Thursday Devotional - Who is Worthy?

Last week we saw how God is worthy of all praise and honor. Is there anyone else that is worthy? Will we ever be worthy?

None of us are holy or righteous. The only way we can be seen as holy and righteous in God’s eyes is to believe in Jesus’ work on our behalf (His death, resurrection and exaltation). Philippians 3:9…not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.

So, will we one day be worthy, as well? I don’t think so. Worthy means morally upright and fully deserving. We are holy and righteous because God has consecrated and justified us by His grace and mercy through the blood of Jesus. However, we will never be fully deserving.

The next passage in Revelation points out that there is no one on earth or in Heaven that is worthy. 

Revelation 5:1-7       Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. ² And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” ³ But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. ⁴ I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. ⁵ Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

⁶ Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.⁷ He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne.

Only triumphant Jesus, the Lamb slain for us, is worthy before God!

Let’s celebrate today and tomorrow the real reason for the season – Jesus was sent as a baby to be slain on a cross for you and me! He deserves and is worthy of our focus and praise!!!

Merry Christmas!
Alice 

True Grit

Because the Sovereign Lord helps me,
    I will not be disgraced.
Therefore, I have set my face like a stone,
    determined to do his will.
    And I know that I will not be put to shame.
He who gives me justice is near.
    Who will dare to bring charges against me now?
Where are my accusers?
    Let them appear!
See, the Sovereign Lord is on my side!
    Who will declare me guilty?
All my enemies will be destroyed
    like old clothes that have been eaten by moths!  Isaiah 50:7-9

You ever go through a daunting task or situation where at one point you could either fail to overcome or seem too tough?  I had a task like that where it just never seemed to be where I wanted it to be, and the mounting pressure built as the deadline approached.  For a bit, it seemed it would never get done, but I remembered something I had heard at a conference talking about how sometimes you have to use feeling that is hard to define but necessary to just get it done.  Some describe it as toughness, but the word they used was grittiness.  So rather than resign myself to just dealing with my potential failure, I dug my heels in and fought with grittiness never giving in to the voice that it could not be done on time.  Low and behold, I had completed my task when I needed it to be done and ahead of schedule.

Being a servant of God sometimes will require us to fight through some tough situations.  A question was asked in my bible study about when to let go of something.  Is God testing us to be vigilant and ‘gritty’ or does He want us to go another way?  Only through prayer can that be answered, but when it comes to being faithful servants as Ephesians 6:11 would suggest (Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes), we must always stand for Him.  This is what Isaiah conveys in today’s verse.  Because we confess Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior, we have God on our side.  Thus, we should be comfortable embracing this choice.  When times might seem tough and the pressure seems to mount, we must show our own ‘grit’ to stand for God and His will for our lives.

No one said serving God is easy.  Jesus said, “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:14 - NIV)  When you are weary from the struggles in your life and following God feels more like a burden than a blessing, remember to find strength in Him, who can carry you through anything.  Do not give in.  Dig your heels in, and find that something in you that is God inspired and keep fighting.  What challenge are you facing today that needs God’s inspired strength?  What situation can you handle better knowing God has your back?  My prayer is that when challenged with worldly suffering and conflict, we respond with God inspired true grit.  Amen.

Tues Devo: Joy, part 3

Matthew 2:13 “Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.’” (NASB)

Hey – that verse sounds like lots of joy! As we have looked at joy being found to be most full in the presence of God – let us not miss the fact that the enemy wants to steal our joy from us. Whatever he can do, he will to keep us separated from God. He tried to use Herod to steal the joy while Jesus was yet an infant, and he continues today to do things that will take our joy away. This isn’t always by introducing the obviously evil, sometimes it is done by him in introducing the things that look good or fine on the outside – but are truly intended to distract us from the presence and will of God.

Jesus knew the plan to come for His life on earth, and knew that He would have to die. The enemy would try and use that to steal the joy from folks, but Jesus knew that was just temporary  - and His presence again will bring a joy that cannot be taken away from us. Jesus goes through this discussion in John 16 – with verse 22 saying “ Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.” (NASB)

Have a joyful day!

Will Hill

A Promise of Hope

Just last week, I posted "Bring It."  While I do know the end of the Bible and the major concepts within the middle, I don't know the details of the next chapter as I'm going through this study of Ezekiel.  I'm slowly pondering and praying about each chapter as I'm going through it, and only focusing on one chapter each week.  I found it rather poignant that the next chapter of Ezekiel includes these verses:

33 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt. 34 The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through it. 35 They will say, “This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden; the cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed, are now fortified and inhabited.” 36 Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the Lord have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.’  Ezekiel 36

Yes!  We are told the end of the story.  This brings up a concept I hadn't heard before.  I had heard that our bodies will be restored at the resurrection, but I hadn't heard that the ruins would also be rebuilt.  The desolate land would be cultivated again.  Think of it, everything around us will be restored to reflect God's glory.

It'll be a wonderful day when we see that.  I remember a few members of our church visited New York City years ago and specifically found one of the first churches from our denomination.  The church had been long closed, bought and renovated, and was now a pizza parlor.  While it was a beautiful pizza parlor with stained glass windows, it was still very troubling to the members of the congregation that visited the site.  Honestly, I wasn't that upset by it.  I didn't have the whole story as to why the church closed, for all we know the church had outgrown that location in NYC and had relocated to a larger site.  The building itself is not important, what we do as Christians is what's important.

Still, the verses reiterate that what is torn down, or refurbished into a pizza parlor, can and will be rebuilt by God.  Nothing is impossible for him.  What man has made, God can certainly make, reshape, and improve upon.