Tag Archive for Complete in Jesus Christ

Our Destiny

2018-09-03 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Hebrews 1 – 10

Our God is a Spirit being, unlimited by space and time. He is transcendent, high above us in every way. By our own effort and intelligence, we could never know Him.

But He speaks to us. He continually reaches out to communicate with us. He longs for us to know Him.

Since the birth of our race He has been speaking to us in many different ways. He speaks through the creation of which we are a part. He speaks through a variety of human messengers. He speaks through laws and stories and songs.

But in these last days He has spoken to us fully and finally through His own Son, Jesus Christ. Christ is the all-powerful, all-creating Word of God. He is God’s will in action. He is the radiant light of God’s presence and the exact representation of God’s very being.

In Christ, God’s revelation of Himself is complete.
In Christ, our cleansing from all our wrongness is complete.
In Christ, our reconciliation with God is complete.
God has joyfully removed every barrier between Him and us.
In Christ, He has fully equipped us to live holy, godly lives.
In Christ, He has fully provided for our eternal future.
All that our all-wise, all-powerful, all-loving Father ever wanted for us
is complete in Jesus Christ.

Each of us, every believer, is on a journey into that future. Ours is a journey of faith. We don’t know the route the journey will take us, but we know where it is leading. Our destination – our destiny – is Jesus Christ. We are traveling from Him, through Him, and to Him.

Faced with such a beautiful destiny, don’t slip backward. Move forward by faith into all Your Father has for you.

Father, as I trust You,
my reality is as vast as You are.
I share in
Your character,
Your power,
Your goodness, and
Your unlimited future.

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Hymn: Complete in Jesus Christ
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The Golden Kingdom

2016-03-22 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with difficult questions. So she came to Jerusalem with a very large retinue, with camels carrying spices and very much gold and precious stones. 

When she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart. Solomonanswered all her questions; nothing was hidden from the king which he did not explain to her. When the queen of Sheba perceived all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the attendance of his waiters and their attire, his cupbearers, and his stairway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her.  

Then she said to the king, “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. Nevertheless I did not believe the reports, until I came and my eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. You exceed in wisdom and prosperity the report which I heard. How blessed are your men, how blessed are these your servants who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom. Blessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you to set you on the throne of Israel; because the Lord loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, to do justice and righteousness.” (1 Kings 10:1-9, NASB)

The early chapters of 1 Kings describe the reign of King Solomon. God blessed him with wisdom, wealth, and luxury beyond description. Even other kings and queens, accustomed to all the best, found Solomon’s kingdom beyond imagining.

But the whole story is not so glorious. This wisest of kings married many foreign women, and they led him into idolatry. Political and military troubles increased in his later years. Under Solomon’s son, ten of the tribes of Israel broke away and formed their own country, leaving Solomon’s heir with only two tribes to govern. The Golden Kingdom was gone as quickly as it had come. The wisest and richest of kings left a bitter legacy.

But Solomon’s kingdom, however imperfect and short-lived, foreshadowed Christ and pointed us to Him. The greatest of earthly wealth and wisdom proved to be only a foretaste of the boundless gifts God gives to His people in His Anointed One, Jesus Christ. In Him “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3, NASB). In Him “something greater than Solomon is here” (Matthew 12:42, NASB).

Father, may what little I do, no matter how flawed and temporary in itself, point people to Jesus Christ.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Complete in Jesus Christ
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