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It Is Finished
It Is Finished: A 40-Day Pilgrimage Back to the Cross by Charles Martin is a glorious book. He begins with our need for redemption and inability to save ourselves and brings us to the cross. This is an achingly beautiful devotional written to prepare our hearts and minds to celebrate Jesus’s redemptive work on the cross. From the author’s website: Across forty days of vivid storytelling, It Is Finished offers a unique and vital roadmap to trace the power and necessity of the cross throughout the Bible, from Genesis all the way to your present-day reality. With every devotion, designed to be the length of about a cup of coffee, Charles Martin…
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El Roi – The God Who Sees אֵ ל רֳ אִ י
The second name in our study is El Roi. We go from Elohim with more than 2,000 mentions in the Bible to El Roi with only one. It occurs when The Lord appears to Hagar in the desert when she’s fleeing from Sarah. Hagar named Yahweh, who had been speaking to her, “You Are ElRoi.” She said, “This is the place where I watched the one who watches over me.” Genesis 16:13, Names of God Translation The angel of the Lord found Hagar in the wilderness. This “angel of the Lord” is generally accepted as a theophany or Christophany, a visible manifestation of the Father or the preincarnate Christ. So to say…
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Thinking God’s Thoughts After Him
All human creativity originates with our Creator God, Elohim. Our creativity, even our ability to appreciate creation, comes from God. Seventeenth century astronomer Johannes Kepler wrote, “I was merely thinking God’s thoughts after him.” Does Kepler sound proud? As if he was claiming equality with God? Not at all! He continues, “Since we astronomers are priests of the highest God in regard to the book of nature, it benefits us to be thoughtful, not of the glory of our minds, but rather, above all else, of the glory of God.” He acknowledged both divine creativity and divine lovingkindness in Elohim’s desire that we delight in His creation. We can only…
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In beginning, Elohim . . .
The first name God gives Himself can be found in Genesis 1:1 In beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth Elohim appears more than 2,000 times in the Bible, more than 30 times in the first chapter of Genesis alone. Elohim is the Creator, and He deemed creation very good. He delighted in His creation. He delights in us. From the very first verse, we see that Elohim created time, “in beginning;” space, “the heavens;” and matter, “the earth.” There was no “before” before the beginning. That’s when time started. There was no space, no place to put anything, before the beginning. And there was no matter, nothing, literally no thing…
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Jesus, the Nazarene, King of the Jews – Part 7
When I was a child, my mind wandered during the sermon. (Shocker.) Looking at the crucifix, I wondered about the “INRI” hanging above Jesus. What I know now but didn’t know then is that it stands for IESVS NAZARENVS REX IVDÆORVM. Jesus, the Nazarene, King of the Jews. Now Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written: “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” John 19:19 Pilate wrote the inscription in Jewish Aramaic, Latin, and Greek for all to see. That rankled the chief priests. They told Pilate to change it to, “He says he is King of the Jews.” Pilate refused. Why?…
