Paul wrote that he would glory only in the cross of Christ. Why? Because he didn't have anything else worth bragging about. He gloried in the cross, because it was Christ's death on the cross that made it possible for Paul to be saved and to live the victorious Chrisitan life that he wrote so eloquently about. We need to glory in the cross, for we are in the same position. There is nothing in our lives that we have, or that we have done, that we can brag about. If you have taught Sunday School for years and years and are considered your church's "Bible scholar," you still have nothing to brag about, for that did not save you. If you are the head deacon of your church, and have a part of every decision that it is made at your church, that did not save you. If you read the Bible through every year, word for word, I commend you, but that did not save you. If you have memorized whole books of the Bible, that is a good thing, but it is nothing for you to boast about, because that did not save you. It was only when Jesus died on the cross for our sins and announced from that cross:
"It is finished," that we were able to be forgiven for our sins and be saved. Everything depended on the cross and that was why Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane was so important: "Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done." We needed for Jesus to die on the cross and if He hadn't we couldn't be saved. Consequently, let us join Paul and say, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." During this season of the year let's be especially thankful for the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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"And they cried out all at once, saying, Away with this man, and release unto us
Barabbas." What brought this outcry on was that Pilate gave the people a choice between Jesus, the innocent one, or Barabbas, a real thief and neer-do-well. What are we to make of this? Well, from the theological point of view, the death of Barabbas would have had no value for the lost world. After all, Jesus was "the lamb slain from before the foundation of the world." The death of Jesus on the cross made salvation available to all who would put their faith in Him. At this point, the death of Jesus would be of higher value to the world than the death of Barabbas. However, from the human standpoint, the choice of Barabbas tells us something about the values of the world. The world puts more value on what they understand than on what they do not understand. These people did not understand Jesus. They thought He was up to no good, when He was up to ultimate good. The values of the world are based on the devil's values. He is, after all, the "prince of the power of the air." Barabbas represents what the world craves. To many of these people, Barabbas was a hero, because he was also a rebel against the Roman Empire. He represented a greater hope to them than Jesus did at that moment. It had become obvious that Jesus was not going to "restore the kingdom to Israel" at that moment. They had given up on Jesus. That is where the mistake was. Our confidence in Jesus is based on our continued faith in Him. He will not fail us. His resurrection proves this. Let us be grateful that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, but let us also be careful that as we make daily choices in our lives we do not choose Barabbas. Bro. Joe "As the hart (deer) panteth after the water brooks. so panteth my soul after thee, O God. 2. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before Him."
These are two of my favorite verses in the psalms. They express a need that every Christian has. Our greatest passion should be God/Christ. Whatever gifts of the Spirit we might have, and whatever desires we might have in our service to Him, we need to thirst for Him - period. The psalmist compared himself to a thirsty deer in his thirst for God. I have never really seen a thirsty deer, but I have seen thirsty cows, etc. When they are thirsty, they really go after it. This is how we should long for more of God/Christ. These "thirsty" times are the times when we can't wait to get to our personal prayer closets and fellowship with Him. In those times, we are not really asking for anything. We just want more of Jesus. We want to be closer to Him. We want to express our love and devotion to Him. These are the kinds of prayer moments that change our lives, draw us closer to Jesus and to each other. The amazing thing is that when we seek more of the Lord, we find that He is willing to give more of Himself and to bring blessings into our lives. I wish that I could say that every prayer session I have is like that, but it would not be true. But what great times await when we thirst for more of Him. Get thirsty! Bro. Joe After the Israelites refused to go into the Promised Land from Kadesh Barnea, the Lord made Moses a startling offer: "And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have showed among them? I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they."
(Numbers 14:11-12) Moses refused this offer and asked the Lord to pardon the people, which God did. Think about this for a moment. Moses was told that God would create a new people out of his family and they would be His people, and, obviously, inherit the Promised Land. I sometimes see this offer as a test for Moses to see if he was truly meek, but the Bible doesn't say that. It says that God made the offer and Moses refused. That is what I call being true to the Spirit of Jesus. You remember that Jesus gave up everything in heaven to come to earth in order to be our savior. Moses attitude here reminds me of the attitude of Jesus. As Jesus stood in the gap for us, Moses stood in the gap for the Israelites. One would think that with all of the trouble that these people caused Moses, he would have jumped at the chance to replace them. But Moses saw that his task for the Lord was to deliver these people to the Promised Land. He didn't go in with them, but He stood true to what he was called to do and got them to the place where Joshua could lead them in. We would do well to look at the meekness of Moses and think of our own attitudes. Here is what Numbers 12:3 tells us about Moses: "(Now the man Moses was very meek above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)" What a compliment to a great man of God. What a compliment for anyone who seeks to serve God. Bro. Joe |
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