Jesus Christ – Page 3 – Cross Culture Church

Meditation: April 21

Posted by wwalker Categories: Meditations

“For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes” (1Corinthians 11:26).

A message is proclaimed at the Communion Table. Jesus invites us to His table in order for those who have been called as His followers to dine with Him. What other disciples had rejected when offered, they were now afforded the opportunity to participate. The criteria for having a part with Him was eating His flesh and drinking His blood. Their passion was for His life to become their very own. Theirs would be that of witnesses. They would ultimately be willing to follow Him to the grave. But now, they must take the cup thus symbolically identifying with His death. Symbolisms are meaningless if the life is not ingested. To feed on Jesus is to allow His flesh to become our body and His blood to be our life-blood. We need to be reminded often, thus we come again to the table of the Lord that we should never forget. He gave His life that we may live. Now the life that we live as His witnesses is to proclaim His death as being sufficient for the sins of the world. We died with Him that we may live with Him.

The act of eating and drinking together speaks of a unified family. Yet this communion elevated the meaning beyond family.

16 Apr 0Comments 1Like

Meditation: April 16

Posted by wwalker Categories: Meditations

“And He said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ “(Ezekiel 37:3).

God asks us questions that He alone is able to answer. We try our best to understand how a possibility of hope may arise out of an impossible situation. What we see are circumstances that appear to be beyond hope. God placed the prophet there. And God continues to communicate to him at that place for which he has been prepared. The valley is a lonely place if you are alone. But God is in the valley in order to teach valley lessons. There we learn to raise others above their lowly state. He allowed him to see the ruins of what once was vibrant and alive. Then He asked him the question that sounds like a mockery of his intelligence, adding insult to injury. “Can these bones live?” Not just any bones, but the bones of the defeated army; an army that must rise from death then rise from defeat. Life would be meaningless if defeat was to be continual. His will is that we live on purpose. God must answer His own question, but if He is asking us, then He must have more in mind than we at this present moment are able to see. Ezekiel’s answer was, “Thou knowest.” He is looking at the end of our faith to see if our confidence is in what He knows rather than what we may think or even see.

15 Apr 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: April 15

Posted by wwalker Categories: Meditations

“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:8).

Who can preserve his own life and maintain the fading glory that comes and goes so quickly through the passing of time? Each may have his or her day in the sun, but the same light that brought forth the growth will ultimately cause what has grown to wither. In our youth, it seemed as if growing up and enjoying the benefits of independent adulthood was the essence of life. But if we live our lives as if there is no tomorrow, the candle will be burning on both ends and too soon the pleasures of youth will fade. Time and abuse will take their toll upon the body and reveal the marks of decisions made without thought. Even at our best, the grass withers. We grow old. Then our values shift from the immediate to the ultimate. We wonder if our lives really counted for anything of significance. The flower fades and what once had a pleasant aroma to the world has now become putrid and detestable. Only the Word of our God is able to preserve our lives and prepare us for eternity. It stands up within us to defy the curse of death and absorbs it all with the light of life.

14 Apr 0Comments 1Like

Meditation: April 14

Posted by wwalker Categories: Meditations

“Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind” (Philippians 2:2).

What the Lord offers the Church should be shared alike by every believer. The benefits of salvation and the joy that accompanies obedience should be experienced by all. It is not enough for merely some to know the grace of the Lord and peace that resides within their hearts. God’s desire is that all should know Him in intimate and endearing ways. The mind can either be one’s best friend or worst enemy. When our minds retain the information of past experiences and attempt to decipher it without the renewing power of the Holy Spirit, division is inevitable. How can our varying experiences and thoughts lead to a unified conclusion? Each would interpret life and God on the basis of his own conclusions. Like-mindedness can only be attained when we hear the same message having the same Spirit in common. The Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of unity. He will take us from where we were to a new place of worship. Then we see Christ together and love Him with the same love. He then takes what is within us and distributes it from our hearts abroad. There is no greater joy than a shared experience of love for Jesus Christ shared with others who love Him as we love Him. We do not ever come together as strangers. We can then fellowship as intimate friends.

13 Apr 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: April 13

Posted by wwalker Categories: Meditations

“God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes” (Psalm 18:24 MSG).

An open heart to the Word of God gives Him permission to transform one’s life. The Holy Spirit working within us not only affects our future, but takes into account our past and our present state and weaves all things into a beautiful tapestry fit to be presented to the King. He gives us a new beginning; the reorientation of those things that would otherwise condemn us. This does not happen in the life of the half-hearted. They can only be awakened to the reality that there is more to life than what is being lived. However, the open heart is giving God permission to search deeply into those secret compartments where none are allowed but maybe a select few. When we are under His scrutiny, those things that are contrary to His will are highlighted. He does this, not to be heavy handed in discipline but to lovingly purge the heart of the residue of sin that may linger so that He may be worshiped in purity. Our lives then tell a different story. It expresses the message of His mercy, His grace, and His love.

12 Apr 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: April 12

Posted by wwalker Categories: Meditations

“Their job is to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, to show them how to discern between unclean and clean” (Ezekiel 44:23).

The job of the preacher is not merely to entertain people or to build buildings. Neither is he successful when he possesses the ability to draw large crowds. God has assigned us to teach the difference between the sacred and the secular. We must do all to the glory of God, but not all things warrant the same attention. The neglect of foundational truths will erect structures of wood, hay, and stubble that cannot withstand the waves of adversity or the strong winds of erroneous doctrines. Only those who are well taught will be able to stand being fully equipped with the full armor of God. They are led in the path of holiness and righteousness thus developing their discernment between good and evil, the clean and the unclean. The paralyzing sin of sameness has dulled the senses of many. But God will raise up His priests who have not bowed their knees to Baal and remain faithful for such a time as this.

11 Apr 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: April 11

Posted by wwalker Categories: Meditations

“Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection” (Hebrews 6:1).

The elementary principles of Christ must be the primary discussion of the newly converted. To take on weightier matters concerning Him are destined to be misconstrued thus misapplied. There has to be a foundation of truth established within each life if we are ever to know how to live as we ought. But when individuals get stuck into the trap of discussions only and never do anything, the information puffs them up and becomes counterproductive to their spiritual growth and development. What they know causes harm for he knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. Many well learned individuals find themselves standing in the way of future converts because they reduce Jesus Christ to nitpicking arguments but no fruit is developed as a result of what they may know. This admonition is to leave discussions and look towards application. How can our faith come alive and make an impact upon the world around us. Yet our efforts must never be detached from the principle because the unprincipled actions misrepresent Christ. Build upon the principles, a life giving full expression to them. Then others can see what we mean and not just hear it.

06 Apr 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: April 6

Posted by wwalker Categories: Meditations

“By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1John 3:16-17).

The love of Jesus Christ is expressed by what He gave, not by what He gained. The power of the mighty may attain for them both position and privilege, but none of our trappings of success are sufficient to endear their heart with passion. One may even know that God is good and be impressed with His benevolence, but he is only left with an impression of love but may never know it. To know His love is to know why His death was a necessity. Our sins ran deeper than surface adjustments would satisfy and required more than a courteous and casual approach towards duty could ever fill. Jesus was fully aware of what pleases the Father thus He also knew what displeases Him. To know love is to know and desire what pleases God alone. True love frees one to obey without compulsion or coercion. Our lives are hidden in Christ thus His love flows through us to others. We cannot give too much because nothing is exclusively ours. We belong to Him thus allowing what He did on Calvary to continually work in us even to this present hour.

04 Apr 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: April 4

Posted by wwalker Categories: Meditations

“And He took bread, gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ’This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me’ “(Luke 22:19).

The typology of the Old Testament symbolized the sufferings and death of the Messiah. He kept the ceremonial laws in order to illustrate what He had come to fulfill. At the end of His earthly ministry, the Bread of Life took bread from the table from which He and His disciples were to dine. Before they ate their last meal together prior to His death, He broke the bread and fed it to them from His own hands. His sufferings would be a shared experience. His would be immediate and theirs would be ultimate. Yet they would have the same power to withstand the pressure and remain in faith because of the sameness of Spirit.

Your body can bear under any pressure as long as you remain in faith. It is His life residing in you as a believer in Christ Jesus. The sacraments of bread and wine represented His Body and Blood. We are corporately the Body of Christ on the earth. As we share with Him in His experience we share with one another. His focus was not merely upon Himself, but He was looking at this day. He was seeing us together sharing this moment in fellowship, communing in remembrance of the sacrifice made on our behalf affording us the privilege of being one together with Him.

03 Apr 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: April 3

Posted by wwalker Categories: Meditations

“Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen” (Hebrews 13:20-21).

The restlessness of the soul was resulting from the waywardness of the heart. When you were determined to fix your own problems your own way, none of the benefits made available by God through our Lord Jesus Christ could be applied. Now that the struggle has ended as to whether the life of Christ was to be followed because His death was sufficient enough for His life to be our life, we are being made complete. What a difference now in comparison to then. All you need to do is remember how strained the struggle was and how difficult your life would be if His knowledge was absent. But now that you know Him, allow Him to complete the great work within you that He has begun. His objective is to complete you. When your ways please the Lord, you are at peace with yourself and even with your enemies. He is the God of peace who will ultimately prove all things according to its character and His original design. Therefore, give Him the glory that He so rightly deserves now for it will be His forever and ever. Amen