The stronger I grow in faith, the closer I draw to Jesus, the more I learn to love and trust Him alone, the more disgusted, discouraged, depressed, and defeated I become over sin and failure in my life! I am sick of sin! My sin!
But there is hope for me! God’s Word promises “that he who began a good work in [me] will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” What I will be like “has not yet been made known. But [I] know that when he appears, [I] shall be like him, for [I] shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2, NIV). Praise God!
One day I will no longer struggle with sin.
I will no longer stumble and fall.
I will no longer falter and fail.
I will no longer be tried and tempted.
One day I will be like Jesus!
Jesus’ name has meaning that reveals Who He is. His name is LORD, which means Jehovah God. He is the Jehovah of the Old Testament Who revealed Himself to His people. Today Jesus reveals God to you and me. His name is also Jesus, which means Savior, because He came to save us from the penalty and power of our sin. And His name is Christ, which is the New Testament equivalent of the Old Testament name Messiah. He is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy that pointed to the Anointed One of God Who would come down to reign and rule on the earth.
To pray in Jesus’ name means we come to God believing that Jesus is our Lord — believing He has revealed God to us and in response we have submitted to His authority. To pray in Jesus’ name means we believe He is our only Savior Whose death on the cross provides atonement for our sin. And it means we acknowledge that He is the Christ, Who is coming again to rule the world in peace and righteousness. Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ?
What opinion do you have of yourself? Because of the lofty position you hold, at least in your own eyes, what service do you think is degrading and “beneath” you? Washing dishes? Baby-sitting children? Visiting prisoners?
The apostle Paul, writing from a Roman prison cell, exhorted you and me to have the same attitude of Jesus, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:6-8, NIV) How repulsive and prideful to think anything-any job, any person, any position, any service, any task, any place-is beneath you and me when Jesus, Lord of glory, Creator of the universe, left heaven’s throne and took upon Himself the form of a servant! The way up is down!
John’s choice of wording in the Greek language is significant. His Greek for “Word,” which he emphasized by repeating three times in the first verse, is logos, the outward expression of the mind and will that rules the universe.
As we meditate on John’s words, we realize that the Logos who was in the beginning with God is a living Person . . . but He is more. He is the living expression of what is on God’s mind. But He is more. He is the living expression of what is on God’s heart. But He is even more. He is the very heart of the Almighty God of the universe laid bare for all to see!
Do you want to know what is on the mind of God? Then look at Jesus! Do you want to know the will of God? Then look at Jesus! Do you want to know what is in the heart of God? Then look at Jesus! He is the exact revelation of God!
Pearls are formed when a small grain of sand becomes embedded in an oyster, irritating it. To soften the irritation, the oyster coats the grain of sand with a smooth layer of what is called mother of pearl. As long as the oyster can feel the irritation, it continues to coat the sand with layers of pearl. What kind of irritation would have been necessary to form the pearls that make up the gates to our heavenly city when they are so large they can fit into a wall that is two hundred feet thick?! It must have been more than just irritation. It must have been horrendous, severe suffering!
I wonder . . . are the pearls a reminder, every time you and I enter My Father’s House, that we enter only because of the intense suffering and death of God’s Son? Do those pearly gates reflect the Cross of Jesus Christ?
