Day: February 2, 2017

Taking Up the Cross

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Reflections If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. (Matt. 16:24-25) If I am saved — if I am raised in Christ — it is only because I have taken my place in His Cross. That is a once and for all and forever reality. But here we see the working out of that finished reality. We have to progressively relinquish all that is contrary to Christ to …

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CALLED TO COURAGE

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Joshua 3:1-17 3 And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. 2 And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host; 3 And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it. 4 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two …

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A New Creature

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“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Cor. 5:17) We are saved when Jesus Christ joins us to Himself. Since He is THE LIFE, then when we are joined to Him, we are ALIVE in Him. We are planted together with Him in His death — and then what is birthed through His resurrection is the new creature in Christ Jesus. “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his …

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Genesis Message 58 The Abrahamic Covenant Transfers to Jacob

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The fact is that God had determined in advance who should get it and announced that to Rebecca in Genesis 25: 23. Esau had violated his birthright for a bowl of stew and permanently removed himself from consideration. Now it seems that Isaac is about to attempt a reversal of the birthright over a bowl of venison. Perhaps his taste for venison governed his behavior. With Isaac’s action here Rebecca made a crucial decision to correct this. Most Bible commentators and pastors who elucidate these passages find fault with Jacob for “stealing” the birthright. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Esau was not worthy, Jacob had been prophesied as the rightful Covenantal heir and Rebecca saw Isaac’s failure to carry out God’s will. This speaks volumes to the problem we have in Christianity. Most people do not read the Bible carefully. The theological term for letting the text speak to us is exegesis. When we read what we want the text to say instead it is called eisegesis.