He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Romans 8:32

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Romans 8:32

I agree with this post on DesiringGod.com that states that Holy Week is the most important week in all of history. As such, I continue with one of the recommendations from the post to prepare for Holy Week, which is to read John Piper's 40-day devotional Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die. Today I read reason #17: To Obtain for Us All Things That Are Good for Us.  Here, John Piper encourages us to see how Romans 8:32 shares how "[t]he two halves of [this verse] have a stupendously important logical connection."  Paul (and Jesus) use rhetorical questions as a means to engage us and to challenge us to go deeper in our understanding of scripture and doctrine.  This is what Paul does here in Romans 8:32.   Piper wants us modify the second half of the verse from a question to a statement so that it more clearly emphasizes Paul's key point, which is that God did the hardest thing of all by giving up His Son, so we can be assured that if we trust in Him we will see how He will give us everything we need in our life as followers of Him - He did the hard part already so everything else is easy.  Piper then ensures we have a right understanding of what is meant by "give us all things."  He refers us to later in the same chapter 8 of Romans where in 8:36 (quoting Psalm 44:22) Paul describes how Christians are not guaranteed an easy life (on the contrary see also John 16:33). We are then referred backwards in Romans 8 to verse 29 where Paul shares that God seeks to conform us to His image - sanctification - and sometimes this process is painful by design.  Piper describes this as "[God giving] us all things that are good for us."  Piper winds down the devotion by expanding on this by referring us to Philippians 4:19 and sharing: "[i]t’s the same as the other biblical promise: “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus”....This promise is clarified in the preceding words: “In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:12-13). Rejoice in how God provides for all things that are good for us!

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My Prayer: Father God, You are an amazing God that provides for all of my needs, including mercies every morning that never cease, and eternal life with You.  Thank You Father God for my salvation, and for all of the blessings that You pour out for me.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

[H]ow much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

Hebrews 9:14

[H]ow much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Hebrews 9:14

I agree with this post on DesiringGod.com that states that Holy Week is the most important week in all of history. As such, I continue with one of the recommendations from the post to prepare for Holy Week, which is to read John Piper's 40-day devotional Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die.  Today I read reason #16: To Give Us a Clear Conscience.  Here, John Piper explores how Jesus Christ is "the only cleansing agent in the universe that can give the conscience relief in life and peace in death."  The devotion starts by going back to the Garden of Eden where conscience first became an issue for humanity. Piper describes the scene: "as soon as [Adam and Eve] sinned, their conscience was defiled. Their sense of guilt was ruinous. It ruined their relationship with God—they hid from him. It ruined their relation to each other—they blamed. It ruined their peace with themselves—for the first time they saw themselves and felt shame."  Later in scripture, the Old Testament outlines how God provided a path for His people to atone for their sin.  Yet the devotion rightly shares how this did not cleanse the conscience. At best the animal sacrifices foreshadowed or provided a "taste" of things to come.  The New Covenant based on Jesus shed blood and His sacrifice on the cross does provide a path for a clean conscience. Hebrews outlines how Jesus is better (perfect) vs what God provided as a path to Him in the Old Testament - see Hebrews 9:14 specifically on how only Jesus can cleanse the conscience.  As the devotion winds down, it shares: "Jesus said it is what comes out of a person that defiles, not what goes in (Mark 7:15-23). We are defiled by pride and self-pity and bitterness and lust and envy and jealousy and covetousness and apathy and fear—and the actions they breed. These are all “dead works.” They have no spiritual life in them. They don’t come from new life; they come from death, and they lead to death. That is why they make us feel hopeless in our consciences."  Rejoice in how God cleanses our conscience to free ourselves from the sting of sin and death!

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My Prayer:  Father God, what an awesome God You are that You cleanse my conscience and and free me from the sting of sin and death.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You save me and pour out blessings for me. My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified....[H]e has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him[.]....Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

Hebrews 10:14, Colossians 1:22, and 1 Corinthians 5:7

For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified....[H]e has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him[.]....Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Hebrews 10:14, Colossians 1:22, 1 Corinthians 5:7

I agree with this post on DesiringGod.com that states that Holy Week is the most important week in all of history. As such, I continue with one of the recommendations from the post to prepare for Holy Week, which is to read John Piper's 40-day devotional Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die.  Today I read reason #15: To Make Us Holy, Blameless, and Perfect.  Here, John Piper explores the doctrine of sanctification.  First, he points out how some of us - myself - included grow impatient with this process and how we "groan" about it (referring to Paul and how he groaned in Philippians 3:12).  Piper then shares how Paul's statement in Philippians is key - "Christ has made me his own":  "All my reaching and yearning and striving is not to belong to Christ (which has already happened), but to complete what is lacking in my likeness to him."  Piper then describes how all believers should understand and be comforted to press on with endurance: "knowing that in the imperfection of our progress we have already been perfected—and that this is owing to the suffering and death of Christ....(see also Hebrews 10:14)....This is amazing! In the same sentence he says we are “being sanctified” and we are already 'perfected.'"  Piper continues: "[t]he joyful encouragement here is that the evidence of our perfection before God is not our experienced perfection, but our experienced progress. The good news is that being on the way is proof that we have arrived."  Piper concludes the devotion by referring us to 1 Corinthians 5:7 where Paul uses the analogy (also used elsewhere in scripture) of leavened bread and how the leaven represents sin and evil and how Christ's death on the cross brings about sanctification which is both being perfect in God's eyes while we are still being perfected.  Rejoice in how God does this!

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My Prayer: Father God, You are an awesome God that is at work in me while You already see me as perfect - amazing grace indeed!  I am not deserving of the grace You pour out for me every day, and of course for the grace You poured out for me on the cross where You shed Your blood and died for me. Thank You Jesus!  Of course I am not deserving of my salvation nor any of the mercies You pour out for me.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many....I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.

Mark 14:24 and Jeremiah 32:40

This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many....I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. Mark 14:24, Jeremiah 32:40

I agree with this post on DesiringGod.com that states that Holy Week is the most important week in all of history. As such, I continue with one of the recommendations from the post to prepare for Holy Week, which is to read John Piper's 40-day devotional Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die.  Today I read reason #14: To Bring Us to Faith and Keep Us Faithful.  Here, John Piper provides very insightful commentary on the difference between the Old Covenant (made between God and Israel in the Old Testament and based on the law of Moses in the Pentateuch) and the New Covenant (made for believers in Jesus and secured by the shedding of His blood).  Piper first defines covenant as "a formal, solemn, and binding agreement" between two parties.  He then shares how the Old Covenant was not effective because "it was not accompanied by spiritual transformation."  The New Covenant of course is because it is based on the Spirit and this covenant should be seen as "supremely effective" (of course more so than than the Old) - see also 2 Corinthians 3:6.  OT prophecies pointed to the New Covenant - see Jeremiah 31:31-34.  The New Covenant based on the Spirit is supremely effective because the Spirit is life giving and it brings about heart and life change based on knowledge of and a relationship with Him through study, prayer and other spiritual disciplines.  See also Ephesians 2:5 where Paul talks about how we are made "alive together with Christ."  God not only gives us faith but He also brings about our obedience such that obedience is not seen as a burden - see also Ephesians 2:8, Romans 1:5, and 1 John 5:3.  Piper wraps the devotion by sharing: "When Christ died, he secured for his people not only new hearts but new security. He will not let them turn from him. He will keep them. They will persevere. The blood of the covenant guarantees it."  Isn't it amazing how God works?  Rejoice!

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My Prayer: Father God, You are amazing indeed!  Thank You for not only securing my faithfulness, but also bring about my obedience, and also making it such that I don't see it as a burden....thank You Jesus!  I know there is more work to do as my sin is great and it continues...please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith. Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed....It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.

Galatians 5:11 and 6:12

But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed....It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. Galatians 5:11, 6:12

My preparation to lead worship at the Gardens and The Lodge today is complete.  Yet because my preparation convicted me that Holy Week is the most important week in all of history I am going to continue reading DesiringGod.com's 40-day devotional Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die.  Today I read reason #13: To Abolish Circumcision and All Rituals as the Basis of Salvation.  I grew up Jewish and never felt a personal connection to God.  For me, being Jewish meant following rituals that had no meaning.  While it is true I never took the time to know God, what I did see of God did not draw me to Him.  Yet I am grateful that God did not give up on me so here I am today as a believer - thank You Father God that You saved me! The devotion entry for today strikes a chord for me because of Jewish upbringing.  It starts by sharing how "circumcision was a huge controversy in the early church. It had a long, respected, biblical place ever since God commanded it in Genesis 17:10. Christ was a Jew. All his twelve apostles were Jews. Almost all the first converts to Christianity were Jews. The Jewish Scriptures were (and are) part of the Bible of the Christian church. It is not surprising that Jewish rituals would come over into the Christian church."  The question over whether circumcision was required to believe came to a head as Paul preached the Gospel to the Gentiles as described in Acts 10:43 and 13:38-39.   The Jerusalem Council settled the matter as described in Acts 15:1 and 5-12. "The answer was clear. If Paul preached circumcision, “the offense of the cross has been removed” (Galatians 5:11). The cross means freedom from the enslavement of ritual. “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1)."  Ultimately, circumcision was not only not required to be saved, but none of the other ritual practices described as the ceremonial law (vs the moral law which remains intact) from the Old Testament were required to be saved.  Faith alone saves (Romans 10:10). 

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My Prayer: Father God, thank You for removing the yoke of works so that I can be saved by faith alone!  I am not deserving of how You softened my heart and saved me.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Romans 8:34

Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Romans 8:34

Today is the final day of my preparation to lead worship at the Gardens and The Lodge tomorrow.  My preparation continues to leverage DesiringGod.com's 40-day devotional Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die.  Today I read reason #12: To Take Away Our Condemnation.  Here, the devotion opens by sharing how Christ's death offers a great conclusion summarized in Romans 8:1 that there is "no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."  The devotion then describes how "faith in Christ unites us to Christ so that his death becomes our death and his perfection becomes our perfection. Christ becomes our punishment (which we don’t have to bear) and our perfection (which we cannot perform)."  The question is then asked who is to condemn and the devotion answers no one because Christ has already died once and for all of humanity (Romans 6:10).  The devotion concludes by exploring the question of whether believers are condemned by the world and it shares that yes (as evidenced by the many martyrs in scripture and beyond), but not successfully.  "Not successfully" is defined and clarified by pointing to scripture in Romans 8:33, 8:35, 8:37, and 31 where it states that God has justified believers, that even in death we cannot be separated from God's love because as Christ conquered sin and death we will also, and that because God is for us, no condemnation from the world will stop us from joining Christ in Heaven.  How encouraging!  As a final word of encouragement and application, the devotion points us to Proverbs 28:1 where in light of how we have no condemnation we are to be bold as a lion!

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My Prayer: Father God, You are an awesome God who loves me and who saves me from condemnation!  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You saved me.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross....For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous....For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God....and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith--

Philippians 2:8, Romans 5:19, 2 Corinthians 5:21, and Philippians 3:9

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross....For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous....For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God....and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith--Philippians 2:8, Romans 5:19, 2 Corinthians 5:21, and Philippians 3:9

As I continue my preparation to lead worship at the Gardens and The Lodge this Sunday 30MAR (pausing on my study of the last four books of the OT using the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary volume), I march forward in my use of DesiringGod.com's 40-day devotional Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die.  Today I read reason #11: To Complete the Obedience That Becomes Our Righteousness.  Building on reason #10 from yesterday, today's devotion explores how God deems believers in Him righteous and that "[j]ustification is not merely the cancellation of my unrighteousness. It is also the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to me."  Believers are encouraged to understand the implications of Christ's death and how through Christ's death our sin was imputed to Him, and His righteousness was imputed to us. God not only pardoned us through justification, but he also declared us righteous.  The devotion shares: "[t]he demands of God for entrance into eternal life are not merely that our unrighteousness be canceled [justification], but that our perfect righteousness be established [sanctification]."  The more one ponders this, it is hard to fathom how a person is not driven to their knees in worship and submission to Jesus Christ as his or her Savior.  Of course, God is the One who saves and there will continue to be mystery in how some are saved and others are not.  For me, I am grateful that God softened my heart and saved me - I am certainly not deserving.

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My Prayer: Father God, You are an awesome God who loves me and who is full of grace and compassion for me, declaring me not only innocent of my sin, but also perfect in my obedience - I am both justified and sanctified!  Thank You!  I am of course not deserving!  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.