Jesus is the Mercy Seat.
This is Love: not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son as a Mercy Set (atoning sacrifice) for our sins. 1 John 4:10
But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
In the depth of our depravity Christ died for us. He did not wait for persons to get as close as possible through obedience to the law and righteous living. Never once did He proclaim to His Father: "Close Enough! This one made it !" In the breadth of our separation from God, Christ died for us.
In the moment in all of history when humanity could not have been further from God, Christ died for us.
He who knew all things died in advance for the most depraved deed I would ever commit. Although I was not present in the crowd that dreadful day , my sins most assuredly were.
His holiness had to forsake His own Son so that through His sacrifice Christ could intercede on our behalf. Jesus experienced the excruciating pain of being forsaken by God so that we might not have to. And because He did "we have peace with God" (Romans 5:1)
Day 2: The Gardner's Shears
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. John 15:11
The budding rod foreshadowed the fruit that would be produced to preserve Christ's witness after His physical departure from earth.
In John 15 We read about the task of the gardener. The Gardner has one main task; to create an environment in which the best crop can be produced. The conditions for fruit bearing are twofold: (1) The branches must stay attached to the vital lifeline of the Vine so that they can be nourished. (2) The branches must be pruned so that they can produce a greater crop of fruit.
God has a perfect image planned toward which He is growing us.
What is He pruning? Dead works and sucker shoots! Dead works are services that will not stand up under the cleansing fires of Christ's judgment. Sucker shoots ate activities and energy consumers that grow wildly out of control and contribute nothing to God's intended image for us.
Hebrews 4:12 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.
When God uses His Word as our pruning instruments, it is a lot less painful because it is sharp and quick.
When we refuse to learn the precepts in the Word, He is sometimes forced to transfer that lesson outside the Word.
No matter which tool God uses, His Word is still the key to our growth in His image. Allowing our Gardner to prune through His Word sometimes helps us avoid pruning through our circumstances. But even when it does not, the Word makes our circumstances far more bearable.
People will know us by our fruit!
Day 3: The Ten Commandments
Read the 10 Commandments
Aren't you thankful for absolutes, for black and white? Some things are right, and some things are wrong. Period.
To be perfectly honest, if God were not caring through us, we would probably not care about others. Without being rightly related to God, we are not motivated to make right relationships with others a priority.
God is not the only who never changes. Human nature never changes. With all my heart I believe that human nature cries out to be stopped, to be saved from itself, to be confronted by a standard, to discover pure black and white, to realize the importance of absolutes. God delivered those words to Moses without apology or hesitation.
If we could only accept that God's commands are for us, not against us. The Ten Commandments were not only given to provide a pure standard for living. They were also given to evoke fear and reverence for the Holy One, who possessed the authority to give them, so that obedience and blessing might result.
Day 4: Finished Work
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9
Moses: Aaron! What have you done?
Aaron: I just pitched a few earrings in a fire and look what popped out!
Moses: Say, God about those tablets....
God: Get back up here.
Moses: What do you mean we're going without You?
God: I'll Kill them if I go on!
Moses: I'll kill them if you don't! If You're not going, don't send us away from here. Look at them. They're mourning.
God: OK Moses. I will do as you asked.
Moses: We will build a place for Your name.
God: I will accept no disobedience this time, Moses.
It had been the worst year of his life and the best year of his life. Funny how often that happens when the Lord is your God. (I can so relate to this!)
Day 5: A Cross in the Desert
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Galatians 6:14
Not on the basis of your freewill offerings, not on the basis of your good works, not on the basis of your obedience, not even on the basis of your burnt sacrifices but only on the basis of the cross will I come and dwell among you.
Have a Beautiful Day!
Christina
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