Lead

 

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. … I am the good shepherd. I know My own sheep, and they know Me, as the Father knows Me, and I know the Father. I lay down My life for the sheep. But I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd.” John 10:11, 14-16

I grew up on a farm in northern Illinois, but I think I should make one thing very clear here…. I am not much of a farm girl. My father would agree. I loved the country life.  I loved the space and most of the animals. I loved the green of the fields and the slower lifestyle, but I generally kept a good distance between me and the real farm work, when possible. The closest claim I have to being a farm girl was that I did show pigs at our county 4-H fair for two years. However, I probably shouldn’t boast too much on that adventure, seeing that one of those times I ended up riding my pig in the arena. Not exactly how you are supposed to show a pig. So, as I said before, I’m not much of a farm girl and I’m definitely not well versed in the care of sheep.

I have done a bit of research on the responsibilities of a shepherd and why those tasks were necessary. There are many. A shepherd must provide for his flock, making certain they have good pastureland and clean, fresh water. He must be vigilant to watch for any approaching predators and must be willing to fight to protect his flock. He must be mindful of the sheep at all times and watch for any signs of disease or illness. He must tend to the cleanliness and hygiene of the flock to help reduce the chance of infection. He must be willing to seek out those that wander away and become lost.

However there seems to be one duty that encompasses all of the above. A shepherd must lead his flock. Sheep are fairly helpless creatures. They need a shepherd who will safely and wisely lead them. This leadership will allow the shepherd to move the sheep to better pastures, guide them to good water, and help them find a safer location to rest. A shepherd’s leadership decides when to shear and when oil is needed to repel the flies. A shepherd’s leadership keeps a watchful eye out for those who would prey upon his flock and recognizes when one is going astray or has wandered off.

Jesus is our Good Shepherd. He quite literally laid down His life for His sheep and He continues to care for all who recognize His call. He tends to our deepest needs and offers limitless protection. He pursues us and celebrates when one who was lost is brought into the flock. He trims and molds us as needed, so that we might be better able to face what lies ahead. Jesus is our Good Shepherd who “restores our soul and leads up on paths of righteousness.” (Psalm 23:3)

 Being a shepherd is a full-time job that has often been viewed as lowly and thankless. Take time today to thank God that we have a Good Shepherd who was not afraid of the lowly or the dirty, who came not for honor and acclaim but for the good of His sheep.

More verses to consider:
1 Samuel 17:34-36, Isaiah 40:11, Revelation 7:17, 1 Peter 2:24-25, Matthew 9:36, Psalm 23, Ezekiel 34

Lord,
There is none like You. A shepherd cares and tends, leads and defends, guides and protects. What a beautiful description for you! Thank you for guiding us along the narrow and dangerous paths and leading us to still waters. Thank you for giving Your all- absolutely everything- for us. We don’t deserve it; we never could.

Lord of All

 

“Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus,
 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God
as something to be used for His own advantage.
Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave,
taking on the likeness of men.
And when He had come as a man in His external form,
He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—
even to death on a cross.
For this reason God highly exalted Him
and gave Him the name that is above every name,
 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow—
of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth—
and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:5-11

Amen!

We have already seen that Jesus has always existed;
He has no beginning and no end.
He was not created but has always been with God and is in fact God.
Jesus is the Word, the creator of all that we see.
He is the Light of the World and the Bread of Life.
He is our Alpha and Omega, the One who was, and is, and is to come—our Great I AM.
Jesus is supreme. He has no equal.
He is the Almighty One, the King of kings and Lord of lords.
He is our Great High Priest, our Advocate, our Mediator and the Author and Perfecter of our Faith, and as such He fulfilled all of the law that came before and offers a more perfect and complete promise to those who will believe in Him.

Jesus is all of these and more! Yet here we see that He did not allow pride in who He is to stop Him from being obedient and fulfilling the plan and will of God. Instead, He humbled Himself. Oh! How He humbled Himself, taking on the form of His creation—wrapped in weak and frail flesh. Jesus became one of us, but it doesn’t end there, for He would humble Himself even more. He would face one of the greatest forms of humiliation- death on a cross- along with the excruciating pain from both the crucifixion and the denial of those He loved.

But that humiliation and pain was not the end for Jesus. No, three days later He would rise victorious, and God would see Him exalted and restored- at the right hand of the throne of God. And one day… one day everyone-- no matter how big or small, whether they were for or against Him up until that point, whether alive or buried centuries before— one day, EVERYONE will acknowledge Him for who He is and will give Him the praise and honor He deserves. For all will see and know that Jesus is Lord of ALL!

Hallelujah! Praise His Holy Name!

I encourage you to take time today to worship the Lord of All. Below are a few additional verses to consider:
1 Chronicles 16:29, Psalm 66:4, Acts 10:36, Romans 10:12, Hebrews 1:6, Revelation 4:8-11, Revelations 5:9-14, Revelation 7:9-12

I stand in awe of who You are, Lord. I stand in awe that You would chose to pursue us after all the ways- time after time- that we have turned from You and followed our own foolish ways. You are amazing and awesome and worthy of so much praise. Not because of what You've done for us, but solely because of who You are. May we never lose sight of that.

Reconcile

 

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, Christ Jesus, Himself human, who gave Himself—a ransom for all, a testimony at the proper time.” 1 Timothy 2:5-6

Jesus is our Mediator, the one and only who can help bring about a reconciliation between us and God. But why is reconciliation even needed? If we are God’s creation and He is all-knowing and all-powerful, why can He not just choose to overlook our sins? Why was sacrifice needed? There are two sides to this question, and we must look at both: who God is and the reality of our sin.

God is all-knowing and He is all-powerful. He is love and He is truth. He is also holy, righteous and just. Sin puts humanity into open rebellion against God and His authority, and no person- past, present or future- is exempt from this reality for all choose at some point to defy the authority of God. This reality is made worse by the fact that in our fallen state, there is nothing we can do by ourselves to rectify this situation. Our sin is too overwhelming and the effects too great.

Because God is holy and just, there must be a reckoning, a payment made to cancel the debt created by our sin. He cannot simply ignore our willful disobedience. It would go against His very nature. Yet out of His great love for us, God wants to be reconciled to His creation, and so a way had to be made that would cover our debt and make peace between God and man possible.

God first created the system of sacrifices and offerings that we see in the Old Testament. This system was a foretaste of what was needed. Through the law and the old covenant, the condemnation of our sin was made evidently clear to us, and the sacrifices offered a way to receive temporary atonement for the sins of the people. However, it was only ever meant to be a temporary solution. It was never designed to offer complete and lasting reconciliation, for “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin.” (Hebrews 10:4) “Animal sacrifices did not offer true atonement, but they were the means God appointed that allowed Him to pass over the sins of Israel out of gracious forbearance, knowing that those sins would one day be dealt with by the atonement and mediation of Christ.” (Ligonier.org, Christ our Mediator) Only One who was without sin or blame could truly clear our debt.

Jesus, who walked this earth both as a human and the very Son of God, was uniquely and solely qualified to do this. He alone can fully represent the best interest of both parties, and He alone was able to offer a perfect, unblemished sacrifice.  In Him, we find the only one who can completely and perfectly serve as a link between God and man.

So we see once again that Jesus came to offer a perfect, complete, lasting answer, and because of Him, we can know peace with God no matter what we may have done.

1 Samuel 15:22, Micah 6:6-8, Hosea 6:6, Hebrews 9:15, Hebrews 12:23-24

 

Lord,
We have certainly made of mess of Your beautiful creation and we find ourselves in a desperate state because of our own actions. What hope have we but in You? Thank you for making a way, from the very beginning, for us to approach Your throne of grace and mercy. Thank you for Your Son and His willingness to do what only He could do.

Defend

 

“My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the Righteous One.” 1 John 2:1

Merriam-Webster states that an advocate is “one who pleads the cause of another, specifically: one who leads the cause of another before a tribunal or judicial court.” One day we each will have to face judgment for our earthly deeds and actions. (2 Corinthians 5:10) Can anyone of us ever hope to be found innocent on our own? Certainly not! Our sin condemns us even now- imagine how much more it would do so when presented to a holy, righteous Lord.

But we have been given an Advocate- One who will take up our case and plead for mercy on our behalf- Jesus Christ. His defense cannot depend upon our earthly actions, for as we’ve said already because of our sins, we have already been found guilty. No amount of good deeds can change that. There is only one argument Jesus can make on our behalf, and it is the argument of His righteousness, poured out on our behalf on the cross. “We are guilty of sin and unable to meet the Lord’s demands, but the perfect righteousness of Jesus, imputed to us in our justification, sets us right with God. Matthew Henry writes: ‘The clients are guilty; their innocence and legal righteousness cannot be pleaded. It is the advocate’s own righteousness that he must plead for the criminals.’” (Our Righteous Advocate, Ligonier.org)

Jesus is not only our Advocate, but He is our very Testimony. For those who have believed in Him and accepted Him as their Lord and Savior, His defense for us will be His very sacrifice- His death on the cross. In such a case, the debt has already been paid and therefore, no charge against us will remain.

That is the radical, all-consuming, eternal love that the Lord has for me, for you, for us all, and that is the Advocate who invites us to come to Him and lay our burdens down.

Extra Reading:
Isaiah 43:25, Romans 8:1-2, Romans 8:34, John 3:16-18

 

Lord,
I don’t deserve the forgiveness You have offered me. I know my thoughts, actions and words leave me guilty on all accounts. Nothing I can say or do will change that. Praise be to God- You didn’t leave me in that state but have offered us each a way out from under the impossible debt we each owe.

Foundation

 

“Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame and has sat down at the right had of God’s throne.” Hebrews 12:1-2

The Source and Perfecter of our Faith sounds a bit like the beginning and the end, doesn’t it? However this name isn’t talking about Jesus’ eternality or His creative ability, so there’s definitely something here to be considered. The King James Version translates the Greek word archēgos ("source") to author. The English Standard Version says founder. All of these words are appropriate translations and together they do help us have a clearer picture of how we understand this name. Our faith- the communal Christian faith (Acts 6:7, Galatians 1:23)- is founded or based in and on Jesus Christ. There is no other person/no prophet or priest or church leader upon which we should build our faith. He is the rock and the sure foundation, tested and true for whom “the one who believes will be unshakeable.” (Isaiah 28:16)

The other half of this name strikes a chord with me- Perfecter. I don’t know about you, but I love the sound of that. I spent most of my teen years and well into my adult years struggling with perfectionism. However I have been given ample opportunities to realize that I am not and will never be perfect. At first that was a hard pill to swallow, but with time, I am finding more and more peace in that statement. I’m not perfect and no one really expects me to be. Ahhh, feels good. But it feels even better when I realize, God is perfect, and not just according to some human standard-- He is perfect in all ways. Not only that, but when Jesus walked on this earth, He was without sin. He lived a perfect life. He’s the only one who has ever done that- the only one who ever could- and in so doing, He left us an example of how we too should live. The Greek word teleiōtēs ("perfecter") can also be translated “one who completes” or finisher- as in one who finishes a race. Jesus ran the race marked out before Him and completed the faith with His death, His burial and His triumphant resurrection.

The whole time I’ve been writing, I’ve had a children’s song running through my head.

“The wise man built his house upon the Rock.
The wise man built his house upon the Rock.
The wise man built his house upon the Rock and the rains came tumbling down.
The rains came down and the floods came up.
The rains came down and the floods came up.
The rains came down and the floods came up, but the house on the Rock stood firm!”

The storms of this world will come and I pray that when they do, your life is rooted in the Author and Perfecter of the faith.

Further Reading:
Colossians 2:6-7, 1 Peter 2:4-6, Ephesians 2:19-22, John 19:28-30

 

Lord,
What an incredible gift You have provided us through Your Son and the faith He made possible. What a comfort to know that You understand and can sympathize with all that we fear and face. Not only that, but You overcame, You conquered, You finished triumphantly.

Greater

 

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens—Jesus the Son of God—let us hold fast to the confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tested in every way as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.” Hebrews 4:14-16

For centuries, the Israelite nation had a high priest who served in the tabernacle/temple offering both gifts and sacrifices on behalf of the people, who also had the responsibility of offering the yearly atonement sacrifice for the nation. A high priest was required to follow all of the regulations set out for the priests as well as having some additional guidelines. Being a high priest came with many rules and commands.

With Jesus’ arrival though, all those rules and commands are shattered- or rather fulfilled and completed.  So let’s take a look at how Jesus’ priesthood is better/greater.

Old Covenant: Priests are from the tribe of Levi; high priests from the house of Aaron.
New Covenant: Jesus is of the tribe of Judah, the house of David. For this reason, He could not be a priest according to His earthly lineage. Instead He is described as a priest in the order Of Melchizedek. Melchizidek was a priest who met with Abraham. Melchizidek did not become a priest through his lineage but through the “power of an indestructible life.´(Hebrews 7:16) Melchizidek is also described as the King of righteousness and the King of Salem (translated to King of Peace). So if Jesus is a High Priest in the order of Melchizidek, we can assume He also gained this title through the power of His indestructible life as well as carrying the titles King of Righteousness and King of Peace.

Old Covenant: A high priest had to ceremonially cleanse himself before he could enter the Holy of Holies in order to offer the yearly atonement sacrifice.
New Covenant: Jesus does not need to ceremonially cleanse Himself because He is already pure and perfect- without sin.

Old Covenant: A high priest would have to regularly offer sacrifices for himself, to cover the sins he had committed. His sin would mean that sacrifices would continue to be required.
New Covenant: Since Jesus was without sin, He did not have to make any sacrifice for Himself. Therefore His sacrifice was utterly a gift of grace and redemption and the perfect atoning sacrifice, making it a sacrifice once for all. No other sacrifices are now needed.

Old Covenant: A high priest would only serve for his lifetime. New high priests would be designated when the last one passed away. There was therefore a continual cycle of high priests.
New Covenant: Jesus’ reign is eternal, therefore no further high priests could ever be needed.

Old Covenant: God, due to His holy nature, had to be kept separate from the people and so His mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant was kept in a separated room called the Holy of Holies within the Tabernacle/Temple. Only the high priest could enter and then only once a year after being ceremonially cleansed.
New Covenant: Jesus’ sacrifice granted us the opportunity to approach God personally, tearing down the heavy curtain that separated God from the people forever. (Matthew 27:51)

With the fulfillment of these old covenant practices, Jesus was able to usher in a new covenant- not based on rules and commands but on forgiveness and a restoration of fellowship through Jesus Christ. It is for this reason that Jesus has become our Great High Priest, the only One who could offer the one sacrifice we all needed and make a way for us to enter into the very presence of God. Jesus freed us from a covenant of laws offered only to a few and replaced it with one better, full of fellowship and grace which is available to all. I, for one, cannot thank God enough for that.

Further reading:
Leviticus 21, Hebrews 7-9

 

Lord,
I must admit I don’t often think about Your role as my Great High Priest, at least not in those terms, but I am so thankful You became our Great High Priest. And unlike any high priest before, You not only offered up the sacrifice that would offer salvation for all, but You were the sacrifice. The perfect lamb offered on my behalf in order to redeem me. I pray that I would live each day walking in the grace and gratitude of this incredible gift and do my part to share it with others.

Almighty

 

“’I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘The One who is, who was, and who is coming, the Almighty.’” Revelation 1:8

The Almighty God is one with complete, infinite power/strength and unlimited authority. It may be almost inconceivable to grasp what that truly means. Infinite power is a power or strength with no end. Just like when we looked at John 1 and saw that Jesus was eternal, having no beginning and no end, so His power and strength are without ends. Similarly for one’s authority to be without limits, there must be no one above or greater than you. No one who has authority over you. As a mother with a soon-to-be teenager in my house, we have seen the natural desire to be in such a position, but it is not one we were made for. Only one entity can have unlimited authority and that is found in the trinity.

Being Almighty God is crucial if Jesus is to be the Lord of lords and King of kings. He would not be able to be the supreme ruler if any other entity had greater power or more authority than Him. It is a contradiction that would undermine and devalue both names. Likewise, Jesus must be Almighty if He is the Alpha and the Omega. A.W. Tozer points out “that God the self-existent Creator is the source of all power there is, and since a source must be at least equal to anything that emanates from it, God is of necessity equal to all the power there is.” (The Knowledge of the Holy) Jesus could not be the creator of the universe if He didn’t have complete and absolute power.

Isaiah 40:28 states that God does not grow faint or weary. This is another attribute of the Almighty God that we can depend and rely upon. When we exert ourselves physically, we will often find ourselves to be worn out and weakened until we are able to refuel and replenish our bodies. This is not how God works. Exertions do not deplete Him. No matter how much He gives, He remains as complete and powerful as before. He is not diminished in the least. So even as Jesus hung on the cross, His power had not lessened.

Indeed in the moments when some might look and claim He was weak-
when His neighbors and town rejected Him,
when He didn’t rise to the challenges set by Satan in the desert,
when He remained silent and did not defend Himself,
when He was wrongly accused and betrayed,
when He was whipped and mocked
and eventually when He was hung on the cross-
it was in these moments that we see His greatest strength- the strength of His character, the strength of His love, the strength of His obedience, and ultimately His power over the enemy and death.

This month I wanted to take time to “Be still and know” that He is God. Today I see it more clearly than ever. For who is like our God? Who else has the power to give children to the barren woman, heal merely by speaking, or raise to life those who were dead? He is God. Hallelujah! There is no better place to dwell than at His feet.

More Verses to Consider:
Genesis 18:14, Isaiah 43:13, Matthew 19:26, John 11:1-44, Romans 1:20, 1 Corinthians 1:24

 

Lord,
 Almighty One, I am reminded time and again how great You are, how incredible are Your ways, and yet all too often, I still fall in the trap of thinking I can handle life on my own. Thank You for Your boundless forgiveness and patience with me. May I remember Your might and strength, Your infinite power and know You and You alone can lead me down right paths.