Soul Food - John 4:34

“My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work." Jesus makes these remarks near the well in the Samaritan village of Sychar. Jesus had just told a Samaritan woman who was drawing water from the well that she should drink from the living water that He gives. She went and told the people of the village that Jesus was the Messiah and many came to see him and believed in Him. While all this was occurring, some of Jesus's disciples urged Him to eat. Just as Jesus told the woman at the well He was the source of life-giving water, He told His disciples He was the source of life-giving food: "I have a kind of food you know nothing about" (vs. 32). So Jesus can supply spiritual nourishment for the hungry souls of people. Furthermore,  Jesus is our model for obtaining spiritual sustenance. He, Himself, was spiritually sustained by doing the will of God and finishing God's work in His life. In the same way, our spiritual nourishment should be doing the will of God in our own lives to the extent that we complete the work that God intends each of us to do. When Jesus fed the five thousand men (plus women and children) with five loaves of bread and two fish, He commanded His disciples "You feed them" (Matthew 14:16). The disciples responded that they had only a small supply of of bread and fish. "Bring them here" (Matthew 14:18) Jesus told the disciples. Jesus was prepared to miraculously provide nourishment for the large crowd of people by blessing the obedient action of His disciples. When you continuously offer the little that you have to Jesus, then you are enabled and empowered to do God's will and complete the work He plans to do through your life.

Total Transformation - John 3:30

"He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less." These words are the response given by John the Baptist when questioned by his disciples why everybody was following Jesus instead of him. John had a clear understanding of his mission: "I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way for him...Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success" (vs. 29-30). John the Baptist also provided an explanation of the primary difference between himself and his ministry and Jesus and His ministry--John was merely human, Jesus was divine: "He has come from above and is greater than anyone else. We are of the earth, and we speak of earthly things, but he has come from heaven and is greater than anyone else" (vs. 31). The life of a Christian should be exemplified in these words of John the Baptist. The Christian life is a process of denying oneself so that the life of God can take over--liquidating one's life of self so God fills it with Himself. Now denying oneself is not the same as self-denial. Although acts of self-denial may have positive or useful purposes, God's plan is for total transformation! Denying oneself means you cease to make your own will the object of life and make God's will the focus of your life. Oswald Chambers describes it as giving up your right to yourself to Jesus. The moral ground on which we form a relationship with God is through Jesus, His Son, and not our own will. So choose Jesus or choose self. When we choose Jesus, then we relinquish our right to ourselves to Him. God invests His life in people who abdicate the kingdom of their own self-will and self-interests and set their priorities on building God's Kingdom and doing His will. In God's Kingdom, giving up is getting, whether it be wealth and material possessions, your own will, or even your own life. You see, your emptiness provides capacity for God's abundance. God's intent is not just to rid your life of sin and self-will. He has much more in store for you. God wants to transform you into a new person in whom He can impute His eternal life and all its abundance. He won't hold back anything and gives you everything. So following Jesus costs you all of the only thing you really have—your right to your own self. But when you allow Him to become greater than your own self, He replaces your natural life with His supernatural life. Then your destiny is fulfilled and your life is given immeasurable value and eternal significance. "My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life" (John 10:10).

The "Real" Jesus - John 3:1-4

"There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. 'Rabbi,' he said, 'we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.' Jesus replied, 'I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.' 'What do you mean?' exclaimed Nicodemus. 'How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?'" It has been said that perception is reality. In fact, this view could be the mantra of the post-modern era. The well-known account of the encounter of Nicodemus and Jesus is a story of how people often accept their own flawed perceptions and misconceptions as reality. In this account from John's gospel, Jesus gives us a specific description of how God inaugurates His Kingdom in the private lives of its subjects--in other words, how people get saved. Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish ruling council. So Jesus spoke to Nicodemus as one who had an understanding of spiritual matters and poses a divine proposition about entrance into God’s Kingdom: "I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God." (vs 3). When Jesus told Nicodemus about the reality of the new birth that is required to encounter God’s Kingdom, He used an adverb with two possible nuances—born “again” or born “from above.” The first meaning seems to be what was understood by Nicodemus while Jesus meant the second. Nicodemus was seemingly puzzled by the reference to a second birth and makes what he probably knew was a ridiculous interpretation of Jesus's proposition. While sin and death begin their work in the mortal bodies of all human beings probably from the day we are born, Jesus says that the people of God are constituted by supernatural birth. When we experience birth from above--new birth--the Spirit of God imputes immortal life to our mortal bodies. And when the Spirit of God dwells in us, then God promises to resurrect our physical bodies to eternal life in the same way that Jesus was raised from the dead. Thus, the work of the Holy Spirit is to appropriate spiritual life to God's people—to birth human beings into spiritual beings, thereby admitting them into God's Kingdom: "The Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life" (vs. 6). While the work of Jesus, God’s Son, is to save people from sin and death, the work of the Holy Spirit is to reveal Jesus as the way into God's Kingdom and then initiate concurring people into it. The Holy Spirit makes Jesus real to us! Let the Holy Spirit continue to reveal Jesus and to actualize His death and resurrection in your life each day.

Stairway to Heaven - John 1:47-51

"As they approached, Jesus said, 'Now here is a genuine son of Israel—a man of complete integrity.' 'How do you know about me?' Nathanael asked. Jesus replied, 'I could see you under the fig tree before Philip found you.' Then Nathanael exclaimed, 'Rabbi, you are the Son of God—the King of Israel!' Jesus asked him, 'Do you believe this just because I told you I had seen you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.' Then he said, 'I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth.' " Almost everything said by Jesus and recorded in the Gospels seems to  quote directly from the Old Testament or make an allusion to an Old Testament story or event. That is the case here with the calling of Nathanael as one of Jesus' disciples. Jesus referred to Nathanael as a man of complete integrity--that is, an Israelite in whom there is no deception or deceit. By describing him in such a way, Jesus contrasted him with Jacob, the scheming, deceitful patriarch whom God renamed Israel. When Jesus said He saw Nathanael under the fig tree, maybe praying or studying the Scriptures, Jesus revealed an intimate and supernatural knowledge of Nathanael.  Then Jesus made the comparison with Jacob unequivocal. Like Jacob, Nathanael would see God at work. In Genesis 28:10-22 Jacob had a dream in which God revealed His angelic host going up and down a stairway or ladder from the earth up to heaven. God stood at the top of the stairway and proclaimed to Jacob that His presence would be with Jacob and protect and provide for him and his descendants. So Jacob named the place Bethel, meaning house of God, the place where God lives. Jesus proclaimed to Nathanael that He Himself is the ultimate fulfillment of this promise to Jacob. Jesus is the true ladder or stairway to heaven and, therefore, the new Bethel. God opened a door for Jacob that brought him and his people into a new relationship with God and Jesus was doing the same for Nathanael. Nathanael recognized the divine in Jesus and took a remarkable step of faith and believed in Jesus as God's Son and Lord and King over Israel and consequently over His life. Jesus knows you intimately and He is still the stairway to God. God can do His work through you if you will climb up the Stairs to Him!

God's Measure for Success - Ezekiel 3:17-21

"Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel. Whenever you receive a message from me, warn people immediately. If I warn the wicked, saying, ‘You are under the penalty of death,’ but you fail to deliver the warning, they will die in their sins. And I will hold you responsible for their deaths. If you warn them and they refuse to repent and keep on sinning, they will die in their sins. But you will have saved yourself because you obeyed me. If righteous people turn away from their righteous behavior and ignore the obstacles I put in their way, they will die. And if you do not warn them, they will die in their sins. None of their righteous acts will be remembered, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths. But if you warn righteous people not to sin and they listen to you and do not sin, they will live, and you will have saved yourself, too." God commissioned Ezekiel to conduct a twofold prophetic ministry--warn the wicked to repent and warn the righteous not to sin. Ezekiel was called to be both an evangelist and a pastor. God told Ezekiel that he was appointed to be a "watchman for Israel." The watchman was a lookout for the community and was responsible for providing advance warning of approaching enemies so that the people could take refuge in time. God assigned Ezekiel a difficult task to perform with an awesome responsibility--the blood of those he failed to warn (to repent or not to sin) would be on his head if he remained silent. While God issued a stern warning to Ezekiel about the consequences he could suffer if he failed to speak His message, what God wanted from Ezekiel was his obedience to His calling. So what's actually important to God is not how many people you win to the Lord but how obedient your are to His calling. The measure of your success in God's Kingdom is not necessarily how well you perform in life but how obedient you are to God. And then God can especially use obedient people to accomplish His plans and purposes! "I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings" (Hosea 6:6).

Embracing God's Word - Ezekiel 3:10-11

"Then Son of man, let all my words sink deep into your own heart first. Listen to them carefully for yourself. Then go to your people in exile and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says!’ Do this whether they listen to you or not." In this commissioning of Ezekiel by God, there are two points that are especially relevant for disciples of Jesus. God told Ezekiel that he first had to internalize God’s messages himself before delivering them to the exiles among whom he lived. The point is that your own life should be transformed by God's Word before you proclaim words that God can use to transform other people's lives. The Holy Spirit needs to reveal the truth of God's Word to you so you can be faithful to God when opposition or other difficulties arise in your life as a result of living and proclaiming the message of Jesus. When you are proclaiming the message of Jesus, then your life is subject to the scrutiny of others--both believers and unbelievers--and so the faithfulness that comes through being established in God's Word is a necessary prerequisite to its proclamation. The second point is that God's Word is not subject to debate, negotiation, or rejection. Although people doubt it, argue about it, or refuse to believe it does not lessen or diminish the truth and authority of God's Word. Things will happen just as God has said! So the second point amplifies the first. Because God's Word is sovereign truth, our first action in proclaiming it must be to embrace it for ourselves.

Answering the Call - Ezekiel 1:3

"The Lord gave this message to Ezekiel son of Buzi, a priest, beside the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians, and he felt the hand of the Lord take hold of him." The word of the Lord first came to Ezekiel while he was living with the Judean exiles in Babylon. Ezekiel was a priest by descent and, as such, his primary ministry was offering sacrifices in the Temple in Jerusalem. As one of the exiled Jews, Ezekiel was unable to serve as a priest in the usual ways. Now God had a new role for Ezekiel, a prophetic ministry, and his identity as a priest was critical to the message that he would deliver. For the Jews, God's presence with them was closely tied to their land. The exiles certainly felt cut off from God and from the conventional ways of appealing to him through Temple worship and sacrifice. Because they were far removed from the Promised Land it was easy for them to assume that God was no longer interested in them. The fact that God’s word had come to a prophet among the exiles in Babylon showed that God had not forgotten them and still had a future for them. No matter where you go or whatever else you do, if God is calling you then you can't avoid it. When God has a particular assignment for you, He will find you because His calling is irrevocable: "For God's gifts and his call can never be withdrawn" (Romans 11:29).  There's nowhere you can go and nothing you can do to escape God's calling except obey Him. It's never too late! If you haven't yet responded to God's commission for your life, then isn't it about time you took His call?

Your Salvation Was Always The Plan - 2 Timothy 1:9

"For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus." When God saved you, He didn't do it because you deserved it but because your salvation was always His plan. God’s purpose for His creation has always been determined and redemption is the way He mediates His plan. We have always heard that God created a perfect world—a beautiful, wonderful place where communion with God was as easy as an afternoon walk through a garden. Then Adam and Eve, who were God’s own created beings, disobeyed Him resulting in a catastrophic rift between God and His own creation. God’s perfect world was tainted and, seemingly, He has been trying to fix it ever since. At least that’s the way folks often explain the Gospel (including myself). But humanity’s redemption has always been God’s plan and so God didn't need to fix any unanticipated circumstances. In this verse the Apostle Paul explains that God planned redemption even before (or at) the creation of the world. In fact, Paul makes the same point to the Ephesians as he did to Timothy: “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.” (Ephesians 1:4). God wondrously and purposefully created a world that He Himself would redeem through His own Son, Jesus Christ, who would be its Savior: "And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior" (vs. 10). No mistakes were made; no fixes were necessary; everything was created and redeemed according to God's Supreme Plan. And, by the way, since God is separate from His created order, when He saves you, He also wants you to live in a manner that is set apart (holy) from this world.

How To Handle Your Problems - Lamentations 3:37-42

"Who can command things to happen without the Lord’s permission? Does not the Most High send both calamity and good? Then why should we, mere humans, complain when we are punished for our sins? Instead, let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn back to the Lord. Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven and say, We have sinned and rebelled, and you have not forgiven us." The book of Lamentations is attributed to the prophet Jeremiah. The context for the book is the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC. Each of the first four chapters of Lamentations is an acrostic, laid out in the order of the Hebrew alphabet. The first word of each verse begins with a successive Hebrew letter. Chapters 1, 2, and 4 have one verse for each of the twenty-two Hebrew letters. Chapter 3 contains twenty-two stanzas of three verses each. In this chapter the author laments what has happened, remembers the faithful love of God, and then describes how God’s people should react when they are confronted with problems and suffering. We know that some calamities have natural causes and we know that bad things happen to the righteous as well as to the wicked. The author of Lamentations sees all calamity as coming from the Lord (or at least permitted by the Lord). That is a theologically sound position because God can use people's suffering to build their faithfulness and trust in Him. Our dilemma, however, is not necessarily to explain the cause of a calamity so much as to have an appropriate response to our troubles. So it's not why we have problems but rather how we handle them. The writer says that through calamity God provides us an opportunity to examine our lives and repent and draw closer to Him. Calamity gives God the chance to redirect us into doing His will. Thus, complaining is an inappropriate response to calamity because it is a form of rebellion against God. Contrition compounded with thanksgiving is the appropriate response because it acknowledges God's sovereignty and in so doing we yield or submit our own will to His Sovereign Will.

What Happens When You Don't Read the Instructions - 2 Kings 22:11

"When the king heard what was written in the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes in despair." Have you ever tried to assemble something without reading the instructions? Maybe you started putting it together without reading the instructions and one part was backwards or upside down and it prevented you from assembling the rest of the parts. Or maybe you assembled it all without reading the instructions and had parts left over and it didn't work right. Well that's what happened with the Jewish people in ancient Judah. A religious system for worshiping God had been assembled over hundreds of years, but it was flawed because it didn't follow the instructions God gave. During the reign of King Josiah over Judah (640-619 BC), the high priest found a scroll in the Temple that contained the book of the Law--either all or part of Deuteronomy or else the entire Pentateuch (first five books of the Old Testament). Over time it had apparently become lost because when it was found the discovery was significant enough to report it immediately to the king. When the book of the Law was read to King Josiah, he tore his clothes in anguish because "we have not been doing everything it says we must do" (vs. 13). So Josiah ordered the high priest to go to the Temple and express remorse to the Lord on behalf of himself and the people of Judah. Josiah summoned all the Jewish people to Jerusalem and read the entire book of the Law to them. And he eradicated from Judah and even parts of Israel anything associated with pagan worship. He also commanded all the Jewish people to celebrate the Passover in accordance with the strict standards of the book of the Law. This form of Passover observance had not taken place since the time when the judges ruled in Israel (vs. 23). In other words, the Passover had not been celebrated or celebrated properly during the hundreds of years kings ruled over Israel and Judah. God recognized Josiah's sorrow and humility for not following His Word and withheld His judgment against Judah until after the end of Josiah's reign as king. To know God and understand how to please Him, we have an instruction manual, the Holy Bible. Although it doesn't provide its instructions in a step-by-step format, nevertheless, it reveals God's plan of salvation for people and His redemptive activity in human history. Knowing what it says is essential to having an effective, productive, and loving relationship with God. When you know what God's Word says, then His indwelling Spirit will actualize the power of His Word to transform your life. So if it's that important, then we must read and study God's Word regularly, even daily, because it's hard to assemble your walk with God correctly when you don't read the instructions!

Just Sayin' - 1 Timothy 2:7

"And I have been chosen as a preacher and apostle to teach the Gentiles this message about faith and truth. I’m not exaggerating—just telling the truth." The Apostle Paul was certain about his calling from God and the message he was supposed to teach and preach. Paul understood that all his efforts were a part of God's plans and purposes and so he did it because God called him. Therefore, Paul explained his calling and the message he proclaimed without expressing any pride because it was just exactly what God wanted him to do. So being the Apostle to the Gentiles was not a boast--he was not bragging about his spirituality or spiritual authority. He was just stating the facts, doing what God told him to do--no more, no less. Paul was just sayin'! Though God may have not called us all to be missionaries in foreign lands or to be great teachers or pastors, he has called us all to proclaim the message of Christ through our personal lives in some way. Find your calling from God so that it becomes a matter of fact in your life and so you can be confident and sure in fulfilling it.

Blessing You Right Where You Are - Jeremiah 42

"They said, Please pray to the Lord your God for us. As you can see, we are only a tiny remnant compared to what we were before. Pray that the Lord your God will show us what to do and where to go...Whether we like it or not, we will obey the Lord our God to whom we are sending you with our plea. For if we obey him, everything will turn out well for us... And today I have told you exactly what he said, but you will not obey the Lord your God any better now than you have in the past" (vs. 2,3,6,21). Following the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, King Nebuchadnezzar appointed a governor over Judah. The new governor encouraged the people of Judah who had fled to neighboring countries to return to Judah and farm the land. Meanwhile, a small band of men led by a former member of the royal family of Judah conspired with the King of Ammon and murdered the Babylonian-appointed governor. The people who had returned to Judah feared reprisal from the king of Babylon because of the murder of the governor, so they asked Jeremiah the prophet what they should do: remain in Jerusalem or flee to Egypt for refuge. Just like their ancestors, this group of Jews trusted in the Egyptians to protect them rather than God. These people eventually took refuge in Egypt against God's advice. They adopted the pagan religions of Egypt and so God's judgment followed them to Egypt. A few years later the Babylonians invaded and subdued Egypt and its king and only a small remnant of the Jewish refugees in Egypt survived to return to Judah. Have you ever asked God for His guidance in a big decision? You may not have admitted it to yourself at the time, but your mind was already made up and asking God for help was really a pretense. The main problem with asking God for guidance is that He often requires us to wait and trust Him and we don't like to wait. Whatever it is we're asking God about, we want it now; we want to make it happen. After all, doesn't it say somewhere in the Bible that God helps those who help themselves? So what was God's answer to these insincere people when they asked for His guidance? The prophet Jeremiah told them God's plan: "Stay here in this land. If you do, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you. For I am sorry about all the punishment I have had to bring upon you. Do not fear the king of Babylon anymore, says the Lord. For I am with you and will save you and rescue you from his power." (vs. 10-11). That sounds like a pretty good deal to me for obeying God by just staying put! But it required trusting God to be their provider rather than taking things into their own hands. We can miss some of God's greatest blessings when we take things into our own hands instead of waiting for God. God wants to save us, rescue us, and bless us. Maybe your current circumstances seem hopeless or maybe you just think it's time for a change. But earnestly seek God and obey His guidance because He may want to bless you right where you are!

Resident Evil - 2 Kings 14:23-27

"Jeroboam II, the son of Jehoash, began to rule over Israel in the fifteenth year of King Amaziah’s reign in Judah. Jeroboam reigned in Samaria forty-one years. He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight...Jeroboam II recovered the territories of Israel between Lebo-hamath and the Dead Sea, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had promised through Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath-hepher. For the Lord saw the bitter suffering of everyone in Israel, and that there was no one in Israel, slave or free, to help them. And because the Lord had not said he would blot out the name of Israel completely, he used Jeroboam II, the son of Jehoash, to save them." Jeroboam II ruled over the northern kingdom of Israel from 793 - 753 BC. He perpetuated the apostate religion established by Jeroboam I, the first king of Israel. Jeroboam I formed a false religion by placing two golden calves at altars located near the north and south boundaries of Israel to prevent the people from going back to the temple in Jerusalem to offer sacrifices. He also erected pagan shrines and appointed non-levitical priests (see I Kings 12:13-22). During the reign of Jeroboam II the kingdom of Israel prospered and both southern Judah and northern Israel recovered all the territory that Solomon had held. However, not long after Jeroboam's reign ended, the kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Assyrians. So this passage reminds us that God's mercy and His compassion for the suffering of His people transcends evil. Despite the fact that evil persists in this world--it's resident evil--God’s plans are undiminished by the deeds of evil persons or evil forces at work in His creation. God is Almighty and Supreme, even to the extent that He can use the evil acts committed by persons and the devil himself to work His good purposes. God’s plans and purposes are not thwarted by the existence of evil in His created order. From God’s perspective, evil is not an insurmountable obstacle or an invincible foe. God is active in the world and He is working through the circumstances of our lives to declare Himself to humanity. God is resolute, intentional, and deliberate. He has a plan and purpose and is actively pursuing His plans through you and me. His intention to redeem humanity overpowers anything evil can perpetrate! When God is supreme over your life then "God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them" (Romans 8:28).

In Training for Eternity - Hebrews 12:1-2

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith." The Hebrews writer uses the metaphor of running a race to describe the life of faith. Referring to the many examples of faith the writer identified in the previous chapter, he now advances the discussion to the matter of faithfulness--faith that endures. Runners wear light clothing because any extra weight hinders them when they compete. Sin can "weigh" a person down who is running the race of life. But the Hebrews writer tells us how to shed the weight of sin from our life of faith: stay focused on Jesus. Jesus is like a racing champion because He has already lived, died, and been resurrected. Thus, He crossed the finish line ahead of us and so we follow His lead. When we do, He sends us a personal trainer for our faith, the Holy Spirit. The Spirit trains us by perfecting our faith so that we will finish the race. This life is a training ground for eternity. When you keep your focus on Jesus, then God can train and discipline you in a way that strengthens your endurance and makes you more like Him: "But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way" (vs. 10-11).

Faith-Confidently Looking Forward - Hebrews 11:8-10

"Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God." In Hebrews 11, the "faith" chapter, the Hebrews writer defines faith and provides several biblical examples. One outstanding example the writer uses is Abraham. The Hebrews writer reminds us how Abraham left his native land in obedience to God's calling and went to Canaan where the nation of Israel was ultimately settled. While Abraham traveled the full extent of the "promised" land, he never settled in one of the Canaanite cities but lived as a nomadic herdsman. Abraham's son, Isaac, and grandson, Jacob, both lived the same way. Since Abraham was promised the land of Canaan by God but never possessed it, the Hebrew writer says Isaac and Jacob inherited the promise of the land (vs. 9). Of course, we know that Abraham's descendants never possessed the land of Canaan until after being a slave nation of Egypt for hundreds of years. So what do we learn about faith from Abraham's example? Faith is a confidence based on (1) hope--confidence in a promise that has a future fulfillment, and (2) obedience--confident action in response to what God has made known. Faith gives life purpose and meaning because faith allows us to live our lives confidently looking forward to what God has promised us in Christ regardless of present circumstances or events.

Highly Qualified - Hebrews 9:11-14

"So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come... With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever...For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them." In the Jewish religious order God’s presence was represented as residing in the Most Holy Place in the temple behind two sets of curtains. Only a high priest could enter into this Most Holy Place once a year and then never without a blood sacrifice, which he offered to make atonement for his sin and the sins of the people (see 9:6-7). The temple was a representation of God’s reality (vs. 23-24) and so the One sent from heaven was highly qualified--He was supremely qualified--to make atonement once and for all for all people’s sin. Jesus is the perfect High Priest because He is fully human and fully God. Therefore, He understands our weaknesses and our human inclination toward sin because He encountered all of the same testings and temptations we do. What’s even more amazing about this whole proposition is that not only did Jesus function as high priest in mediating this atonement, but He also made himself the very sacrifice that the high priest offers for the atonement of sin. "He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins" (I John 2:2). So Jesus is both priest and sacrifice. How did Jesus accomplish this extraordinary feat? He has impeccable qualifications--He is fully God and fully human! So how does this atonement theology impact your life? As the ultimate sacrifice for our sin, Jesus completely purifies us from past, present, and future sin. As high priest, Jesus mediates our access to the presence of God so we are empowered to become perfect and holy like He is: "But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand...For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy." (10:12-14).

Supply and Demand in God's Economy - 2 Kings 4:42-44

"And when they gave it to the people, there was plenty for all and some left over, just as the Lord had promised" (vs. 44). In 2 Kings 4 the prophet Elisha performs two miracles that demonstrate the principle of supply and demand according to the economy of God's Kingdom. In vs. 1-7 Elisha had taken over leadership of the prophetic ministry in Israel when the widow of a man who was a member of the group of prophets appealed to Elisha for financial help so her two sons would not be taken as slaves. Elisha told her to gather as many empty jars as she could and pour the small amount of oil she possessed into the jars. As she began to pour, she did not run out of oil in the original jar until all the other jars were filled. Elisha then commanded the widow to sell the oil and pay her debts and to live on what was left from the proceeds of the oil sale. Elisha repeats a similar miracle of provision at the end of the chapter (vs. 42-44) when he receives an offering of twenty loaves of bread and feeds a hundred men of the group of prophets (and possibly their wives and children). Elisha's miracle of feeding the hundred anticipated the miracles of Jesus feeding the four thousand and five thousand with only a small amount of food to start with (see Matthew 14:15-21,15:32-38). These accounts (including the miracles of Jesus) establish a biblical pattern for the supply of God’s care and provision to His people. The biblical principle is this: When you offer any and all the resources you possess totally and willingly to God, His care is provided by extending or expanding those resources even to an abundance. The moral ground on which we form a relationship with God is to give up, surrender, relinquish, or abandon our own self-interests and self-will in favor of God’s will. Thus, when you surrender your own will and even your material resources to Jesus, then He will care and provide for you by extending your limited human resources with His limitless supply of divine resources to meet all your needs.

Is God Mad At Us? - Jeremiah 30:11,24

"For I am with you and will save you, says the Lord...I will discipline you, but with justice; I cannot let you go unpunished...The fierce anger of the Lord will not diminish until it has finished all he has planned. In the days to come you will understand all this." In this chapter God gives Jeremiah a message of hope for Israel that contrasts with his usual message of gloom and doom. Jeremiah regularly pronounced God's judgment on Israel that would come in the form of the king of Babylon invading and capturing Jerusalem and exiling its inhabitants. Now the message God wants Jeremiah to proclaim is one of hope for Israel--a faithful remnant of the exiles will be restored and be purveyors of the messianic hope. And God provides some theological explanations for the judgment He renders with this hope message. God is absolutely just and so His universal justice system requires that sin and disobedience to His law be punished. In fact, sin and disobedience invoke God's anger and, consequently, His judgment. Yet, His judgment does not displace His salvation; it actually enables it. Because He is a completely just God, He is also an all-loving God. And while it may seem difficult for us to reconcile God's divine anger with His divine love--we think God is mad at us--it's really not so hard to understand. When my children misbehave, it makes me angry and my anger causes me to render some form of punishment for their misdeeds. Now am I a bad parent because my children's misbehavior makes me angry and I punish them? Then, what's the alternative? That I don't care if they misbehave, after all, what's it to me! No, absolutely not!  I love them unconditionally and so I want them to learn correct behavior for their own benefit and well-being as persons. Therefore, I can't permit their misbehavior to go unpunished. And don't we tell our children that they may not understand their discipline now--you know, it hurts us more than them--but we promise they will be a better person for it and will someday look back and understand (and hopefully, appreciate it). The same is true of God, except on a grander and more universal scale--in other words, as it pertains to eternity. God disciplines us and His judgment is just and loving. We may not always understand why at the time, but according to these verses we can be assured that His discipline of us always reinforces His plans for us and for our eternal well-being: "But God's discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness" (Hebrews 12:10).