“I need someone to mediate between God and me,
as a person mediates between friends.”
– Job 16:21

Job is off the mark in his understanding of himself and God. However, he isn’t wrong in crying out for a mediator. He really does need someone to stand between God the Father and us, representing Him to us and us to Him. Thankfully, we have that mediator and it’s Jesus the Christ (see Hebrews 9:15 and 12:24)!

In His sinless perfection, Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for our sin. Fully human, He understands and represents us before God Almighty. He stands in our place having resisted every temptation. Fully God, Jesus established and mediates God’s new covenant of grace through His precious, holy blood shed on the cross. Jesus reveals and represents God to us and He represents us to God. He prays and intercedes on our behalf, having made the acceptable and sufficient offering of Himself for our sins. He is our great high priest in heaven!

We don’t have to plead our case with God. We can’t justify ourselves to Him through clever reasoning, hard work, religious rituals, or good deeds. We are justified by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. This is a gift of God made possible by the work of our mediator. Jesus is the fulfillment of Job’s heartfelt desire and the deepest need of every human being. It is Jesus Who reconciles us to our Triune God.

Believe in Jesus! Trust Him with your life. Trust in His atoning work on your behalf. When you sin and find yourself under God’s discipline, don’t defend yourself. Don’t try to excuse it away or rationalize it. Just repent. Confess your sin to God and ask for His help to walk in greater obedience to Jesus. God is faithful and He will forgive and cleanse you every time you ask. Why? Because YOU have a mediator! #FollowJesus

“Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?” – Matthew 20:14-15

The Kingdom of God isn’t about fairness. Praise God for that!!! If it were about fairness, we’d never make it in. The accumulated weight of a lifetime of thoughts, words, actions, silences, and inactions that fall far short of God’s standard, expectation, design, and requirement would keep all of us out. Thankfully, God’s Kingdom isn’t about giving us what we deserve or have earned. It’s about giving us extravagantly, wondrously, and graciously beyond anything we could ever deserve.

God’s Kingdom is built on His overflowing, abundant grace. He’s gracious by nature and loves to give us far better than we deserve. This parable illustrates that grace as the master pays workers the same wage, regardless of how long they worked in his field that day. This is a parable of salvation – everyone who believes in Christ is equally saved regardless of when in our life we believed in the Lord Jesus and called on Him for salvation. We’re equally saved regardless of how awful, ugly, broken, messy, deprived, or depraved we were when we believed.

As the parable illustrates, God’s amazing grace doesn’t always sit well with everyone. In particular, those who’ve been religious for a very long time. As we spend years in church we can begin to forget just how much we needed grace when we were saved. We can begin to give ourselves a bit too much credit for the changes in our lives, the good that we’ve done, the people we’ve become. We start imagining that since we’ve worked really hard, we deserve something better in God’s Kingdom. We forget that we never deserved His Kingdom in the first place!

Take time to reflect on God’s grace in your life. Are you aware of how much God has blessed you beyond anything you deserved? Do you know how much He loves you despite the mistakes and rebellion in your life? Do you see how your salvation flows not from your good habits but from the blood of Jesus shed for you on the cross? Do you sometimes resent new believers who don’t yet know how to act amongst God’s people? Are you occasionally frustrated by God’s extravagant grace toward others? Renew your mind’s appreciation and awareness of grace. Celebrate grace for it’s part of God’s fundamental nature. Rejoice in His grace toward you and others who don’t deserve it. #FollowJesus

“You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
– Psalm 16:11

What a beautiful description of the joys of drawing ever nearer to God! God not only saves us by grace through faith in Jesus, He invites us to be in profound relationship with Him. He seals us with His Holy Spirit, unites us with His Son, and His Spirit lives within us. This is what we need to pursue deep fellowship with God. Are you pursuing that fellowship? Are you giving your joyous relationship with God your full attention?

Yes, we’re still saved if we don’t invest in our spiritual lives as we should, but we miss out on so much! As you learn to enjoy God’s presence in worship (public and private), in prayer, in the study and contemplation of God’s Word, it unlocks these treasures. These are the treasures and pleasures of quietly sitting at the feet of the Creator and enjoying Him. By His Word and His Spirit, God reveals the paths in your life that lead to a richer, fuller experience of the eternal life you already have. His joy fills your heart to overflowing. There is true peace and the deep pleasures of a contented life in Jesus Christ regardless of your outward circumstances.

We spend so much of our earthly lives exhausting and frustrating ourselves as we chase after earthly imitations of these things. We look for life, joy, and pleasure in the created rather than the Creator. We seek them in other people when they’re most fully available in our Heavenly Father. We try to buy them, build them, earn them, or take them when they’re freely available. Evaluate your time, your money, your energy, and your emotions. Is it time to slow down and draw nearer to God? Seek Him first and discover all the extraordinary things which can only be found in Him. #FollowJesus

“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.”
– Genesis 49:10

In long ago ancient times we see the promise and prophecy of Jacob at the end of Genesis. As he was dying, he prayed and promised that his son Judah, though not the oldest son, would be the ancestor of kings. Through the descendants of Judah would come not only the kings of Israel like David and Solomon but also the King Who would rule over the entire world. In the previous verse, Jacob described the Lion of Judah (verse 9) seen and heard in Revelation — Jesus of Nazareth, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

God’s plan was set from the start but it unfolded in His perfect timing and schedule. He revealed to Jacob which of his twelve sons would bring forth the promised Savior of the world. Jesus, the eternal Son of God, was born into this world through the family line of Judah and King David. He demonstrated His power and authority by His words and miraculous actions. He sacrificed Himself on the cross for our sins, died, and rose from the dead. After His resurrection, Jesus declared in Matthew 28:18 that ALL authority had been given to Him over heaven and earth.

He has fulfilled the prophecy and promise of Jacob. Do you regularly give Jesus the tribute of praise and worship He is due? Do you fully obey Him as He deserves? Are you introducing Him to others so that they may enjoy the forgiveness, new life, and freedom we experience when we submit ourselves to Him? #FollowJesus

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” – Proverbs 3:5

In whom do you trust when things are confusing and chaotic? When new or unusual situations arise? In whom do you trust when tensions are high and the way forward is hidden? A wise adviser? An author or influencer? The standards of your culture? A philosopher or leader? A spouse or best friend? Your own gut or reasoning?

There are many voices competing for influence in your life and clamoring for your trust. Some may have a great deal of knowledge, experience, and wisdom but it won’t be perfect. There is One Who is worthy of your deepest trust and greatest influence and that is God. The Creator of the Universe knows all things past, present, and future and He invites you to trust Him fully with every tough decision. He knows what’s best because He designed everything. He doesn’t operate out of selfish motives, biased perspectives, or incomplete understanding. Trust Him completely!

When the way forward is complicated and confused, trust God and what He’s revealed in the Bible. Our world tells us to trust ourselves, our instincts, and our feelings. These are easily confused, deceived, and distorted. They easily guide us into the wrong path. Make a habit of studying God’s Word daily and thinking carefully about how to apply it in your life. Seek God’s insight and advice in every situation. When confronted by the daily decisions of life, take time to pray and ask God how to apply His Word to that decision. Don’t let your instincts and understanding lead you onto the paths of sinful disobedience or foolishness that can be avoided by trusting in God first and foremost. #FollowJesus