Mediator
DAY 15 WRITTEN BY: GILBERT TORRENS-
1 Timothy 2:5
For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus…
-
In his first letter to Timothy, Paul encourages Timothy to guide the saints to lead lives shaped by the gospel of Jesus, and to intercede in prayers for one another to be able to live that gospel shaped life.
The problem is that we as humans, apart from God, cannot live a life worthy of the gospel. What’s more, apart from Christ, we cannot even approach God.
God’s perfect holiness presents an insurmountable chasm that we cannot bridge in order to have communion with Him. Our sin separates us from his holiness, and our mortal bodies cannot contend with his power and might (Job 9:3-7,32-33). But because of his great love for us, God reached across that chasm and appointed sacrifices, covenants, and men as mediators throughout time.
In the Bible, a mediator is one who intervenes between two or more opposing parties and aims to reconcile or satisfy their demands.
These appointed mediators were imperfect; however, the sacrifices were not lasting, and we could not uphold our end of the covenant. None of them could build a lasting bridge between humanity and the perfectly holy and righteous God.
When Paul wrote the man Christ Jesus, he was intentionally referring the fully human Christ who fully understands our condition yet knowing no sin (Heb 4:15), has paid the ransom and has once and for all eternity, bridged the gap between us and the righteous God. (Heb 2:17-18). Because of Jesus Christ, the mediator, we are now free to serve God (Heb 9:14).
Hebrews 4:16 - 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.
-
Father, thank you for your love that reached across eternity and provided your son Jesus, a perfect mediator and ransom for all.
Jesus, thank you for your love and sacrifice. Thank you for building a bridge once and for all. I rejoice in your resurrection and promise of eternal life.
Holy Spirit, please guide my life to live as a living sacrifice, in worship to God. Help me to not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but to live the grace, mercy and peace that you have given us.
The True Vine
DAY 14 WRITTEN BY: ERICA SUMMEROUR-
John 15:1-5
I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.
-
Jesus often used examples of familiar, everyday life to explain spiritual concepts to His disciples. Most of Jesus’ listeners would have been familiar with the basic practices of cultivating grape vines. In these verses Jesus compares God to a gardener who carries out His plans for the growth of a vineyard. The listeners understand that the vineyard would represent God’s kingdom.
In order to maintain the health of the vine, the gardener removes branches that he sees are not producing fruit.
Early in the growing season, branches that have potential to produce fruit are pruned, their excess length is snipped off so that the vine will produce even more fruit.
Jesus explains that he is like the vine and his disciples are the branches. Through Jesus’ teachings, his disciples are pruned, sin is removed, and they are being made ready to produce even more spiritual fruit.
Jesus reminds His disciples that a branch cannot produce fruit, or even live apart from the vine.
Just as the vine is the source of life for the fruit, Jesus is the source of life for the believer. We are told to remain, or abide in Him in order to produce much fruit.
When we as believers submit to God’s pruning sin from our lives, we can bear more & more spiritual fruit.
-
Gracious Heavenly Father, Thank you for the pruning. Thank you for removing the sin that gets in the way of my growth. Help me to always remain attached to the only true source of eternal life– Jesus, the True Vine.
The Door
DAY 13 WRITTEN BY: TRE WIGGINS-
John 10:7-9
So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
-
Jesus says something similar to the passage above in John 14:6. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except by Me.” What Jesus makes plain is that He is the one who makes spiritual life possible. The difficulty in coming to grips with a statement like this is that there is no other way. No amount of good works or trying hard to obtain righteousness will ever make someone sufficient to gain what does not belong to them. See, both Jonah and the Psalms attest to the fact that “salvation belongs to the Lord.”
The one to whom something belongs gets to make determinations about who receives what they have. If salvation belongs to God, and it does, that means He’s the one who gets the say over how it is to be given to others and how they are to receive it. Jesus is how salvation was given to us, namely through His work on the cross. We receive it by grace through faith in Him.
In fact, because Jesus is the only way to salvation, many miss it because they think they can obtain it in other ways. This is why Jesus is a stumbling block to some and the cornerstone to others (Acts 4:11). There is only one foundation that can be laid, and it is Jesus (1 Cor. 3:11). To build on any other foundation will be in vain. He is the only way to eternal bliss in the presence of God.
The wonderful thing about these truths is that Jesus invites us to enter freely by Him! Revelation 3:20 tells us as much: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”
Friend, do you believe Jesus is the only way to heaven? Then tell somebody about Him today. They enter by Him, or they don’t enter at all. God desires that the grace He showed to you might be shown to others by your witness
-
Father, give me an opportunity today to share Christ with someone that I encounter. Give me the eyes to see the opportunity and the courage to take it!
The Light of the World
DAY 12 WRITTEN BY: TRE WIGGINS-
John 1:4
In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
John 1:29
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
John 8:12
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
John 12:35
So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you.
-
When is the last time you stopped and reflected on your spiritual reality apart from Christ? Has it been a while since you’ve set your mind on the spiritual darkness that plagued you before Christ invaded your life and the Spirit of God helped you to understand your sin (John 16:8)?
If you remember, you were dead in your trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1-3). Do you know what dead people do? I’m hopeful this won’t sound crass, but *nothing*. Dead people stay dead. This is our spiritual reality apart from Christ. Don’t think up a picture of you drowning in the ocean of your sin before Jesus. Imagine yourself dead at the bottom of that ocean. That’s our reality and it would remain that way unless Jesus did something.
Thankfully, He did something, indeed. He took on the form of a servant and the God-man came in order to die on a cross for our sins. He, the Light of the world, is the only hope for a world shrouded in darkness. The light He bears shines in our hearts and makes us aware of our sin and our need for a Savior. Apart from this light, we remain in darkness. If God doesn’t take the initiative to come on our behalf, we die and spend eternity in hell because our sin is, as R.C. Sproul calls it, “cosmic treason” against a holy God.
Yet, this Holy God came to save sinners trapped in darkness. His light proves there is a way out. He is the Light that darkness cannot and will not overcome. He’s already won the victory over our sin and the grave. His light points to the possibility of life. Life that is found only in Him.
-
Father, thank you for the Light that is Jesus! When I was dead in my sins, He came to bring me from darkness into glorious light. Help me to live in that light today, as I seek to please You in every way by the power of Your Spirit.
The Bread of Life
DAY 11 WRITTEN BY: ELIZABETH BROOME-
John 6:48
I am the bread of life.
-
In the Old Testament, God had given the Israelites manna from heaven to meet their physical needs, but now, God sent them Jesus, the “true bread from heaven” (John 6:32). Jesus told the people “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger and he who believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). Jesus was speaking to people familiar with the Scripture of the Old Testament.
In Deuteronomy 8, God reminded the Isrealites about the manna that He provided while they wandered in the wilderness. He told them “man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:3b). However, the people who ate the manna from God in the wilderness had died.
Now in John, Jesus was offering Himself as the living bread sent from God the Father. “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life” (John 6:47).
Jesus declared this to the crowd of people, five thousand men, which He had miraculously fed the day before. The Bible says they were given as much as they wanted and were filled. But they were not satisfied because they had not allowed Jesus to meet their greatest need- their need for everlasting life.
In both the Old and New Testament, the people were so blinded by their physical needs that they missed what God was offering to them. Jesus is the Bread of Life. Oftentimes, we are guilty of the same. We are blinded by our circumstances and forget to believe Jesus. God is always after our heart- changing it and renewing it. He wants us to be reconciled to Him which only happens when we believe in The Bread of Life. How is God trying to renew you, today? What circumstances has He allowed to strengthen your relationship with Him?
-
Father, help me to choose to believe You in every circumstance that I face. Help me to trust You. You have met my greatest spiritual need and are faithful to meet my physical needs. Help me to rest in your sovereignty because, just like you sent manna from heaven, you sent the Bread of Life so that I might have everlasting life. Amen.
The Good Shepherd
DAY 10 WRITTEN BY: TRE WIGGINS-
1 Peter 5:4
And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
John 10:11
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
-
I’m hopelessly dependent on GPS. I haven’t always been. I used to be dependent on MapQuest (thank you, God, for technological advances). I used to print out directions and read them step by step to get to any place I wasn’t familiar with. In fact, even today, if I don’t travel somewhere consistently, I’ll never remember how to return to a place. I have to go there time and again to ensure that I’ll ever make it without some sort of help.
In a strange way, my GPS acts as a shepherd does to a sheep. The job of the shepherd is to lead the sheep to a place where it would not originally arrive on its own. Primarily, that place is a place of safety. That’s ultimately what we’re doing any time we travel somewhere, isn’t it? Our goal is to make it somewhere safely.
No place is more important for us to arrive safely to than the presence of God after we take our final breath. Like sheep, we’d never arrive there on our own. In Psalm 24, God tells us what is required to enter His presence. He requires clean hands and a pure heart. Neither of those things are intrinsic to us. In fact, they’re alien to us. Thankfully, righteousness is a gift (Psalm 24:5). Do you know who makes that gift possible for us? Our Good Shepherd. Through the cross and resurrection, Jesus has ensured that He will guide us safely all the way home. He has secured us, and we are forever in Him. He’s made sure of that before the foundation of the universe (Eph. 1).
Be comforted today that even if you get lost going to a place you’ve never been, you’ll never be spiritually or cosmically lost if you’re in Christ. He ensures that you’ll arrive safely to be fully and finally in the presence of God, just as He intends for you to.
-
Father, thank you for the kindness You’ve shown me in not allowing me to remain lost. I was born lost. But I know I don’t have to remain there. You’ve given me a second chance in Christ. Thank you for this Good Shepherd that ensures that none of His sheep leave His fold (John 6:37)!
The Way
DAY 9 WRITTEN BY: Dianne MIlTON-
John 14:6
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
-
Jesus is responding to Thomas who asked him, “Lord, we don’t know where you’re going. How can we know the way?” Jesus has washed the disciples’ feet and told them they should wash each other’s feet – his way of telling them how he loves them and that they should love each other.
Now he is telling them he is going to prepare a place for them, a place where they will be with him again. The disciples have been with Jesus for three years. For three years, they have physically walked with him. They have heard him talk to the Father. They have seen him perform miracle after miracle. They have heard his wisdom and his teaching. Yet even so, they haven’t comprehended his purpose and his plan. Perhaps, they so wanted him to be the king who would free them from the Romans that they didn’t fully listen. They only heard what they wanted to hear.
Just like the disciples, we fail to listen carefully enough, study him enough, submit to him enough, or trust him enough. Just as Jesus promised his disciples, he promises us too, that he is going to prepare a place for us. He is THE way to the Father, the only way. We must listen faithfully to him as he speaks to us about the path we choose – not our way, but his way! Only then will we have the abundant life he promised and spend eternity with Him.
-
Father, thank you for providing us with “The Way” to everlasting life with you. Help me to focus on this truth and not be distracted by what I want but what is pleasing to you. You gave us your son to be our savior and we owe you our total devotion. Lord, I love you and surrender to your will and your way – The Way!
I AM
DAY 8 WRITTEN BY: TRE WIGGINS-
Exodus 3:14
God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’
John 8:58
Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
-
Can you think of a time that you were anxious? For some, anxiety comes when one feels there is no confidence to cling to in a trying situation. In Exodus 3, Moses is about to approach the Israelites to tell them of their coming liberation from slavery to Pharoah. Yet, he isn’t convinced the people will listen to him. He wants to know what He should tell them. God says to tell them “I AM…” has sent you. This is a statement from God of His eternal self-existence. No one or nothing compares to Him. In fact, this same God will be Moses’ confidence when he goes before Pharoah, too, who has the power and authority to kill Moses if he so chose.
Fast forward more than a thousand years. In John 8, Jesus uses the same language that God uses in Exodus 3: “I AM.” In this case, Jesus is talking to the Jews who are the generations that followed the liberated ones in Exodus 3. They know who “I AM” is. Don’t they? Not according to Jesus. In John 8, Jesus explicitly ties Himself with the Father. Just as the Father is “I AM”, so too is Jesus. Jesus is God the Son, eternally-existent. He shares in the glory of His Father (John 8:54). And this changes everything. In order to know God as He desires to be known, one must know Him through Christ. And for one to know Christ, one’s confidence must be that He is who He says He is: the Messiah come to save us from our sins.
-
Father, we believe that Jesus is who He says He is, the great I AM. We know that He shares equally in Your being, for You are one (Deut. 6:4). We thank you for the revelation that Jesus is God, and without Him we do not have life. May all our confidence be in Him today. He is the eternally-existent one who cares for us, who walks with us, and who ultimately will save us from death.
Jehovah-Tsidkenu: The Lord Who Is Righteous
DAY 7 WRITTEN BY: CINDY HALE-
Jeremiah 23:5‐6
“Look, the days are coming”—this is the Lord’s declaration — “when I will raise up a Righteous Branch for David. He will reign wisely as king and administer justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. This is the name he will be called: The Lord Is Our Righteousness.
-
Jeremiah’s prophecies were set during a time of great political unrest. We find a divided kingdom, and a dispersed people who are facing looming captivity, the northern kingdom of Israel by Assyria and the southern kingdom of Judah by Babylon. Due to the poor leadership of the kings in Israel and Judah, who God had called to be not only leaders but shepherds to care for His people, His sheep, who had been left to the false teachers and false prophets, had been scattered throughout the earth, and were no longer one people in a land that God had promised.
But God, in His infinite wisdom and mercy, never leaves His people without hope, whether present or future. The Lord declares a promise of the future King that will be unlike any earthly king they have known. He promises to raise up a Davidic king who would be a branch of Righteousness, a shoot that sprouts from a fallen tree. This King will be a true King, one who will be just and righteous, One through which God’s people will be saved and be secure, a King who extends this salvation and security to all of the earth, not just to Israel and Judah. This King brings rescue and security to all God’s people. This King is Jesus Christ, The Lord Is Our Righteousness.
What a precious name this is for our Lord Jesus Christ! It not only displays His place in the Godhead, but also is a Messianic reference that gives evidence of the deity of the Messiah.
Just as in the days of Jeremiah, we find ourselves in a world today that is full of political unrest and uncertainty. But we can rest secure in the knowledge that our hope is found in this beautiful name of Jesus Christ that we are given in this passage. The rest that we find in Jehovah Tsidkenu (The Lord is Our Righteousness) gives us great strength to face life’s challenges. This strength found in this name is best summed up by Martin Luther when he said “You, sir satan, your menaces and terrors trouble me not. For why? There is One whose name is called the Lord Our Righteousness, on whom I believe. He it is who hath abrogated the law, condemned sin, abolished death, destroyed hell, and is a satan to thee, O satan.”
-
Lord Jesus, my heart sometimes can be so troubled as I look around and see turmoil in this world on every side. Help me to keep my eyes focused on Your promise, Your righteousness, and Your perfect peace. Through Your Righteousness, I can find rest and security in the midst of any turmoil I face. Help me Lord to just rest in You today!
Jehovah-M’Kaddesh: The Lord Who Sanctifies & Jehovah-Shalom: The Lord Who Is Peace
DAY 6 WRITTEN BY: CASEY McCONNELL-
Leviticus 20:7-8
Consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. Keep my statutes and do them; I am the Lord who sets you apart.
Judges 6:24
So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace. It is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites today.
-
From the beginning of creation, God’s desire for His people has been for us to have intimate fellowship with Him. In order to share relationship with a righteous God, we must share in His holiness (Leviticus 19:2). Throughout the book of Leviticus, we see God giving statues that will set the Israelites apart. God knew Israel would be tempted by the fallen world around them, so he lovingly lays the foundation for what is good and what is holy.
While it may seem like God is giving Israel a list of “dos and don’ts,” these commands aren’t self-depriving boxes that believers are simply meant to check. God certainly wants us to recognize sin, our propensity to it, and how that separates us from Him, but His solution to our sin problem is not one of self-rescue. Self-denial and self-reformation do not have the capacity to fully eradicate the fallen nature that exists within our hearts. God wants us to pursue holiness not by striving for it, but by exchanging our self-sufficiency for greater Spirit-dependency. It is God, Jehovah-M’Kaddesh, who does this sanctifying work in us. What Grace that God is not satisfied with us simply knowing His holy character. He does a redeeming work inside us so we can experience it for ourselves and so that we might be the image-bearers of Christ to those around us.
If it weren’t for the intervention of our faithful redeemer, the battle against sin and self is sure to be lost. Like Gideon, when we consider our inadequacy apart from God, we find ourselves lacking the courage to charge mightily into the fight. Gideon brought an offering to the angel of the Lord and asked Him to prove that God was with him before leading the Israelites in battle, but God has given us even greater assurance than an offering consumed by fire. We have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, empowering us, and delivering us. And as God does, we are not only victorious, but we become the beneficiaries of His righteousness and His peace.
-
Heavenly Father, thank you for the relationship I am privileged to have with You because of Jesus. Help me to desire Your holiness today. Give me ears to hear Your instruction, a softened heart in Your conviction, and an attitude of surrender as You do a sanctifying work in me. You are Jehovah-Shalom. Help me remember that my sanctification and my peace can only be found in You. Enable me, through Your Holy Spirit, to walk in joyful obedience as You go before me today.
Jehovah-Nissi: The Lord Is My Banner
DAY 5 WRITTEN BY: TRE WIGGINS-
Exodus 17:15
And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner…
-
In Exodus 17, the Amalekites attack Israel. Moses goes up on the hillside to “raise his staff.” For the entirety of the time that Moses raised the staff, Israel prevailed. But when his arms tired and the staff lowered, the Amalekites gained ground. Aaron and Hur came to Moses’ aid and helped him continue to raise the staff so that Israel eventually won.
Now, what part does the staff play? Is there some sort of magic within this staff? No, in fact, the Lord has used this staff before in His judgment against the Egyptians during Israel’s enslavement. The staff signifies something external to Moses that’s operating on his behalf. It’s not Moses that ultimately led the Israelites out of Egypt. It’s not Moses or anything he’s doing that caused Israel to defeat the Amalekites, either.
Moses recognizes this, and he erects an altar, naming it, “The Lord is My Banner.” In this, he’s proclaiming the Lord as the victor. The One by which victory comes! Moses takes no credit, but gives it to God, the One to whom it is due.
Where has the greatest victory in your life been won? Isn’t it in the battle over your soul? What did you do in order to bring victory in your life over sin and death? Nothing! A banner should hang over our own lives that say, “the Lord is victorious!” It is His work, and His alone, that we share in victory. The only thing we bring to the table is the sin that makes salvation necessary. Every spiritual work belongs to the Lord.
-
Father, I am more than willing to proclaim that You are my Banner. You hold victory in Your hands. It’s been accomplished through the cross and resurrection of Jesus. May I live today in gratitude because of it!
Jehovah-Rapha: The Lord Who Heals
DAY 4 WRITTEN BY: BEN BIESECKER-
Exodus 15:22-26
Then Moses led Israel on from the Red Sea, and they went out to the Wilderness of Shur. They journeyed for three days in the wilderness without finding water. They came to Marah, but they could not drink the water at Marah because it was bitter—that is why it was named Marah. The people grumbled to Moses, “What are we going to drink?” So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he threw it into the water, the water became drinkable. The Lord made a statute and ordinance for them at March, and he tested them there. He said, “If you will carefully obey the Lord your God, do what is right in his sight, pay attention to his commands, and keep all his statutes, I will not inflict any illnesses on you that I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.”
-
Three days prior, the people of Israel were being delivered by God from Egypt through the split Red Sea. Now, they’re questioning if God can quench their thirst in the wilderness. In a matter of thirty-six hours, Israel has gone from being brought out of the water to running out of water.
When the people arrived in Marah, they found water, but it was bitter and undrinkable. Because of this, the Hebrew word “Marah” came to mean “bitter”. It was this disappointment that turned the people bitter in their hearts. Ironically, the more time they spent in Marah, the more Marah (bitterness) got into them.
The Israelites doubted God’s goodness and His ability to provide. They responded in light of their circumstances by complaining against God. Moses, on the other hand, believed God was capable of healing the water. Instead of complaining against the Lord, he cried out to the Lord.
God brought healing to the people by way of a tree that healed the bitterness of the water. A shadow of the cross, through which God would one day heal the bitterness of our hearts. In Hebrews 12:15, the writer says: “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;” Bitterness springs up in our hearts when we neglect or reject the grace that God desires to pour out in our lives.
God healed the bitter water—not because the people of Israel were worthy or deserving, but because Moses called on His name, Jehovah Rapha, “The Lord Who Heals.” May we call on that same name.
-
Jehovah Rapha, as I walk through my own wilderness and endure bitter circumstances, illnesses, or grief, keep me from complaining and help me call on your name for healing. Thank you for Jesus, who by His sacrificial death on the cross, healed my soul of the bitterness of sin. In His name I pray, amen.
Jehovah-Jireh: The Lord Shall Provide
DAY 3 WRITTEN BY: ANDREW CRAIN-
Genesis 22:13-14
Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide, so today it is said, “It will be provided on the Lord’s mountain.”
-
Hebrews 11:17-19 tells us that this mountaintop encounter in Genesis 22 was a test of Abraham’s faith after God had promised Abraham that his descendants would come through his son, Issac. God let Abraham go to the last moment toward sacrificing Issac—even to the point of raising the knife—only to provide the ram as a last second substitute sacrifice. The Lord did provide, but only after Abraham demonstrated his faith in believing that God would fulfill his prior promise even if Abraham did kill his son, Issac.
Abraham’s faith was not tested so that an all-knowing God could find out what Abraham would do. God already knew that. Instead, Abraham’s faith was tested both for his benefit and for ours. In placing his faith in God and seeing God provide a substitute sacrifice, Abraham’s faith undoubtedly grew as a result. In demonstrating his willingness to obey despite God’s instruction seemingly contradicting God’s prior promise, it should come as no surprise that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness (Gen. 15:6).
You and I are also beneficiaries of Abraham’s exercise of faith. Abraham’s faithfulness was the result of a decision to obey God no matter what. Abraham’s faith was not an accident. Abraham decided to believe. And once that decision was made, Abraham’s actions followed accordingly. Abraham’s faith is a model for us all.
Additionally, just as God provided the ram as substitute sacrifice upon Abraham’s demonstration of faith, Jesus is provided as a substitute sacrifice for the payment of our sins upon the placement of faith in Him as our Lord and Savior. That is, God, as our provider, has provided for the salvation of those who decide to place their faith in the sacrificial lamb that is Christ. What have you decided?
-
Lord, you are the God that provides. Thank you for your Son, Jesus Christ, in whom you provided as substitute payment for my sins so that I could be saved through the placement of my faith in Him. I pray that my actions every day would follow the decision to place my faith in Christ and to trust and obey your Word, such that You are glorified as a result.
Jehovah-Rohi: The Lord My Shepherd & Jehovah-Shammah: The Lord Who Is There
DAY 2 WRITTEN BY: TRE WIGGINS-
Psalm 23:1
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Ezekiel 48:35
…And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The Lord Is There.
-
Have you ever felt distant from God? How about feeling like your soul was parched because it’s been some time since you’ve drank from the well of living water?
On one level, this feeling can be an encouragement: it means you feel an absence of some sort because you’ve really tasted and seen that the Lord is good at some point before. You know there’s something wrong with the distance you feel because you’ve felt what it feels like to be close to the Lord.
In Psalm 42, one of the sons of Korah felt similarly. His soul was parched, and he longed for God. His enemies are even quick to remind him that his God seems far (“where is your God?” vs.3). Yet, he reminds himself that God is his salvation and his God (vs. 5).
Sometimes, our feelings betray us. We *feel* far from God. But we need to remind ourselves often the truth of God’s word. And the truth is that He is our shepherd, and He is the Lord who “is There.” We know He is with us, because to shepherd means to guide. He’s promised to lead us. Further, we know Him to be (here) primarily because of Christ. Through Christ, God indwells us by His Spirit. He’s going nowhere, no matter how distant He might feel. Take comfort in that today.
-
Father, I know that sometimes my feelings can betray me. But I know the counsel of Your word is there to remind me that You’ll never leave me or forsake me. Thank you for Your promises to bring me safely all the way home (Phil. 1:6)!
Jehovah
DAY 1 WRITTEN BY: AMANDA WHITE-
Isaiah 40:3
A voice of one crying out: Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert.
-
In the first thirty-nine chapters of Isaiah, we read prophetic messages of God’s judgement coming because of Judah’s disobedience and sin. Judah, the northern kingdom of Israel, refused to repent and would experience the curses laid out in Deuteronomy by our righteous and holy God. Exile to Babylon would happen, but it wouldn’t be the end. Chapters 40-48 of Isaiah speak to the restoration and deliverance God would bring. After seventy years of exile and captivity, God would cause Babylon to fall, and restore the Israelites to Himself.
The Israelites would experience “hard service” (40:2); their captivity would be like the hardships of war because of their sin against holy God. Spiritually and physically speaking, they were all in the wilderness, away from the Promised Land, separated from God, but Isaiah provides this message of hope from God that salvation is coming, Israel would be restored to the Promised Land. And this message of hope is for more than just the Israelites. The salvation that was coming was more than just a return to Jerusalem.
This message of hope in Isaiah points us to the person of Jesus. Salvation has come for all people through Him.
Jesus stepped down from Heaven into the wilderness of this world to bear God’s wrath for our sin on the cross. Because of His death and resurrection, there is now no eternal exile and no payment for sin required for all who believe in Jesus for salvation. God has provided the way for sinners to be restored to a right relationship with Him through His Son.
Jehovah, YHWH (Yahweh), is the name that conveys God’s relationship with His people. A relationship marked by HIS grace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, forgiveness, compassion, mercy, peace, joy, love. As we begin our 75 days of prayer and fasting, let’s cling to the truth that Jehovah desires a relationship with us, and let’s be expectant to grow in our affections for Him as we open our hearts to His Word and allow the Spirit to work.
-
Heavenly Father, you are Jehovah; you desire a relationship with me, an undeserving sinner. And you have made that relationship possible through the death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus. Thank you for the cross. As I study your Word during this set aside time over the next 75 days, would you increase my affections for you? I want to grow in knowledge and understanding of WHO you are and love you more deeply.
PRAYER CONFERENCE 2024
+
MARCH 15-17
+
SIGN UP TODAY
+
PRAYER CONFERENCE 2024 + MARCH 15-17 + SIGN UP TODAY +
MISS THE LATEST MESSAGE?
NO WORRIES! CATCH IT HERE!