Devotions For The Reconciled Life

For, At just the right time Christ will be revealed from heaven by the blessed and only almighty God, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords. He alone can never die, and he lives in light so brilliant that no human can approach him. No human eye has ever seen him, nor ever will. All honor and power to him forever! Amen. 1 Timothy 6:15-16 Detail of Isaiah's vision of God from Martin Luther's German Bible (1525), woodcut. Who is God? He is God Almighty, Righteous, and Holy. He is unapproachable in our sinful state. A sinful man in the presence of the Holy God is doomed. But God took the initiative. God is so holy that man cannot even understand His name.  The transliteration of the Tetragrammaton of His name is YHWH.  He gave His name first to Moses.  When God took the initiative and came to us as the Christ, He chose a name above every name but so common no one would notice; Jesus. In the first century, Jesus or Yeshua was a common name given t...

This is what the Lord says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies: “I am the First and the Last; there is no other God. Who is like me? Let him step forward and prove to you his power. Let him do as I have done since ancient times when I established a people and explained its future. Do not tremble; do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim my purposes for you long ago? You are my witnesses—is there any other God? No! There is no other Rock—not one!” How foolish are those who manufacture idols. These prized objects are really worthless. The people who worship idols don’t know this, so they are all put to shame. Who but a fool would make his own god— an idol that cannot help him one bit? All who worship idols will be disgraced along with all these craftsmen—mere humans— who claim they can make a god. They may all stand together, but they will stand in terror and shame. The blacksmith stands at his forge to make a sharp tool, pounding and shaping it with all his might. H...

Matthew 26:6-16 Wednesday went quietly. Too quietly. With the previous three days awash in drama — Sunday’s triumphal entry, Monday’s temple cleansing, and Tuesday’s temple controversies — now Wednesday, April 1, A.D. 33, comes like the calm before the storm. Out of sight, lurking in the shadows, evil is afoot. The Wednesday of Holy Week is called “Spy Wednesday.”  Spy Wednesday?  Why "Spy"?  After Palm Sunday, the Sanhedrin gathered and plotted to kill Jesus before the feast of Passover. On the Wednesday before his death, Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the Leper. As he sat at the supper table with his disciples, a woman anointed Jesus' head and feet with a costly oil of nard . The disciples were indignant, asking why the oil was not sold and the money given to the poor. But Judas Iscariot wanted to keep the money for himself. Then Judas went to the Sanhedrin and offered to deliver Jesus to them in exchange for money. From this moment on, Judas sought a...