Category: Thoughts and Meditations

“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 5:20

It’s impossible for us to imagine how shocking this statement would have been to the original audience. Jesus said that nobody could enter the Kingdom of Heaven unless they were more righteous than the most righteous people anyone in the audience had ever met! The scribes and Pharisees seem like cartoonish villains to us today but they were the people most zealous for God, most respected by the people, and most likely to fulfill all of the Law of Moses. And Jesus said we need to be more holy and righteous than that! Impossible!!!

How could there be any hope for people like us? We’re nowhere near as concerned with personal holiness as the scribes and Pharisees. How could we ever be perfect in righteousness? We can’t. That’s the point. We have no hope of getting into God’s Kingdom on our own. There’s absolutely NOTHING we can ever do to earn our way into God’s Kingdom. We are born sinners and will never be righteous enough to match our perfectly holy God.

Thankfully, Jesus was righteous enough for all of us! Jesus alone lived a sinless life of perfect righteousness. Jesus alone perfectly fulfilled and completed the righteous requirements of God’s Law. Jesus alone was infinitely more righteous than the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus is the only person who deserves entry into God’s Kingdom.

However, because God is gracious, the righteousness of Jesus is credited to everyone who believes in Him. When you trust in Jesus, all your sinful unrighteousness is nailed to the cross with Him. He already suffered all of God’s righteous wrath for your sins. Your sin was credited to Jesus and His righteousness was credited to you. That happened the moment you your faith in your risen Savior.

The only way out of the utter despair that logically follows from these words is to trust in Jesus and let Him save you from your sins. He’s already purchased your righteousness with His blood if you’ve trusted in Him. Have you? #FollowJesus

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
– Proverbs 1:7

As a culture, we’re literally drowning in information! Have you noticed? News feeds, social media feeds, 24 hour cable news, emails, newsletters, and notifications inundate us with information. Some of it’s true. Some of it’s false. We’re learning and producing information at an ever-accelerating rate (this is true). But what good is all that new information doing? Are we happier, healthier, wealthier, kinder, more loving, or more satisfied? Is all that information helping us become wiser or just making us ever more foolish?

All truth comes from God because He is truth. All wisdom comes from God because He is wisdom. That means that we’ll never be able to turn the flood of information into life-changing wisdom apart from God. As good as it is to discover and learn new things, the reality is that most of us need more wisdom in this new year rather than more knowledge.

What are you doing to cultivate wisdom? What’s your plan to slow down what’s coming in (and out) of your head and intentionally reflect on it… To sift the good from the bad, the true from the false, the wise from the foolish… To apply the information you receive so that it becomes wisdom? Are you making time to root your mind, soul, and heart in God’s unchanging wisdom?

True wisdom and learning comes from knowing God and being in awe of your Creator. As a follower of Jesus, His Holy Spirit will help you turn knowledge into wisdom. So, make space in your daily life to spend time with God, to read and contemplate Scripture, and to be in awe of your Creator. #FollowJesus

“Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.” – Matthew 3:4

John the Baptist certainly had a unique fashion sense and diet! You probably don’t want to imitate that as your New Year’s resolution. He dressed like the old-time prophet Elijah to help Israel understand that God had sent His first prophet in four centuries. John was all about the authentic word of God, not appearances. Listen up, he announced…

John offered Israel good news and bad news. The good news was that God’s Kingdom was about to break into the world. The Messiah was coming soon to a countryside near them! The bad news is that they were deeply sinful people who needed to get onto God’s agenda if they were going to receive the Messiah and enter the Kingdom.

Many did. God drew enormous crowds to this wild man with the wild diet. They came to repent of their sins and be baptized as a sign of spiritual cleansing. They came to prepare their hearts to respond to Jesus, though they didn’t yet know His name. Unfortunately, many didn’t come. Many of the most “religious” people of the day wanted little to do with John the Baptist. They valued their religion over the authentic word of God. They did the same when they encountered Jesus.

John prepared the way for Jesus. Jesus came in a very different style, but He certainly got people’s attention. Some embraced Him. Most rejected Him. That remains true today. Have you embraced Jesus? Is He your Savior? Your Lord? Your King? If not, what’s stopping you from believing in Him and entering God’s Kingdom? #FollowJesus

“And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.” – Matthew 2:11

When the magi saw the astronomical signs associated with the birth of Jesus, they began an arduous, expensive, months-long journey to Bethlehem. As they followed the star to Israel, the prophecy to Bethlehem, and the star once again to the exact right house, they were filled with joy to finally see the baby who was already born king! When they laid eyes on Jesus at long last, they fell down in reverent submission and worship. They gave Jesus the precious treasures they’d carried with them from home.

It’s truly an astonishing story! In itself, it is the fulfillment of prophecy and the first taste of the salvation and light that Jesus came to offer to the entire world. Unfortunately, the zeal of the wise men would put most Christians to shame today! We don’t need to follow astronomical signs – we have the written word of God (often many copies). But do we eagerly pursue the Bible’s truth with the same energy the wise men pursued the star?

We don’t need to travel for hundreds of miles to worship Jesus. We can do it whenever and wherever we want. How often do we? We don’t need to ask people for directions to worship Jesus – a search engine can instantly point us to a local Bible-believing church. Nonetheless, while the wise men journeyed for countless weeks, we can struggle to get in the car and go to worship Jesus, the King of world alongside other believers.

As this new year dawns, try to capture that excitement and joy of the wise men for yourself. Get excited about encountering Jesus this year! Dig into God’s Word daily and see what He has to say to you. Make time to regularly gather with other believers to offer Jesus your treasure of wholehearted worship. #FollowJesus

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” – Genesis 1:1

Happy New Year from LRBC!!!

As you enter into a brand new year, we encourage you to get to know God and His Word better this year. There’s nothing more transformative than a daily encounter with God’s Word. If you haven’t already chosen a plan to read a portion of the Bible every day, take time to do so right now. Perhaps 2024 will be the year you read through the New Testament in it’s entirety. Or perhaps, it’s time to tackle the entire Bible in a year, starting right here in Genesis 1.

This verse reminds us that this universe is God’s universe. This planet is God’s planet. This year is God’s year. How will you grow closer to your Creator this year? #FollowJesus