Month: November 2024

Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter the kingdom of heaven,
but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
Matthew 7:21*

Abraham Lincoln is known at times to have asked his colleagues “How many legs does a dog have, if you call the tail a leg?”  –  Do you know the answer? According to Lincoln, the answer is four. “Calling the tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg.”

Today, just as in the first century, people approach the Lord Jesus using the right title, but their actions and attitudes deny that He has any control or authority over their lives.  In Luke 6:46, Christ asks his would be followers, “‘But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?”

Calling someone Lord ascribes to him sovereignty and headship. It means that the Lord has power to issue orders and see them obeyed.  Without the follow-through of obedience the title is meaningless. The person who uses the title without yielding to the Lord lies.

In the upper room, the night Christ was betrayed, He said, “You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord  and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:13).

Judas Iscariot had his feet washed that night, but would have never stooped to washing anyone else’s feet. It’s interesting that it’s never recorded that Judas ever called Jesus “Lord.” That is probably because Jesus was never really Judas’ Lord.

The title Lord is used only sparingly of Jesus prior to the resurrection, but it is exceeded only by “Christ” as the principle title after Jesus rose from the dead. Thomas called out to Christ, “My Lord and My God!” and he meant it.  Church tradition tells us that Thomas the apostle traveled as far as India preaching the gospel and was martyred there around AD 52.

*This title is used 711 times in 657 verses in the New Testament referring to Christ.

 February 12 

A man will be as a hiding place from the
wind, And a cover from the tempest…
Isaiah 32:2

They call it a rainforest for a reason. By definition, a jungle receives over 100 inches of rain a year. Where we lived in Ecuador, South America, we got 200. Down there, we had a rainy season and a rainier season. Actually, it rained every day. Most of the year, it would rain 15-30 minutes/day, but in January and February, it might rain all day long for days at a time.

The jungle people went barefoot or wore plastic boots. They often used Elephant Ear leaves as umbrellas or covered themselves with a six-foot square piece of plastic sheeting. Nobody likes staying out in the rain, so even native South Americans sought cover from the tempest. They generally stayed in their thatched huts while it rained and wove baskets or made hammocks.

We had sheets of galvanized roofing on our house. These didn’t have to be replaced as often as the woven palm branches of the Indians’ houses, but the metal roof was much noisier in a storm. The sound would keep visitors from the United States awake at night, but I found it to be relaxing. The steady pouring of the rain drowned out the harsher noises and produced a great calming effect as I realized that I was dry and warm inside while the wind, rain, and cold were on the other side of the wall. Many, many nights, I fell asleep listening to the falling rain.

Jesus is like that. There is a feeling of safety and security while abiding in Him. The storms of life and winds of time wear a body down, but enjoying fellowship with Christ dissolves the stress and calms the soul. He is the believer’s hiding place from the wind, and Cover from the Tempest.

 February 11

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who
alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
1 Timothy 1:17

King Eternal. Now, that has a nice ring to it. It’s very descriptive and conveys greatness. I’m really surprised that it is used only once in scripture. Christ Jesus is King. He is the King of the Jews, King of the Saints, King of Glory, and King of kings. Long live the King – forever! The Lord Jesus is King Eternal.

Louis XIV reigned over 72 years in France. He was on the throne much longer than the life expectancy of his subjects. In fact, all his immediate heirs predeceased him, so he was succeeded by his five-year-old great grandson, Louis XV. Herein is the lesson: Although many of his subjects were born and died during his monarchy, Louis XIV finally did die and was replaced.

King Jesus won’t ever have that problem. As King Eternal, He reigns over time itself. He has no beginning and has no end. As Creator, He made the stars and will make some new ones when the old ones run out of fuel. As the I Am, all time is present to Him, so He is never in a hurry.

Time changes things, but Christ never changes. That’s because Jesus outlasts time. Today, theoretical Physicists argue about how many billions of years ago the universe began, but they all agree it happened in a point of time. They also agree that the Cosmos will grow old and die. The King Eternal will still be in control when that happens. He’ll then either create a new universe, or do something else.

 February 10 

…of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh,
Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.
Romans 9:5

The person who tells you what to do at work is your boss. Whoever that person answers to is your boss’s boss. And whoever the CEO is accountable to is he/she who is over all.

All authority is traced back to God. Everybody is told what to do by someone else, even presidents and kings. If they don’t listen to the higher-ups, the same thing happens as to any incompetent employee: They get fired.

Many people see having authority as having great privilege, since those in charge seem to have higher salaries, more power, and what seem to be easier jobs. However, what is usually the case is that being the boss requires more responsibility, longer hours, and greater risks. Everybody would want the job of Chief Executive, if there were only the perks and none of the effort.

Jesus Christ is He Who is Over All. In other places, the Lord is called “Head of Every Man” (1 Corinthians 11:3) and “Head Over all Things” (Ephesians 1:22). These, of course, are impressive titles, but they are pretty much meaningless if He can’t give someone consequences for his/her actions or rewards for doing the job well.

Everyone gets called into the Big Boss’ Office at the end of their shift on earth. Those who never respected, obeyed, or acknowledged their Creator must stand before Christ at the Great White Throne of Judgment. All those who never had the Spirit of Christ in them are let go – into the lake of fire.

“Believer of the month awards,” crowns of righteousness, and company-owned mansions are awarded at the judgment seat of Christ to all those who have done well and are faithful. Some servants won’t get much because they never did much for Him who is Over All.

 February 9 

The first man was of the earth, made of dust;
the second Man is the Lord from heaven.
1 Corinthians 15:47

Adam was a home-grown hero, first man on planet Earth, and was even made of earth. The Father of every human being was one for the record books, but his failures were also world-class and made every human being after him grow up to be a loser.

God’s man project seemed to be going very poorly. After only ten generations, the Creator wiped the slate clean and began with a new forefather to be the root of mankind’s new family tree. People after Noah were almost as bad, and human history was once again filled with sin, rebellion, and violence.

Time to start over with a new business plan. Human DNA, whether it traced back to Adam or even righteous Noah, wasn’t equipping people to return mankind back to fellowship with God. The new model, the Second Man, would have a definite spiritual element to Him. He wouldn’t be from around here or made with local materials. He would be the Lord from Heaven.

The typical stereotype of someone that is born and raised in Texas is that she or he boasts of the greatness of his or her state. If another person talks about something very nice from where they’re from, the Texan interrupts to say whatever it is is bigger and better in Texas.

Anyhow, to be from heaven, how neat is that? The Lord Jesus never made a big deal about his ethnic origin, but rather emphasized His humanity, choosing to call Himself the Son of Man. But being both God and Man, He was able to take Man’s sinfulness on Himself and give mankind His righteousness. Those who came to Christ are conformed to the image of the Son of God (Romans 8:29), adopted into the family of God (Ephesians 1:5), and are given citizenship in heaven (Philippians 3:20). Jesus is able to do this because, after all, He is the Lord from Heaven.

 February 8 

To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery
among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Colossians 1:27

Millions of people today hope they’re going to heaven, but they want nothing to do with the Lord Jesus, so it’s sad to say that they really have no hope. Biblical hope is waited for and expected, but there is no guesswork to it. The contract has been signed; it’s a done deal.

Heaven is actually a small part of a believer’s hope. Adoption into the family of God, sins forgiven, being accepted in the Beloved, rewards for service, and eternal life are all part and parcel of what disciples look forward to in Christ. These things are their hope.

Many of the promises that come along with the fellowship believers have with the Savior are fulfilled here on earth. True faith results in a transformed life, temporal blessings, answered prayer, the fruit of the Spirit, and the mind of Christ. Once these are experienced, a Christian has no doubt that God does miracles and completes His promises, so Christians are assured that He is also in charge of the future.

The Holy Spirit is the “signing bonus” that God gives to believers when they come to Christ through faith. It is the guarantee of good things to come and the proof of their Hope of Glory.

Throughout the centuries, Christians have suffered and died for their faith, but no matter how bad it got, Jesus was there all the way. This is what is known as the “fellowship of His sufferings” (Philippians 3:10). When the faithful suffer for their Lord, they can sense His presence in a way unlike anything they would have known when things went well. The realization that Christ is in them and with them even at the point of death is their comfort in adversity. He is their Hope of Glory.

 February 6 

…And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead,
and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood…
Revelation 1:5

The book of Revelation is a gold mine of names for Christ. Not only does it hold many unique titles found nowhere else in scripture, but verses often contain many of them in a row. Often, these titles are very different from each other and focus on distinct aspects of the Lord. To understand them, each should be studied separately.

The last book of the Bible was written roughly 100 years after the birth of Christ and reveals not only a view of church history that has been completed, but presents a detailed account of events that are still to come. Verse one of the book states “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants — things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John.” The Lord Himself is taking the time to explain this.

It’s obvious that the Apostle John wrote the book, but it’s not his revelation. If we were getting this information from John, it would be unreliable, since the former first century fisherman would be describing the digital age with a pre-analog brain. The bias of his culture and limited worldview would misinterpret much of what still has to take place. For this reason, Jesus took charge and took over. So then, John didn’t just describe what he saw; he wrote down what his Messiah told Him to write.

The very first descriptive phrase of Christ in the book is Faithful Witness. In Revelation 3:14, He’s called the “Faithful and True Witness,” and in Revelation 19:11, He’s called simply “Faithful and True.”

So why the repetition and emphasis in Christ’s veracity? Everyone knows that the Lord doesn’t lie, right? Yes, but for centuries, people have been explaining away all the prophesies in Revelation into a gobbledygook of double-speak and figurative language. They tell us none of this means what it says. Wait a minute, I believe exactly what it says. After all, Jesus said it, and He is the Faithful Witness.

 February 5 

Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until
Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall
be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.
Daniel 9:25

The verse today comes from the famous 70 weeks prophesy in Daniel. The short explanations of this portion is that 69 weeks of years (i.e. 483 years) after King Cyrus’ declaration to rebuild Jerusalem, the Messiah would be cut off. After Christ’s resurrection, early Christians did the math and discovered that it came out to the very week the Savior was crucified. The detail and precision of this Old Testament prophesy convinced many that Jesus was, in fact, the Son of God during the early centuries of the Christian church.

By adding Prince to the Messianic title, the focus is on the Lord’s nobility. Christ came from the seed of David and the root of Jesse. Being born into that family made Him a Prince. Jesus’ genealogy in the Gospel of Matthew proved that He would have been in line to the throne of David if Romans were not in power. A king in waiting by definition is a prince.

Kings without kingdoms have no palace, army, or right of decree. As time and generations go by, those would-be kings need day jobs to survive until the political pendulum swings back in their direction. Joseph, Christ’s adoptive dad, could trace his birthright back to David, but did carpentry work to pay the bills. He and his wife Mary were so poor when they started out that their little Prince was born in a stable.

Jesus preached of His kingdom, but few bowed the knee before Him. Pilate brought him before the mob and declared, “Behold your king,” but the crowd shouted Him down screaming, “Away with Him! Crucify Him!” (John 19:14,15). The rejected king was still a Prince.

Peter reminded the chief priests of their rejection when he addressed the Sanhedrin: “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior (Acts 5:30, 31).

Very soon, Christ will return to Earth with an army of mighty angels to claim His throne and kingdom. He will be hailed as the King of Glory and will lay aside the title of Prince.

 February 4 

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things…
Hebrews 1:1-2

Since the theme of the Epistle to the Hebrews is the better covenant that came through the Son of God, everything about Him exceeds all that was in the Old Testament. The prophets of old were servants of God who saw short glimpses of the glory of the LORD, but Jesus was the Heir of All Things.

As Heir, Christ inherits anything and everything that was God’s. Possessions, authority, dominion, power, abilities, attributes, and the character of the divine now belong to the Savior of the World. The promised Immanuel kept His promise, and God continued abiding with His creation. Everything that had gone on for millennia in the past was now obsolete and inadequate. What had appeared to be very real, present, and relevant was revealed to be just shadows and images of what was to come.

The term “all things” leaves nothing out. Even the unknown assets of God that we have no clue about still are Christ’s to use or lose or give away, because He is the Heir of All Things.

God, even in the Old Covenant, possessed all things, all power, and all glory. What actually changes is access to the Holy One of God. All distance, all obstacles, and all limitations are gone. Our Great High Priest now intercedes for us so that we can approach that which had been unapproachable since the lifetime of Adam.

It would have been enough to walk through heaven in the same way a tourist walks through a world class museum: Look, but don’t touch. But here’s the part of the New Covenant that boggles the imagination: He who has become Heir of All Things has also made us joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17). Who’da thunk it?!!

 February 3 

…but He whom God raised up saw no corruption.
Acts 13:37

It’s not hard to understand that this verse refers to the Lord Jesus, especially if it is read in context as part of a sermon that the Apostle Paul gave at Antioch in Pisidia. Even so, those who purposely choose to misunderstand something can and will do so, hoping to confuse others at the same time.

False religious witnesses have been known to twist this verse to teach what it does not say. They argue, “If Jesus is ‘He Whom God Raised Up,’ then He can’t be God, because the verse shows that they are different.” Actually, the verse doesn’t show that, and here is the reason why.

The One, True God of the Universe can reveal Himself in three distinct ways as the Father, the Son, and as the Spirit. The Bible calls each God, and each had part in Christ’s resurrection.

God the Father raised Jesus from the dead. “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4). “Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead)” (Galatians 1:1).

God the Holy Spirit resurrected the Savior. “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11).

Christ raised Himself up from the grave. Jesus said “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again…” (John 10:17,18). “Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up’” (John 2:19).

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit brought back Jesus from the dead. Confusing? It shouldn’t be. Christ is He Whom God Raised Up.

 February 2