All tagged life

Are you in a covenant relationship with God? Have you accepted the blood of Jesus Christ as affirmation of that covenant? Has God’s grace and forgiveness of sin through the sacrifice of Jesus become your blood offering that has signed and sealed this covenant? We see the cross and say “this is the covenant”, but it is only a sign. We see the rending of the temple curtain and say “this is the covenant”, but it is only a sign. We see the empty tomb and say “this is the covenant”, but it too is only a sign. The covenant is forgiveness, and the blood of Jesus is the offering that inaugurates it. Is the blood of Jesus upon you as God’s seal?

In the eyes of our God who created the universe, breathed life into man, and on more than one occasion raised the dead... what is death? As humans we are so small, and our experience is so limited to this body and this existence, that all of our understanding of life and death are founded on this little slice of reality that we inhabit. So, as we look at our life and death through this drinking straw that is our world view, we convince ourselves that we know what death is; but do we? Let’s take a higher-level look at death...

Do people we associate with consider us to be arrogant or conceited men and women of faith? By this I mean, do we present ourselves in faith as being stuffy, academically aloof, or “better than you” Christians? If we are like this or are more interested in appearing righteous than actually being righteous, then it is time that we wake up. Jesus was born a humble carpenter’s son and lived a common life despite being anything but common.

Are we in search of the “things” of our lives; you know, the thrill of our life, the job of our life, the experience of our life, and if we are so fortunate, the love of our life? These are all examples of the “things” that we seek after every day. These are the “things” that we believe will make us happy, and let’s be honest with ourselves... we all do this to some degree, and once we think we have found them are we ever completely happy? Have we found the true and full joy of our lives in them? No, I’m afraid not… our only hope for true joy and life is in Jesus Christ.

Do we know what love is, and do we understand the depth to which it should be experienced and applied to those around us? This is our contemplation today, and let’s ask ourselves if we are truly showing others the love of God and Jesus Christ as it is described in scripture and shown to us through Jesus Christ. But before we can know if we are showing it, or fully giving it, we must first know what love looks like so that we can recognize it in our lives. Scripture helps us to recognize it by describing its attributes…

The result of our faith is a realignment of our lives and those within it. Are you seeing this occur, and are you willing to let it happen? Are you being transformed into a new person? At the moment when we first confess our faith in Jesus and ask Him to be the Lord of our life something incredible is released in us and our entire world begins to change. The friends who were once so dear to us begin to withdraw and the places we used to frequent suddenly lose their appeal to us. A change is beginning in us that is reshuffling our lives.

We have looked at John 21:17 to explore the love and equipping of Peter as Jesus questioned him, but this morning let's look at what He was being told to do when Jesus said "Feed my sheep." I find it interesting that when Jesus questioned Peter and told him to "Feed his sheep" that all the apostles (including Peter) had already received the Holy Spirit and directions, but here Peter was being given more. Let's review what happened and what they were told when the Holy Spirit was breathed onto them...

Are you depressed about something this morning? Do you feel that the Lord has backed away or allowed some tragedy to befall you? Are you mired in a season of hopelessness? If so, you are not alone. This happened to others throughout the Bible, and is happening in the lives of many today, but here is a word of wisdom and hope for you that I personally cling to, and which will see you through such seasons too... “Just keep living!”

Today’s topic deals with what is expected of us in regard to our lives. There are some who believe that the ultimate offering of our life is to sacrifice it in death or lay it down in service to God; but that isn't the case. That sacrifice has been made; Jesus was the one perfect offering for the redemption of sin. God loved us enough to do this for us… not for Himself, nor to lead us into death for any other reason. We have been saved once, and for all, by Christ alone.