Jesus the Custodian of the Scepter of Justice

Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness; you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. (Psalm 45.6-7a)

Only Jesus can embody the grandiose wedding song of Psalm 45. Even David could not aspire to the gravity and splendor the sons of Korah sang in the psalm. David as the possessor of the throne and being a man after God’s heart was bestowed the promise of the Messiah from his royal line. And through the psalmists celebrating their King the Holy Spirit gives voice to Christ’s pre-incarnate glory. Jesus is the King. Jesus is God Himself and the Father proclaims to His people this revelation as David sits on the throne.

And what can we know of Jesus, this divine King whom God elevates above all others? As David, God’s chosen man is sitting on the throne of Israel, what is God revealing about the Coming One? Jesus is the custodian of the scepter of justice. Jesus loves righteousness and hates wickedness. In His upright hand Jesus holds the power and authority to pronounce justice for His people, for the nations, for eternity.

Jesus is enthroned forever, imbued by God the Father with His righteous authority and recognized before the people of God for His omnipotence and purity. Jesus causes our hearts to stir with beautiful words of worship, because He holds all righteous authority in His hands. His mouth speaks gracious words over our lives. Who is like our God? Who is more worthy of praise? Jesus holds in His privilege as King to speak mercy in place of rejection. He calls us to the table we have no right to approach. He calls us His children and reaps praise from the nations.

Jesus, thank you for the your faithfulness to speak grace into my life as you wield the scepter of justice.

Jesus the Homeward Bound

And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. (Mark 2.1)

Is it any wonder that when Jesus wanted to be alone with the Father He would withdraw to lonely places, secluded and deserted? Wherever Jesus went people followed, even to His home. After Jesus had gone on a whirlwind ministry tour he returned home. There the word spread that Jesus was back in town. Jesus was home. And so the crowds came flooding into His home.

Missionaries understand this ministry reality better than most. Today, as in the day of Christ, many cultures still feel comfortable coming unannounced to the homes of important people. The fact that Jesus was home does not denote rest or reclusion, but nearness and accessibility. Jesus was home and therefore available. And so people came. They came in droves. They came and packed themselves into Jesus’ home so that a group of desperate friends had to tear a hole in Jesus’ ceiling to lower a paralyzed friend.

It would be difficult to focus on the need before you when your home is being destroyed. And yet, Jesus the homeward bound is not distracted by the destruction of personal property. Jesus sees through the broken thatch and mud bricks to the need for redemption. Jesus the homeward bound invites the crowds in his temporary home—paralytic and his friends, religious leaders and scribes—to join Him in His homeward journey. Jesus Himself has ripped a hole in the ceiling of their impossible self-salvation schemes and invites them in. Jesus calls them to forgiveness of sin and home.

Jesus, thank you that you saw me in my broken state and have called me home.

Jesus the Reservoir of Hope and Trust

I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you... and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also. (Philippians 2.19, 24)

At times when we think of our interaction with our Lord Jesus we place it fully in the ethereal, beyond the daily rote, above the mundane, outside the experiences of our everyday. But this is a disservice to us. Jesus the Lord is fully comfortable with His Lordship functioning within our everyday lives. We will miss the depth of relationship with Jesus if we do not meet with Him in our mundane.

Paul knew Jesus the reservoir of our hope and trust. Instead of relegating God the Son to the transcendent He placed Christ's Lordship squarely within His everyday hopes and dreams. Writing to the Philippians, Paul stated He longed to hear from them, to care for them, to see them face to face. He put all of these hopes and dreams within Jesus. He hoped to send Timothy to the church to provide pastoral care, but not just any hope, but a Christ-centered expectancy. He placed his trust and confidence that he would see the church again in Jesus.

Do we have Christ-centered expectancy when we see the needs of the church? Do we have Jesus-inspired confidence that our dreams will become reality? When we see the need we too easily place our hope in ourselves. Today, could we recognize Jesus' desire to be active in our lives and dreams? Jesus the reservoir of our hope and trust is ready to power our inspired dreams for His church and is faithful to complete the good work He has begun in us and within His creation.

Jesus, as I look at the hopes and dreams you've placed within my heart, remind me to invite you into them, to see your awesomeness within my dreams of the future.

Jesus the Good Shepherd

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. (John 10.14-15)

There is something so beautifully raw of seeing Jesus as a shepherd. Here is not the pressed suit of an executive leader or the clean, crisp collar of a priest. The corner office is miles away from the fields where he leads his flock. Instead of an orator standing on a well lit stage his sandals are mixed with the mud of the earth and the grime of his sheep. In place of soft and manicured fingers that easily write people off, his hands are rough and strong and gentle. His shepherd’s arms draw his flock near. He knows his sheep. He calls them by name. His sheep know him. They recognize his staff as safe and his rod as true.

When Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd…and I lay down my life for the sheep,” there is no question it is true. As a good shepherd he saw us lost and bruised, beaten by time and broken by sin, and he came to bring us home. We are those other sheep that were not of his fold, but he searched us out, calling us to his arms stained with his sacrificial love.

May today be filled with the joy of knowing Jesus the good shepherd is before us, leading us to green pastures and still waters. His arm is mighty to save.

Jesus, thank you for being my shepherd. It is your voice I listen for in the dark night, your hand I lean toward when my heart is troubled.

Jesus the Avenger

For he will avenge the blood of his children; he will take revenge against his enemies. He will repay those who hate him and cleanse his people’s land. (Deuteronomy 32.43b)

The great stories across time all share a similar structure. A growing evil that must be defeated at all costs has begun to oppress the world. A hero or band of valiant souls set themselves against the encroaching darkness. In the journey evil appears to prevail, you can feel the music swell with weeping violins as the heroes weep for the fallen. This is the part of the movie where kids start looking at their parents to make sense of the injustice.

Long before the scattered disciples wept at the sight of Jesus dying on the cross, before the people of Israel were led into exile, Moses delivered a final song. His lyrics were cinematic in scope as he marveled at the majesty of God. His song was filled with the future failure of his people to keep the law as they embraced false gods; echoing with divine grief as the Lord’s judgment was leading them to exile. His song is a wake, grieving the future judgment.

But cue the orchestra because this is not the end. No, God will redeem his wayward people. He will reconcile them and invite the nations to rejoice as well. The Lord will triumph over evil and the corrupting forces at work within His creation. He will create new possibilities through His enduring faithfulness and cleanse us. He will avenge His people. Into our exile He is sending our avenger, Jesus.

How wonderful to know during the dark night of the soul that God will avenge his people. We need not take revenge on those who would threaten our reputations or assassinate our character. The Apostle Paul, like Moses before him—both with their share of personal attacks and insurrections—knew the Lord who said, “Vengeance is mine. I will repay.” Rejoicing is our best response then in the midst of our disillusion as we celebrate our Lord Jesus who will avenge His people and bring restoration to His creation.

Jesus, in the pain of hard times, in the chaos of this broken world,

I relinquish my hunger for justice that would raise up a spirit of revenge.

I trust in you to avenge the orphan, widow and stranger. I trust you will avenge me.

Jesus the Angels' Rejoicing

Rejoice with him, you heavens, and let all of God’s angels worship him. Rejoice with his people, you Gentiles, and let all the angels be strengthened in him. (Deuteronomy 32.43a LXX)

As the author of Hebrews is deep in compositional worship the words of the Septuagint flow from the quill of angelic praise. Words that the Holy Spirit had inspired in the heart of Moses find a renewed depth when the presence of Jesus is recognized. For Moses, he is writing his song, led by the Spirit, to guide His people from falling away from their loving Father and Creator. The words lift up the glory of God, the solid Rock, the overshadowing Sovereign who hovers over them like an eagle. For the author of Hebrews, raptured in the beauty of Christ, these words are extended to the glory of the Godhead. Jesus is our rock. He is our Creator, by whom, through whom and for whom we were created.

Jesus is the angels’ rejoicing. It transcends the mind to imagine endless scores of angelic beings lifting up their praise before the throne of God. Our Father God has commanded His angels to worship Him and to worship the Father is to worship the Son. There is no division between them. No faltering focus. They are one, triune with the Spirit. All of the heavens, cherubim and seraphim, heavenly beings and the saints that have gone before us, surrounding the cloud of His throne, are raptured in this eternal praise. And we are invited to join! O glory of the most High! We are grafted into the vine to sing His great name! Jesus, the angels’ rejoicing.

Jesus, I lift my voice with all the angels of heaven as I bow at Your throne. You are glorious!

Jesus the Cornerstone

Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. (Ephesians 2.20b-21)

Leading up to these verses the Apostle Paul has been showing us how we are fellow citizens of God’s household, a family set apart and joined together from scattered people groups. Separated at birth, marked by different tribes and trained in diverse tongues, we are now being restored as a unified family. All of a sudden Paul switches from family language to architecture and with this shift in metaphor he moves from the familial to the foundational. As members of God’s family we are now being joined together on a singular foundation around one enduring cornerstone.

This cornerstone will not shift, it will not change. No matter the circumstances around us the foundation of our faith, built on the inspired testimony of prophets and apostles, is aligned to the everlasting cornerstone, Jesus Christ.

How glorious it is to cast our eyes across the ages on this sacred temple we call the Church. Generations upon generations of men, women and children devoted to Christ have been hewn and formed and placed into alignment with that chief cornerstone, Jesus Christ. All the cathedrals standing today are but a shadow of that great Church Universal of saints filled with praise and worship. Stones of different shade and architecture crafted in diverse temporal design all remind us that we’ve seen nothing yet when we stop and think of the Holy Temple being joined together around Jesus the Cornerstone.

Jesus, thank you that you have placed me among the living stones of your people, joined together to you, our cornerstone.

Jesus the Revealer

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. (Revelation 1.1)

Shall we every truly understand the depths of Jesus Christ’s revelation to the humanity made in His image? Can finite humanity every truly grasp infinite truth? Jesus stepped down into His creation and in the train of His glory He drew together all the threads of prophetic revelation from the beginning of space and time. His years of earthly ministry were the narrow neck of an hourglass, channeling all truth and reality through Himself to those searching.

In His Divinity Christ has flipped the hourglass of time over. All the sands of history are falling through Him, revealing His mission and purpose to all who will set their eyes on Him. Every grain that falls point us back to the ascended Son of God, seated at the right hand of the Father. Every verse recorded over the centuries, every witness from the men, women and children who confessed Christ as Lord across the millennia is piled up around the nations. Every passing moment is filled with the gravity of His revelation. Whether the lost will choose to recognize the weight of His eternal glory Jesus continues to rain down on our current existence with His enduring witness of the Father’s love.

As servants of the Most High God, He is calling us to take heed to the times and respond to the revelation that He is proclaiming through Jesus Christ our Lord. May we set our eyes on Him, enthroned at the center of space and time. May we rejoice with the great cloud of witnesses that have gone before us.

Jesus, help me see you more clearly and understand your revelation more profoundly, today.

Jesus the Willing Healer

Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” (Mark 1.41)

Leprosy and the various skin diseases are not as common or untreatable as they were two millennia ago but soul decay still is. We can readily identify with the leper who came to Jesus, not because of a physical ailment that makes us unclean, but because we know and have experienced the heart-rending pain of our soul in decay. We know what it feels like to have the numbness of sin give way to the dark night and our desperate cry for help.

Like the leper who came to Jesus, falling on his diseased knees in a gasping plea, we know the feeling of a decomposing soul. He was seeking a willing healer, an accessible savior. Do we seek anything different? We long to meet with Jesus the Healer. For some of us at some times our prayer is for physical healing, but like the leper, who's disease was not just a physical barrier, we all know our desire for restoration.

And Jesus the Healer is faithful. He is compassionate when we come before Him confessing our failure. Jesus the Healer looks on us in our piteous state and stretches His holy hand and touches our sin-riddled souls. We cry to Him for willingness because even though we have found undeserved salvation in the cross we somehow still refuse to believe their could be more grace for us yet. Jesus the Healer hears our infant-like cry for cleaning and says, "I am willing, be clean."

Jesus, thank you for healing me in my miserable state, for hearing my confession of absolute need and embracing me in Your love.

Jesus the Exalted

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2.9-11)

In every culture around the world names are important. We begin life with the giving of names. We sustain legacies, through generations into the unsearchable future, through names. We dream of the future by making new names, unheard of before but built up with purpose and passion. A newborn baby takes the name of a grandparent. A child is named after a king, a hero, a vision of greatness.

We give names intuitively, not through compulsion to a cultural construct, but because we innately understand their importance. Our names help define us, isolate us for recognition and connect us to the rest of humanity. At times we disdain a person we don’t know because they share the same name with someone who has hurt us deeply. At other times we subconsciously elevate someone's potential because they share a moniker with someone we respect.

And in all of this, names given and remembered, there is a name that is above all names. Jesus. Jesus the exalted who stood before creation because all things were made by Him, through Him, for Him. Jesus the exalted who is enthroned in celestial glory because He humbled His royal head to die on the cross for our sin like a castigated slave. Jesus the exalted is seated at the right hand of God the Father and His name, and His name alone, is the access to salvation, the only means of atonement from sin. There is no greater name. There is no other name that we can cry out and find eternal, unending grace.

Jesus, I bow my knees and confess that You are Lord, rejoicing that in Your name I am forever restored to the Father.

Jesus the Obedient

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2.8)

Just as time has warped our vision of Jesus the Servant through glossy art and camp imagery, we have abused our image of Jesus’ obedience through death on the cross. By its pop cultural presence the cross has been bled of its horror. Can we truly carry the torture of our Savior gilded around our necks? Would we immortalize the horrors of Rwanda with crushed skulls on our jewelry? By diminishing the terror of the cross we loss the gravity of Christ's devotion to the Father. Jesus’ devotion led to His submission to the murderous hands of humanity. Jesus’ obedience led to His crucifixion on the cross.

In Jesus' obedience we find His servanthood. In Jesus' obedience we find His humility. It is impossible for us to truly identify with Jesus if do not seek to understand His obedience. And most painfully as followers of Jesus if we do not seek to serve Him with the same humble, servant-like obedience we will never be able to express Him rightly to the nations. And this is key because Jesus is seeking out the nations, He is reaching out through His people to the unreached men, women and children who have not seen the tragic glory of the cross.

Jesus the obedient calls us to embrace His mission and that mission can take us to the point of death, even death on a cross. He is calling us to reach out obediently with humble hearts and servant hands to the nations, the unreached peoples, the lost and dying.

Jesus, help me obey Your call with humility and passion to serve. Let me shout Your glory with an unflinching witness and back bent in service to the nations.

Jesus the Servant

[Jesus] emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. (Philippians 2.7)

Jesus the Servant. We become so comfortable with the kitsch art of Jesus holding a newborn sheep, soft wavy brown hair around his gentle smile, that we dilute our understanding of Jesus the Servant. We lose it in those brushstrokes that Jesus divested Himself of His rights. Jesus is the Creator of all. Jesus is the everlasting God enthroned in His own majesty. And yet, Jesus the King stepped down from His throne, walked through the royal generations of princes, ushered Himself from His own throne-room out into the streets of corrupted creation. Jesus then wrapped Himself in our frail humanity and made Himself a servant to all. The King is kneeling before His lowest peasants and is washing us clean.

Can we think of any earthly equivalent of a King maintaining His royalty but emptying Himself of His majesty and glory? Jesus did not sit on His throne and pass edicts but took the commandments Himself and served His people. Never has a King lived as a slave among His people to serve them. Never has a King abandoned His place of power to live at the mercy of His people.

How then do we follow the example of our Servant-King? How could we possibly step from our mediocre anthills of self-glory into the ravines of human destruction? Jesus lives and generously serves us, making intercession for us before the Father. Can we do less? Jesus lived and died for our redemption while we were lost and unreached by His grace. Can we do less? Jesus the servant kneels by us and offers us a towel.

Jesus, give me the strength to abandon my comfort and meager power to serve among the lost.

Jesus the Humble

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped (Philippians 2.5-6)

How could Jesus, God incarnate, choose to not count His equality within the Godhead? We find it infinitely difficult to recognize when we are not equal to governing legislators and legates. We look at the rulers of this world and we think, "I am equal with them. I could make a better decision than that." That may be true, but we don't naturally find ourselves saying, "I will submit my will to that leader even though I disagree with their decision." Even in the best circumstances our pride aims to cripple our obedience, and abuses make us jaded to future trust.

And yet, Jesus, who is the very radiance of the glory of the Father and the exact imprint of His nature, humbled Himself. There is no inequality within the Godhead but what God chooses to exercise. And so even though the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are equal, the Son chooses serve the Father, and the Spirit to the Father and Son. As humans made in the image of God we find this both incomprehensible and immensely appealing.

When we humble ourselves and stop attempting self-salvation and cry out to Jesus for our redemption, we meet with Jesus the Humble. Jesus who did not consider Himself equal with the Father and so stepped into our humanity so that we might be saved! And in Christ-like humility we meet with a joy unspeakable and full of glory because we have truly meet with Jesus.

Jesus, thank you for humbling yourself for my sake. Help me humble myself to see others lifted up before Your throne.

Jesus the Everlasting Rock of Peace

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock. (Isaiah 26.3-4)

Where do our intentions lean? As we live our day-in-day-out lives we make countless decisions and those decisions lean on our intentions. Without intentional effort if we find success in life it is at best accidental. Isaiah recognized that if we stayed our minds on the Lord, if we leaned our intentions toward God, He would keep us in peace. God will keep us in peace, but not just any peace, but in true Hebrew emphasis "peace peace". He will keep us in extreme peace.

Most people do not intentionally seek out chaos or pain. Distress can be the byproduct of our good or bad intentions, but it can be survived if, rooted deep within our soul, there is a profound peace on which we have leaned our actions and decisions. It comes down to trusting our intentions to God's trustworthiness.

Jesus is the rock of our everlasting peace. He is our perfect peace. Our repeated Shalom. We can stand assured on our decision to serve Him, even in the distress of difficult seasons, because He is our source of perfect peace, and He is eternal! We lean our intentions on Jesus and we washes us in His peace. Even more so, our peace is rooted in an everlasting, never-ending foundation, Jesus our everlasting rock of peace. As we make decisions today, let us rejoice in Jesus on whom we lean forever.

Jesus, thank you for seeing not just my actions but my intentions beneath them. Help me lean my intentions evermore on your everlasting foundation.

Jesus the Righteous Agriculturist

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more...filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1.9-11)

One day in our lives we made a decision. We decided that we would ask Jesus to plant a seed of righteousness within us. As good and right as we could possibly be on our own we could never produce the fruit of righteousness in our own power. As much as we could love humanity, seek to mitigate the damage of injustice in the world, we could never produce the fruit of the one true righteous God among the nations.

And so that day we prayed. We prayed like Saul, blinded on the road to Damascus, waiting for God to restore our sight and restore our broken-down souls. We prayed like Peter, wet on the seashore from his swim to Jesus, as he sat across the fire seeking restoration.

And today we pray again. We pray that Jesus, our source of righteous would fill us with His presence and grow the fruit of God-glorifying righteousness. We pray that our love would grow beyond its borders more and more. We pray that we would know God more. Seek Him more. Be made more pure and blameless. We pray that Jesus, our great and awesome God, would generously fill our rotting tree roots with the fertilizer of His attention.

And then, as we feel life flood our leafy veins, we remember we are not lone trees on a hill, but one in a vast orchard. Like Paul, we lift up this prayer for our brothers and sisters. We pray we would all grow in the beautiful presence of Christ and bear the fruit of righteousness that brings Him His well-deserved glory.

Thank you, Jesus for cultivating my soul, the soil of my life; and thank you for the believers you've gathered around me in your field.

Jesus the All-Blessing

Blessed are all who take refuge in him (Psalm 2.12b)

All people live along two parallel continua of individuality and community. Even the most individualistic societies have communal aspects, just as the most communal cultures still have gaps and spaces for individuality. Too often individualism and communalism appear to be the far extremes of a single line, giving little room for the distinct nuance each family and group would give them.

The first two Psalms reveal these two parallel cultural traits with a clear God-centered voice. The first psalm begins blessing the individual who delights in God and does not stumble into communal sin. He is blessed as he draws close to God in deep, individual devotion. This does not mean he disregards the spiritual needs of family and community because of his personal devotion to God. In fact, his individual pursuit of God will reap spiritual blessings for himself and those around him. Who is the source of this blessing? It is God Himself. Jesus is the source of blessing for every single man, woman and child.

Beside the individual track is that of community. The second psalm ends with a blessing for all, a communal blessing for a righteous people. The Son, the King anointed and appointed by God the Father is the source of this communal blessing. Though the nations rage and the conspire for their collective benefit, God is not mocked. He has reserved blessings for the all individuals who have surrendered themselves to His Son. Called by name they are now a true fellowship. Not matter the disquiet in this world the community of Christ, the kingdom of God, will always find refuge together in the love and mercy of Jesus. He is the All-Blessing One.

Thank you, Jesus that you have called me by name! Guide me as I love your people and all those made in your image.

Jesus the Son of Abraham

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. (Matthew 1.1)

Jesus is not random. He is divine and infinite, so at the times when we do not understand what He has done or allowed, we can rest—even in our finite discomfort—in His omnisciences and omnipresence. He does not act at random. He does not read the situation as it plays out and chooses the best recourse. He is glorious and His plan is perfect.

He is not surprised when our human situations get out of hand, when the pieces of the puzzle aren’t adding up or when we struggle to believe there is a plan. Jesus is the Son of God yet He is still the son of man. And God intentionally chose Abraham to be an ancestor of Jesus. Like Jesus, Adam is the earliest father of us all, but Matthew chooses to begin His genealogy with Abraham. Abraham, the man who believed God enough to set out from His home on a promise. Abraham, the man who sought to believe God’s promise of an heir but repeatedly sought to fulfill it by His own plans. Abraham, the man who God promised would be a blessing to all families on earth, and Abraham believed. He believed.

Abraham’s righteousness was in His faith that God’s was greater than His failure, greater than His success, greater than His wildest imagination, greater than the appearance of a random, aimless life. Abraham was called to the nations, and Jesus is Abraham’s blessing to the nations. He is the intentional outpouring of God’s love through humanity, for humanity, by a man whose struggling faith was strong enough.

Jesus, thank you that you use finite fallible men and women so that we might seek after you on our feeble knees.

Jesus the Son of David

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. (Matthew 1.1)

Why a shepherd boy? Who takes a farm boy from the back fields with the sheep and crowns him king? David went from grazing, roving sheep to unseen royal glory. It is easy to see that the young boy had passion for God’s glory. It went beyond a national pride or loyalty to the crown. When David was pressed by Goliath’s taunts he didn’t step out to do battle for the authority of King Saul or on behalf of the Israelite people. David did battle in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel and the One who delivers giants into the hands of youth. David set His heart toward God.

Why a carpenter’s son? Who takes the redemption of all humanity and entrusts it to a table-making, wood-shaving apprentice? But for Jesus, as He chiseled and plained, royalty flowed in His veins. He was the Son of God, eternal and divine. He was also the son of kings. David cared for God’s holiness among the nations. He cared for the glory of God’s name among the peoples. And because of David’s heart God blessed him to share in Abraham’s blessing for the nations. God placed a crown on David’s head and then promised an eternal line of royalty, not an unbroken lineage of earthly kings, but One King who would reign, is reigning and will reign forevermore: Jesus the Son of David.

Jesus, thank you for being the great everlasting King! And thank you for carrying me to the table where I can be near you and worship you with my life.

Jesus the Conduit of Blessing

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1.3)

Blessing. Such a small word but what a trove of emotions can be found within it. As followers of Jesus we find ourselves in blessed relationship with God. We may find ourselves in the struggles and difficulties of this life, we may even find ourselves estranged from earthly comfort and calm, but our blessings are born in heavenly places. Our souls are secure in the love and presence of Jesus. In the desert we must drink deeply of this truth. We are united with Christ. We are in union with our Savior who is at the right hand of God the Father.

In this world we will face trouble, we will face persecution, but we are not alone. We are united with Christ and He is in the heavenly places. God has blessed us through Jesus and Jesus has endowed us with every spiritual gift. Jesus is risen from the dead. In His hand is power over sin and death and He has blessed us with eternal life! Jesus has seen the confusion and insecurity seeded in our lives through lack of understanding and He has revealed to us the mystery of His will. Jesus has seen the discord and disunity of our sinful humanity and He has blessed us with the body of Christ, the Church, for life-giving fellowship. Jesus blesses us through His love and blesses us through His people. Jesus is the avenue of the Father’s favor in the face of our adversaries. Jesus is our conduit of blessing.

Jesus, thank you for blessing me beyond my understanding or imagination! It is a comfort to my soul knowing I am are united with You in the heavenly places.

Jesus the Appointer of Apostles

And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. (Mark 3.14-15)

What a commission! Jesus appointed twelve men, made in His image, to carry divine purpose. Like Jesus they were born, raised in homes, trained in trades and entered into the society of their day. Diverse and contradictory backgrounds. One was a tax collector, a stooge for an oppressive Roman emperor. Another was a zealot, a man hungry for blood and revolution. Some were educated and titled, while others were tradesmen. He invited them from across their cultural contexts and called them to be with Him.

How incredible to be personally called by Jesus. To hear our names on His lips. To feel His arm on our shoulder as we journey down the road. To feel His divine gaze as He watches us searching for the meaning of His words; and yes, even the heavy stare when, like the Pharisees, we can’t quite grasp His meaning.

Today, like the twelve, long before we would ever consider ourselves ready, are we willing to hear Him naming us apostles; to be His messengers sent out with purpose? We would much rather stay near Him, enjoying the wine of His nearness and eating the bread of His presence, but into the thirsty and hungry world, Jesus is sending us. He imbued His disciples with power to cast out demons and authority to proclaim His good news! Is Jesus’ missionary love enough to drive us out into a dying world, trusting His indwelling Spirit will goes with us? Today, let us rejoice that someone felt appointed and carried the good news to us.

Jesus, thank you for calling your Apostles. Show me how you would have me carry your message as I am sent out by your Holy Spirit into the nations.