Tag: jesus

Matthew 2:1-12

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            This date, January 6, of every year is a very significant day in the Christian Year – it is the day in which we as Christians intentionally recognize and celebrate the glorious truth that God’s Son was not only given to the Jews, but to Gentiles, as well.  This day is known as “Epiphany.”  Epiphany simply means “appearance” or “manifestation.”  Epiphany is the realization that the incarnation of Jesus involves a great deal more than Christmas; it brings a vision, a revelation, and an epiphany of God’s glory to every nation, people-group, and person on the face of the earth.
 
            The event that most represents and symbolizes Epiphany is the visit of the Magi to Jesus.  God, in his grace and mercy, made known to a group of Gentile astrologers that something of great importance was taking place.  A sign and light was given to them, leading them to Christ, the King.  Indeed, it is only through God’s gracious revelation of light to us that we are led to Jesus and receive the salvation that brings life, peace, and hope.
 
            Sometimes we forget and lose sight of what is really important in life.  We move at such breakneck pace and bind ourselves with such busy-ness that to stop and connect with life itself is not even a thought in our heads.  Yet, it is imperative that we look up into the sky and see a bright star in the east leading us, even beckoning us, to the Christ for whom all the universe hinges.  What do we really and truly need in life?  We need a Savior.  He has come.  He has been revealed.  Thanks be to God.
 

 

            God of light, you shine brightly and call us to your Son, King Jesus.  Today I celebrate your grace and goodness displayed in leading me to Yourself.  Thank you for salvation and life in Christ.  Continue to open my eyes so that I might see your love and truth.  Amen.

John 1:1-18

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            I once spent several months in Tacoma, Washington.  The first few weeks I was in that wonderful city it was overcast, cloudy, and dreary.  Then, one morning, I woke up to a bright sunshine and looked out my window.  Behold! It was as if someone had dropped mountains on the landscape overnight.  And there was Mount Rainier staring me right in the face!  But I had seen none of it for weeks.  It is rather amazing what the light can do for us.
 
            “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.”  Seeing the light, becoming a child of God, and being born again is a precious gift.  We can neither make ourselves see in the dark, nor can we cause ourselves to be Christians; only God can do it.  Jesus Christ is the light of the world, and through the will of God, Jesus is made known to us.
 
            What this means is that salvation, deliverance from sin, death, and hell is solely the work of God.  It all comes through the willingness of God in Christ to rescue us.  We cannot earn it, work for it, or pay-off our debt of sin.  Just as I was in awe of the majestic mountains that were in front of me, so I am slack-jawed over the grace of God in Christ that saved a sinner like me.  In Christ, there is rest.  Praise and adoration is the appropriate response to such mercy.
 

 

            Saving God, you have sent your Son, the Lord Jesus, to be the light of the world.  Shine in the darkness so that many others might know that grace and truth comes through Christ.  Thank you for saving me.  Please deliver many more from their groping in the dark.  Amen.

Hebrews 10:10-18

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            As I sit here at my computer easily keyboarding my thoughts, it is almost inconceivable to me that I made it through my undergraduate college days in the early 1980s with a manual typewriter and notetaking with the old-fashioned pen and spiral notebook.  No cell phone, no tablet, no electronic devices aiding me through my education.  Typewriters are now obsolete, along with corded telephones and wringer washers.
 
            But even more incredible is the complete replacement of an old mundane system of ritual sacrifice to a religion of the heart in which God would remember people’s sins no more.  This is such a radical change that it would be like having self-cleaning dishes or total speech-to-text “writing” of “papers.”  It is much more than a labor-saving device; it is a completely different system that leaves the old system obsolete forever.  That is what Jesus Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice did on our behalf.
 
            We live in a New Covenant era in which God has put his laws on our hearts and written them on our minds.  No typewriter, no computer, no keyboard necessary because the blood of Christ has introduced a seminal change in how we relate to God.  There is now a thorough forgiveness that no longer requires any labor, ritual, or work.  Indeed, it is finished.  Now, we live into the new reality provided for us.  It is an era of great peace, joy, and goodwill.  It is so good that it would be absolutely ridiculous to go back to the old way.
 
            Slow down enough in this season to connect or re-connect with the most wonderful of truths:  Jesus Christ came to save sinners. 
 

 

            Saving God, you have completely taken care of the sin issue once and for all through the blood of your Son.  Forgive me for my predilection to retreat into old obsolete ways of trying to earn peace and joy, instead of adopting the new, which sometimes seems almost too good to be true.  Thank you for deliverance and new life in Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Luke 7:31-35

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            I am quite sure that all of us at some point in our lives have been in a no-win type of situation.  Even Jesus experienced it.  John the Baptist came as an ascetic, eating no bread and being a teetotaler and the people thought he had a demon.  Then, when Jesus came on the scene doing just the opposite, eating and drinking and having a grand old time, the people accused him of being a drunkard and a glutton.  When it came to the religious authorities of the day, Jesus was like the Rodney Dangerfield of the ancient world – he never got any respect from them.
 
            I’m actually a bit relieved that Jesus went through that kind of scenario.  Sometimes it just seems that, with some people, I can never quite do anything right – they grump and complain no matter what I do or say.  Wise King Solomon was familiar with such people; he called them fools.  “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself.”  Then, in the very next proverb it says, “Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes” (Proverbs 26:4-5).  So, which is it?  How do I handle a fool?  The answer is:  you don’t.  A fool is going to be a fool no matter what you do or say.  Handling them is a no-win situation.
 
            So, what do we do with such people?  Jesus just went about his mission despite what the foolish generation was saying about him.  And we must do the same.  Some people are going to talk, gossip, and label you something you aren’t.  We don’t take our cues from fools.  We find our security in Jesus, live and love just like him, and let the critics blow out their blowholes into the air.
 

 

            Wise Jesus, you handled people as well as anyone could, yet, they still criticized you.  Help me to live and speak wisely so that when people talk it isn’t because of my foolishness but because of my love.  Amen.