses to this would seem to put the emphasis on "not thinking of himself more highly than he ought to think" in our relationship to other members of the church. People are given various gifts, but we are not all the same. Still, each is important...and each relies on the strengths and abilities of the others.
God wants our bodies, our minds, our service, our all. If we do His will, we will do much better. Only in serving God do we find real meaning in life.
Thanks for reading. Feel the love.....
Saturday, September 5, 2015
The Greatest Promise Ever Made
I always enjoy superlatives: the greatest, the least, the first, the last. Here we will look at the greatest Promise ever made. And the beneficiary of that promise was you and me.
We go to Genesis 12, early in the Bible, to see the promise that was made there.
"Now the Lord had said to Abram (Abraham): 'Get out of your country, from your kindred and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.' "
This initially was a promise just made to Abraham. It would later be repeated to Isaac, Abraham's son, and to Jacob, Abraham's grandson. We find at the time of this promise that Abraham and all of his family are living in Ur of the Chaldeans. This is in southern Mesopotamia, today the nation of Iraq. And we see that this promise was really several promises; that he would be given a land (today the land of Israel); that his people would become a great nation; and the final promise was that through Abraham all of the families of the earth would be blessed. This final promise is the one that has great significance to us, since this promises the coming of the Savior, Jesus Christ.
In order to be true, this promise requires that Jesus be a direct descendant of Abraham. And when we look at the history of the Old Testament we see that this occurs. The OT follows the family of Abraham down through the ages. It follows Abraham, then Isaac, then Jacob, then Judah all the way down to the parents of Jesus. Now we know that Jesus is actually fathered by the Holy Spirit. But from an earthly sense, Jesus was born of a father of the tribe of Judah, directly descended from Abraham himself.
One thing we learn from this story is that God always keeps His promises. Note this passage from 2 Peter 3: "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."
The Lord loves us, promised that He would bless us through the seed of Abraham, sent His Son to die for us....so that none of us would perish. But He expects us to do His will. And thus...we must. What a great blessing!
Thanks for reading. Have a blessed, God-filled week!
We go to Genesis 12, early in the Bible, to see the promise that was made there.
"Now the Lord had said to Abram (Abraham): 'Get out of your country, from your kindred and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.' "
This initially was a promise just made to Abraham. It would later be repeated to Isaac, Abraham's son, and to Jacob, Abraham's grandson. We find at the time of this promise that Abraham and all of his family are living in Ur of the Chaldeans. This is in southern Mesopotamia, today the nation of Iraq. And we see that this promise was really several promises; that he would be given a land (today the land of Israel); that his people would become a great nation; and the final promise was that through Abraham all of the families of the earth would be blessed. This final promise is the one that has great significance to us, since this promises the coming of the Savior, Jesus Christ.
In order to be true, this promise requires that Jesus be a direct descendant of Abraham. And when we look at the history of the Old Testament we see that this occurs. The OT follows the family of Abraham down through the ages. It follows Abraham, then Isaac, then Jacob, then Judah all the way down to the parents of Jesus. Now we know that Jesus is actually fathered by the Holy Spirit. But from an earthly sense, Jesus was born of a father of the tribe of Judah, directly descended from Abraham himself.
One thing we learn from this story is that God always keeps His promises. Note this passage from 2 Peter 3: "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."
The Lord loves us, promised that He would bless us through the seed of Abraham, sent His Son to die for us....so that none of us would perish. But He expects us to do His will. And thus...we must. What a great blessing!
Thanks for reading. Have a blessed, God-filled week!
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