2022-04-19
2 Corinthians 5:19 NIV
God created us to have unbroken fellowship with Him and with each other. That’s why Satan’s first scheme was to separate us from God, and from each other. Using things like pride, stubbornness, confusion, resentment, and selfishness, he drives wedges and promotes disunity. What starts out as a misunderstanding can end in angry stand-offs or toxic silences that last for hours, days, and sometimes years.
We might think that it’s nothing to do with anyone else because it doesn’t affect them, but the truth is that the fallout from a major disagreement can’t be contained. A grudge against one person can begin to infect every relationship in our lives in some way, and it’s often because the disagreement becomes the focus of our lives and we’re determined to prove we’re right and the other person is wrong at every opportunity. It’s a serious problem that needs a divine solution.
Paul wrote, ‘God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.’ Sin destroyed our relationship with God, but He took the initiative by giving Jesus ‘as a ransom [a price paid] for many’ (Mark 10:45 NIV) in order to reconcile us to Himself. Reconciling means bringing back together what belongs together. God doesn’t count ‘people’s sins against them’, but that doesn’t mean He trivialises or ignores our sin debt.
He cancelled it at the cross and stopped holding it against us. And it didn’t end there. He made us ‘Christ’s representatives’ (2 Corinthians 5:20 MSG), calling us ‘to settle our relationships with each other’ (v.19 MSG). Sometimes that means practising humility, becoming the reconciler, taking the initiative, and ending the grudge. Are you ready to do that today?
1 Cor 4-6; Luke 24:25-35; Ps 43; Pro 10:10
2022-04-18
Colossians 3:13 CEV
We shouldn’t rush into an important or potentially lifelong relationship without taking time to really get to know the other person. None of us are perfect, and we’re dealing with other imperfect people, so if we want to build successful, strong relationships, we’ll need to try focusing on the other person’s strengths instead of their weaknesses.
An important skill in relationship building is learning to forgive. Forgiveness can be harder when the offence is big. Small offences can usually be forgiven quickly. Big ones involve a healing process, but until we decide to forgive, the process can’t even start. Paul wrote: ‘Be gentle, kind, humble, meek, and patient. Put up with each other, and forgive anyone who does you wrong, just as Christ has forgiven you. Love is more important than anything else. It is what ties everything completely together’ (v.12-14 CEV).
One author puts it this way: ‘If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.’ In other words, when it comes to facing facts we can’t change, we should pray for grace in learning to live with them. (However, if we’re in any kind of relationship where we’re being hurt, emotionally, physically or mentally, we should seriously consider getting out and getting help from someone we can trust.)
Forgiving others and trusting God to deal with their faults is the right thing to do. We’re not designed to carry the physical and mental stress that comes with holding on to resentment. And on top of that, ‘You might be needing forgiveness before the day’s out’ (Galatians 6:1 MSG). So let’s be willing to forgive.
1 Cor 1-3; Luke 24:13-24; Ps 56; Pro 10:8-9
2022-04-17
1 Corinthians 15:4 NLT
‘Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time… Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him’ (1 Corinthians 15:3-8 NLT).
Well-respected people such as Christian authors C.S. Lewis, Lee Strobel, and Alister McGrath were atheists who ended up putting their trust in Christ after exploring and examining the evidence. If Jesus was who He claimed to be, God incarnate, taking upon Himself human form, dying for our sins and rising again, then they knew they had a life-changing decision to make: either accept Him or reject Him. And we must make that same decision.
Peter told his listeners on the day of Pentecost: ‘You nailed him to a cross and killed him. But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life’ (Acts 2:23-24 NLT). They said, ‘What should we do?’ Peter replied, ‘Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God’ (Acts 2:37-38 NLT). That day three thousand souls were won to Christ and the church was launched. Jesus died for our sins and rose again to represent us as an advocate before God’s throne. If you haven’t already, make today the day to accept Him as your Lord and Saviour, knowing that He’ll give you an abundant life now, and eternal life in heaven.
1 Cor 15; Luke 24:1-12
2022-04-16
1 Corinthians 15:55 NLT
In a ‘sting’ operation, law enforcement agents set the criminal up in order to bring them down. That’s like what happened to Satan at the cross. For three days it seemed as though Satan had won. Then Jesus rose from the dead and turned his plans upside down: ‘He disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross’ (Colossians 2:15 NLT).
The thing Satan feared most, the birth of a church with the power to change the world through the gospel, had come true. ‘The rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord’ (1 Corinthians 2:8 NLT).
Christ’s enemies even tried to stop the truth of the resurrection from getting out: ‘They decided to give the soldiers a large bribe. They told the soldiers, “You must say, ‘Jesus’ disciples came during the night while we were sleeping, and they stole his body.’ If the governor hears about it, we’ll stand up for you so you won’t get in trouble.” So the guards accepted the bribe and said what they were told to say’ (Matthew 28:12-15 NLT).
The resurrection is the ultimate proof that Jesus is Lord, and we can be sure of our salvation when we believe in the resurrection. ‘If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved. We believe with our hearts, and so we are made right with God. And we declare with our mouths that we believe, and so we are saved’ (Romans 10:9-10 NCV).
Lev 26-27; Luke 23:50-56; Ps 69:7-21; Pro 10:6-7
2022-04-15
Matthew 27:29 CEV
In the old hymn When I Survey the Wondrous Cross are the words, ‘See from His head, His hands, His feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down. Did e’er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown?’ Jesus wore a crown of thorns so we could wear crowns of glory.
In Scripture, thorns represent sin. In Eden when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, He said, ‘The ground will be under a curse… [… it] will produce thorns’ (Genesis 3:17-18 CEV). Later He told Israel that unless they removed their enemies from the land, ‘they will be like… thorns in your sides’ (Numbers 33:55 NCV). Solomon warned: ‘Corrupt people walk a thorny, treacherous road’ (Proverbs 22:5 NLT). And Jesus warned, ‘You can detect them by the way they act, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit. You need never confuse grapevines with thorn bushes’ (Matthew 7:16 TLB).
Author Max Lucado wrote: ‘The crown of thorns Jesus wore represented all our sins. As we were caught in the brambles of envy, anger, shame, discouragement, guilt, bitterness, and unforgiveness, so Jesus, who knew no sin, became “an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10 NIV). Not once did Christ use His supernatural powers for personal comfort. With just a word He could have transformed the hard earth into a soft bed… hurled the spit of His accusers back into their faces… and paralysed the hand of the soldier who braided the thorns. But He didn’t. Instead, “He cancelled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross”‘ (Colossians 2:14 NLT).
And He did all of it with you in mind. Jesus gave His life for you.
Gen 22:1-18; Luke 23:26-49; Ps 22; Isa 53
2022-04-14
2 Corinthians 3:5-6 NIV
David was ‘on a roll’. He kept winning battle after battle. It seemed like everything he touched was successful. But success can go to your head, and David wasn’t exempt. He started wondering, ‘Just how strong are we?’ At that point, he conducted a census and discovered he had ‘one million one hundred thousand men who could handle a sword’ (1 Chronicles 21:5 NIV). That could tempt any of us to think, ‘With an army this size, and given our track record of success, who needs to pray for God’s help or ask Him for a plan?’ That was the point at which God stepped in and judged David, and seventy thousand Israelites died needlessly (see v.14 NIV).
So here’s another aspect of responsibility and leadership that we need to be aware of: our mistakes have the potential to hurt others. We’re not just accountable to those who have authority over us; we also have responsibility to those who we have authority over. If our good decisions have the ability to bless and guide people, our bad decisions have the potential to harm them. ‘David said to God, “Was it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? I, the shepherd, have sinned and done wrong… let your hand fall on me and my family, but do not let this plague remain on your people”‘ (v.17 NIV). God graciously answered David’s prayer, and judgment was lifted from Israel.
We need God’s guidance for our own sake, the sake of the people around us, and to give us the grace to accept responsibility when we make a mistake or fail. We shouldn’t try to hide our failures, blame others, or run from God. Instead we should acknowledge them, grow through them, and go on to become wiser.
Lev 24-25; Luke 23:18-25; Ps 69:1-6; Pro 10:5
