From: September 1, 2024
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV).
This is the great exchange: The Righteous One took on our sin, so that we might become His righteousness. The Son took the Father’s wrath that we might obtain God’s favor. And Life died our death, so that we might have receive His eternal life. Jesus accomplished all this on the cross for our sakes. Yet as with any gift, it must be believed and received before it becomes yours.
Jesus Christ, the Lamb without blemish, became sin that we might become His righteousness. For this reason, we are called not only to believe, but to become His ambassadors of reconciliation, telling the whole world of His great love.
PRAYER: Dear Father, we have believed and received Your Son. In Him, we have been forgiven and adopted into Your family. Help us to walk in Your Spirit today and tell others of what Christ has done. In Jesus’ name, amen.
From: September 1, 2023
“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT).
Becoming a Christian is not about self-improvement. It is an invitation to come and die, that we might be born again. It is not incremental nor partial, but drastic and total. By believing and receiving Christ, we are found in Him. Our old nature we count crucified with Christ. Our new nature and identity in Christ, we count as risen with Him. And so, we no longer regard anyone according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. In Christ, we are a “new person,” and we regard everyone and everything in a new way.
PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You for making us new in Christ Jesus. Our old life has been crucified and is buried with Christ. We are risen to new life in Christ. Strengthen us and enable us to live for You today. Every day is new in You. Old ways and old desires are gone. We delight ourselves in You. May our lives bring You glory today. In Jesus’ name, amen.
From: September 1, 2022
HOW BIG IS YOUR GOD?
After God answered, Job’s final response was brief. He basically concluded, “You’re God and I’m not.” This is not fatalism, but acceptance. For even though God’s good purposes are higher and better than ours, He still hears us and responds when we cry out. God is not afraid of our hardest questions. Yet, be aware when you ask that you may learn as Job did that your arm’s are too short to box with God. Or that your intellect is too limited to understand. Are your questions motivated by a desire to know God better? Or are they really expressions of doubt or accusation? Suffering did not cause Job to doubt God. And God heard Job’s cry and answered him.
When we face difficult life situations, we can be reminded by Job that God “can do anything.” And by the apostle Paul, that in Christ, so can we, ” I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13).
Our God is bigger than any circumstance that we face. It is our understanding and faith in Him that usually needs to be enlarged. God’s plans and purposes are bigger than ours. So we must hold our own plans loosely, praying, “Thy will be done.”
PRAYER: Dear Father, we believe, help us with our unbelief. For we sometimes see problems as too big to overcome, forgetting that You are able to do all things. Lord, we look to You now for today’s strength and wisdom. In Jesus’ name, amen.
From: September 1, 2017
This passage is considered a prophetic description of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. As the author of Hebrews wrote when quoting this psalm, “But to the Son He says: Your throne, O God, is forever and ever… Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You” (Heb. 1:8-9). Understanding it as a Messianic writing helps to explain the confusing pronoun use referring to both God and the King with divine attributes. This passage hints at the Father/Son relationship between Jesus as the Son of God, and God the Father, which the book of Hebrews confirms. Jesus is the fulfillment of this prophecy and every Old Testament prophecy. He is the “anointed” One that came and is coming again.
From: September 1, 2016
Christianity is not self-improvement. It is an invitation to come and die, that we might be born again. It is not incremental nor partial, but drastic and total. By believing and receiving Christ, we are found in Him. Our old nature we count crucified with Christ. Our new nature and identity in Christ, we count as risen with Him. And so, we no longer “regard” anyone according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. In Christ, we are a “new creation,” and we regard everyone and everything in a new way.
From: September 1, 2015
Job’s response after God answered his questions with some of His own was brief. He basically concluded, “You’re God and I’m not.” This is not fatalism, but acceptance that even though God’s good purposes are higher and better than ours, He still hears us and responds when we cry out. God is not afraid of our hardest questions. Yet, be aware when you ask that you may learn as Job did that your “arm’s too short to box with God.” Or that your intellect is too limited to understand. Are your questions motivated by a desire to know God better? Or are they really expressions of doubt or accusation? Suffering did not cause Job to doubt God. And God heard Job’s cry and answered him.
From: September 1, 2014
Who has been given this message of reconciliation? Everyone who has been reconciled in Christ. The reconciled no longer evaluate others from a human point of view, based on outward differences of gender, ethnicity, or status. Those reconciled see only people of two spiritual conditions: those who have received the message, and those who have not. The reconciled have the most wonderful good news to tell those who are far from God. They feel called to organize their lives around obeying Christ’s command to bear witness of this message of reconciliation to the ends of the earth.