Did you follow the hoopla over our governor’s race in Georgia and the circus that seems to always be Florida politics? I, for one, am glad that whatever state I live in and whatever human gets elected to that state’s highest office; as a Christian, Jesus is my governor and no one can ever vote him out of that position.

In Psalm 22:28, the Psalmist describes the Lord as the governor among the nations. Some translations say ruler over the nations or something similar. Of course governors of the past were not like our American governors. In those days the king would appoint the governor, the people didn’t vote for one. The governor didn’t have a legislature or even a judiciary to balance his power. The king would give his authority to the governor to rule.

In the case of Jesus, the Father appointed him and told of it beforehand. In Isaiah the prophecy of the child to be born included the phrase, “the government shall be on his shoulders”. In other words, he was given the right to rule over the people. He will be our governor until he gives that authority up to the Father at the end of time. No one can take it from him. No one can vote him out.

Frequently in our country and in others as well, governors and other officials are caught up in scandals and guilty of corruption. Isn’t it comforting to know that our governor is perfect and we don’t need to ever be ashamed of him. Let’s strive to live in such a way that he doesn’t have reason to be ashamed of us either.

In Christian Love

James Pasley

Did you brave the stores on Black Friday to get deals for gifts? Have you done all your gift shopping? Are there some people for whom it is difficult to buy the right gift? Do you wonder if the gifts will be appreciated? Giving gifts has been a part of human cultures for millennia. I guess the first gift given was not a good one (Eve gave Adam the fruit) and we have been trying to do better ever since. But seriously, God is a giver and since we are created in his image it is natural that we want to give as well.

We know God is the greatest gift-giver because he gave his only son for us, according to John 3:16. Other passages tell us about the things God has given us as well, and as God’s Son, Jesus is also a giver. Ephesians 4:7-8 tells us about Christ’s gifts, “But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.  8  Therefore it says,’When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.’” When Jesus rose from the grave he gave us gifts. Those gifts are available to all mankind and we need to be letting everyone know so they can receive their gifts from Jesus.

In addition to grace that is mentioned in verse 7, what are some of the gifts mentioned in verse 8 where he paraphrases Psalm 68:18? He gave us hope that we could overcome death because he rose again. He gave us freedom from the fear of death that has such a powerful hold on humanity. He gave us confidence that God’s promises are trustworthy. He gave us a pattern to imitate in baptism as a way to show that we are freed from sin. There are more gifts he gave through his loving sacrifice and his conquering the enemy of death. We need to be thankful for all these gifts and share them with others. 

What gifts that Christ gave are you most thankful for? What gifts have you overlooked? Let’s show our appreciation to Christ by living our lives for him every day and giving him our devotion in return.

Have you ever stood on unstable ground? Maybe the sand that washes away from your feet in the ocean, or mud that you sink down into, or maybe slippery ice or gravel on the side of a hill, or maybe you have been in an earthquake where the solid ground wasn’t solid anymore. In any of those cases people wish they had something solid and safe on which to put their feet. The Psalmist felt this way spiritually. He says in Psalm 73:2 “But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped.” A solid spiritual foundation is even more important that a physical one, because our eternity depends on it.

If we tried to make our own foundation it wouldn’t be very trustworthy, so it’s a good thing for us that God didn’t leave it to chance or to us. He provided the best foundation that we could have. Now when we talk about our foundation, sometimes we are talking about the truths that are spoken in the scriptures and how believing and knowing them gives us something to build our lives on. We see this kind of idea when we are told to add to our faith, virtue and then knowledge, etc. 

But most important is what those scriptures tell us our faith is to be built upon and the church is to be built upon. Peter confessed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God and Jesus praised him for that statement of truth and explained that this fact was the rock on which he would build his church, Matthew 16:16-18. Paul drives this point home in 1 Corinthians 3:11 where he says, “For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Our foundation for life, faith, the church, salvation, and eternal life in Heaven must be built on this solid foundation of Jesus or it will crumble. 

Is your foundation Jesus? Is he the one that is holding up everything you are building in this life and for the life to come? No other foundation will hold up, build on the only eternal foundation, Jesus.

​We use the word ‘counselor’ to either mean a legal advisor like a lawyer or one who gives other advice about how to live life. We have marriage counselors, financial counselors or advisors, school counselors and some go to psychiatrists or psychologists who are also counselors. We may have a friend who is a counselor and listens to our troubles and then gives us advice. As helpful as any of these may be they cannot compare with Jesus.

In Isaiah 9:6 a prophecy about Christ is given that supplies several descriptions of the Messiah. Depending on the translation’s punctuation there are 4 or 5. It is said he will be Wonderful/Marvelous Counselor. Some break this into two and some combine it to make 1. Regardless he is a marvelous, wonderful counselor because he doesn’t just advise and counsel us on money or education. He is not even limited to helping repair marriages or overcome life problems. He is the greatest counselor of all because he counsels us spiritually on how to receive and maintain spiritual life and continue that life for ever. Now what other counselor could compare with that?

Psalm 33:11 says “The counsel of the LORD stands forever,...” Psalms 16, 32, 73, 106, and 119 all speak of God and his word counseling us. In Acts 20:27 Paul says that he acting on God’s behalf shared with those from Ephesus the whole counsel of God. These are general and no specific counsel is mentioned, but in the letter to Laodicea in Revelation 3 Jesus gives some very specific counsel. To a church that thought it was rich and prospering and had everything it needed he revealed her true spiritual condition. The church was wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. One of the most important roles of a counselor is to help us see the truth about ourselves and then to help us find the way to improve. Jesus further counseled them to get spiritual gold and clothes and eye salve from him to fix their spiritual condition. 

What advice do you and I need from our wonderful counselor? Will we listen to what he tells us and make the changes necessary to improve our spiritual condition? Peter was correct when he said to Jesus, “To whom shall we go, you have the words of eternal life.” Let’s go to Jesus for counsel instead of listening to the worldly advice that comes from Satan.

​The Bible describes the church as a building made up not of bricks and stone, but of living Christians. Ephesians 2:20 explains that the foundation for this temple being built for the glory of God is the teaching and examples of the apostles and prophets and that Jesus is the Cornerstone. That makes him the most important of course.

We don’t use Cornerstones in many of our buildings today. Everything is wood frames or steel beams and we don’t really build the way they did. The cornerstone is the most important, usually largest and always the first stone laid and with good reason. That large stone will affect everything that comes after it. The orientation of the corner stone will affect which direction the building is facing. If it is not level you could easily wind up with the leaning tower of Piza when you are finished.

Jesus is our cornerstone so that as we are built around and on top of him we will face the right direction as well as being stable and upright. The image of Christ the cornerstone was prophesied all the way back in Psalm 118. In verse 22 of that Psalm he is pictured as a stone that the builders rejected, but that became the cornerstone. This verse is quoted 5 times in the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, Acts, and 1 Peter. The builders are the religious leaders of Jesus’ day and they rejected him. They wanted to build according to their own plan and not God’s.

What about you and me? Will we be like them and reject Jesus? Or will we accept him as the cornerstone God made him and allow God to build us on Christ as he sees fit? Peter says this cornerstone is chosen and precious and if we will believe in him we will not be put to shame. Let’s trust the master builder and build our lives and be built in his church the way he wants us to be.

We have all heard of someone being a boss’s right-hand man. There is no more important position for an employee to be in than that. Joseph was Pharaoh’s right-hand man, Aaron was for Moses, and Moses was for God. But what if you weren’t just next in line? What if you could be more than a hand? 

Jesus is pictured at the right hand of God more than once (Ps. 110:1; Mt. 26:64; Mk 12:36; Acts 2:33), but he is more than just God’s right-hand man like Moses had been, he actually is part of the Godhead. He is “the Arm of the Lord” as John says in 12:37-38 quoting Isaiah 53:1. How much do we use our arms? How much has God used His Arm? Psalm 98:1-2 says, “His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.” Isaiah 51:9 begs God to use his arm in his day as he had in the past. Then in 52:10 he says the Lord’s holy arm is bare and the salvation of God will be seen to the furthest extent of the earth. Surely Jesus’ coming is being considered here.

The passage John quotes; however, asks “who has believed our report?” and “to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” Jesus had done so many powerful miracles revealing himself as the arm of the Lord, but many people still wouldn’t believe. He claimed this fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy.

If we continued reading Isaiah 53 we would find it familiar. The Christ would be rejected by men and despised and ultimately suffer and die bearing the iniquity(sin and wickedness) of us all. Yes, God put his arm on display for all to see and then cut that arm off and allowed his arm to die separated from him(Mt. 27:46) How impressive that his arm lives and reaches out to save us even now. At the end of that arm is the hand that is not shortened or unable to save (Isa 59:1). 

Christ, the Arm of the Lord, reaches out to save us. Will you reach out and allow him to take your hand in his and keep it there so that you can be saved? It you will there is no power that can remove it.

jp - The Arm of the Lord