To Follow and Remember

 We've been talking about who Jesus is. Anyone wonder who you are?  There are 2 passages I'd like to look at... Isaiah 62: 1-2, 12 (y'all know how much of these teachings have come from Isaiah, its not a surprise God made sure to tell us who we are relating to these prophesies about Jesus) For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and for her salvation as a burning torch. The nations shall see your righteousness and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give . You shall no longer be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight is in Her, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married... And they shall be called The Holy People , The Redeemed of the Lord ; and you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken .  1 Peter 2:8b-10 They stumble because they d...

  Day 24: Jesus Christ Luke 1:26- Gabriel: “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”… “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Luke 2:21 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name give by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.  God didn’t send Jesus to earth with hopes it would work out. Even more so, Jesus wasn’t born on earth and evolve into God’s call. There was a plan and a purpose from the beginning. The same is true for your life, by the way. And knowing this Jesus will help empower us as we go.  1 Corinthians 15:1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preach...

  Day 23: God with us Luke 2:1-20 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was not place for them in the inn. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring ...

  Day 22: Ancient of Days The name Ancient of Days is found 4 times in the Old Testament. Three of those are in the book of Daniel. Y’all know about Daniel. He was carried off as a teenager as a captive foreign to a  pagan nation and he chose to remember who He was and who His God was. He did not conform to the Babylonian culture or religion. God blessed Daniel amazingly and allowed him to serve under several kings. He was a prophet, a dream interpreter, he prayed and worshiped, and God protected him and blessed him with knowledge and wisdom over and over again. He prophesied a lot about what was to come. In Daniel 7, he is prophesying about 4 kingdoms that will take over the earth, 3 happened very quickly but one is still to come. But throughout all those take-overs, there is One who really stays on the throne. All the power of this world is limited.  There is a reason we are drawn to movies like the Marvel movies. There actually is always a tension to be the most po...

  Day 21: Savior John 4:42 They said to the woman (as in the woman at the well), “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” We looked at this glorious story where Jesus offers a gift of the unseen world- living water- and her beautiful response back on the day we looked at Jesus as Messiah. So Im not going to go back there.  Listen to what the people are saying: they listened to her testimony, it made an impact on their life so they went and listened for themselves. Now let’s consider who we are listening to tell us about Jesus. We have some tremendous teachers in our lives, not just here in Dublin, but bc of this great age we are living in, we have teachers from all over. I think the absolute best teachers leave an impression on us that make us want to do this: go and listen more for ourselves. The best teachers point us back to the word. I also hope we are this i...

  Day 20: Shiloh Genesis 49:10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,  until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.  Alrighty, lots going on here. First of all, this is just before Jacob is about to die. He calls his sons together and speaks prophecies over all their lives. Some are good, some are harsh.  Remember that family is super, crazy important to God. He chose the family to pass his story along. He created Adam from dust and made Eve from one of Adams ribs but after that, he carried his turn along in families. But he didn’t just tell the story of Himself through fathers and mothers passing along the story to their children, he kept the prophecy in his family too. So much so that when we ready the lineage in the beginning of the New Testament in Matthew, we can pick out names and we know how they fit in. That family was not perfect, and neither is their story, it is not squ...

  Day 19: Lily of the Valley Song of Solomon 2:1 I am a rose of Shanon,  A lily of the valleys.  This is the same verse we looked at for Rose of Sharon. Why would there be 2 flowers that point to Jesus? Remember the Rose of Sharon was perfect, the best and highest flower. We looked at Jesus being like the groom to the bride, his church. We looked at him being perfect and highest for us.  Let’s look at lily of the valley. Here are 5 things that a gardener says about Lilies and how they point us to the character of Christ and how these qualities are passed on to us by his death and resurrection as well.  1. Lilies are very strongly sweet smelling. What does the Bible talk about having a smell? Our prayers. In the Old Testament Temple, remember there is a place where incense are burned. Incense are similar to candles, you light them and the smoke and scent rises from it. Part of the duties of the priest were to light the incense on behalf of the people. T...

Day 18:   King   Zechariah 9:9  Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; Righteous and having salvation is he,  Humble and mounted on a donkey,  On a colt, the foal of a donkey.  This quickly brings to mind the fulfillment story from Matthew. Matthew 21:1-11 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a cold wither. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,  “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’” The disciples went and did as Jesus directed...

 Day 17 : Friend Matthew 11:19 Jesus said, The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him? A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners?’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds. This passage comes right after one we have already talked about during this series. John the Baptist is in prison and asking if Jesus really is it. Jesus sends words back from Isaiah and sends back testimony about what He is doing that points to who He really is. Then he turns to the crowd and is talking about John. Jesus talks about how he is prophesied about but the world cannot receive him with worldly eyes or hearts. We need the help of the Lord to understand spiritual things. The above verse is actually Jesus talking about himself. He is probably speaking this way in an almost sarcastic tone but to teach them what the Father is up to.  Let’s think on some ways Jesus acted as a friend in these ways. Yes, he was friend with a tax collector, a dishonest, ...

  Day 16: Rose of Sharon Song of Solomon 2:1 I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys. Jesus is called the Rose of Sharon, although no where actually in scripture.  So like, why? The book of Song of Solomon is a conversation between a husband and wife- or a bride and groom. In Ephesians, the church is referred to as the bride of Christ. This means that when Christ receives us, we will be united with him forever, he will be our leader, our provider, the one who cares for us. He waits for us with excitement and joy and we should be preparing ourselves to meet him-- just like a bride and groom prepare to be married. Just like we don’t marry more than one person, we only connect ourselves with one God. We don’t worship many God, only the one true God. And just like marriages are intended to last forever, so Christ will be ours forever.  So when we read the book of Song of Solomon and read this scripture in particular, we need to remember that Jesus loves us that ...

 Day 15: Servant Matthew 12:15-17 Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all and ordered then not to make him know. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.” What was Jesus aware of? That the Pharisees were trying to decided their plan to destroy him. Yikes. He was aware that they wanted to kill him but he didn’t want to stop doing what he was called to do. He stayed true to who He was and the plan God had for his life. What was that plan? To tell us about the Father. And tell us that we are so loved by the Father that Jesus was willing to risk his life to tell us.  Let Jesus be our example in how to serve: Matthew 20:26b-28 Jesus said, “But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to g...

  Day 14: The Word John 1: 1-18 In the beginning was the Word,  And the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.  There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.  The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.  He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.  He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.  But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of the will of the flesh ...