Home » Jesus as Savior (Page 2)
Category Archives: Jesus as Savior
Ponderings on Good Friday
Until next time…“May the LORD bless and protect you…May He give you Shalom.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
Bill
Colored-In
A young child asked “How does Jesus make us real? With the current fad of adult coloring books, her answer to her own question is apropos: “Does he draw us first and then color us in?” I must admit that I am a participant in the coloring book fad. I enjoy coloring the various designs. Applying the coloring concept to Yeshua and His work in us creates a good analogy. First, He draws us–He draws us in the sense of drawing us to Himself and in the sense of re-creating and re-configuring us into His image. Then, He colors us in, making us more and more like Himself, even erasing some “colors” that we added but that do not fit His design.
He has two goals in coloring us in. His first goal is for us personally. It is to gradually color us, transform and infuse us, with the things of the Spirit so that His resurrected life becomes the whole of who we are. His second goal is for the good of others. As we become like Him, we are called to be a life-giver like He is, bearing and sharing His image wherever we go and spreading His light to others.
Until next time…”May the LORD bless and protect you…May He give you Shalom.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
Bill
Sincere Love
Peter speaks of showing “sincere brotherly love” in 1 Pet 2:22. But what is “sincere brotherly love?” I submit that having sincere love means that even when you are hurt or shamed, your love for that person is never altered. Instead, it becomes more refined, making you more like Yeshua. “Sincere love” is full of appreciation for those who do not agree with you. Yeshua illustrated this on the cross when He said, “Father, forgive them.” (Lk 23:34). Stephen illustrated it when he said, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin” (Acts 7:60) as he was stoned.
Sincere love is the greatest thing God can give to my heart, to your heart.
Yesterday, we talked about digging channels for the Holy Spirit. (See Digging Ditches) As we dig those channels, maybe we should ask God to fill them with sincere love — after all, isn’t that really what allowing the Holy Spirit to flow through us is all about?
Until next time…“May the LORD bless and protect you…May He give you Shalom.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
Bill
Digging Ditches
“We get no deeper into [Messiah] than we allow Him to get into us.” (Mrs. C.E. Cowman)
“Make this valley full of ditches.” (2 Kings 3:16 NIV)
Do you want your life to be a channel through which the living water and power of the Holy Spirit can flow? I do! But, how is a channel, or ditch, created? It is usually dug and digging can be hard work!
We recently had some drainage work done on our house. The workers did a lot of digging around the foundation and then they dug a long ditch (channel) through our back yard to an existing open drainage ditch that runs across the back of our lot to a small stream. The ditch they dug channels the water from our gutters and from around our foundation out of our yard. Digging that ditch was not easy due to the hard clay soil, the rocks, and the tree roots. I’m sure some the trees even said “ouch” as the shovel trimmed their roots that were in the way. After they dug the ditch, they laid drainage pipe and covered it up to preserve the channel.
Do you see the analogy here? In order for the power of the Holy Spirit to efficiently flow through us, it must have a channel. I was fortunate because I was able to hire men to dig the channel through our yard. However, we can’t hire someone to “dig” a channel for the Holy Spirit. Although God does some of the work, in order for that channel to be dug we must allow the shovel of the Word to dig down into the depths of our heart; we must resolve to get rid of all the rubbish (the dirt, rocks, and roots), and to prepare the channel for the living water of the Holy Spirit to flow through. Then, we must cover that channel with the protection of His Spirit and do our part to ensure that the channel remains open.
Will you say with me, “Lord, do not spare anything in me that hinders the flow of Your Holy Spirit through me?” Will you join me in praying the first few lines of a poem by E. E. B. Rogers?
“Go deeper into me, Lord Jesus;
Yes, deeper every day,
Till thou hast conquered me, Lord Jesus;
Go deeper all the way.
Go deeper into me, Lord Jesus;
Search all the secret springs
Of thoughts and action, words and feelings,
Of great and little things.
Go deeper into me, Lord Jesus,
Cleanse all the hidden part,
Where pride, or touchiness, or temper,
May lurk within my heart.”
Until next time…“May the LORD bless and protect you…May He give you Shalom.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
Bill
Ticket to Heaven?
It’s not just a ticket to Heaven: “It is not a question of being saved from hell, but of being saved in order to manifest the life of the Son of God in our mortal flesh, and it is the disagreeable things which make us exhibit whether or not we are manifesting His life.” (Oswald Chambers)
By “disagreeable things”, Chambers means our self-will and the way we react to circumstances. We must constantly ask ourselves whether our attitudes and lifestyles reflect the Messiah or if they reflect what we are without Him.
Chambers goes on to say, “Keep your soul fit to manifest the life of the Son of God. Never live on memories; let the word of God be always living and active in you.”
We are saved to be God’s active representatives in this world, not just to receive a ticket into the next.
Until next time…“May the LORD bless and protect you…May He give you Shalom.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
Bill
Discipleship is More than Following
Peter illustrates true discipleship in his response to the report of the women regarding the empty tomb. “But Peter got up and ran to the tomb. He bent down and saw only the strips of linen cloth then he went home, wondering what had happened.” (Lk 24:12 NET)
We often consider “discipleship” to be simply following Yeshua because that is what He called His disciples to do. We think we are disciples because we have acknowledged Yeshua as the Messiah, as our Savior and Lord. However, discipleship is much more.
Peter’s response to the report of the empty tomb in Luke 24:12 illustrates a major characteristic of a true disciple–finding out for yourself. He went to see the empty tomb for himself so that he could make up his own mind. A disciple is someone who learns as he spends time following Yeshua–learns what He taught from the Torah and the prophets. True discipleship is listening, thinking, exploring, and coming to your own conclusion as Father God instructs you, and then applying what you learn to your life.
I have to ask myself if I’m a true disciple. How about you?
Until next time…“May the LORD bless and protect you…May He give you Shalom.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
Bill
Thought for April 19, 2017
“God invites our engagement in his divine plan but does not need it. Failure of nerve on the part of human beings does not ruin God’s presence in the world.” (Paula Gooder, This Risen Existence) and, in my NSHO, most of us have lost our nerve. He has invited us to proclaim the best possible news–that Yeshua, the promised Messiah, has risen from the dead and has ascended to sit at the right hand of our Father. However, even if we run away like the women at the tomb did (Mark 16:8), Yeshua has still risen and Adonai’s purposes will still be accomplished. Unfortunately, those of us who run in fear and those to whom we could have told the Good News may be the losers.
I ask myself, “Have I run away?” I ask you, “Have you run away?” Do we stand for the truth of Adonai’s Word in all circumstances or have we taken the easy PC path of conforming to the world’s way?
Until next time…“May the LORD bless and protect you…May He give you Shalom.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
Bill
What Happens Now?
Yeshua has risen from the dead! What’s next? What happens now that He has been crucified and resurrected? What comes next is His ascension and the coming of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) on Shavu’ot (Pentecost). His work would not have been complete w/o these next two events. Without them, we would not have the Ruach to give us the power and ability to carry on the work to which He has called us. As always, Adonai has it all under control as He unfolds His plan to redeem mankind.
Until next time…“May the LORD bless and protect you…May He give you Shalom.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
Bill
Hadar Levusah
Clothed in beauty, prepared for her husband,
The Sabbath is given to man.
Surely it is blessed from the beginning of creation,
Sanctified (betrothed) with joy by the mouth of her groom.
Clothed in beauty, prepared for her husband,
The Sabbath is given to man.
At Mount Sinai stood your treasure;
The faithful of the house brought down sapphires.
Upon them was written, “You, your son, and your daughter.
The Sabbath is given to man.
Clothed in beauty, prepared for her husband,
The Sabbath is given to man.
Our healer ascended to the scroll of the prophets,
The LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.
Today these words are fulfilled.
The Sabbath is given to man.
Clothed in beauty, prepared for her husband,
The Sabbath is given to man.
Let us be satisfied from His goodness with three meals.
Let us praise our King with songs and blessings.
Our eyes are anticipating the table in the kingdom.
The Sabbath is given to man.
Clothed in beauty, prepared for her husband,
The Sabbath is given to man.
(Aaron Eby)
Until next time…May you have a blessed Ressurection Day as you celebrate Passover and the Ressurection of your Savior and Lord; “May the LORD bless and protect you…May He give you Shalom.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
Bill
Second Chance of Life
“Live today as one sentenced to judgment, but who has instead been set free and given a second chance of life, because of the love and sacrifice of Him [Yeshua the Messiah].” (Jonathan Cahn)
This is an excellent goal for every day, but it is especially worth considering as we approach Passover and Resurrection Day. Think about it; you were (maybe are) in the position of Barabas at Yeshua’s crucifixion. Through Yeshua’s death and resurrection, you have been given a second chance at life. If you have repented of your wrongs and accepted Yeshua, God’s Son and the Savior of all mankind, as your Savior and the Lord of your life, you have been given a second chance. You have been adopted into Adonai’s family, with all the rights and privileges that go with it and ultimately given life throughout eternity in a place Yeshua has prepared just for you. If you have not repented of your wrongs and accepted Yeshua as your Savior and the Lord of your life, do not lose another moment, do so right now.
Until next time…“May the LORD bless and protect you…May He give you Shalom.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
Bill
WJB's Turn 