There are a lot of things in this life that are very confusing or very difficult to figure out. Life is filled with these types of things. Things like “What will I do in life … Is what I am doing now the thing I should be doing for years to come … Who should I marry … Is this person I am with now the right person … Where should I live? Even deciding on what to eat for dinner can be difficult sometimes.
But, faith really isn’t one of those kinds of decisions. Although many have tried to overcomplicate God and faith since the beginning of time, faith really is quite simple. In fact, in today’s Scripture we will see that faith simply hinges on one thing … Jesus.
From the very beginning God saw our need for relationship. First the vertical relationship with Him and then the horizontal relationship with one another. We not only do life better together, we are simply built for it.
The last year and a half has exposed this reality as well as any other season in recent history. We spent a great deal of time isolated and even some of the introverts were missing people. The truth is we need God and we need one another. We are created for relationship. We were made to love God and one another. We were made to do life together!
Will you faithfully respond to the priestly sacrifice of Jesus? And church let me ask you, would you say you’ve had a faithful response to the knowledge and belief that Jesus is the sacrifice for all sins and that he is now your great priest in heaven? Do you know what it means to faithfully respond to Jesus in this way? Because the danger here is if you don’t know what it means to faithfully respond to this news then you’re in danger of living out your Christian life feeling distant from God, wavering in your faith, and blocking out the needs of your fellow believers.
In chapter 10 of Hebrews, the author encouraged the Jewish Christians to faithfully respond to the Priestly Sacrifice of Jesus. We can faithfully respond to the Priestly Sacrifice of Jesus.
In the second chapter of Luke’s gospel, he described the prophecy of Simeon that Jesus was the revealing light exposing the hearts of all mankind. We can believe that Jesus is the light which reveals all hearts. His truth divides the hearts of mankind.
Making fun of 2020 has been just about the only way to survive this for many of us. It has felt like we are playing a weird game of apocalypse bingo. There has been so much to complain about, worry about, be angry about, and this is just on a national level. Some of our personal battles have been just as difficult if not worse. For so many of us there has been little that we are thankful for. We may have celebrated thanksgiving, but have we found our attitude and heart of gratitude?
In Psalm 9, David wrote of how he chose to worship God in every circumstance. We can choose to worship God in every circumstance.
When we pray, “God, this is Your legacy” we are recognizing that we are in fact His legacy. As believers we are the present day legacy of the Gospel. Generations of believers are responsible for your sitting here listening to God’s Word today. We are God’s legacy and His faithful family passing this on to future generations.
In the book of Ephesians, the apostle Paul prayed that God would reveal His gifts through the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in this age and the age to come. God gives us gifts to share through the revelation of His Spirit.
If you talk to a few non-believers, it won’t take you very long to hear something like this: “I don’t go to church because the church is full of hypocrites.” In the apostle John’s first letter, he warned against the hypocrisy of claiming to be a Christ-follower without living according to His teachings. We can heed this warning against hypocrisy as Christ-followers.
Instead of making resolutions focused on ourselves, what if we recognized God for who he is and just made ourselves available to go wherever he sends us? In Isaiah 6:1-8, Isaiah is so overwhelmed by the majesty of God that he volunteers to go wherever God sends.
Have you ever felt depressed? The word “depression” means something a little different to everyone. It’s something that we all go through. You know the feeling when you hear the word. The interesting thing about it is: although you understand exactly what it means, the person next to you understands it in a completely different way.
In Psalm 130, the Psalmist brought his depression to the Lord for relief. We can bring our depression to the Lord for relief.