Know the Father

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father…

1 Timothy 1:2

You are being called to know your Father. To really know Him. Jesus leapt off His throne, clothed Himself in flesh, took on the mantle of the Law of Moses, had every sin laid on Himself, defeated death through death, and freed a people for Himself, “a people for His own possession“…us.

Grace

At the right moment, Jesus broke into the world; “The grace of God has appeared” (Titus 2:11). God, moved out of the fullness of His heart, displayed His kindness and grace toward us in Jesus. The promise given to Abraham that his Seed should bless all the families of the earth came to fruition. Jesus, the Grace of God.

Mercy

Taking the form of a servant, Jesus became the least of all men. Born into poverty, despised by His hometown, betrayed by His own disciple…Jesus subjected Himself to the very worst that the world had to offer. “He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest…” (Hebrews 2:17). By experiencing every trial and pain that we experience, Jesus lowered Himself so that He could look us eye-to-eye. Only from this place could He truly understand and sympathize with our weakness and pain. He knows. He can truly show us mercy now.

Peace

The stone was rolled away and an empty tomb shouted at the enemy of our souls. Forever free, the Son of God destroyed death through death, and “canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us…” (Colossians 2:14) Our peace with God has been secured…forever. Jesus liberated us from every accusation and every shame; we have peace with God.

His Plan

All of this was accomplished for one thing; adoption. The purpose of our salvation was to restore us to our Father – to break down the barrier that separated us from Him; sin. He wants to know us. Really know us. He dreamed of you before the foundation of the world, that you should stand before Him, holy and pure…together forever with your Father.

He has spared no expense to buy you back, to redeem you. He has given everything up for you. Lift up your eyes, your Father is calling you…

In Jesus,

TJMcPherson

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Embrace Him

Saul of Tarsus

Saul was an expert in the Law of Moses. Having been raised up in the Pharisaical teachings and traditions, Saul took care to adhere to every rule and regulation set forth in the Torah. According to his own testimony, Paul considered himself “faultless” in his observance of all that the law required (Phil. 3:6.) Circumcised on the eighth day, a pharisee of pharisees…Saul was the perfect example of a devout Jewish man.

Rising above his peers, the soon-to-be apostle sat at the feet of the premier Jewish rabbi of his time, Gamaliel. As he sat and listened to the teaching of his elders, Saul of Tarsus grew more and more zealous for the traditions of his people… “And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.” (Galatians 1:14) This overwhelming zeal became the fuel for his persecution of the early Christian church.

As he was breathing threats against the Church of God, Jesus confronted Saul. Jesus, the one who Saul was persecuting, stepped into the darkness of Saul’s ignorance and revealed Himself. All that Saul had built his life on, every accolade, every tradition, every ancestral claim, came face to face with the Son of God. In an instant, Saul of Tarsus was forever changed.

Though the remaining majority of Paul’s life is recorded for us by Luke in the book of Acts, I am urged by the Holy Spirit to ask one question…What happened on the road to Damascus? How did a man like Saul, a zealous, well-educated Pharisee, become a man like Paul? The answer is simple; Paul met Jesus.

MEETING JESUS

You see, up until this moment, Saul of Tarsus had built his life around every good thing, yet never found the best thing. He had elevated his thinking, adhered to the most reasonable theology, and according to his religion, climbed the “ministerial ladder.” And yet, in all of this, He missed the Truth.

But Jesus did not leave him there. Jesus offered Saul the very thing his heart so desperately desired; love. Jesus was supremely interested in Saul, not his accolades. For once in his life, someone looked at Saul for who he was. Casting aside every achievement, Jesus grabbed ahold of Saul’s heart and loved him.

This became one of Paul’s most cherished moments. Routinely in the epistles, Paul uses this phrase, “[Jesus] loved me, and gave Himself for me.” And that was all he needed—to know and believe the love Jesus had for him.

RESPONSE

What about you? Have you stared into the eyes of Christ? Do you know the love that Jesus has for you? He desires to make you His very own. He sees you and loves you.

Can I encourage you? Leave all of the soul-weight that is hindering you from fully embracing Jesus. Leave the intellectual questions that are causing you to stumble. This is the moment. Embrace Him. Take a couple of minutes and ask Him to open your eyes to His love.

In the love of Jesus,
TJMcPherson

Who is Worthy?

Before we jump into the Word together, I want to touch on something that I having been wanting to share. 

WordforWorship.com is designed to be a platform where you can be encouraged to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Each blog post is (hopefully) a snippet of the beauty that is ours in Jesus and in His Word. I want to encourage you, let this blog be a drink of cool water on your journey with Jesus; nothing more. I say all of this to express this one thing: I fear that you will be satisfied with a quick devotional thought, that you will be satisfied with a few minutes of reflection. I fear that this blog will become a type of barrier between you and Jesus, rather than a morsel that would cause you to crave the Living Bread. 

Sound a bit silly? Well if you are like me, you know how easy it is for “good things” to become the objects of our love and devotion. Jesus understood this and spoke plainly about the dangers of a shallow or superficial love for God. Look at what He says:

 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.”

Matthew 10:37-38

I encourage you, reread that last statement slowly…Can you feel the weight of Jesus’ words? Let’s take a deeper look at some of this.

Worthy

The one who loves father or mother more than Jesus is not worthy of Jesus. Why does Jesus say this? To love anything or anyone more than Jesus is to remove Jesus from the throne of our hearts. In our longing after other things, we dethrone Christ from His rightful position as the Lover and Lord of our lives; we have made His dwelling place “unworthy” or “unfit” for Him. To better understand this, let’s take a look at what “worthy” actually means in the Greek. 

The word worthy (axios) literally means “to be of weight.” In the first century, money changers would weigh out coins of silver or gold. Rather than look at the amount of coins on the scale, the money changers would consider the weight of the coins. Therefore, when they would exchange money, they would weigh coins against each other to make sure the “worth” of each pile of coins was the same. If the scales balanced, the transaction would be considered “of weight”; worthy.

The one who loves father, mother, son, or daughter more than Jesus does not see the value of the offering Jesus is making; Himself. Notice what he says, “is not worthy of Me.” He did not say, worthy of My favor or worthy of my blessing, He specifically says “of Me.” You see, we are not being offered something outside of Jesus. God is giving us Himself! Only when we give ourselves entirely to Him do we become vessels “worthy” of the presence of God. A life for a life; axios.

When we offer our unhindered, undivided, and unadulterated love to Jesus, we are revealing that we view Him as supremely worthy. And this is all He asks, that we see and know Him for who He is, the righteous and worthy Son of God. When we see Jesus for who He is and respond in faith, the dwelling place of our hearts become worthy of the Son of God.

Response

Would you consider His offering? In all of His fullness, Jesus desires to dwell within you. He longs to birth His desires in You, to reign as the Lord of your life and to accomplish His perfect will through you. Would you respond to His call and offer up the entirety of your life, your love, your affection to Him? He is worthy!

Lord Jesus, You are supremely worthy of our love and affection. Oh Lord, rid us of every false love, every unworthy idol. Set Yourself as the Lord in our hearts and finish this good work that You have begun in us. We trust that You will do this. We love You and pray this in Your name.

In Jesus,

TJMcPherson