God's Word for Thursday, 12/12/19

But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Galatians 4:4-5 KJV

But when the time arrived that was set by God the Father, God sent his Son, born among us of a woman, born under the conditions of the law so that he might redeem those of us who have been kidnapped by the law. Thus we have been set free to experience our rightful heritage. You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, “Papa! Father!” Doesn’t that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a child? And if you are a child, you’re also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance.

Galatians 4:4-5 MSG

What is a Kinsman-Redeemer?

The kinsman-redeemer is a male relative who, according to various laws of the Pentateuch*, had the privilege or responsibility to act on behalf of a relative who was in trouble, danger, or need.


 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth...
Job 19:25 KJV


Still, I know that God lives—the One who gives me back my life—and eventually he’ll take his stand on earth.
Job 19:25 MSG


* the first five books of the Hebrew Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy)

God's Word for Tuesday, 6/27/17

“Don’t be in such a hurry to go into business for yourself. Before you know it the Son of Man will arrive with all the splendor of his Father, accompanied by an army of angels. You’ll get everything you have coming to you, a personal gift. This isn’t pie in the sky by and by. Some of you standing here are going to see it take place, see the Son of Man in kingdom glory.”

Matthew 16:27-28 (MSG)

God's Word for Easter Sunday, 4/16

Early in the morning on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone was moved away from the entrance. She ran at once to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, breathlessly panting, “They took the Master from the tomb. We don’t know where they’ve put him.”

Peter and the other disciple left immediately for the tomb. They ran, neck and neck. The other disciple got to the tomb first, outrunning Peter. Stooping to look in, he saw the pieces of linen cloth lying there, but he didn’t go in. Simon Peter arrived after him, entered the tomb, observed the linen cloths lying there, and the kerchief used to cover his head not lying with the linen cloths but separate, neatly folded by itself. Then the other disciple, the one who had gotten there first, went into the tomb, took one look at the evidence, and believed. No one yet knew from the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.

John 20:1-9 MSG

God's Word for Good Friday, 4/14

Friends, let me go over the Message with you one final time— this Message that I proclaimed and that you made your own; this Message on which you took your stand and by which your life has been saved. (I’m assuming, now, that your belief was the real thing and not a passing fancy, that you’re in this for good and holding fast.) The first thing I did was place before you what was placed so emphatically before me: that the Messiah died for our sins, exactly as Scripture tells it; that he was buried; that he was raised from death on the third day, again exactly as Scripture says; that he presented himself alive to Peter, then to his closest followers, and later to more than five hundred of his followers all at the same time, most of them still around (although a few have since died); that he then spent time with James and the rest of those he commissioned to represent him; and that he finally presented himself alive to me. It was fitting that I bring up the rear. I don’t deserve to be included in that inner circle, as you well know, having spent all those early years trying my best to stamp God’s church right out of existence.

1 Corinthians 15:1, 3-4 MSG

God's Word for Thursday, 4/13

But in our time something new has been added. What Moses and the prophets witnessed to all those years has happened. The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.

Romans 3:23-24 MSG

God's Word for Tuesday, 4/4

Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.

Ephesians 1:7 MSG

Easter 2013

Easter Sunday is always a crowded day in most protestant churches, and you see folks there who haven't been around since the previous Easter. But going to church is not what Christianity is about. Dressing up & showing off new dresses, hats, eggs, candy, or bunnies ... not those, either.

It's about lives. Our lives. It's about God's unconditional love for us. That love makes everything about our lives as believers new.

It's about forgiveness. God's forgiveness of our evil (yes, the e word!) natures. We are empowered to live our lives free from condemnation and bitterness, if we accept His forgiveness, which gives us the ability to forgive others.

It's about Jesus, and what He did for us. If you're a believer, you already know. If you're not, you can be.
"But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Jesus the Anointed One died for us." 

We don't have to make ourselves acceptable; in point of fact, we cannot. If we could, then Jesus' death was for no reason.

God accepts us the way we are, warts and all, because of what Jesus did. All we have to do is believe that.


Most Christian churches make a HUGE deal of the occasion, and it IS important to remember that we serve a risen Savior.

One difference between most churches and mine was (and is) that we remember His resurrection all the time - not just once a year.
 
His resurrection from death is the point.
 
As that other Paul put it, "just as one sin (disobedience to God) resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act (Jesus' punishment and execution for mankind's sins) resulted in justification and life for all people." (Romans 5:18)  We have hope precisely because Jesus overcame sin and death, took our punishment in our place, and has granted life to us.

HE IS RISEN!

The cross is shown 'empty', because Jesus isn't there any more. That's the GOOD news!