* Jesus Absorbed the Wrath of God

Jesus Absorbed the Wrath of God-Gal 3:13, Rom 3:25, 1Jn 4:10
God is just, meaning that God is perfectly righteous and exact in His dealings with man (Ps.19:9). God is also loving. His love is willing to meet the demands of his justice. We are to love God with all our heart, soul, and might (Deut 6:5) but all men have loved other things more. (idolatry) This is what dishonoring God is. Thus we have all fallen short of God’s glory. (Rom 3:23)

In order for this to hit home and not be another bible lesson, we have to ask ourselves what we put before God. Are we honest enough to confess this is idolatry and one of the core reasons Jesus had to die on our behalf? Could our sin before God be that serious?

It is also important to note that God is both just and loving. This is something that is misunderstood in “God-conversations” if you listen to talk radio or TV. Usually, He is one or the other and this is dishonoring and ignorant of God’s character. This is again why we must, First seek to understand before being understood.

And God spoke all these words:

"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments. –Exodus 20: 1-6


We glorify God when we enjoy Him most, not when we enjoy other things most. The seriousness of the insult rises with the dignity of the one insulted, in this case the Creator. He is worthy of all respect, admiration and loyalty. Failure to love Him is treason, defaming God, which is a crime against God. These are strong statements, but God is God. It is we who need to change towards Him.

God is just and crimes must be punished. He feels a holy wrath against them. For the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23; Ezek 18:4). This might seem harsh, but think about it. All men will stand before God and give an account of their lives. I think of baby Luis Angel Garcia, a 23 day old baby that was killed September 15th of this year near McArthur Park in a gang-related shooting. A little boy living less than a month on planet earth is met with a bullet. His mother runs outside only to see a thug laughing out loud before she sees her little baby lying on the lawn in a puddle of his own blood. What can possibly comfort this woman? Is it knowing the law system would find her baby’s killer? Is it knowing an act of evil carried out by a wicked man will be put behind bars for life? What if the authorities never find the killer? Where is there justice in this world?

We serve a just God!

God is just and crimes must be punished. The Bible is strong in declaring that arrogant, proud, unrighteous men will not go unpunished. Who can run from a holy God? That little boy’s mother can know a just God is in control, even though she might be angry and confused, deeply shocked and saddened beyond words.

Like the killer who pulled the trigger, we are also guilty before a Holy God. All people fall short of God’s glory and justly deserve to be punished. There are some today that believe if one is basically good they will go to heaven. Hell is only for those who are evil, the likes of Hitler or Stalin. This thinking mocks the work of Christ on the Cross and plan of God.

God in His love sent His son to absorb this wrath and bear the curse for all who trust Him (Gal 3:13). Jesus removed God’s wrath by being a substitute in our place. He diverted the wrath of God from us to Himself. It is God who first loved us by sending us His Son to be the wrath (propitiation) for our sins (1Jn 4:10).

We will never stand in awe of being loved by God until we reckon with the seriousness of our sin and the justice of God’s wrath against us.

Heavenly Father, you are a Holy God. This world is full of evil and harmful deeds committed against one another. We need you Lord God! Thank you for sending Your own beloved Son to die on my behalf and satisfy Your righteous wrath upon me. For this is love, not the love of this world, but the deepest form of love, sacrificial love. Help me today to bask in this most glorious love You have for me, and for all. Help me to enjoy You the most today because that’s my heart’s desire. Might I be used today to reflect your glory to just one person. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Tomorrow: How Jesus pleased His Heavenly Father

* A Watered Garden

Yesterday I mentioned that tomorrow’s post would be, Jesus absorbed the wrath of God. I will continue this on Monday. For the weekend, I thought the following would draw our hearts closer to God and take us out of our world and into an existing world that seems so far away. Take time today and the rest of the weekend to read and watch the following. The video is about 10 minutes, but very moving (even if your connection is a little slow).

Isaiah 58 talks about a watered garden:
And the Lord will guide you continually
and satisfy your desire in scorched places
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail.

As a promise, in context to Israel, for showing mercy and care for the poor, God promises to turn “scorched places” into a “watered garden”.

Let’s thank God right now for His heart. This is the God we worship, a God who cares for those who have been forgotten, those who can’t defend themselves, and those who are persecuted by the unrighteous.

A friend of mine started a ministry titled, New Seed of Hope, a ministry that is working in the Kibera slum in Nairobi - a scorched place if ever there was one - to establish a “watered garden” - a Kisima in Swahili. Their first orphanage in Kibera is called the Kisima Orphanage. Above is a recent photo from this ministry.

Take the time to read the following Psalms before watching the video, then read them again.

Psalm 1:3
He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.

Psalm23:1-2
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.

Psalm 36:7-9
How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light do we see light.

Psalm 46:4-5
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.

Psalm 63:1
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Psalm 107:33-42
He turns rivers into a desert,
springs of water into thirsty ground,

He turns rivers into a desert,
springs of water into thirsty ground,
a fruitful land into a salty waste,
because of the evil of its inhabitants.
He turns a desert into pools of water,
a parched land into springs of water.

And there he lets the hungry dwell,
and they establish a city to live in;
they sow fields and plant vineyards
and get a fruitful yield.
By his blessing they multiply greatly,
and he does not let their livestock diminish.

When they are diminished and brought low
through oppression, evil, and sorrow,
he pours contempt on princes
and makes them wander in trackless wastes;
but he raises up the needy out of affliction
and makes their families like flocks.
The upright see it and are glad,
and all wickedness shuts its mouth.

Psalm 126:4-6
Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like streams in the Negeb!
Those who sow in tears
shall reap with shouts of joy!
He who goes out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
bringing his sheaves with him.


A man named Andy made this video from his trip to Kibera. It is about 10 mins.

American Idol recently showed some footage of the Kibera slum, where the New Seed of Hope Kisima orphanage is.

click on image

Monday: Jesus absorbed the wrath of God

* Asking Questions About Jesus

If we aren’t asking good questions, others are. Even if they don’t actually ask the questions, they are probably thinking them.

Let’s look at some of those questions.
* Who is Jesus anyway?
* Why is Jesus so important?
* Why does the Christian faith always seem to talk about death? Shouldn’t we celebrate life?
* How could Jesus be both God and man?
* What does Jesus have to do with God?
* How could one event, the death of Jesus, have anything to do with me today?
* Why is Jesus so much better than other great leaders over time?

…and the questions go on!

In order to understand, we go to God’s Word. The topic of “why the Bible” over other works is a good question, but not covered here. Email if you’re asking this question.

Here’s a beginning to some of the reasons Jesus came to die:
First, we understand that Jesus was God’s own son. If this is true, then who really killed Jesus? I know this is radical to hear, but God did! It was actually God’s will to crush His own son. (Is 53:10) It is so important to understand this truth because when we discuss God’s amazing love, we need to know the unfathomable depth of His love towards us by killing His own beloved Son on our behalf. This truth must go from head to heart!

Scripture tells us that God did not spare his own Son (Rom 8:32, 3:25) and that God planned His own Son’s death by the hands of wicked men. They meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. (Gen 50:20). It was His divine purpose.

The issue is not the cause or why, but the effect or purpose—the meaning!

Why was the passion of Jesus unique? First, he was very God of very God. He was the Word, in the beginning with God and all things were made through Him and the Word became flesh. (Jn 1:1-3, 14). Just reflect for a moment over this statement again;

…all things were made through Him

I have always thought that if you filled Dodger Stadium with 36,000 scholars, all earning Ph.D’s in different disciplines, they would all simply reflect the depth of …all things

Jesus was *deity, meaning He is revealed as Jehovah God in human form, that was utterly innocent in his suffering (1 Pet 2:22). He embraced His own death with authority (Jn 10:17-18).

Jesus chose to die!

His Father ordained it. Jesus embraced it. Jesus rose from the dead! His work was finished and the resurrection was proof that God was satisfied.

* The deity of Jesus (Isaiah 9:6; Micah 5:2; Isaiah 7:14; John 1:14; 8:58; 17:5 [cf. Exodus 3:14]; Hebrews 1:3; Philippians 2:11; Colossians 2:9; and Revelation 1:8, 17–18)

Take a moment and reflect on the truth, …all things were made through Him
Do you really believe this? This is more than time and space fact, it reveals the great God we worship. The one true God of both heaven and earth. See yesterday's post to reflect on how great a God we have and the vast universe He created.

Now reflect on, God planned His own Son’s death by the hands of wicked men. They meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. This is beyond words to comprehend. We worship a God that will make all things right. We can face pain because of what will come--eternal peace and joy!

Tomorrow: Jesus absorbed the wrath of God

* God the Artist

(click on image for larger view)

see below for more images

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth—Genesis 1:1

There’s a phrase that says, “When you know how, you know who.” Well, in Genesis chapters 1 and 2 we are told who without giving us many answers to how.

The message of these two chapters is this:
You have seen the sea, you have seen the sky, you have seen the sun and moon, and you have seen the stars. You have watched the birds and the fish. You have observed the landscape and vegetation, the animals, the insects, all the big things and little things together. You have marveled at the wonderful complexity of human beings with all their powers and skills and the deep feelings of fascination, attraction, and affection that men and women arose in each other. Amazing isn’t it? Now meet the One who is behind it all. Now that you’ve enjoyed these works of art, you must shake hands with the artist; since you were thrilled by the music, we will introduce you to the composer.

Like Psalms 104 and Job 38-41, Genesis chapters 1 and 2 were written to show us the Creator rather than the creation, and to teach us knowledge of God rather than physical science.

In creating, God was craftsman, yet unlike any other. The craftsman must shape using existing material—all of which comes from creation—but God created with no material. It was He who said, “Let there be…”

To make this point, theologians speak of creation out of nothing, not meaning that nothing was a sort of something, but that in creating God absolutely was free and unrestricted, and that there was nothing to determine or shape what He brought into being except His own idea of what He would like.

God, your creation is beyond words. As a child I loved playing outside, feeling the sunshine on my back, loving the animals that ran free. How can I ever comprehend the details of your mighty hand? You oh Lord are the mighty craftsman who created out of nothing. My mind has a hard time grasping this, but by faith I worship You and You alone. You have chosen me oh Lord. May I walk in confidence today, not in myself, but in who You are and what You have done.
In Jesus' name. Amen.

Tomorrow: Asking questions about Jesus

Psalm 104
Praise the LORD, O my soul.
O LORD my God, you are very great;
you are clothed with splendor and majesty.

He wraps himself in light as with a garment;
he stretches out the heavens like a tent

and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.
He makes the clouds his chariot
and rides on the wings of the wind.

He makes winds his messengers,
flames of fire his servants.

He set the earth on its foundations;
it can never be moved.

You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.

But at your rebuke the waters fled,
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;

they flowed over the mountains,
they went down into the valleys,
to the place you assigned for them.

You set a boundary they cannot cross;
never again will they cover the earth.

He makes springs pour water into the ravines;
it flows between the mountains.

They give water to all the beasts of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.

The birds of the air nest by the waters;
they sing among the branches.

He waters the mountains from his upper chambers;
the earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work.

He makes grass grow for the cattle,
and plants for man to cultivate—
bringing forth food from the earth:

wine that gladdens the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine,
and bread that sustains his heart.

The trees of the LORD are well watered,

the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.

There the birds make their nests;
the stork has its home in the pine trees.

The high mountains belong to the wild goats;
the crags are a refuge for the coneys.

The moon marks off the seasons,
and the sun knows when to go down.

You bring darkness, it becomes night,
and all the beasts of the forest prowl.

The lions roar for their prey
and seek their food from God.

The sun rises, and they steal away;
they return and lie down in their dens.

Then man goes out to his work,
to his labor until evening.

How many are your works, O LORD!
In wisdom you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.

There is the sea, vast and spacious,
teeming with creatures beyond number—
living things both large and small.

There the ships go to and fro,
and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.

These all look to you
to give them their food at the proper time.

When you give it to them,
they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
they are satisfied with good things.

When you hide your face,
they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
they die and return to the dust.

When you send your Spirit,
they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.

May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
may the LORD rejoice in his works-

he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,
who touches the mountains, and they smoke.

I will sing to the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

May my meditation be pleasing to him,
as I rejoice in the LORD.

But may sinners vanish from the earth
and the wicked be no more.
Praise the LORD, O my soul.
Praise the LORD.

Images of Creation

* Welcome

Welcome to the Walking with God blog for those participating in Celebrate Recovery!

This blog is to sharing biblical devotions for men and women striving to walk with God who attend Celebrate Recovery at The Church at Rocky Peak.

You as the reader have an opportunity to reflect by leaving comments. If there is any topic dear to your heart, please share as to guild this devotional.

Note the archive to the right. All posts will be archived for each month if you miss a day or want to read a post again. Archives will be listed in order from last to first.

___________________________________________________________________

FIRST SEEK TO UNDERSTAND...

If you’re like me, you seek understanding NOW!

To get it.

To want to control the situation or outcome.

This attitude can be effective in certain situations, but also toxic. When it comes to developing a spiritual foundation for living, that which works in the business world can be counterproductive in the spiritual world.

Life is built on principals of wisdom. This is the same for all people in time and space. The accomplished musician did not sit behind a piano and crank out Mozart. Just didn’t happen. Those prodigies who can play classical music at the age of four are not the standard, but the extremely rare exception. Even the prodigy has a foundation built on wisdom, they just processed it at a much faster rate than the classical musician at age twenty-one. It’s all done the same way.

God’s principles are present for both believer and unbeliever. The atheist farmer plants his seeds just like the God-fearing farmer. It is God who causes the growth every time. The unbelieving farmer however has no interest in giving God glory and is completely unaware (spiritually blind) of God’s grace towards him.

What does this all mean? Simply this--one must humble themselves in effort to “first seek to understand”—Blessed are the poor in spirit (Mt 5:3) In order to play the instrument or farm the land effectively, one must first practice the basics--the essential rudiments to build a strong foundation.

This idea of growing in a natural manner (some call it horse sense) is obvious with children. There is a period of growth, that for the toddler is natural—what first grade student can write a 500 word essay? It is obvious children must learn the basic rudiments to learn. This is why it is called elementary or grammar school. Yet for the adult there is the assumption that they have passed grammar school and are mature. Their basic learning is over.

As one seeking God and walking with Him, this attitude of, "I've got it down already" can hinder one's spiritual journey. The humble man realizes he knows more about nothing than anything. One must have a humble attitude to learn, to understand, to see and hear what God has to say in His Word…and yes, this does require effort and discipline. Those are not bad things, although they do seem to scare some of us because it taps into several fears. One of which is rejection, the other is it’s cousin, failure. These can be overcome in God’s gracious provision over time, like any other personal difficulty if we are willing to submit and exercise patience. Just like the musician who longs to play a complex piece of music, the fact is it will take time to accomplish and a lot of daily effort. This is the horse sense part of faith. It is also where many of us struggle with the insanity of pressure, anxiety, fear, depression, emptiness...and the list goes on. Celebrate Recovery helps to uncover the insanity that can control our lives and keep us free to love God and others.

One of the core aspects to our faith in Christ is understanding what He did for us. If we are to stand on Christ as our cornerstone, it would be helpful if we understood what Jesus did on our behalf. We need to ask what the gospel message really is in a child-like way.

How can we say like Paul, “I am not ashamed of the gospel?” It starts first with the prayer of understanding, that God would open our hearts and minds. This is essential. Then we must listen to the message of the Cross.

In the days to come, we will look at why Jesus came and died for us. Why did Christ suffer and die? Not why in the sense of cause, but why in the sense of purpose.

Many people who claim to be Christians seem to know so little of what Jesus actually did on their behalf. Why is it the great Apostle Paul always wrote about what Jesus accomplished in His death to the early churches? This was the foundation of their faith and it is our foundation as well. How can we who claim to be followers of Christ not give an answer to the questions the unbelieving world is asking about the Lord we follow? There is so much confusion today about who Jesus is and what He accomplished.

We are going to start a short series of daily devotions by asking and answering many of the important questions about why Jesus came to die on our behalf as the Bible gives us clarity on these issues. This short series will give us a foundation for all the other devotions that follow. All the devotions are available here to read over or to share with another. Like the musician who plays their instrument well, we also need to develop a firm foundation to our faith. Our foundation is in Jesus!

We all need to be equipped to combat the battles we face within and without. We need spiritual power and knowing Jesus deeper is the answer to free us from the chains that weigh us down and keep us in depression, doubt, and confusion. God will be blessed as we turn our hearts and minds to reflect on what Jesus did for us. You will be blessed as you fill your hearts and minds with truth about Jesus, and your neighbor will be blessed as you walk in the Spirit of God.

What did Christ achieve by his passion?

Why did he have to suffer so much?

What great thing was happening on Calvary for the world?

We should grow in deep appreciation of the amazing sacrifice He made on our behalf. Yet, like mentioned earlier, the great temptation is to ask, “Yeah, that’s all great, but what about me…NOW!”

May we seek understanding to the questions that matter most, so we can change from the inside out to live a life that matters, to make our lives count! May we not be like the young boy who sat behind the piano at age eight only to play the same songs at age sixty-eight!

One of the scribes, when he came forward and heard them disputing and saw how well he had answered them, asked him, "Which is the first of all the commandments?" Jesus replied, "The first is this: 'Hear O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." Mark 12:28-31

Take a moment and thank God for giving us purpose to life and that we would have patience with those who walk in spiritual blindness as we begin our day.

Tomorrow--God the Artist