Matthew 26:15 Judas said, "What are you willing to give me to BETRAY Him to you?" And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him. 16 From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus... [23] And He answered, "He who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl is the one who will betray Me... And Judas, who was betraying Him, said, "Surely it is not I, Rabbi?" Jesus said to him, "You have said it yourself."
DEVOTE:
Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. And today Jesus is still being betrayed for money. One would almost think that there is no other “gospel” than the “prosperity gospel”. Yet the Bible strongly cautions us about the “deceitfulness of riches” (Mark 4:19); Timothy is warned to flee the “love of money as the root of all evil” (1 Tim 6:10); Jesus warns that money is a master, a god, an object of worship, that we can’t serve Him and money, and that loyalty to one betrays the other (Matt 6:24). And Judas loved money. He stole from the treasury (John 12:6), like non-givers do today (Mal 3:8 and Acts 5:1-11), and that became the root of his betrayal. Scripture warns us that in these closing days, “men will be lovers of money, having a form of godliness, although they have denied its power (i.e. the cross; Christ [1 Cor 1:18, 24]; and the Gospel [Rom 1:16]), and we are “to avoid such men as these”! (2 Tim 3:6)
Greed is idolatry (Col 3:5) Money is a substitute god, and Eccl 10:19 tells us that “money is the answer to everything”! Hence Judas could betray Jesus – Christ wasn’t his answer, and therefore Christ wasn’t his God. Are you content with Christ alone?
PRAY:
Father, please extract “Lord Lotto” from my heart, and put a loyal spirit within me. Please save me from betraying you to the “highest bidder”. Help me to be content with what I have, so that I can be generous to those who do not have. Amen
Monday, April 5, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
4. THE COVENANT
Matthew 26:26 While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." (which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. {1 Cor 11:24}) Luke 22:20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the NEW COVENANT in My blood (which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.” {Matt 26:28})
DEVOTE:
When we think of “covenant”, we think of an agreement or contract between two parties, but that is not the Biblical meaning of this word. In Scripture it refers to a unilateral and irrevocable WILL from a testator, requiring no human cooperation, springing singularly from the volition of God himself, to designate his heirs, and invest them with the rights of inheritance as a free gift!
The enforcing of any Will requires the confirmed death of the testator (John 19:33 “But coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.”) The NIV accurately captures “covenant” in Hebrews 9:16-18 as “In the case of a WILL, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, 17 because a WILL is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. 18 This is why even the first (covenant) was not put into effect without blood.”
For this reason, we are told in 1 Corinthians 11:26, “As often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.” The Last Will of God is put into effect by the death of His Son, and the Bible documents your unmerited legal inheritance!
PRAY:
Thank you Jesus for making all your promises “Yes” and “Amen” to me through your death. Teach my heart to say “Yes” and “Amen” to all that you ask, and please let my life exhibit the reality of my inheritance that you have secured at such great cost.
DEVOTE:
When we think of “covenant”, we think of an agreement or contract between two parties, but that is not the Biblical meaning of this word. In Scripture it refers to a unilateral and irrevocable WILL from a testator, requiring no human cooperation, springing singularly from the volition of God himself, to designate his heirs, and invest them with the rights of inheritance as a free gift!
The enforcing of any Will requires the confirmed death of the testator (John 19:33 “But coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.”) The NIV accurately captures “covenant” in Hebrews 9:16-18 as “In the case of a WILL, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, 17 because a WILL is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. 18 This is why even the first (covenant) was not put into effect without blood.”
For this reason, we are told in 1 Corinthians 11:26, “As often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.” The Last Will of God is put into effect by the death of His Son, and the Bible documents your unmerited legal inheritance!
PRAY:
Thank you Jesus for making all your promises “Yes” and “Amen” to me through your death. Teach my heart to say “Yes” and “Amen” to all that you ask, and please let my life exhibit the reality of my inheritance that you have secured at such great cost.
3. THE PASSOVER LAMB
Luke 22:7 Then came the first day of Unleavened Bread on which the PASSOVER LAMB had to be sacrificed…15 And He said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.”
DEVOTE:
The significance of the interplay of this historic Jewish Feast with the death of Jesus Christ cannot be overstated. The Israelites were instructed to slaughter a spotless lamb, sprinkle its blood on the doorposts of their homes, and eat its roasted flesh. In so doing, the angel of death would pass over their homes, and they would be safe, while every firstborn son in Egypt died. God’s action that first Passover night was the final stroke that shattered the chains of slavery, and ushered in the annual commemoration of what is known as the “Festival of Freedom”.
In John 1:29, John the baptiser describes Jesus as, "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”; 1 Corinthians 5:7 tells us that “Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed”, and Revelation 13:8 describes Jesus as the “Lamb who has been slain”.
Our sacrificed Saviour is the once-for-all fulfilment of the Passover Feast! As the Passover Lamb, Christ has freed us from the slavery of sin! The Last Supper is our “Festival of Freedom”! When we eat the bread of His broken body, and when we drink the wine of His sprinkled blood, let’s lift up high the cup of our salvation as a toast to our liberating Lamb!
PRAY:
Lord Jesus, thank you that I am saved from death because of your blood; thank you for not only taking away my sin, but for destroying sin’s enslaving power! When I commune with you in our Love Feast, I want to remember your “earnest desire” to become the Slain Saviour.
DEVOTE:
The significance of the interplay of this historic Jewish Feast with the death of Jesus Christ cannot be overstated. The Israelites were instructed to slaughter a spotless lamb, sprinkle its blood on the doorposts of their homes, and eat its roasted flesh. In so doing, the angel of death would pass over their homes, and they would be safe, while every firstborn son in Egypt died. God’s action that first Passover night was the final stroke that shattered the chains of slavery, and ushered in the annual commemoration of what is known as the “Festival of Freedom”.
In John 1:29, John the baptiser describes Jesus as, "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”; 1 Corinthians 5:7 tells us that “Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed”, and Revelation 13:8 describes Jesus as the “Lamb who has been slain”.
Our sacrificed Saviour is the once-for-all fulfilment of the Passover Feast! As the Passover Lamb, Christ has freed us from the slavery of sin! The Last Supper is our “Festival of Freedom”! When we eat the bread of His broken body, and when we drink the wine of His sprinkled blood, let’s lift up high the cup of our salvation as a toast to our liberating Lamb!
PRAY:
Lord Jesus, thank you that I am saved from death because of your blood; thank you for not only taking away my sin, but for destroying sin’s enslaving power! When I commune with you in our Love Feast, I want to remember your “earnest desire” to become the Slain Saviour.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
THE ANOINTING
John 12:3 Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and ANOINTED the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. Matt 26: [12] "For when she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial. [13] "Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her."
DEVOTE:
This is a fitting act of devotion to our sacrificed Saviour– to pour out our lives to Him in humility as something “very costly”. Jesus said that we love much when we’ve been forgiven much (Luke 7:47) The fragrance of a life completely surrendered to God is the reflex of authentic gratitude. At one time, “ Mary, was seated at the Lord's feet, listening to His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; 41 But the Lord said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; 42 but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:39-42) Our lives need to “smell” of this priority – the “one thing that is necessary” - endearing devotion to Christ in prayer. Being distracted with preparations, worried and hurried, is an indication of restless competition, not prayerful gratitude.
When the true Gospel is preached, it releases this sacrificial aroma in God’s people.
This anointing was for burial, and “You have an anointing from the Holy One” (1 John 2:20) Is your anointing also for burial? The “fragrance” of Christians who have had their flesh put through the fire, makes them the incense-bearers of the true Gospel.
PRAY:
My Father, please forgive me for my frenetic pace. I smell like burning rubber! I want the Gospel to produce the aroma of sacrificial devotion to You. Please work in me so that the “one thing necessary” becomes the priority of my life. Thank you, Lord.
DEVOTE:
This is a fitting act of devotion to our sacrificed Saviour– to pour out our lives to Him in humility as something “very costly”. Jesus said that we love much when we’ve been forgiven much (Luke 7:47) The fragrance of a life completely surrendered to God is the reflex of authentic gratitude. At one time, “ Mary, was seated at the Lord's feet, listening to His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; 41 But the Lord said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; 42 but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:39-42) Our lives need to “smell” of this priority – the “one thing that is necessary” - endearing devotion to Christ in prayer. Being distracted with preparations, worried and hurried, is an indication of restless competition, not prayerful gratitude.
When the true Gospel is preached, it releases this sacrificial aroma in God’s people.
This anointing was for burial, and “You have an anointing from the Holy One” (1 John 2:20) Is your anointing also for burial? The “fragrance” of Christians who have had their flesh put through the fire, makes them the incense-bearers of the true Gospel.
PRAY:
My Father, please forgive me for my frenetic pace. I smell like burning rubber! I want the Gospel to produce the aroma of sacrificial devotion to You. Please work in me so that the “one thing necessary” becomes the priority of my life. Thank you, Lord.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
THE LOVE
John 13:1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having LOVED His own who were in the world, He LOVED them to the end.
DEVOTE:
John 3:16 tells us that, "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” As the Son “loved His own who were in the world, (and) loved them to the end”, He said, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”(John 15:13)
What kind of love is this? Kind love indeed! That Christ should consummate friendship with sinners by dying on a cruel cross! Oh, friend, does your heart not flutter like David’s when he says in Psalm 139:6 “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it”?
What mysterious and alien love is this, that “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”? (Rom 5:8) If true love was ever proven, it was proven in God going to the cross for you in a human body!
If the new commandment is to love one another, are we loving like Jesus? The answer is simple. It is found in 1 John 3:16: “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”
PRAY:
Father, thank you so much for demonstrating your love in the greatest way possible. Please help me to love like you love, Lord, and help me to respond with sacrifice to your sacrifice. I ask this in the name of Love
DEVOTE:
John 3:16 tells us that, "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” As the Son “loved His own who were in the world, (and) loved them to the end”, He said, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”(John 15:13)
What kind of love is this? Kind love indeed! That Christ should consummate friendship with sinners by dying on a cruel cross! Oh, friend, does your heart not flutter like David’s when he says in Psalm 139:6 “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it”?
What mysterious and alien love is this, that “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”? (Rom 5:8) If true love was ever proven, it was proven in God going to the cross for you in a human body!
If the new commandment is to love one another, are we loving like Jesus? The answer is simple. It is found in 1 John 3:16: “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”
PRAY:
Father, thank you so much for demonstrating your love in the greatest way possible. Please help me to love like you love, Lord, and help me to respond with sacrifice to your sacrifice. I ask this in the name of Love
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