Author: Brian Burdett

“For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup
with foaming wine, well mixed,
and he pours out from it,
and all the wicked of the earth
shall drain it down to the dregs.”
– Psalm 75:8

Think carefully about this cup. This is God’s cup of righteous wrath toward all the sin on earth. God is perfectly holy, tolerating no sin. God is completely sovereign over the universe and He is perfectly just. Therefore, He will – He must – pour out His wrath on everyone who remains in their sins. This cup of God’s wrath is the cup that Jesus prayed might pass from Him if there were any other way to deal with our sin. But there wasn’t any other way.

And so, on the cross of Calvary, Jesus of Nazareth, God’s eternal and sinless Son, drank deeply from this cup. As Jesus hung on that cross dying physically, He experienced all of God’s righteous wrath for mankind’s sins. Through His sacrificial death and resurrection, Jesus made it so that everyone who believes in Him will never have to drink from this cup. Followers of Jesus will never taste of God’s wrath. Ever!

Is Jesus your Lord and Savior? Then this cup isn’t for you, because Jesus already drank it dry. Praise Him for that! Now consider who you know that’s still in line to drink from this cup. Pray for them and then speak urgently to them about their sins and salvation in Jesus Christ.

If Jesus isn’t your Lord and Savior??? Then this cup is still waiting for you! God’s foaming, roiling, boiling wrath is still waiting for you. Don’t choose to drink this cup! Instead, choose to entrust your life to Jesus as your resurrected Savior and Lord. Believe on the Lord Jesus and be saved. Then #FollowJesus

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” – 2 Corinthians 12:9

Do you like to brag about how weak you are? Boast about how broken and hurting you are on any given day? If not, it might be time to change your way of thinking! If Jesus is your Lord, then God’s Holy Spirit lives in you. Christ’s power rests on you. He loves to demonstrate His power and strength through our weaknesses. He loves for us to tell stories of how He accomplished what we couldn’t. If you can embrace your weakness in Christ and submit to the power of God in your life, then you will definitely have some stories to tell!

It shouldn’t be hard to swallow your pride before the Almighty Creator of the Universe. But it often is. It can be very difficult to admit that we’re weak, especially to ourselves. It can be frightening to step out in faith, releasing our control and trusting God’s strength to work when ours falls short. But when we do, there’s so much power, so much freedom, and so many opportunities to share the Gospel. God is tremendously glorified when you let His strength shine through your weakness. Your jaw will routinely drop at what God does in and through you if you can just get over yourself and humbly #FollowJesus

“Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;” – 2 Corinthians 11:24-25

If all these things happened to us, we might be tempted to complain. But Paul isn’t complaining! He’s content to serve Lord Jesus even when that service is painful. Paul understands what Jesus did for him, redeeming him from his sins through His own sacrificial death on a cross. Paul understands the mission Jesus gave him, to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Paul understands the resources Jesus has given him to accomplish that mission – the Holy Spirit living in Him and the permanent presence of Jesus with Him. For these reasons, Paul could endure hardship and suffering in peace, delighting in His Lord Jesus Who strengthened and sustained him.

If Jesus is your Lord, then He’s done the exact same thing for you that He did for Paul, redeeming you from your sins. He’s given you the exact same mission to make disciples of all nations. And He’s given you the exact same resources to accomplish that mission. So, are you following the example of Paul? Are you delighting in the Lord Jesus and letting Him strengthen and sustain you? Are you enduring hardship for the sake of sharing the hope of Jesus with others? Are you content to experience rejection, opposition, or hostility in order to tell people about your Lord?

If not, why not? What do you lack that Paul had? What do you have that Paul lacked? #FollowJesus

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” – 2 Corinthians 8:9

What a wonderful truth to contemplate! Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, stepped out of the unending perfection of Heaven and into this world because of His love for us and for the Father. For your sake, the Son personally came to know things like heat, thirst, hunger, cold, and fatigue. He set aside the glory He’d enjoyed forever to be born in Bethlehem and laid to rest in an animal’s food trough. Instead of the unending praise of the angels, Jesus experienced rejection, humiliation, hatred, betrayal, suffering, and death.

That’s what Paul means when he writes about Jesus becoming poor for your sake. He really did! Jesus gave up so much so He could take your place on the cross. So He could take God’s righteous wrath for your sins on Himself. So that by His sinless life, sacrificial death, and physical resurrection He could defeat sin, death, and the devil for you and everyone who believes in Him. If Jesus is your Lord, then you are currently enjoying the exalted status of a royal child, heir, and ambassador. You are a friend of the Lord with an eternal inheritance in Heaven. You have enormous spiritual riches and it’s all because Jesus set aside His infinite riches.

That’s the love of God. The love of the Father. The love of the Son. The love of the Holy Spirit. That’s what it means when John writes, “For God so loved the world…” That’s what it means when Paul writes, “God shows His love for us…”. This love is profound. Meditate on it today. Praise Jesus for what He endured to rescue you from your sins and raise you to Heaven! #FollowJesus

“But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus” – 2 Corinthians 7:6

What a beautiful expression of the profound comfort God often provides through other people! Of course, God comforts us directly through His love and presence. He also equips His people to comfort one another. If you’ve ever felt the comfort of another brother or sister in Christ coming to visit, encourage, refresh, or pray for you, take time right now to thank God for that. Delight in that memory and what it says both about that person and about your Lord.

Now, turn things around. Regardless of how easy or difficult your personal situation may currently be, who might you be able to comfort? Who’s going through a tough or lonely patch of life? Who do you know that would love it if you called, visited, dropped off a meal, or prayed with them? Make a point of reaching out to be God’s comforter to someone else today. #FollowJesus