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Tag: January 4th

  • He Gave His Life So He Could Give Us Life

    Galatians 1:4 “Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,”

    Opening with “Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ” the Apostle starts his letter to the Galatians with a pretty normal greeting.  However, upon writing the precious name of Jesus Christ, he, like the apostle John in his greeting in the book of Revelation, breaks out into a doxology of praise to Jesus. It is as if he could not continue writing until he expressed glory to Him and in verse 5 he says, “To whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

    Why this outburst of giving glory?  The answer is found in verse 4 as Paul describes what Jesus did for every person in the world in that He GAVE Himself for our sins. He came to save and to save He GAVE, giving the most precious thing He had and that was His life.  He was our substitute.  He took our place on the cross and received the punishment for our sins so we could be reconciled back to the Father. He GAVE His life so He could GIVE us life. His act of sacrificial love delivered us from this present evil age.  In delivering us we are no longer in bondage to sin and the devil.  We are part of a new family, and we have a new citizenship.  We have new lives and one day we will have a home in heaven.

    Occasionally it is good to be reminded of what Jesus did for us.  And why He did it. Our verse tells us that it was according to the will of our God and Father.  Jesus was about His Father’s business, and He surrendered in the garden to be obedient to His Father.  

    I do believe there come moments with various Scriptures that we want to say WHAT A SAVIOR.  There are times I want to join the choir in heaven and cry WORTHY IS THE LAMB!   Having read in Galatians 1:4 what Jesus GAVE and why He GAVE is one of those times for me, and I hope for you.  With the Apostle Paul, it is time to say, “To whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Gal. 1:5)

    Just in case you are wondering what the Apostle John said in his doxology it starts in Revelation 1:4. “John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, 5  and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6  and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

    To Him who loved us and He washed us from our sins in His own blood (that is the GAVE part) and has made us participants in a new kingdom to Him be GLORY AND DOMINION forever!  Worthy is the Lamb!

    Continue Strong giving glory to the one who GAVE His life to give you life, 
    And Remember to Date the Word  

  • Vital Help for Life

    Proverbs 1:4 “To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion.”

    The book of Proverbs opens immediately with reasons why one would want to read what it has to offer.  Proverbs 1:2-4 tells the reader the reason for proverbs. I like to read from The Message occasionally and it translates Proverbs 1:2-4 as such: “(2) So we’ll know how to live well and right and to understand what life means and (3) that it is a manual for living, for learning what’s right and just and fair; 4 To teach the inexperienced the ropes and give our young people a grasp on reality.”

    In other words, there is help available to those who have no experience in living life.  This is great news for a person regarded as simple or naive.  To be simple or naive is to be open-minded rather than sound-minded.  The open-minded is open to trying anything as they have not realized that not everything is good.  They don’t realize that choices have consequences.  Thus Proverbs will provide and teach the naive person that there are consequences to choices.  In gaining this understanding, the simple becomes prudent.  The reason you read and study Proverbs is to become prudent with your decision.  I like to define prudent or prudence as carefully considering the consequences of a choice.  Instead of being open-minded to every opportunity one carefully thinks about the consequences before making a decision.   The ultimate help of being prudent is one will carefully consider the consequences of any temptations that are presented to them.  

    The opening verses are, secondly, great news for the young person who, just by being young, is inexperienced.  The inexperienced do not know what is harmful.  They have no track record of being there and done that.  The purpose, then, behind proverbs is to provide the inexperienced with knowledge of what will happen as the one teaching proverbs has been there and done it.  More than having a T-shirt they have experience. They have touched the hot stove and they know it burns.  Now the one who has never touched a hot stove does not have to touch the hot stove and get burned but can learn from another who has been there and knows firsthand the consequences.  

    A person can and should learn from their mistakes but a wise person is going to learn from someone else’s mistake!

    The opening verses of Proverbs are like an advertisement and sprinkled throughout the 31 chapters; it will over and over unashamedly advertise its value and help you because God knows you don’t know what you need to know.  God knows that there is a way that seems right to man, but in the end, there is death (Proverbs 14:12 and Proverbs 16:25).  For a person to have life one needs wisdom.  For one to avoid the horrible traps of the world one needs prudence, knowledge, and discretion.  

    To get what you need for life action needs to be taken.  Wisdom is available. It cries out to you, appealing to you to acquire her.  The suggested action I heard when I was young was to read one chapter a day from the book of Proverbs, reading the chapter that matched the date of the month.  Today is January 4 so you read Proverbs 4.  It is that simple.  

    To avoid the pitfall answer the appeal of wisdom by acquiring wisdom and applying it to your life. Vital help for your life is available in the book of Proverbs.

    Continue Strong being prudent, knowledgeable, and discerning,
    And remember to DATE the Word