God Understands

Heb. 2:17-18  Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.  For in that He Himself has suffered being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.

Often times when discussing our tests, trials or afflictions with others we say, "You don't understand."  Others are not experiencing what we are.  They are not feeling what we are.  How could they possibly even begin to understand what we are experiencing or feeling?  And, truthfully, they can't.  Unless they themselves have had the same experiences or feelings and as much as they try to console or comfort us, it's hard for us to accept their consolation having the knowledge that they don't and can't really understand.  Their understanding is not borne out of their experience.

These two verses from Hebrews, tell us of a God who completely understands.  When Jesus came to earth, He was fully man and fully God.  His human nature allowed Him to understand tests, trials and afflictions by His own experience just like we do.  His understanding of our suffering was indeed borne out of His own. 

Jesus, as a man, was despised and rejected by others (Isa. 53:3), acquainted ("yada") with grief (some translations say sickness or disease) (Isa. 53:3), treated badly and unfairly (Isa. 53:7), misunderstood by His own family (Mt. 3:21), falsely accused (Mt. 11:15, 26:59) and even had unreliable friends (Mt. 26:40).  He knew suffering.

In Scripture, we see the words "know" or "knew" translated from the Hebrew word "yada" which means to understand, particularly through or by experience.  For example:

Ps.103:14  For He knows (understands) our frame; He remembers that we are dust.

Jesus understands us because in all things He had to be made and to suffer like us.

Take comfort in the midst of your test, trial or affliction because although those around you may not understand it, God understands!


Sock Monkey Snippet:  He understands our suffering because He suffered.

Our Daily Bread

Mt. 6:11  "Give us this day our daily bread."

The children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron.  Brought out of the bondage of Egypt, they found themselves traveling through the wilderness hungry and wanting for food.  And God provided it in an unconventional way.  In fact, when the bread (manna) rained down from heaven, the Israelites asked each other, "What is it?" because they had never seen anything like it before.  They didn't recognize the supernatural daily provision only God could supply.

God supplies bread to meet our daily needs, too.  He provides nourishment to satisfy and sustain us.

The same God who cares for the birds of the air and clothes the lilies of the field (Mt. 6:33) cares for us and meets our physical needs.  But in addition to meeting our physical needs, He meets our spiritual needs, too.

Jesus described Himself as "the bread of life" (Jn. 6:35) which came down from heaven.  Only He satisfies the spiritual hunger and wanting in us.  He is an endless, inexhaustible supply of life-giving, life-sustaining bread that we enjoy and experience daily through our communion with Him.

May we always recognize God's supernatural nourishment raining down from heaven into our lives, both physically and spiritually.  He supplies all our need according to His riches in glory because of what Jesus did for us (Phil. 4:19).  He will give us this day, and every day, our daily bread!


Sock Monkey Snippet:  Thank God for providing our daily bread.

The Strength of the Vine

Jn. 15:5  "I am the vine, you are the branches.  He who abides in Me and I in him, bears much fruit, for without me you can do nothing."

Recently, while trimming brush along the tree line in our backyard, I encountered a grape vine that had entwined itself among the growth.  As I began removing it, or at least attempting to remove it, I was amazed at how strong it was when I tugged on it.

Reading this passage in the gospel of John about the vine and the branches, I've always understood that the Vine, Jesus Christ, is the source of life and only by being connected can we, the branches, have life and produce fruit.  And certainly that's true.  But, also, by being connected, we have access to the incredible strength of the Vine.  Abiding in Him enables His strength to manifest itself in and through us.  There is not only life in the Vine, there is strength (Phil. 4:13) in it, too.  Without that empowering and overcoming strength, we can do nothing.

The beauty of His strength is that the weaker we are, the more it is "made perfect" (2 Cor. 12:9).  His miracle working power matures and is at it's strongest in our weakest moments.

When we are tired and worn out by the constant tugging of life's trials and afflictions, by virtue of our connection to Christ we can always rely on and draw from the strength of the Vine!


Sock Monkey Snippet:  Our source of life is also our source of strength.

Jesus Christ Version 1.0

Heb. 13:8  Jesus Christ never changes!  He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (CEV)

A software program or computer application is never perfect when it is initially developed.  In fact, it usually starts out in a beta version.  After "bug" fixes, subsequent added or deleted features, and other tweaks and refinements, a "beginning" version, usually dubbed 1.0, is released.  After that, updated versions 2.0, 3.0, etc., follow claiming to have better features and other significant improvements.  End users ultimately need and want a reliable, dependable and stable product.  One we can always count on.  One that is perfect.

Today, reflect on the amazing truth that Jesus Christ, in every way, is the One who is perfect.  Who always was perfect and always will be perfect.  This perfect Version 1.0 is not only the "beginning", the Alpha, but He continues on into forever and is the Omega (Rev. 1:8).  Because He is perfect, He doesn't change.  His character isn't flawed nor are His plans ill conceived or incomplete.  He isn't steadfast one day and wavering the next.  He doesn't help us one day and forsake us the next.  He doesn't love us one day and reject us the next.  He is reliable, dependable and provides a stability on our lives that will extend into all of eternity.  We can always count on Him.  There have been nor will there ever be any required updates.  He is the same perfect One yesterday, today, and forever!  All we need is Jesus Christ Version 1.0.


Sock Monkey Snippet:  Because He is perfect, He doesn't change.

Reflecting Absence

Jn. 10:10  "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.  I have come that they may  have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."

Next week, the 9/11 memorial is scheduled to open in New York City.  It's design features two square voids, where the World Trade Center Towers once stood, each carved thirty feet deep into the earth.  Surrounding these voids are bronze panels on which are inscribed the names of the 2,983 victims whose lives were tragically taken.  The memorial is appropriately named "Reflecting Absence".  Visitors are to be reminded of what once was.  They are to forever take note that something is missing.  Abundant life that was intended to be was stolen away by evil.  The sin of a few men caused the death of so many others.

Paul explains in his letter to the Romans that through one man, Adam, sin entered the world (Rom. 5:12) also causing death to all men.  To all of us.  The abundant life God originally intended for us was voided by sin.  BUT, the Father loved us so much that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8).  So just as by one man's disobedience we were made sinners, so by one Man's obedience we were made righteous (Rom. 5:19).  Jesus restored to us the abundant life that was always intended to be.

Be reminded today of the abundant and eternal life once stolen away from all of us, reflect on it's absence, and then rejoice in knowing it has been forever restored through Jesus Christ our Lord.


Sock Monkey Snippet:  Jesus restored to us the abundant life that was always intended to be.

Even More Powerful

Rom. 5:20  The Law came, so that the full power of sin could be seen.  Yet where sin was powerful, God's kindness was even more powerful.  (CEV)

Laws are not made for righteous people (1 Tim. 1:9).  They are made for the unrighteous.  Think about it.  If everyone in our society, any society, behaved perfectly, laws would be completely unnecessary.  They exist only in order to identify to the unrighteous where they transgress or sin.

And so it was with the Law of Moses.  Through it an unrighteous people could see the full condemning power of their sin and the hopelessness of their situation.  Because no matter how hard they tried, they could never fully satisfy or live by it's requirements.  They could never earn their own righteousness.  Their sin was just too powerful.  And the sobering judgment due them, the wages of sin (Rom. 6:23), was death.  An eternal separation from God.

But, we are told that as powerful as the grip of sin was on their lives, God's grace (kindness) was even more powerful!  He provided, through Jesus Christ, the only perfect, sinless and righteous Man by whom we all have been made righteous (v.19)  and in whom the Law was fulfilled (Mt. 5:17).  By God's grace and through our faith (Eph. 2:8) we are saved.  We have eternal life and victory (1 Cor. 15:57) over sin and death because of something even more powerful.  God's amazing grace.


Sock Monkey Snippet:  Sin is powerful, but God's grace is even more powerful.

His Passion

Jn. 2:17  And it came to the minds of the disciples that the Writings say, I am on fire with passion for Your house. (BBE)

What are you passionate about?  What interest or cause excites you, consuming your time and attention?  For Jesus, that passion was for His Father's house.  Literally, a dwelling or temple but figuratively, a family, the church.  Us.  So much so, Scripture records that it consumed Him.  We drew His complete attention and affection.  WE are His passion!  A passion to which He devoted His entire life.  A passion so great that it led Him to the cross.  Being His disciples, let us also remember as they did.  Today, thank Him for the depth of His love for us (Jn. 15:13), the passion for us that burns within Him like a consuming fire.


Sock Monkey Snippet:  We are His passion.

Into Prosperity

Ps. 68:6  ...He brings out those who are bound into prosperity...

Prisoners are bound.  They have no hope and are destined to live a life without purpose.  Everything has been taken away by their captor.

Peter found himself as a prisoner (Acts 12:6).  Chained between two soldiers in a cell guarded by even more soldiers.  He was as a restrained and hindered as one person probably could be.  It was the very night before Herod would bring him to trial.  No reason to hope.  The purpose God had for his life was certainly not being fulfilled while he was in bondage.  His freedom had been taken away.

An angel appeared next to Peter and the cell was filled with light.  Peter was raised up (v. 7) and in the process, his chains fell off without any effort or struggling.  He didn't have to work for or earn his freedom.  He was instructed to put on his garment (mantle) and follow.  Peter couldn't believe what was happening.  In fact, he thought surely he was dreaming (v. 9).  When he finally came to his senses (v. 11) he said, "Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me."

Sin imprisoned us all.  We were bound by the law which we could not keep.  Stuck in a hopeless situation and destined to live far short of God's purpose for us.  But this verse in Psalm 68 says we were brought out (freed, released) into prosperity (success, abundance, freedom).  Through Jesus Christ, we have been set free (Isa. 61:1, Jn. 8:36).  Not by our own efforts but rather by God's amazing grace (Eph. 2:8).  We have been raised up and our chains are gone.  God has a purpose (mantle) for each of us and we are free to succeed, live abundantly and to follow Him.

When you stop and think about it, what God did for us through Jesus Christ seems just too good to be true.  Certainly our God has delivered us, too.  Like Peter, we who were also once bound have been brought out.  Into prosperity!


Sock Monkey Snippet:  We who were bound have been set free.

Follow Me

Mt. 16:24  Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me."

For most of us, networking on the Internet has become a part of our everyday life.  And in this social environment, we are invited by other to "follow me".  Making the choice to accept such an invitation usually involves little more than the click of a button.  The commitment to become a follower (disciple) is painlessly easy.

Jesus invites anyone to become His follower but it is important for us all to understand exactly what He says is required.  This is a free will choice that we make.  We can either accept His invitation or refuse it.

First, we must deny ourselves.  Other Bible translations say give up all (BBE) and forget about yourself (CEV).  This certainly goes against our human nature.  To be self-emptying instead of self -seeking.  To put the will of God before our own.  And yet Christ's life was exactly so.  He emptied Himself (Phil. 2:7, 8).  In doing so, He not only set an example for us but also purchased our redemption.  We must totally surrender to God's will, putting it before our own.  Faced with death by crucifixion, Jesus prayed, "not what I will, but what You will."

Second, we must take up our cross.  There will be sufferings and afflictions that will surely come our way and we should expect and endure them.  No matter how painful.  Jesus said (Mt. 10:38) if we are not willing to take up our cross and follow Him, we are not worthy of Him.  Taking up our cross is far from being a painlessly easy process.  It wasn't easy for Jesus either.

Being a follower (disciple) of Jesus is an everyday, life long commitment.  Nothing that can be effortlessly accomplished by the click of a button or any other one-time event.  It requires surrendering to His will and suffering for His glory.  Sheep follow their Shepherd.  Servants follow their Master.  Soldiers follow their Captain.

The next time you click the "follow me button online, ask yourself, "Am I following Him?"


Sock Monkey Snippet:  Surrender to His will and suffer for His glory.

The Value of Jesus

Isa. 53:3  He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.  And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

The world did not consider Him as having any value.  There was nothing special about Him.  No beauty in His outward appearance (Isa. 53:2) that drew us to Him.  He wasn't worthy of our affection.  Carnal hearts, judging only by appearance, did not nor will they ever esteem Him.  Worth only thirty pieces of silver (Mt. 27:9, 10), the price of a lowly servant or slave.  That's it.  In fact, we even desired a murderer (Acts 3:14) instead of Him.

Consider Mary, a self-acknowledged sinner, entering the room where Jesus dined with others.  She broke her alabaster box of fragrant oil, undoubtedly the best she had, most likely everything she had, and poured it out on Jesus.  Her tears washed His feet.  Her hair, that is to say her glory (1 Cor. 11:15), served as a common towel to dry them.  See her selfless and sacrificial worship.  Why?  Because she understood the value of Jesus.

The value of Jesus to any of us lies in how we see or esteem ourselves.  Do we, like the world, still see nothing special about Him?  Not even being worthy of our fellowship, turning our faces away from Him. Pridefully contented with and in our own flawed existence.    Or do we, like Mary, acknowledge our sin (Rom. 3:23) and see the remarkable beauty and worth of our Savior?

From us, He deserves our alabaster boxes of selfless and sacrificial worship and praise.  Nothing less than everything.  That's the value of Jesus!

Sock Monkey Snippet:  Jesus is worth nothing less than everything.

Our Shining Faces

2 Cor. 3:18  But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments, we are told (Exod. 34:30) that his face shone.  It literally shot out rays (horns) of light like the sun.  The Israelites realized that Moses had been in communion with God Himself.  Moses was being transformed into God's image just by being in His presence and his very countenance displayed God's glory.

After Moses spoke to the people, he veiled his face.  The glory of God visible on him may have been more than they could bear.  The Bible says the people were afraid, in awe perhaps being convicted by their own sin, making the veil necessary.  Or maybe he veiled his face concealing the decreasing brightness of it since we are not told it was of constant intensity.  The fading light was foreshadowing the old covenant of the law passing away (2 Cor. 3:13).

The veil created separation and it concealed.

Nevertheless, when we turn to the Lord, in repentance and faith, the veil is taken away (2 Cor. 3:14, 16).  Jesus Christ has taken away the veil of separation between God and us that our sin necessitated and that the law, the Ten Commandments, confirmed.  He took away the veil, revealing a new and everlasting covenant of mercy and grace.

Now having restored communion with God, we are being transformed, transfigured (2 Cor. 3:18) into His image, just as Moses was.  The glory of God, increasing in brightness, is being displayed (unveiled) in us for all to see our shining faces.  Let our light shine before men (Mt. 5:16)!

Sock Monkey Snippet:  Jesus took away the veil.

Free Indeed

Jn. 8:36  Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

Until the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary, we were not free.  We were dead in our sin and due it's wages, death (Rom. 6:23).  Destined to be eternally separated from God.  We were held captive, bound in slavery to our sin.

Then His death and resurrection changed everything.  It provided a freedom, a (the only) Way (Jn14:6), for us we could by no other means have obtained.  Our old, sinful man (Rom.6:6, 7) was crucified with Christ freeing us from bondage to sin.  Jesus made (set) us free.  God's gift of an eternal life to be spent with Him was (and is) provided through His Son.

As we celebrate our nation's freedom today on the Fourth of July, let's also remember the ultimate freedom from sin and death that was made available to us through the precious blood of Jesus.  We are free indeed!


Sock Monkey Snippet:  Jesus made us free.

Consider Him

Heb. 12:3  For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.

The sufferings of Christ were excruciating.  When we are told to consider (analogizomai) Him, we are to analogize or compare His sufferings to our own.  Obviously, there is no comparison.  But the perfect example of Christ's endurance is also worthy of consideration.

Enduring is having the ability to continue despite fatigue, stress, pain or hardship.  It is persevering or resisting no matter how tired and discouraged we become.

In Jesus' life, that endurance reached the point where He shed His blood (v.4) striving against (resisting) sin.  I dare say that will not be required of most of us.  How much more then should we be willing and able to endure our daily trials and resist sin in the race set before us (v.1) when we make the comparison of our sufferings to His?  We must stay strong, be encouraged by His example of endurance and not give up in our Christian life no matter how tired or stressed out we may be.  For in due season, we shall reap if we don't lose heart (Gal. 6:9).

Sock Monkey Snippet:  Consider what Jesus endured and don't give up.

The Same Mind

Phil. 2:5  Let this (same) mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.

The magnitude of what Christ did for us is almost too much to comprehend.  He stripped Himself of the inexpressible glory of being God with all it's rightful privileges and dignity.  Out of love for us, the One who owed absolutely nothing emptied Himself of absolutely everything.

He took on the form of a bondservant (v.7) or slave and although He was the most worthy to be served, He humbly served.  Jesus became totally obedient (v.8) to the will of the Father (Mt. 26:39) to the point of suffering a common criminal's death on a cross.

The world will see no greater example of love (Jn. 15:13) or humility.  What Jesus did was not for his own gain but rather for our benefit.  He esteemed (valued) us more than Himself (v.3).

This is the same mind, attitude or purpose that should be in us all.  Not proud but humble.  Not self-seeking but always esteeming or preferring others in love.  Obedient to the will of the Father. 

Sock Monkey Snippet:  Let this same mind be in you.

God's Reflection

Col. 1:15  He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

Most of us are familiar with computers.  Our home screens are dotted with icons (eikon), those small images that represent actual programs, commands or files.  When we click on the images, the original items are then revealed.  Paul tells us here that Jesus is the image (eikon), likeness or reflection of God the Father.

Picture a full moon reflecting on a still body of water.  That reflection exactly resembles the original.  According to Jesus (Jn. 14:9), we can know what our heavenly Father is like because we know what His Son, the reflection is like.  The Son has made Him, the invisible God, known to us (Jn. 1:18).

Jesus was the perfect image of God's character.  He was God's reflection.


Sock Monkey Snippet:  We can know the Father because we know the Son.