02/15/2021
If you are living without Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, do you believe your life is the best that it can possibly be? Well my friend, the covenant that is made with us through Jesus Christ far exceeds any that we might concoct for ourselves, and is even better than God’s previous covenant made with Moses. Jesus was sent to redeem us because we are unable to live righteously on our own, even with the guidance of the law given to Moses we fall short.
“But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.”
Hebrews 8:6-7 ESV
Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, prophesied of Jesus, and called Him the redeemer, and the one who would fulfill the promise given to Abraham. Are we ready to be saved from sin and death, our enemies, and from all those who hate us? Are we ready to receive God’s mercy, and grace?
““Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.”
Luke 1:68-75 ESV
Perhaps you say that you can defend yourself, and maybe you think that you can live a good and moral life, but I ask you a simple question... how is that working out for you so far? There is not a fight you enter into that you are not wounded in some way, and then who heals you? There is no war entered into by your country in which you don’t lose sons and daughters, and who comes to ease your pain and sooth your mourning? Are monuments raised to the dead comforting to you? As for morality, that isn’t righteousness, and when you fail who forgives you other than yourself? Who promises you eternity, and is able to deliver it? Where is your joy, and your peace, aside from in your imagination, and when the sun rises the next morning, and the effects of last night’s celebratory wine wears off, are you not left with yet another headache? Jesus takes all these things upon himself, and we find relief because he has suffered them for us. Listen as Isaiah prophesies of Him...
“Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
Isaiah 53:4-6 ESV
Listen as Jesus Himself speaks...
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
John 14:27 ESV
So how is your life really, and to whom do you turn when you alone are not enough? Who do you call out to when you are lost, hurting, facing death, or at your wits end? Jesus abides in us, intercedes for us, and takes our head to his shoulder in comforting embrace. Our Heavenly Father knows our heart, and knows if His Son is in residence there. In Christ we find peace, and joy; even in the midst of the world’s turmoil, and the conflict that is wounding and taking the lives of our loved ones. We Have the promises of God, and Jesus for relief, provision, and life everlasting that neither man, nor his cast, carved, or imagined gods, can possibly honor. Are you ready to yield to Jesus, and accept the grace of God that flows through Him? If so then your life is about to be transformed, and the disappointments of your old life will be replaced with the Peace of Christ, and a joy everlasting.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
Romans 15:13 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your Son Jesus Christ through whom your grace flows. Thank you for loving us so much that you would send Him to live, die, and be resurrected that we would be redeemed, and made pure in Him. Thank you for laying our sins upon Him, and for making Him to suffer in our stead. We praise your Holy Name Father, for revealing to us that what we once mourned as your Son’s suffering and death, we now count as His glory, and our amazing gift of grace... salvation. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who fights our battles, heals our wounds, provides for us, and turns every suffering moment into joy and peace. We praise you for doing what we could never do for ourselves Lord; you have given us a glorious avenue to eternity, peace, and joy, through our belief in Christ, and truly we are unable to accomplish this alone. Hear our prayers Father as we lift up our confession, contrition, pleas for forgiveness, and then songs of joyous celebration as your grace rains down upon us. Hear our needs as we pray according to your will, and then sit with us in silence and peace, as we wait upon you. Give us strength in our belief Father, and increase our faith as we search out our salvation through your Son Jesus. Find us pleasing to you Father, and worthy of eternity at your table when at last we face your judgement. In this we will praise and worship you forevermore.
“But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”
Romans 10:6-10 ESV
Rich Forbes