OUR LORD WHO SHELTERS US

For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.

Psalm 27 verse 5 says that in the day of trouble, our Lord will hide us in His dwelling place where we are concealed in His sacred tent and placed out of reach upon a perch.

Isaiah 25 verse 4 says this;

You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat.

For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall

Here, the Lord shields us from distress  from storms and from the heat. He also protects us from the ruthless who would otherwise pummel us like a storm driving against a wall.

The Lord highly favours those who dwell in the shelter of the most high. Psalm 91 lists the calamities against which the Lord shields those who seek shelter in Him.

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.

A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.

You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.

If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.

With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

Thank you great God of heaven and earth.

Amen.

Reference resource  : Biblereasons.com

OUR LORD WHO PRAYS FOR US

In a stunning development in the narrative as the time of Jesus' crucifixion came near,  Jesus reveals some of the machinations that were on going in the spirit realm as the kingdom of darkness tried to figure out what the kingdom of light was doing.

The calculus settled on was that testing Simon Peter so that he buckled and thus discrediting him was the best way to preclude the setting up of the kingdom of light after Jesus was killed.

In the court of heaven, Satan demanded that that he be granted access to Simon Peter and he was given the access by the court. Jesus prayed for Simon Peter so that after he fell, he would be restored from weakness and that he would be a source of strength for the fledging group of believers. Luke 22 verse 31 - 32 reads this way;

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.

The Lord prayed for Peter so that he would be restored to the best possible footing as a source of strength for the others.

In His magnificent High Priestly prayer, Jesus prayed for all His people who had followed Him as well as all those who were going to follow Him in the future. John 17 verse 20 - 21 says;

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.

This High Priestly role continues to this day where Jesus continually intercedes for us before the Father as described in Hebrews 4  verse 14 - 16;

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Bless the Lord our God who prays for us.

Amen.

Reference resource: Gotquestions.org

OUR LORD DRAWS ALL MEN TO HIMSELF

To 'draw' is to attract or to pull. It means that a subject at a distance, is brought near by either being pulled ( for example by a rope 'drawing'  a bucket of water out of a well) or by interest (for example by the music that 'draws' people to a carnival)

In John chapter 12 verse 31 - 33, Jesus spoke these words about His impending death and the effect it would have.

Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

This he said, signifying what death he should die. 

Being lifted up on a  cross publicly to die even though He was perfectly innocent  gave Him the right to use that pedestal of death to call on the hearts of all men to believe in Him and be saved.

The book of James chapter 4 verse 8 says that the 'drawing' is a reciprocal process  in the sense that the Lord will draw all men to Himself and those of us who draw near to Him, will be met by the Lord and by believing in Jesus, we are made children of God and we can then begin the sanctification for the cleansing of our hands and  purification of our hearts. The passage says it this way;

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Bless our Lord who draws us to Himself.

Amen.

THE LORD'S PROVISION OF SALVATION

In the book of Romans chapter 3 verse 25, it says:

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

There is no human being exempt from this maxim. All human beings have sinned and are in a state of separation  from God and we have adjoined ourselves to the kingdom of darkness.

This means that because we are participants in the kingdom of darkness, we will share in the harvest of condemnation that was reserved for the devil and his angels.

Our creator and God, seeing the fate that we humans had earned for ourselves, embarked on a plan of redemption that would purchase back any of us who did not want to share in the reward due to satan.

This meant that a perfect person, who had lived in this world but who had never partaken in the sins of this world would have to suffer the penalty of death in order to pay for our sins.

God's Son, Jesus, was the person who could dwell on earth, never sin once and then surrender himself to die on the cross for us.

It is this payment that Jesus made on our behalf that has the power to save us out of darkness and bring us into the kingdom of God.

Believe on the Lord Jesus for it is believing that is counted as having invoked the salvation purchased by the blood of Jesus. It is believing that Jesus died for us and has the power to save us from our sins that causes the cost of our  sin to be charged against the account that Jesus funded by His blood. Having believed in Jesus, we must say it out loud before witnesses to confirm publicly what our hearts believe.

As Romans 10 verse  10 says, For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Bless the Lord

 Amen.

OUR LORD WHO ADOPTS US

Adoption in the context of the bible is the legal and spiritual inclusion of a person from outside a family into a family.

The adoption, once formalized, is a spiritual bond that links an adopting parent with an adopted child in a way that is spiritually identical to the  bond between biological parents and their child.

In the book of Romans chapter 8 verse 14 - 19, the Apostle Paul explains how those who believe in Christ and are led by the Spirit of God receive a Spirit of adoption as sons whereby we were once orphans but now are sons who can refer to the Lord our God as Father. The passage reads this way.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 

The adoption brings us into the household of God and we become sons with the privileges and responsibilities of the heirs of the househild. Roman chapter 8 continues with a description of the adoption process.

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 

                                  - Romans 8 verse 22 - 23

We, who the first fruits of the Spirit groan within  our orphaned selves. We  then wait eagerly for adoption into sonship which is associated with the redemption of our bodies.

After being saved, there a period of time that we wait before we are adopted to sonship. That waiting period is a maturing out of childhood, no longer being babes in Christ but instead, being like arrows in the Lord's quiver like it says in Psalm 127 verse 4 - 5;

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth.

How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; They will not be ashamed When they speak with their enemies in the gate.

Bless the Lord our God

Amen.

Reference resource: https://www.eph320foundation.org/verses.htm

OUR LORD'S ONLY WAY TO SALVATION FOR US

In the book of John chapter 14 verse 6, Jesus declared that there is only one way by which we might be saved. Jesus said it this way;

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." 

This unequivocal statement excludes any other proposed path to reach God. 

In Mathew 28 verse 38 - 40, a description of what happened just before Jesus was arrested, illuminates the exclusivity of Jesus as the way to God. The passage says this:

Then He (Jesus) said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”

And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”

Jesus said that He was the only way to the Father and then, just before He was crucified, He tested the exclusivity of that claim in great grief. 

As He agonized over undertaking the severity of dying on a cross, He asked His Father if it were possible, to let the cup of pass from Him but He, at the same time, deferred to His Father's will.

That cup that was before Him was the horrific sacrifice of His life that He would have to endure and He was testing all the knowledge reserves  of God the Father to find another acceptable way that we humans could be saved but none was found. 

Jesus, knowing that the will of God was that He suffer and die to provide the only path of salvation, surrendered to the soldiers who were looking for Him and He was led away for trial and execution.

If God the Father could not find another path of salvation for mankind other than the death of His Son, it is a patent lie for a mere human to suggest that they have somehow devised another way of salvation other than the one way that was paid for at so high a price.

If  completing some pilgrimage and giving to the poor or meditating for long hours or self- flagellation or paying money to certain organizations were enough to save men from the kingdom of darkness, God would have spared Jesus at His request and prescribed the other viable method. 

But God the Father did not offer another way and Jesus, the perfect and righteous Son of God was beaten, broken and crucified. He thus died to pay for our sins so that we could be extricated from darkness and translated to the kingdom of light.

All other suggested ways to God the Father are deceptions, for if they were viable ways, Jesus would not have had to die for us.

This way of salvation is offered freely to any who hears it for this message of the death of Jesus to pay for our sins is the power of God unto salvation and by believing this message and accepting that Jesus died to save us, we are set on the path to salvation away from darkness and towards the light of God.

Let us accept this great offer of salvation and be saved by Him who paid with His life for us.

Bless the name of Jesus our Lord.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO LAUGHS

We humans are made in the image and likeness of God as it says in Genesis 1 verse 27.

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

Being made in the image and likeness of God means that we look like Him and we operate like Him. One of the attributes we inherited from our creator is the ability to laugh. We humans tend to laugh when we encounter absurd things and this the same  response that our Lord has to absurdities as well.

An example can be  found in Psalm 2 verse 2 - 4 where the kings of the earth resolve to oppose God and His anointed

The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!”

He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them.

The absurdity of those who are from the created order vainly believing that they could successfully resist the will of the creator of all things provokes laughter from God.

Another example is found in Psalm 37 verse 12 - 13 where the wicked plot evil against the righteous and the Lord laughs for He know the end from the beginning and can see where the wicked end up.

The wicked plots against the righteous And gnashes at him with his teeth.

The Lord laughs at him, For He sees his day is coming.

The Lord laughs at the devices and plots of the wicked but, as it says in James 4 verse 6, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Bless the Lord our God.

Amen

OUR LORD WHO IS JUDGE

The Lord Jesus, having lived humbly in our midst, having walked our dusty roads and having been tempted in every way as we are, proved Himself to be perfect in His life, death and resurrection. 

God the Father thus appointed Him as the Judge over the living and the dead.

Acts 10 verse 42 says it this way;

He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 

It will be before this appointed judge that we shall all appear as it says in 1 Corinthians  5 verse 10:

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

It is a fearsome thing to come before the judge who is so exalted and commands the existence of all things. Revelation 19 verse 11 - 13 describes it like this;

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 

His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 

The One who walked humbly with us now appears in power and judges in righteousness.

Seek Him earnestly and trust in Him now so that you may know Him before He is  revealed in great glory as judge of the living and the dead.

Bless His holy name.

Amen. 

Reference source: knowing-jesus.com

 OUR LORD IS HIGHLY EXALTED

You O God art high and lifted up

You O God art highly exalted

You O God art high and lifted up

You O God art highly exalted

I will praise thy name 

Forever !  Forever !

I will praise thy name

Forever ! Forever !

OUR LORD WHO SUMMONS

To be summoned is to receive a formal authoritative order to appear at a defined location at a defined time.

Psalm 50 verse 1 says that the Lord summoned the earth to its course by what He has spoken. It says it this way; 

The Mighty One, God, the LORD, has spoken, And summoned the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. 

On a meta scale, the Lord's formal and authoritative word commands the perpetual  patterns and cycles of our universe.

On a small scale but equally important, a person can also be summoned to attend to an important event that is pivotal in the progression of the kingdom of God. An example of such is found in Acts 10 verse 22 that says this;

They said, “We were sent by Cornelius, a Roman officer. He is a devout and God-fearing man, well respected by all the Jews. A holy angel instructed him to summon you to his house so that he can hear your message.”

Here, the gospel of kingdom of God was about to cross  the threshold from the realm of the nation of Israel into the world of the gentiles.  This critical moment in history required a formal summons that a Holy angel directed the gentile Cornelius to issue to the Apostle Peter.

When Peter heeded the summons, the gigantic history-making tidal wave of gentiles entering the kingdom of God began.

As for us believers, we are invited to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus in order to be saved. This invitation is not a summons but rather an entreaty by the Lord. 

However,  we who believe will receive a summons to the wedding banquet of the Lamb that is illustrated in a parable told by the Lord Jesus in Mathew 22 verse 2 - 10:

The kingdom of heaven is like a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to summon those invited to the banquet, but they didn’t want to come. Again, he sent out other servants and said, ‘Tell those who are invited: See, I’ve prepared my dinner; my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

“But they paid no attention and went away, one to his own farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged, and he sent out his troops, killed those murderers, and burned down their city.

“Then he told his servants, ‘The banquet is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Go then to where the roads exit the city and invite everyone you find to the banquet.’ So those servants went out on the roads and gathered everyone they found, both evil and good. The wedding banquet was filled with guests.

This sombre caution tells of people who did not heed the summons of the banquet of the King's Son. The king then instructed his servants to invite  other people to replace the ones who ignored the summons they received.

We, as people of God, must always be ready to obey the summons of our Lord. When He calls us to duty in intersession or in ministry to others or in any function in the kingdom, we must practice our ear to listen for summons and ready our feet to attend to the summons we receive from heaven lest we become used to  ignoring calls and invitations and summons from the Lord, and miss the final great summoning to the banquet that will be the commencement of the millennial reign of the Lamb of God.

Lord, teach us to hear your summons and to  follow you leading.

Amen.

THE LORD SAYS TO MY LORD

Psalms 110 verse 1 - 2 is an enigmatic passage that describes a conversation between two incredible persons. 

One of the persons is promoting the other to the highest throne in heaven and is pledging to  make His enemies a footstool for His feet.  The first person also declares that He will extend the second person's mighty scepter from Zion and that He will rule in the midst of His enemies.

The passage puts it this way;

The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." The LORD will extend your mighty scepter from Zion; you will rule in the midst of your enemies.

When confronting the religious teachers of the day, Jesus quoted this passage to challenge their understanding of scripture. He asked them whose son the Messiah was. When they replied, "the son of David", Jesus then referred to this scripture and asked them, if the Messiah was the son of David, why did David call Him Lord? 

In other words, why would a progenitor of a person call his own descendant "Lord".

This is truly a difficult question to answer.  Jesus was showing the Pharisees that even though they thought they knew everything in the scriptures, they actually had a lot more to understand.

By the grace of God, we in our dispensation, know why David called his own descendant "LORD". 

The great mystery that was hidden through the ages was that the Son of God, Jesus, was the one who would emerge from the line of David as a  descendant from the line of David but not by blood. He was born of the Spirit into a family that was from the line of David. 

As such, David called the Messiah "Lord", because Jesus is the Son of God and is God but  He is also the heir to the throne of David by descent.

The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."

Bless our Lord and our God.

Amen.

 OUR LORD WHO TREASURES US

In the book of Exodus 19 verse 5,  the Lord declares that His people will be His  treasured possession on the condition that they obey Him.  It is said this way;

Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine,

The book of Malachi 3 verse 17 (NIV) says; 

“On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him.

This allusion to how much our God treasures us is a poignant prophecy of the time that was to come and now is when the Lord would gather to Himself highly valued sons and daughters whom He set apart as those who would serve Him.

To be the Lord's treasure requires us to seek Him and His righteousness and to learn His voice and to follow Him and to serve Him. The Lord Himself will give us who believe on His name, the power to become the  sons of God and as sons, His treasured possessions.

Bless the Lord our God.

Amen. 

OUR LORD WHO HEARS OUR SHOUTS

The Lord Jesus and the disciples were journeying up from Jericho to Jerusalem.

This was a tense journey because it was known that the leaders in Jerusalem were seeking to kill the Lord and instead of travelling away from Jerusalem, He was heading towards the city.

The disciples were likely hoping to adopt a low profile and quietly enter Jerusalem without stirring up too much ferment and try to avoid gaining the interest of  the authorities and their informants.

However, as they travelled,  a blind man, hearing that Jesus was passing by, realized that  this was the one chance in his life to have his sight restored so he began shouting to gain Jesus' attention. 

The people around Jesus, edgy because of the tense situation of travelling towards Jerusalem, warned the man to shut up but He made even more of a commotion likely raising tempers among the crowd. Here is how the story goes from Mark 10 verse 46 - 48.

Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. 

When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

The testy group was upset because their anonymity was blown and others on the road to Jerusalem now knew who was on the road with them.

The Lord Jesus, the epicenter of the vortex of the taut situation, stopped the convoy and an encounter between He and the blind man occured in verse 49 and onward;

Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”

So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”

“Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

Inspite of everyone trying to get Bartimaeus to pipe down, Jesus heard his shouts for mercy and responded to his persistence.

He stopped and called the blind man to Himself and asked him a surprisingly warm-natured question; "What do you want me to do for you?"

Bartimaeus, so desperately wanting to see, summarily responded that he wanted to see.

Jesus immediately restored his sight and the man followed Jesus up the road.

The persistence of the man paid off. He pressed his luck to try to contact Jesus and Jesus heard him over the commotion. The generous and compassionate  Jesus responded and gave Him the desire of his heart.

When we call out to Jesus with persistence and urgency, He will hear us too and respond to us as the scriptures say in Psalm 145 verse 18 - 19:

The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.

He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them.

Bless our gracious Lord.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO CALLS US

The Lord our God called the young Samuel in the night by his name. Samuel ran to the high priest, Eli, thinking that the call came from him. The story is told this way in 1 Samuel chapter 3 ;

The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Sam,llppuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was. Then the Lord called Samuel.

Samuel answered, “Here I am.” And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”

Eli told Samuel that he did not call him and to return to his bed but after two more instances of Samuel running to Eli, he caught on to what was  happening and so Eli told Samuel to respond as to God because it was the Lord calling him. The passage continues this way;

Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”

Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

This instructive passage models the way the Lord calls His people and how we can respond to God when the call comes to us. We can first recognize who is calling us and then be prepared to listen to Him.

The Lord Jesus calls us to belong to Him as it is  related in Roman's 1 verse 6. From among all people on earth including gentiles, the Lord calls us to Himself.

Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

Our calling is a call to a purpose and role. The Lord has specific functions for which we are designed and when we are called, we are matriculating into line of kingdom commissions for which we were created to the glory of our Lord Jesus.

In Roman's 8 verse 28, we then understand that what we are called to is the central driving force of what our lives in the spirit will consist of. The Lord will align circumstances around us in order to turn all things to our advantage in the service of our calling in Him. The passage says it this way:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

The calling of God is a highly significant centerpiece of our lives in the spirit with eternal ramifications.

This is why apostle Peter, in 1 Peter 1 verse 10, says;

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble,

Bless the Lord our God.

Amen

OUR LORD KEEPS NO RECORD OF WRONGS

In the famous definition of love by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 verse 4 - 7, one of the hallmarks of love is that it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered,  it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

This property of love that forgives and erases wrongs is what makes long term and even eternal relationships based on trust possible. When all records of wrong are erased, friendships and marriages can be renewed everyday with trust and tenderness because they are not encumbered by the weight of guilt or bitterness.

Our God, being love Himself, demonstrates His faithfulness to clear all records of wrongs.

In Psalm 103 verse 11 - 12, it reads;

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.

As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Here, the Lord is shown to completely separate from any trace of transgression from those who fear Him.

Again in Hebrews 8 verse 12, we see the same promise;

For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.

The Lord will not remember the sins of His people and they will be able to boldly go before the throne of grace before our God who is merciful.

Bless our wonderful God.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO GLOWS LIKE HEATED METAL

The apostle John, in describing a vision he had of Jesus, wrote this in Revelation 1 verse 15:

His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters.

When metal glows, it means that it is holding a huge amount of heat energy and some of this energy is radiated as light which gives off  the glow. 

Described by the prophet Ezekiel in the book of Ezekiel 1 verse 26 - 28, a very similar vision captures a glimpse of the effulgent Lord shining with great glory.

Now above the expanse that was over their heads there was something resembling a throne, like lapis lazuli in appearance; and on that which resembled a throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a man. 

Then I noticed from the appearance of His loins and upward something like glowing metal that looked like fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw something like fire; and there was a radiance around Him. 

As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.

The Lord's appearance in glory is dazzling and fearsome enough for a person's senses to be overwhelmed and cause him to drop to the ground as happened to both apostle John and prophet Ezekiel.

 Such a great God of righteousness shines brilliantly in His eternal light.

Bless and honor His wonderous name.

Amen.

OUR LORD'S EXAMPLE OF HUMBLE SERVICE

When our Lord Jesus walked our dusty roads, He lived in an extraordinary way.

He lived the life of a humble itinerate preacher moving from town to town praying for the sick and oppressed and preaching the good news of the kingdom of God. 

Sometimes, His budgets were tight where even the obligations of temple fees and taxes were beyond His ability to pay thus requiring a miracle to relieve the financial pressure.

Sometimes He couldn't afford shelter as He mentioned that foxes had holes and birds had nests but the Son of Man had no place to lay His head. 

Food was sometimes scarce for the group who followed Him to the degree that they needed to pick raw grain from fields to supplement their diets.

Against this backdrop, Jesus was unfailingly generous and was always prepared to serve the people who sought His help. 

An example of Jesus' sense of service was demonstrated when He was in the fishing town of Capernaum. He was suddenly summoned across the lake and He interrupted his visit to the town to sail to Gennaserette where a lost solitary soul, tormented by demons, ran naked among the tombs, cutting himself with stones.

Jesus, with an unwavering sense of duty and service, undertook the mission to find the demon-oppressed man and restored him to His right mind when the instruction to find this lost sheep was issued from heaven.

Another example of His sense of service while in Capernaum occurred when a temple administrator named Jarius and his wife, came to ask Him to heal their dying daughter. Jesus responded immediately and diverted His route towards their home. Even though the girl died before He got there, Jesus pressed through a scoffing crowd to raise Her from the dead.

In a final act of humble service to His followers, after the last supper, Jesus took a basin of water and wrapped a towel around His waist. Our Lord then knelt down and washed His disciples' feet and  dried them with the cloth he was wrapped with. 

This is the highest expression of service when the Lord, having been given all power and authority by God the Father, humbled himself to do the most menial and humble of tasks in service of those who were His students.

This passage in John 17 verse 3 - 17, tells of the  events that took place and the things that were said;

Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.

I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Our Lord set a very counter-intuitive example.

Worldly norms expect that the people of high status be served by people of low status.

However,  through the course of His ministry, Jesus not only taught that "...whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave", Jesus also set an example for us by humbly serving those around Him (even his enemies) in a practical way.

Bless our wonderful Lord.

Amen.

OUR LORD'S INHERITANCE

Psalm 24 verse 1 - 2 declares that the whole earth belongs to God and everything that dwells in pa bu by merit of His having founded and established it.

The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.

In Psalm 2 verse 7 - 8, the psalmist describes a promise God the Father made to His Son Jesus saying that God will make Jesus the heir to all of God's claims of the earth and everything in it:

He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father.

Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.

The scriptures then tell how the Lord will not forsake His inheritance in Psalm 94 verse 12 - 15;

Blessed is the one you discipline, Lord, the one you teach from your law; you grant them relief from days of trouble,till a pit is dug for the wicked.

For the Lord will not reject his people; he will never forsake his inheritance.

Judgment will again be founded on righteousness, and all the upright in heart will follow it.

Here, our Lord promises not to forsake His inheritance that was given to Him by His Father.

We who believe in the salvation of God through Jesus are His inheritance and we are secured by Jesus' promise and power and authority.

Bless the Lord our God.

Amen

OUR LORD'S DIVINE NATURE

Continuing from yesterday's study of Romans 1 verse 20 - 21, the last attribute of God that is revealed from the created order is our Lord's divine nature. The Lord's divine nature is the expression of His being as God.

In the way the universe and its contents point to the divine nature of God, we would be able to deduce that God is personal and that He is triune which means God is one but in three persons.

An aggressive inquiry into the origin of the universe reveals a logical impasse that cannot be breached aside from conceding that there is a personal decision maker involved in the building of our universe.

To presume that the universe sprang up on its own, one would quickly run into an intractable infinite recursion loop from which there is no escape.  At every layer of recursion, one would either have to have an infinitely old unstable singularity that suddenly and inexplicably destabilized or go back one recursion level and end up with the same improbable conundrum ad infinitum.

To get out of the loop, we are forced to introduce a deliberate or intentional choice to initiate a destabilization that results in the emergence of the universe. It is this intentionality requirement that points to a person as the originator of the universe. 

Getting to the triune part of God's  divine nature, could the existence of the natural world convincingly express the triune nature of God to minds that are willing to understand?

Yes. Once you conclude that there is a personal God who created the universe out of nothing  and who then made all things within the universe including the living creatures around us and, of course,  we ourselves, we must then consider the characteristics of this person who is able to do this. 

This is a sentient being who can create  out of nothing and, as well, conceptualize and create entities outside of Himself. A thought experiment will take you to a surprising revelation about such a being.

Think of this being conceptualizing a chair and a chair is materialized. A being who made the universe would have to be able to do this by definition. Now,  imagine this being thinking about Himself. In view of His powers, a second being would materialize who is a representation of Himself.

Remember, God is eternal and has always been able to think of Himself and so this second person is eternal as well. We are able to reach an understanding where at least two eternal persons axist as part of the divine nature of God.

When God says, "This is my Son in whom I am well pleased", this is how the Son exists eternally and is an exact representation of God the Father. This is why Jesus could say, " He who  has seen me, has seen the Father" in John 14 verse 9.

An especially astute student of nature  could go further, consider the nature of the personal creator of the universe and  wonder if the God of the universe and His Son could properly be understood to be alive?  

In our realm, there is a distinction between living and not-living creatures and the living property seems to be independent of the material part of these creatures. That is why a living thing can become a non-living thing without losing any material and even though some would say life is about the organization of material and not about a spark of life, the presence of life itself seems to do the organizing and is not the result of the  organizing of material.

 That is why a cell can multiply from a single cell into the highly organized state of trillions of cells forming a human being and being alive remains the characteristic that permits the continuation of this process.

One could then say that the property of life was introduced right from the initiation of living things and is continually passed down from one generation to the next especially when no known examples exist of non-living material giving rise to living things. The living 'flame' so-to-speak, that is given from God is also the one who gives the Son of God the properties of life and as such, must be eternal as well and must have the power and extent of God in order to be the life of God. 

It is this line of thought that would yield the conception of the Holy Spirit who is also named the Spirit of Life in the scriptures in Romans 8 verse 1 - 2.

It can hereby be exclaimed that the created universe reveals the divine nature of God pertaining to His personhood and His triunity.

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 

For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Bless the Lord's mighty name.

Amen.

OUR LORD'S INVISIBLE ATTRIBUTES

Yesterday, we looked at our Lord's eternal power that serves as a witness to God's existence . Today,  we continue with Romans chapter 1 to look at the invisible attributes of God that are listed as another witness from creation affirming that God truly is there.

To consider the span of our universe and to ponder the astonishing things it contains like solar systems and habitable planets and the  biological realm of living creatures, is to confront a question that has stupefied thinkers for eons. 

What qualities would a being have to possess in order to bring forth the varied and beautiful phenomena we see around us?

What qualities would the creating being have to have in order to conceptualize three dimensional space set in a river of time? What would such a creator have to be like in order to set in place a full-scale space/time continuum?

What would it take to imagine and design living things and imbue them with life? 

What about conciousness and intelligence? What would the maker of such things need in order to set out the parameters of sentient life and then further to that, build sentience that operates at a level high enough to ponder these very questions we are asking?

Romans chapter 1 verse 20 - 21 describes God's invisible attributes as being clearly seen.

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 

For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

The invisible attributes are described as 'clearly seen' because the realm we live in is a metaphoric representation of the realm from which God created ours.  

If, as an example, we consider the intelligence of living things and see how this intelligence is required to decipher the dynamics of our world and as well, be used to engage in the building and sustaining of complex systems, we can perceive the intelligence that the originator of such an attribute would have to be  imbued with in order to dispense it.

 This would be like examining the workings of advanced computers and their purposes and being able to perceive how intelligent the builders  of such systems would necessarily  have to be.

This visible functioning  of intelligence among people  is a representation of the intelligence possessed and operated  by the invisible God.

In another example, the distinction between living beings and non-living things gives us a contrasting property by which to characterise what kind of being the creator is.  We look at our own world and see that being alive is a fundamental property needed in order for puposeful and intentional activity to be executed. 

We can thus correctly infer that the creator of all things, by seeing that creation would require purposeful and intentional activities, is a living being. One of the invisible attributes that God has is that He is alive.  

We can see living and intelligent beings working to create sytems  in our physical plane ( albeit in a derivitive sense) and from that, clearly see how these attributes can be inferred or extrapolated to our invisible God who Himself created complex systems writ large.

Bless the almighty God.

Amen.

OUR LORD'S ETERNAL POWER

The created universe we live in displays three aspects of God: His invisible attributes, His eternal power and His divine nature. These three affirmations of God are enough to serve as the two or three witnesses by which a matter is confirmed as required in scripture and so there is enough evidence for God to be seen in nature for Him to gratefully honored by men.

The book of Romans chapter 1 verse 20 - 21 says it this way;

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 

For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

The eternal power of God is the specific item of study in this presentation. 

The power of God is a fearsome thing to grasp in one's mind. We humans, in our temporal experience, know that our strength and power increase from youth and then fade away as our age diminishes us. However, in God's case, His power is beyond comprehension in its magnitude and then, additionally, is eternal. 

Our God holds a gargantuan quantity of power that is also absolutely inexhaustible.

How awesome and wondrous our Lord and God is. 

Amen.

Reference attribution: www.knowing-jesus.com

OUR LORD WHOM WE WAIT UPON

In Luke 2 verse 25 - 32, the story of Simeon is told. Simeon had recieved a promise from God that He would live to see the promised Messiah. And now Simeon was reaching advanced years having waited to see God's promise, when one day, he recognized the baby Jesus' at the temple  to be the long awaited saviour of the world and he made this poignant and profound declaration:

 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace.

For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”

Alongside Simeon, a prophet named Anna,  who, after she had been widowed as a young woman,   had been praying and fasting in the temple every day for about 60 years as she waited for the arrival of the promised Son of God. Luke 2 verse 36 - 38 describes her encounter with the child:

Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. 

Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. 

She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem.

These two prophets of God waited for many years for the arrival of Jesus to the point of running out the clock on their lives, when at long last, the promise was fulfilled and they saw the one whom all the prophets of old had yearned to see.

In our time, having the knowledge of the perfection attained by our Lord Jesus to gain salvation by His death and of whose salvation we have so freely been made beneficiaries,  should gladly wait upon the Lord all the more.

In Psalm 130 verse 6, we see an example of an eager and expectant soul awaiting the Lord. Our souls should be in the same stance of anticipation as we wait for the Lord to fulfill His promises to us.

My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.

Waiting upon the Lord is our due honor to Him but our Lord, in His graciousness, directs advantages to us as a benefit of our waiting upon Him because we undergo a dramatic metamorphosis in our hearts as described in Isaiah 40 verse 31:

But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Those of us who wait upon the Lord like Simeon and Anna and the Psalmist did, are imbued with strength and stamina and endurance in the spirit where we can travail in the service of the kingdom of God so that where Jesus is, we may also be.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO WEEPS

In the story of the death of Jesus' friend Lazarus told in John 11 verse 33 - 35, Jesus was emotionally moved  in spirit and wept.

When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept..

In Hebrews 5 verse 7,  Jesus is described as weeping as He prayed to His Father. It says it this way;

During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission..

Our Lord wept as He lived among us, complete with our infirmities and He knew our sorrows so that He could empathize with us in every way as He serves as our high priest making intersession for us before God the Father as it says in Hebrews 4 verse 14 - 16;

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need..

Jesus' tears give us certainty that, though being God, He felt what we feel and knew the depths of our sorrows and grief.

Praise our Lord and God.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO ASCENDED

Jesus' final hours were marked by extreme fatigue for being awake for up to 33 hours starting from the morning of the day before the crucifixion to His death at around 3:00 in the afternoon. 

His last hours were also marked by deep humiliation from being lied about, derided, spat on and mocked. 

He was in emotional pain from being betrayed and abandoned by His friends as well as leaving His mother behind.

 He was in  existential pain when His sense of closeness with His father in heaven was stripped away. 

He was in excruciating  physical pain from being repeatedly struck on His head and face, scourged and nailed to a cross and lifted up, suspended between heaven and earth.

After undergoing this, His body began to fail under the prolonged duress. Multiple cycles of shock had come and gone and His body, getting no reprieve from the stresses, began to undergo  organ failure. 

Now, emptied of every last reserve of strength, He used His last breath to commit His Spirit to God His Father and He bowed His head and died.

The sinless, righteous, kind-hearted and brave Lamb of God, who had been obedient to His father through every moment of His life, remained perfectly obedient to God even to the final act of giving His life up to fulfill the requirements of His Father; that He die for the sins of the world.

As all these events were happening in a very public arena, a devine wisdom was at work cloaked in such secrecy that the end result of the death of Jesus was unknown to the spiritual rulers of the kingdom of darkness. This is outlined in  1 Corinthians 2 verse 6 - 8;

Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

As apostle Paul said, truly they would not have crucified the Lord of glory because the death of Jesus made a passage for Him into the headquarters of the kingdom of darkness and it was while He was there, having passed every minute test of law, that the absolute perfection of the Son of God was given full expression in a reffulgent blast of light that tore the gates of hell off their hinges and rendered the kingdom of darkness a humiliated, broken and  defeated remnant of its rebellious ambitions.

All this was revealed to all of creation and Jesus emerged triumphant in ressurection that proved His victory over evil.

What then followed was the ascension into heaven where the man Jesus, having undergone the most brutal possible destruction of a human being, triumphed over death by having overcome the world by emerging as holy and perfect under the most stressful conditions imaginable.

Jesus was now given the throne of rulership over heaven and earth with total authority over every creature be it in heaven or earth or below the earth. He is the majesterial King above all kings and the Lord above all lords.

This is the ascended Jesus Christ. High and lifted up and worthy of all honor and praise forever and ever.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO MAKES THINGS NEW

In the beginning, described in Genesis chapter 1 starting in verse 1, the Lord created the heavens and the earth. They were brand new and in this sense, our God makes new things for the first time.

In another sense, our Lord makes things anew. He takes things that are old and replaces them with the new. An extensive example of this is in Revelation 21 verse 1 - 5.

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 

And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. 

Here, heaven and earth are to be replaced by a new heaven and earth.

There is another sense where the Lord makes things new. In Isaiah 43 verse 18 - 19, the scripture says this;

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

In this sense of God working on new things, our Lord refreshes our lives by encouraging us not to dwell on the past. He makes new ways and streams in areas of our lives that were parched and dry. He brings new opportunities and renews our visions and perceptions so that we don't stagnate but bubble with newness of God's refreshing.

The Lord makes all things new: on the grand scale of heaven and earth and on the small scale with the new things He brings to our lives.

Bless our Lord and God.

Amen.

OUR LORD'S WORDS MAKE US CLEAN

In the book of John chapter 15 verse 1 - 4 , Jesus, speaking to His Disciples, said:

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit. 

“You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

This passage marks a puzzling doctrine where the words Jesus spoke cleansed His listeners.

What does this mean?

Paul the Apostle mirrors this concept in the book of Ephesians 5 verse 25 - 27.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. 

Here, the bride of Christ attains sanctification by being subjected to the washing of water with the word. 

The effect of God's word on his people is to cleanse them of spots, wrinkles or such blemishes leaving them holy and blameless.

In John 17 verse 16 - 19, Jesus said:

They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

In this case, God's truth sanctifies us and God's word is truth so the doctrinal position of the cleansing power of the word of God is strengthened.

How does the word of God cleanse us or by what principle or law do the words of God purify us?

Firstly, the word of God, because it is truth, will accurately judge our thoughts and intentions. Subjecting ourselves to the word of God exposes our wrong internal attitudes that we cultivate and we are given the opportunity to correct our hearts and discard the delusions about ourselves that we so easily adopt into our lives.

Hebrews 4 verse 12 says this about the word of God's ability to expose the hidden condition of our hearts.

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

The word of God is sharp and acts as a scalpel that can reach deep into our human structure to the very boundary of  our souls and our spirits.  At this depth,  the thoughts and intentions (the contents of our hearts and our true motives)  are laid bare and the word of God gives us the tools to excise them if they are misplaced or inappropriate.

Secondly, the word is  like  a mirror that reflects back to us our true status related to our personal attentivenes and obedience to God.

 James chapter 1 verse 22 - 24, says it like this;

 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror  and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 

But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom,and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

As much as we possibly can, we should stay under the teaching of word of God so that the process of sanctification can reach completion in us. We should let the word of God continually wash us and over time, we will find that we have been transformed and refined to be closer to the image of our Lord Jesus.

Bless our Lord.

Amen.

Some reference help from www.diannethornton.com