A Branch from David's Family Tree

Week 3, Day 2 Reading: Jeremiah 23:1-8

Jeremiah 23:5-6  Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’

This "righteous Branch" to be raised up by God from David's family tree is none other than Jesus Christ, who is often referred to in the New Testament as the "son of David" (Matthew 1:1; Luke 1:32). Even though Jesus as the righteous Branch will indeed reign as king and thus fulfill this prophecy, he first had to go through the humiliation of crucifixion. So as we celebrate this birth of Christ this month, let's not lose sight of the fact that he was born to die.

Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj

A Great Promise

Week 3, Day 1: Genesis 12:1-9

Genesis 12:1-3  Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

This passage contains one of the great covenants of the Bible. Here is a multi-layered promise to Abraham. It is a promise to give him a great land and name, to make of him a great nation, to bless those who bless him and curse those who dishonor him, and to bless all nations through him. This last promise of this covenant is a reference to the coming Messiah who would be a descendant of Abraham (Matthew 1:1). The Old Testament is the story of the outworking of this covenant to Abraham through God's covenant people Israel, the descendants of Abraham, culminating, of course, in the building expectation of the coming Messiah. And the Messiah's appearance is the story of the New Testament.

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pj

Empty Ritual

Week 2, Day 5 Reading: Amos 5:1-27

Amos 5:21-23  “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen."

During the days of Amos the prophet, the people of Israel were doing all the "religious" things. They were gathering in solemn assemblies and offering up the sacrifices demanded by God in the Law. They were even worshiping God through song. Yet God told them in no uncertain terms that this worship was all worthless as far as he was concerned. You see, it was merely empty ritual. They were going through the motions of religion ... but their hearts were not in it. As a result, it was not God's blessing and favor they received, but his rebuke and judgment. In fact, less than forty years after Amos prophesied to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, the Assyrian army invaded and conquered the kingdom. 

Do we need a savior? This weeks readings scream a definitive "YES!" 

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pj

The Brick Wall of Sin

Week 2, Day 4 Reading: Isaiah 59:1-21

Isaiah 59:1-2  Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.

Sin is the "Great Separator" when it comes to humanity and God. Our sin is like a solid brick wall separating us from God and all the good things he has to offer us. This wall is one that is too thick to break down, too high to climb over, too wide to go around, too deep in the ground to dig under. There is absolutely no way to for us to get to the other side. We have no one to blame for this situation but ourselves. And if left to ourselves, we would be eternally without God and therefore without hope in this life and the life to come.

Do we need a savior? Totally!

Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj

Guilty as Charged!

Week 2, Day 3 Reading: Psalm 14:1-7


Psalm 14:2-3 The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.

This passage is one that the Apostle Paul quotes from in writing his magnus opus (greatest work), the New Testament book of Romans. In chapter three of that book, Paul quotes these words (see Romans 3:9-20) to build his argument that there is no one who is not under the dominion of sin ... that not one of us is innocent ... that ALL of us are guilty before God. And if left to ourselves, every single one of us would continue down the path toward eternal destruction.

Do we need a saviour? Yes! Yes! Yes!

Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj

Going Astray!

Week 2, Day 2 Reading: Exodus 32:1-33:6


Exodus 32:7-8 And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’”

Notice that when God informs Moses of the sinful idol worship of the people of Israel, he states that "they have turned aside quickly out of the way" in which He had commanded them to walk. Now perhaps you are thinking, "You know, if I had been there and seen all the miracles God worked to set us free from our bondage in Egypt, I certainly would not have so quickly turned on God!" If you are thinking these thoughts, let me ask you this: Has God set you free from a hopeless captivity to sin? A bondage you had no hope of getting out of apart from His intervention? Well of course. All of us who have embraced the gospel of Christ and asked Jesus to forgive us of our sin and rebellion against him, have been set free. Yet, like the Israelites before us, we too have this tendency to quickly forsake the one who saved us for lessor "gods."

Do we need a Saviour? Most certainly!

Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj

One Fateful Choice!

Week 2, Day 1 Reading: Genesis 3:1-24

Genesis 3:6-7  So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

Ouch! In one fateful moment, Eve (and then Adam) stepped out from under the authority of God. They looked toward heaven with defiance in their eyes and hands raised in rebellion as they shouted through their choice, "God, we don't need you! We can do this thing called life better if we do it on our own!" Oh how wrong they were. And how wrong each and everyone of us are every time we try to live our lives independent of God. And as the rest of chapter 3 of Genesis demonstrates (and our own human experience confirms), this path only leads to trouble, pain, heartache and grief.

Do we need a savior? Absolutely no doubt!

Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj