Author: rickkhol

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and
I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
John 15:5

Dismal! That’s the best way to describe a vineyard in the late fall. Contorted log-like trunks about six to eight feet long extend from the cold, barren ground, stripped of limb, leaf, and presumably even of life. It’s hard to believe that this place was fruitful just a few months before. Only a very few would even expect that those chunks of weathered wood could produce abundantly again.

Each of those naked stumps is a vine, and within them is the promise of next year’s harvest. In the spring, the empty field turns green with life. The vine sends out branches, and then leaves. The clusters of fruit that form are not so much a reflection of the quality of the branches as they are a tribute to the productivity of the vine.

When Jesus said that He was the vine, His disciples understood that He claimed to be the source of fruitfulness to those abiding in Him. Christ did not have material wealth, comfort, or a large following while He was on this earth, so spiritual fruit can’t be construed as meaning these things. Rather, the character that people saw in Him is what He offers.

The Lord Jesus told his followers: “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love” (John 15:9). “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11). “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you” (John 14:27). When a believer is very close to Christ, the fruit of the spirit simply grows in his life like grapes on the vine (Galatians 5:22-23).

August 20

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.”
John 15:1

The Old Testament repeatedly refers to Israel as a vine. After taking it out of Egypt and transplanting it in Canaan, God labored to enable His tender plant to grow (Psalm 80:8,9). However, the experience was disappointing. Instead of something worthwhile, the vine produced only wild grapes (Isaiah 5:2). The seed was good. God started with only the best, but somehow it degenerated into an alien plant that had to be rejected (Jeremiah 2:21).        

Today, not everyone will understand the depth of meaning in this imagery, but it was clear to the people in Bible times who were very familiar with vineyards. They knew that grape production was a labor-intensive industry and a worthless harvest after years of effort would be more than a little disappointing.        

For centuries, God nurtured and cared for Israel. He called the nation His, giving it not only His blessing and protection, but also His law, His prophets, and many works of wonder. Yet for all this expense of concern, Israel’s fruit was bitter and useless to the owner. Every new effort to produce a crop of faithfulness resulted in new regrets. Finally, it came time to uproot and cast off the wild hybrid vine and replace it with something true and productive.   

Jesus is the True Vine, and the Father will never be disappointed in Him. He is the perfect fulfillment of the plans and purposes of God.   

When Israel sought life through law-keeping and ceremony, they found none there. They became withered and worthless. However, Christ Himself is the True Vine. He is the source of life and grace so that all those who abide in Him can expect to live a life that is fruitful and productive.

August 19

“I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed.”
Daniel 7:13,14**

The husband was an American and his wife Canadian. The child was both. He wasn’t a little of each, but 100% a citizen of both countries.

Jesus Christ is the God-Man. Conceived through the Holy Spirit, He is all that the Almighty ever was or is. Born of a woman, He is fully human and is a credit to His race. Not half God and half man, the Lord Jesus combines deity and humanity without diluting either.

As Son of God, Christ is of the family of God and the possessor of God’s nature. As Son of Man, the Lord couldn’t have been more human. There wasn’t an emotion or experience that He couldn’t feel.

Of the two titles, it was Son of Man that He chose to use the most. It was such a special title that, with only one exception in the New Testament, it always comes from the Lord’s own mouth. The term is powerful and most often refers to a time when the God-Man will reign forever over the human race. However, the Savior made it very clear that the Son of Man had to be lifted up, suffer, and die for His creation before this would be possible.

Son of Man, His incarnation
Opened first the tale of grace;
Son of Man, in new creation
Leader of a chosen race!
Well may glory, well may glory,
Give to Him the honored place!
                                      – Thomas Kelly

* The favorite title of Christ for Himself.
**see also Mark 14:62; Matthew 20:28; John 3:14; Acts 7:56 plus 80 other New Testament references

August 18

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God,
God abides in him, and he in God.
1 John 4:15*

The title is a statement of faith, the distinguishing creed of all true believers. Peter admitted to Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). Martha, Nathaniel, the Roman centurion, and the Ethiopian eunuch also acknowledged the same. In fact, no one can have true faith in Christ without reaching this conclusion.

Phony Christians might employ the phrase in one way or another, but they don’t understand it, or at least they refuse to accept its true meaning. That is because the title is a declaration of the deity of Christ, and that is something counterfeit converts don’t wish to accept.    

In Bible times, the phrase “son of…” clearly meant “being one with”, as in the “sons of the prophets” or “sons of the singers.” When Jesus declared, “I am the Son of God,” the Jewish leaders were immediately offended and ready to stone Him for blasphemy. To them, by saying God was His father, He was making Himself equal to God (John 5:18).

To call Jesus the Son of God is the same as acknowledging Him as God, the Son. It concedes that He has power and authority to judge and punish sinful man. Calling on the Lord by this title implies submission and obedience to His will. It concludes that no surrogate savior could ever redeem God’s lost creation. Only God Himself in human form could be capable of bringing complete salvation.

*Matthew 27:54; John 1:49, 11:27, 10:36; Acts 8:37; Daniel 3:25; plus 38 other references.

August 17

Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly,
I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
John 8:58

Talk about a conversation-stopper. The Pharisees were shocked. They couldn’t believe their ears. Jesus of Nazareth had just called Himself “I AM.” Just moments before, He had said that He was older than Abraham. Now, in effect, He was saying that He was the God of Abraham. They immediately picked up stones to throw at Him (John 8:59).

This was no inside joke or subtle allusion. Jesus had blatantly applied one of the most powerful names of God to Himself. They knew the scripture: “God declared to Moses ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.'” (Exodus 3:14).

The Jewish leaders didn’t believe the Lord. They refused to have Him rule over them, and thus, they were guilty of the crime of rejecting the Living God.

When Jesus calls Himself the great I AM, He calls all humanity to respond to His claim. To reject or ignore the deity of Christ is to choose not to believe the Master. Believing Him is to praise, worship, and honor Him as the everlasting God.

By the Spirit all pervading,
Hosts unnumbered round the Lamb,
Crowned with light and joy unfading,
Hail Him as the great “I AM.”
                                J.N. Darby (1800-1882)

August 15

For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men,
the Man Christ Jesus,
1 Timothy 2:5

A mediator is only effective when both sides have confidence in their go-between. Divergent sides with no common ground cannot be brought together unless there is someone standing with one foot firmly in each camp. That person must be able to take seriously the interests of both.

Job had many problems, but he was afflicted most of all by his loss of fellowship with the living God. Feeling frustrated and rejected, he cried out to his maker, “Nor is there any mediator between us, Who may lay his hand on us both” (Job 9:33). Job longed for a mediator who could get things settled.

Holy God and sinful man – a great gulf separated the two. The vast expanse was uncrossable, so a cross was provided. The Creator took on His creature’s form and bridged heaven and earth at the moment of the incarnation. Christ Jesus, having both the divine and human natures, became the true Mediator Between God and Men.

God
Holy Omnipotent
All-seeing Ruling Judging
Jesus Christ Savior Lord
Feeling Searching Thirsting
Living Breathing
Man
                        – R. Khol

August 14

But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,
but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and
 the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men,
and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
1 Corinthians 1:23-25

A really wise chess master will sometimes make a move that seems stupid to his opponent because it results in the loss of a bishop or knight. Then, a few moves later, the chess master executes “checkmate,” thanks to the board position he gained from the sacrifice. That’s what is happening in these verses.

It doesn’t make sense that the sinless Son of God should be sacrificed on a Roman cross. It seemed that Satan and the God-haters of the world had won, and all were pleased and proud of how it played out. Christ is still rejected by the majority of the Jewish people to this day, and some intellectuals still laugh at the ludicrousness of the gospel.

The bottom line is that the celestial chess game was never between God and mankind; it was between God and the devil. When Satan and his angels rebelled against God, Satan seduced the human race to join his cause. Planet Earth became the last piece of turf Lucifer had in the whole universe. If God had just destroyed everything, the Creator would have, in fact, lost the game. God’s plans would have been thwarted, and the creation He made in His image would have been cut off from fellowship forever.

Human history is full of wars, plagues, and natural disasters. Chaos seems to dominate, and the devil seems to be the undisputed god of this world. Everything, however, changes in the end-game. Christ came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). He not only restores mankind to the relationship they had before the fall, but He also brings them into the family of God. Very smart move, and Satan never saw it coming, because he was matched up against Jesus Christ, the Wisdom of God.

August 12

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Colossians 1:15

How do you describe something that is indescribable? Do you know the answer? Use a genre without words. Art and music can convey thoughts and emotions that verbal communication can’t. That’s why humans try so many forms of artistic expression. They want to imagine the unimaginable and view the invisible.

Jesus Christ is the Creator’s artist masterpiece in which He presents to Mankind the Image of the Invisible God. The Almighty used an art medium that every human being can connect with: flesh and blood. He used it to communicate what can’t be understood, the nature of God.

Planets, stars, galaxies, and light energy can be observed, so they are proved to exist. However, scientists have studied the gravitational forces of the universe and discovered that what we consider to be normal matter and energy is actually less than 5% of the total universe. Some invisible unknown reality is out there, and it’s really big, making up over 95% of all that exists. This huge, mysterious something is called “dark matter,” together with “dark energy.” Actually, just going by percentages, dark matter should be considered the normal and what we call ordinary matter is really the aberration.

Maybe it’s just me, but when people start speaking about some huge force out there that fills the universe, I think of God. Some people prefer to call Him Dark Matter, rather than Almighty Creator, because they feel that they owe no obligation to a burst of unknown energy, but would be beholden to God if it was proved that He designed them and gave them life.

Christ came into this world so that ordinary people could know the unknowable and see the Image of the Invisible God. He didn’t arrive composed of dark matter, but with skin, muscle, and blood. He showed us what the invisible God is like, both in character and in nature. He also came so that we can be made like Him and be transformed from the mortal to the immortal.

August 11

Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling,
consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus,
Hebrews 3:1

Simply speaking, an Apostle is a “sent one.” Although this is the only passage in the Bible that labels Jesus as the Apostle, He did call Himself the Sent One of the Father on several occasions:

“For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 6:38).

“Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me’” (John 8:42).

“I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work” (John 9:4).

“For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me” (John 17:8).

“And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14).

It is important to understand that the term “apostle” does not refer to some high position in the ecclesiastical hierarchy, but rather to someone simply sent on a mission. The Lord Jesus had twelve close disciples whom He later sent out to every town and village in Judea to teach and heal. It was this act of being sent out and, subsequently, doing what they were sent to do, that made them apostles.

Christ was on a mission to do His Father’s will. A plan was in place before the foundation of the world to redeem mankind and define love and grace to the angels that  witnessed Satan’s rebellion and fall. Only God manifested in the flesh could do this, but no person capable of feeling intense pain would come up with the idea of dying on a cross in order to save the world. In Gethsemane, the Savior prayed “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). That’s what an Apostle does.

August 10

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless before
the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,To God our Savior, Who alone is wise,
Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.
Jude 24 and 25

It’s very clear in scripture that grace is the power of God that saves us. The same grace that saves also sanctifies and protects the believer in his walk of faith. Since Jesus is the channel through which grace reaches humanity, Christ is our Savior, Sanctifier, and “Him Who is Able to Keep You From stumbling.”

The very short book of Jude serves as a warning to Christians that apostates (defectors from the faith) will try to throw spiritual roadblocks in their path. He urges the saints to be strong and contend earnestly for the faith.

Progress in the Christian life is like walking or running. Anything thrown on the path, not just false doctrine, can cause a believer to stumble. Believers can fall into sin, get tripped up by doubts, or be sidelined by fears and depression. When a follower of the Lord Jesus goes to Him in moments like these, it not only keeps him from stumbling, but also presents him faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.

Through the years, I have counseled many struggling believers. Although their problems might be about doubts, fears, finances, or relationships, sin is usually at its core. Drug addiction, alcoholism, and pornography have huge holds on people, and rarely do generic advice and a simple prayer ever work.

It takes time and a lot of hard work to rebuild trust and dependency on Christ. It’s easy to believe that, as Savior, Jesus can keep you out of hell. It takes desire to grow deeper in the spiritual relationship to trust Him to be your Sanctifier who sets you apart for the Master. Finally, it takes a fresh, new revelation from God to see Christ as Him Who is Able to Keep You From Stumbling. When you do, though, you realize He can give you the power to break free from the things bringing you down.

August 9