Inside Out Living

In January 2007, the International Bulletin of Missionary Research reported that there are now 39,000 Christian denominations today and they project that number to increase to 55,000 by the year 2025. 39,000 denominations! This staggering report makes it hard to believe that the early Christians “were of one heart and mind” (Acts 4:32).

I wonder how it is that the church went from this close-knit group of believers to the highly fractured and often dysfunctional group that we are today. Jesus even prayed for our unity (John 17:21), and yet here we are 2,000 years later, Jesus’ prayer going unanswered.

I think the cause of all of this disunity is that we don’t always keep the main thing, the main thing. Hebrews 12:2 says that we are to keep our eyes on Jesus. This has to do with our focus as individual believers, but also as the church. When we take our focus off Jesus and the unity we have in Him, then disunity develops and the community of faith is fractured.

May you keep your focus on Jesus.

Jesus never hid the truth of His purpose here on earth. Time and time again He predicted His death to His disciples, and yet they continually struggled to understand. In comparing His death to a kernel of wheat (John 12:24), Jesus makes it clear that His death will bring about new life for many. This is what the Apostle Paul meant when he said, “For God made Christ who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus was able to serve as the perfect sacrifice making full atonement once and for all for the sins of mankind (Hebrews 10:12).

This sacrifice is what allows God the Father to extend saving grace to all who come to Him in faith for the forgiveness of their sins. As John said in 1 John 2:2, “He is the sacrifice for our sins. He takes away not only our sins, but the sins of all the world.”

It is an irony that should cause us all to be humbled, that the horrific death that Jesus endured on the cross was the very event that allows for the beauty of saving grace in our lives.

The readings for this week will deal with Israel in exile. While there are still some who remain in Jerusalem, the main shift of the Scriptures has been on those who are living in exile in Babylon. Particularly we see this in Ezekiel, whose ministry was directly to God’s people living in exile. Because they were dark days for God’s people, both those left in Jerusalem and those in exile, there is a recurring theme of hope that we will be looking at this week.

Today's Devotional:

The days in which Jeremiah ministered were certainly dark days. Judah as a nation was falling apart and God’s covenant people, the Israelites, had essentially abandoned God at this point. However, as you read today, because of God’s faithfulness there is still hope.

Jeremiah 31:31-34 delivers the promise of a new covenant. It is the covenant that Jesus spoke of during the last supper (Matt. 26:28). It is the covenant that was sealed with the shed blood of Christ. And it is this passage from Jeremiah that was quoted by the author of Hebrews as he contrasted the new and the old covenants (Heb. 8:8-12)

It is a better covenant (Heb. 8:6) because it involves an internal change. Instead of being focused on external obedience and works, Jeremiah says that God will write His word on their hearts. We, as members of this new and better covenant, have the word of God emblazoned on our hearts through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

It was this promise of a future covenant that gave hope to the faithful few in Jeremiah’s day and it continues to give us hope as well.

Why was God so concerned with having centralized locations for worship? I think that there were two main reasons for this. First, the sacrificial system foreshadowed the coming sacrifice of Christ and having the sacrifices performed in a central location made it less likely for changes or variations to take place which would cause it to lose this great meaning.

Second was the role of community. Having a centralized place for worship brought an aspect of community that would be lost if everyone was able to worship at their own home.

Community is important for us as well. While Jesus declared that there is no longer one and only one place for worship (John 4:21), the need and value of worship in community is still present (Hebrews 10:25). Without community we risk isolation and discouragement in our Christian lives. We also miss out on the biblical instruction and correction that comes from our elders and the accountability that is present in community. Are you valuing the community of faith and its role in your life?

This morning has not been so good. You know those days that you just wish you could start them over, or you wonder what God is even doing in your life. This is one of those days for me. Yesterday I read chapters 11 and 12 of Hebrews from the New Testament. I especially love the first two verses of Hebrews chapter 12:

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterward. Now he is seated in the place of highest honor beside God's throne in heaven" (Hebrews 12:1-1 NLT)

So I guess what I am taking away from these verses is that I need to keep my eyes on Jesus. I know that he had bad days as well as good ones. A bad day is not the end of the world it is merely that a bad day. There is so much more to life and to living in faith than to just let a bad day get me down. I hope that you day is not a bad one. If it is then consider for yourself how great God's love is for us in sending Jesus Christ to live and to die for you and for me.