Tag: Jesus Christ

Two Key Attributes for Daily Living

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The attributes God reveals to us today from Chapter 40 of Isaiah are: God is glorious and God’s Word is eternal. These are two profound attributes of our great God that can have direct meaning for our lives today.

Why should I care that God is glorious? Isaiah 40:5 “And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,   and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” By definition God’s glory is the sum total of all His attributes. God displayed His glory in the beauty and wisdom of His creation. Throughout history, God has revealed His glory to His people through His power, mercy, grace, judgement, holiness, love, etc. In the Old Testament God showed his people His glory in a cloud and it was known as the Shekinah glory. The cloud was used by God to lead his people in the wilderness for 40 years and then filled the tabernacle and later the temple in Jerusalem. The key factor about God’s glory is that Jesus Christ, the Son, reveals to us completely God’s glory. We can know and feel his glorious presence with us each day by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Jesus shows us all about God’s glory. Here in Isaiah 40:5, God tells us He will be revealing to the world His glory and we would see it. Jesus is that glory God spoke of, He was coming and would show us all about God the Father. John 1:18 “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.” Jesus made Him known to us.

I am so thankful that I can know God the Father and His glory because of the work of Jesus on the cross. He came to reveal God to us and to save us so we could have a relationship with His Father and ours. All that God is Jesus made known to us in His Word so we can see and feel His glory in a new and personal way today. Christ is the Holy one, the Only one, who can Save us.

God’s Word is eternal. Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers and the flowers fall,  but the word of our God endures forever.” Recently, I was working with a group of teens to study Chapter 40 and several of us chose this verse as one of our favorites. It is so important to know that God’s Word is eternally true and does not change from generation to generation. The Bible is filled with affirmations of God’s Word being eternal. Here are a couple of my favorites; Psalm 119:89 Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens. Psalm 119: 160 “All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.” John 6:68 “Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” 2 Peter 3:5 “But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water.” God’s Words brought the world into existence as He spoke “Let there be…” in Genesis. John called Jesus the Word of God in John 1:1-3 “ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. and verse 14 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” As in the case of God’s glory, the world has experienced God’s eternal Word from the beginning as He created all the heavens and the earth. We have experience the fullness of His Word in Jesus, the Word, the one who saves us and lives today after being raised from the dead. We have the assurance from God’s character that His Word is eternal and will endure for all generations. Praise God! That is an anchor for our soul and affirmation of our faith as we seek to live each day for Him. We do not need to worry that God will change His mind about loving and saving us. He is eternally true and keeps His promises.

May you have a day permeated by His glory.

Linda

A Walk of Faith

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And the journey continues….Hebrews. The book of Hebrews was a letter intended for Jewish Christians who were very familiar with the Old Testament. The first century Jewish converts faced many challenges as they sought to establish themselves apart from Judaism and stand firmly with Christ as Messiah. The letter presents Christ as supreme and sufficient in all, and the revealer of God’s grace. It can be a difficult book to understand, and yet holds such beautiful promises that are clear and strengthening. It was at first thought this letter was written by Paul but the authorship is unknown. My favorite chapter is Chapter 11 which focuses on faith in Christ and its benefits.

Hebrews 11:1,6 focuses on faith. ” Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” I love the simplicity of these verses as they truly ‘hit the nail on the head’ in regard to what faith is and why it is totally necessary. The author’s first example of faith is Enoch. Here was a man of faith that pleased God so much that he was taken directly to heaven! The author then goes into more examples of faith for us to follow and tells us of Noah who built an ark to save his family when he was warned about things he had never seen. In the time of Noah it had never rained, as scripture tells us the mist came up from the ground. (Genesis 2:5-6) He had no concept of rain and floods, yet he built the ark as God commanded by faith thereby saving himself and all his family. Abraham was called to leave his home and go to a place he had never seen. He did and was greatly blessed with descendants and land beyond measure. Sarah who was Abraham’s childless wife conceived a child in her old age and believed God that it would come to pass. The author continues with examples from Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses. Moses was born Jewish, saved from death by God’s hand through Pharaoh’s daughter from the Nile. He was raised to privilege then called reluctantly after running from events in Egypt. He was in the desert for 40 years before being called to lead the people out of Egypt by God’s command at the age of 80! He trusted God to provide and experienced the plagues and hurried escape after the Passover of the angel of death. God then led them through the Red Sea in victory. The author then points to the walls of Jericho falling when they faithfully followed God’s leading. Rahab’s rescue of the spies and others like Gideon, David and countless events that showed the faithfulness of God to His people. God commended the people for their faith just as He loves and desires our faithfulness. I find great strength and encouragement from reading about the faith of these ‘heroes’. I know they were mortal and weak individuals just like me who overcame, persevered and were victorious through God’s hand in their lives because of their faith. It encourages me to be faithful knowing He will always be faithful to me and rewards those who seek Him.

There are a couple of other portions in Hebrews that I want to mention. Hebrews 4:12-13 speaks of the power of God’s Word and extols the omniscience of our God. “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.“

Hebrews 4:14-16 speaks of Christ as our high priest and gives such hope to every believer that God will be gracious towards us. “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. 15 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. 16 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.”

Hebrews 7:25 points to the sufficiency of Christ to save completely and how He continues to intercede for us even now in heaven. “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.” That is encouraging and so reassuring!!

Hebrews 10:10 speaks of the total sufficiency of Christ’s work on the cross. “And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.“ Praise God!

Hebrews 10:22-23 are some of my favorite verses as they encourage us to draw near to God and hold onto our faith in Him. “ Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”

Lastly, Hebrews 13:8 reminds me that Christ is immutable and a reliable foundation for my faith.  “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

May the truths of faith penetrate into your heart and soul today and may you know of His rewards of faith personally as you walk trusting Him.

Linda