I wonder what it might have been like for Adam and Eve. 
To walk with God with no filter, no blinders, no fear.
Wow: only total clarity. 
Adam and Eve had a before-and-after-sin in their view of God. 

It’s an amazing thought because we only have an “after view”, a veiled view of Jesus, and our total clarity view will wait until heaven.

Eating from the tree in the middle of the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was forbidden.  The crafty serpent painted a different, false, and distorted view of who God is.  The serpent did not portray God as love, but instead as selfish, withholding something for His own control and power. 

In the aftermath, the issue of sin has distorted our view of God.  It has incapacitated us.  We have no capability to see God’s love unfiltered.  It’s more than we could handle as sinners in our distorted world of sin. 

Scripture tells us that fear has to do with punishment, and punishment didn’t exist prior to sin.  Adam and Eve weren’t created to be punished, but to be loved. Adam and Eve became afraid because they knew they’d sinned and feared punishment. 

In the distorted world Adam and Eve left behind,
we sin… and God punishes sin. 
We experience both fear and guilt.

But God is altogether different.
God is perfect love.  And perfect love drives out fear.

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment” (1 John 4:18)

Exercise Your Faith:

Think back over a sin you know you have committed or an area where you fell short.  Why do you remember it?  Embarrassment?  Conscience?  Self-loathing at falling short and a desire for perfection?  Perfect love drives it all out.  Take that sin, visualize it, and stamp it with “God already knows. I have no fear. ‘For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.’” (Hebrews 10:14). God is faithful to forgive.

Join me tomorrow for the issue of forgiveness and its relation to seeing God’s love.

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2024 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
• Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
• Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
• The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.
• Revelation in 40 devotionals for 2022 offered 40 vignettes, scenes, concepts, and thoughts to inspire us to read the Book of Revelation as it is written and to go deeper. They are archived beginning March 2, 2022.
• Last year’s devotionals “Created to Display His Image” explored what it truly means to be made in God’s Image and the profound significance of that fact. They are archived beginning February 22, 2023.

Try this exercise: Close your eyes.  Imagine God.  What do you see on the screen in your mind as you are honest with yourself about who you think God is?

Do you see a Being who harshly judges, throws lightning bolts, condemns people to their own desires, or exerts wrath upon everyone who won’t agree or bow a knee to Him in this very moment?  Perhaps in accordance with another tradition you see an angry God who calls you to punish infidels with torture or death unless they submit. To a far lesser degree, do you see a disapproving God because of how people live on earth and demands you do what you can to convince others of their errors?  Maybe you see an apathetic Being who created us and then left us on our own to work things out?  Is your God a Being who is so holy as to be unapproachable or conversely, beyond friendly as a very human equal buddy?  Or do you see One who overflows with grace and mercy?  These are among the ways people view God.

Now look in the mirror or use the selfie mode of your mobile phone camera.  What do you see looking back at you?  Someone who, as an Image-bearer, looks like God as you have imagined Him, or do you see someone totally different?

This devotional series for Lent, “Seeing His Love with New Eyes,”
is very personal to me.  
I wonder if it could be for you, too.

My heart wants to see the infinite love of God and always to feel loved like this, but my finite mind and conscience are an archive of 65 years on this planet, with my sinning the entire time. Maybe you would like to be free of condemnation too, and to know the love of God in new and personal ways.

We exercise many things for our health, but this exercise in our faith can do wonders for understanding God.  Begin with this exercise: Open your eyes to seeing God’s love in new ways. 

It’s not trite to say that “God is love.” (1 John 4:16)

Join me tomorrow as we see how sin has distorted our view of God.

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2024 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
• Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
• Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
• The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.
• Revelation in 40 devotionals for 2022 offered 40 vignettes, scenes, concepts, and thoughts to inspire us to read the Book of Revelation as it is written and to go deeper. They are archived beginning March 2, 2022.
• Last year’s devotionals “Created to Display His Image” explored what it truly means to be made in God’s Image and the profound significance of that fact. They are archived beginning February 22, 2023.

Announcing Lent Devotionals for 2024, “Seeing His Love with New Eyes” which will dig deep into a personal relationship of love with our Savior Jesus Christ.  To know His love that frees us from shame.  To experience His grace that flows from His love.  Lent begins on February 14th and continues to Holy Saturday, March 30th.  I hope you’ll join me for this soul-refreshing series.

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2024 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
• Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
• Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
• The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.
• Revelation in 40 was the series for Lent in 2022 and offered 40 vignettes, scenes, concepts, and thoughts to inspire us to read the Book of Revelation as it is written and to go deeper. They are archived beginning March 2, 2022.
• Last year’s devotionals, “Created to Display His Image” delved into the mystery and importance of the Image of God in which every human being has been made. They are archived beginning on February 22, 2023.

Just Trust.

One of the disadvantages of living in an information age is attempting to discern the truth in a forest of ideas, facts, and popular sentiment. The Bible will never steer you wrong.

In His prayer from John 17:17-18, Jesus reminded His disciples then and His disciples today, “Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.”

In this world, we will have confusion around us, but as long as we seek the path of His truth as a priority, we’ll grow in wisdom, see His truth, and this life will be less confusing.

“In you, LORD my God, I put my trust. I trust in You; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. No one who hopes in You will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause. Show me Your ways, LORD, teach me Your paths. Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” (Psalm 25:1-5)

What’s the first priority you seek every morning?

For those of us with the world at our fingertips through smart phones we use as alarm clocks, it’s way too easy to have a first priority be something other than God. Maybe a priority for the New Year could be to seek the Lord, call on Him, turn to the Lord, and ask for His mercy upon your day, your household, your family, your friends, your nation, your world, and your life. He is still near. He still faithful.

As we close out this devotional series for Advent “From the Jews, For the World” we look at a marvelous mystery: that Jesus would leave behind all of heaven with the riches and relationship He knew before the “Word became flesh”, and that He would choose to make His dwelling among us for three decades so that He might live for us and die for us. 

We are blessed in every way because this gift would be from the Jews through their faithful stewardship of God’s promises.  But by fulfilling the Law entrusted to the Jews in His person, Jesus would destroy the barrier that the Law represented—that kept Gentiles out of the salvation story—and now both Jews and non-Jews would be able to share in something that had previously been for the Jews alone. For the world!

During the days of the stewardship of the Law, “Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest [Jesus] had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time He waits for His enemies to be made His footstool.

For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:11-23)

.

So, while Bethlehem with its non-Christian majority might do a Total Grinch and take down every celebration, and its minions globally protest—even vandalize—tree lightings, assault and diminish everything associated with Christmas and “gloom prevails in the streets of the capital Damascus” we praise You, Jesus Christ, the truth is that in the heavenly realms, the cosmos rejoices at this Christmas gift with an unrestrained rejoicing.  It’s because You came.

Christmas means so much more!  Now, there is hope of eternal life because of what Jesus did, from the miracle of His birth as a tiny baby to the miracle of the empty tomb.  We eagerly anticipate the eternal rejoicing at Jesus’ return.  Merry Christmas!

The world is in turmoil on this Christmas Eve,
but there is hope. 
For the Christian there is hope…from the Jews for the world.

“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith– of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire– may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow.  It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.

Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at His coming. (1 Peter 1:6-13)

Angels marvel at the mystery.  We are the beneficiaries of something the angels never had access to—salvation in Jesus Christ who was a baby over Whom they sang at His birth. The apostle John writes, “Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders.  In a loud voice they were saying: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” (Revelation 5:11-12)

Angels still sing
because it is marvelous that the entire point of His birth at Christmas
would be for His atoning death on Good Friday. 
Worthy is the Lamb!

Questions for further thought:

Why didn’t Jesus’ death save angels?

“For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;  if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;  if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly … if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.” (2 Peter 2:4-9)

Why do the good angels sing?  What did Jesus do that makes them sing?

Prayer:  Thank You, Lord Jesus, for bringing Your peace upon those whom Your favor rests!  We worship You!  Thank You for rescuing us from the time of judgment.  We praise You for setting aside all that was Yours in heaven to become the Word made flesh and making Your dwelling with us.  We know that in the end, every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that You are Lord to the glory of God the Father.  May the words of our testimony resonate with those who are yet to be the full Gentile or remnant Jewish number so that they will believe before it is too late.  We love You, Jesus.  Amen.

It’s ironic how people who are steadfast in their unbelief project themselves onto Jesus and want to see Jesus as some sort of socialist hippie who is tolerant of every kind of evil and loves sinners so much that He gives their sin a pass.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

They take the meek Jesus of the manger and the good shepherd who carries lambs like Little Bo Peep to mean that He’s powerless. Like Jesus is so wimpy that brazen sinners can do what they want with no consequences. They’re so shameless, they brag that it’s like taking candy from a baby.

But don’t let the “every year Christmas baby in the manger” allow you to fool yourself.
He hasn’t been a baby in 2000 years.

Had Jesus come as the victorious conquering war-time king at His first coming,
NO ONE would be found righteous. 
The slaughter of the unrighteous would have been staggering and cataclysmic
… and UNIVERSAL. 
Much more like the flood … with NO ark.

The world is falling apart; it’s in turmoil, and the signs of the end are everywhere.  Jesus said,

“Immediately after the distress of those days “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’  “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.  And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.  Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.  Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;  and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.” (Matthew 24:29-39)

So Jesus entered this world as an unassuming baby. 
He won’t be a baby when He returns.

Questions for further thought:

What might be some reasons Jesus came as a baby and did not just materialize as a full-grown mystery man with no heritage like Melchizedek (Hebrews 7)?

If Jesus had no lineage, how could He possibly be the Messiah or could salvation be “from the Jews?”

Why was it important that Jesus was born just as we are and had every opportunity to sin, but did not, even to adult life?  How does that open the door for salvation for the world?

Prayer:  Father God, the wisdom of Your plan for the salvation of Your people is mysterious and wonderful!  Thank You for including Gentiles and Jews, bringing us both together under the banner of Christ Jesus.  Your ways are marvelous to behold and at this season, we rejoice in the birth of our Lord Jesus.  We pray for His return and thank You that the Way of salvation was opened before Your wrath against sin would be executed.  Thank You, Jesus, for taking my sin upon Yourself and paying what I could never pay.  In humility, I surrender my ways to Yours and ask that You would use me to communicate Your salvation before Your return as the victorious King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  I worship You and offer You praise.  Glory to God in the Highest!  Amen.

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 By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “From the Jews for the World” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

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Acknowledging inquiries about an entire season’s devotionals for your study group’s planning purposes, Seminary Gal’s prior seasons’ Advent devotionals can be accessed via the archives to the right and are as follows:  

• “Awaken Remnant” was the devotional topic for 2022. It began November 27, 2022, and highlighted the remnant found throughout Scripture as evident in Jesus’ lineage.
• The multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King was the theme of 2021’s devotional series. It is archived beginning November 28, 2021.
• 2020’s Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.