June 30, 2013. THERE'S NOBODY LIKE HIM! (5)

SUNDAY JUNE 30

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?”​​           Ps 27:1 NKJV

 

THERE’S NOBODY LIKE HIM! (5)

We all need an encounter with the transfigured Christ; the One who is greater than Moses the law giver and Elijah the prophet, and all the other prophets who have ever lived.  The One who wears the true crown of the universe, God’s beloved Son.  We need to fall on our face and see Him as the Holy One, the Highest One, the Only One.  As you do, all your fears, save the fear of Christ Himself, will melt like an ice cube on a summer day.  You will agree with David: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?”  In the book Prince Caspian, there is a great illustration of this.  Lucy sees Aslan the lion for the first time in many years.  He has changed since their last encounter.  His size surprises her, and she tells him as much.  “Aslan,” says Lucy, “you’re bigger.”  He replies, “That is because you are older, little one.”  Lucy says, “Not because you are?”  He replies, “I am not.  But every year you grow, you find me bigger.”  And so it is in our walk with Christ.  The longer we serve Him, the greater He becomes.  It’s not that He changes, but that we do.  We see dimensions, aspects, characteristics we never saw before; increasing and astonishing increments of His purity, power, and uniqueness.  Only when we have fallen at His feet in humility and total dependence will He say to us what He said to His disciples on the Mount where He was transfigured: “Arise, and do not be afraid” (Mt 17:7 NKJV).

 

(Taken from The Word for You Today Daily Devotional)

JUNE 29, 2013. THERE’S NOBODY LIKE HIM! (4)

SATURDAY JUNE 29

“Let all that I am praise the Lord.”​​​​​​Ps 103:2 NLT

 

THERE’S NOBODY LIKE HIM! (4)

The Bible equates God with light, and light with holiness.  “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1Jn 1:5 NIV).  Paul said that God dwells in “unapproachable light” (1Ti 6:16 NIV).  Scripture refers to Christ “who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners” (Heb 7:26 NIV).  So how should you approach such a God?  As you would an auditor when your books don’t balance?  Or a dictator who holds the power of life and death?  No, Jesus told us to pray, “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name” (Mt 6:9).  There’s your answer!  You must come to God as a father who loves you dearly and desires only what is best for you, while always regarding Him with profound reverence.  As your awe of God expands, your fears in life will diminish.  A big view of God translates into big courage; a small view of God generates no courage at all.  A puny God can’t help you when cancer strikes, your family is in trouble, or you’ve no way to pay your bills.  A “do-me-a-favor” Jesus may look good stuck on your dashboard, but that image can do nothing for your fears.  You need an awesome God, who, while diminishing your ego, enlarges your faith and blows your mind.  David wrote: “Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me.  He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases.  He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies.  He fills my life with good things” (Ps 103:2-5 NLT).

 

(Taken from The Word for You Today Daily Devotional)

June 28, 2013. THERE’S NOBODY LIKE HIM! (3)

FRIDAY JUNE 28, 2013

“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.  Hear Him!”​         MT 17:5 NKJV

 

THERE’S NOBODY LIKE HIM! (3)

On the Mount of Transfiguration, Moses, the law giver, and Elijah, who represents the prophets, stood side by side with Jesus.  But Jesus outshone them all.  The Bible says, “His clothes shimmered, glistening white, whiter than any bleach could make them” (Mk 9:3 TM).  In that moment Jesus was God in His purest form.  Awed by Him, Peter said, “Lord...if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” (Mt 17:4 NKJV).  It was a sincere sentiment, but it was sincerely wrong.  “While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.  Hear Him!’”  The word beloved implies “unique.”  There is no one else like Jesus!  Not Moses.  Not Elijah.  Not Peter.  Not Zoroaster, Buddha, or Muhammad.  No one in heaven or on earth.  Three shrines would have made Moses and Elijah equal with Christ, and God would have none of it.  Only one shrine should be built, because only one person on the mountain deserved to be worshipped.  “When the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid” (Mt 17:6 NKJV).  The One who hung the stars in space and left Pharaoh dead at the bottom of the Red Sea stood among them.  The sight of Him took their breath away, removed every trace of arrogance and caused them to finish up face-down on the ground.  How long has it been since you felt such reverence for God?

 

(Taken from The Word for You Today Daily Devotional)

June 27, 2013. THERE’S NOBODY LIKE HIM! (2)

THURSDAY JUNE 27

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”​​​           Pr 9:10 NKJV

 

THERE’S NOBODY LIKE HIM! (2)

 

In a world out of control, we like a god we can control: a comforting presence who blesses, provides, and advises.  Kind of like “God in a box.”  But when it comes to Christ, no box works.  His contemporaries designed an assortment of boxes for Him, but He never fit in any of the boxes.  They called Him a revolutionary, but He paid taxes.  They labeled Him a country carpenter, but He confounded scholars.  They came to see His miracles, but He refused to entertain them.  He was a Jew who attracted Gentiles, a rabbi who gave up on synagogues, a holy man who hung out with streetwalkers.  In a male-dominated society, He recruited females.  In an anti-Roman culture, He opted not to denounce Rome.  He talked like a king yet lived like a pilgrim.  People tried to put Him in a “box,” but they couldn’t.  And we can’t either; indeed we must not!  “Skilled living gets its start in the Fear-of-God, insight into life from knowing a Holy God” (v. 10 TM).  Most of our fears are unhealthy.  They rob us of peace and joy.  But the fear of the Lord does the opposite.  One author writes: “There is nothing neurotic about fearing God.  The neurotic thing is not to be afraid, or to be afraid of the wrong thing.  That is why God chooses to be known to us, so that we may stop being afraid of the wrong thing.  When God is fully revealed to us and we ‘get it,’ then we experience the conversion of our fear…’fear of the Lord’ is the deeply sane recognition that we are not God.”

 

(Taken from The Word for You Today Daily Devotional)

 

 

June 26, 2012. THERE’S NOBODY LIKE HIM! (1)

WEDNESDAY JUNE 26

“I…am the Lord, and besides Me there is no savior.”                                       Isa 43:11 NKJV

THERE’S NOBODY LIKE HIM! (1)

The Israelites were commanded not to make any “graven image” of God.  Why?  Because God made us, we didn’t make Him.  A god you can make is a god you can control and make do whatever you wish.  The ancient Greeks had a host of gods, all created by men.  Some demanded human sacrifice; others permitted prostitution, and even promoted it in their temples.  When we reverse the order and start to create God in our own image (according to our own imagination) we get the following things: (1) A god who’s liberal or conservative, a hawk or a dove; a god politicians conveniently pull out of a box at election time to garner votes even though they don’t truly serve him.  (2) A flexible god who permits you to do whatever you want, and you can then say, “I just felt led to do it.”  (3) A god who promises to bless his children but never disciplines them.  (4) A god you can “keep in his place” until you need him.  (5) A god who is not supreme, but happy to be one of many deities offering many ways to heaven.  Not so!  God says, “I, even I, am the Lord, and besides Me there is no savior.”  Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me” (Jn 14:6 NKJV).  Jesus doesn’t need a makeover to bring Him into alignment with the Internet and the space age.  He is Lord!  Indeed, if He is not Lord over all, He is not Lord at all!

(Taken from The Word for You Today Daily Devotional)