This is week two of our Advent study, reading through Ann Spangler’s Immanuel. If you’d like to join, you can purchase the book on Amazon, or you can simply follow along here in the comments for each week. My prayer is we’ll all find more Jesus this Christmas!
It’s funny how God can hit you with the same thing over and over… or is that just me? Last week, we talked about my very favorite name of God. Yahweh. Or, broken down to the core of that story… I AM. I still stand by that being my favorite name, because He is. Last week, he reminded me over and over again of all of the I AMs He has been in my life. I AM your healer. Redeemer. Deliverer. Grace. Forgiveness. Savior.
Which leads us to this week… Jesus the Savior. I wonder if we really understand how much we stand in need of a Savior? Yesterday in Sunday School, I said something about how many times we all sin, and someone else said, “Just since we got up this morning!” We tend to look back on the big uglies in life, but do we realize that even the tiniest wrong word, the slightest thought of judgment is sin? All of our criticisms, nasty thoughts, ugly comments… each of those is sin. And each of those causes us to need a Savior.
I prayed once for the Holy Spirit to make me aware of ALL of my sin. In all of my life, I’ve never been more miserable. I had to beg for mercy in more ways than one. Sin is ugly. Sin is powerful.
And thank God there is One more powerful. He gives grace. And He also demands grace from me to those around me. I faced that this past week too. And the other side, the grace, is very good.
So… Savior. Let’s dive in! As usual, questions will be in the comments each day, and you can even leave a question yourself. I’ve been getting emails from some of you who get this in your inbox. I’d love it if you’d also come here and join the conversation!
-JB
Jodie says
This weeks’ praise: Leeland’s “Carried to the Table”
This song came to me this morning when I was thinking of Jesus as Savior. Yesterday, we had communion at church, and I was frantic to get things “right” before I went to the altar to receive. This morning, God undid me. I don’t go to the altar myself… I’m carried. I don’t have to get things right, I just have to WANT to get things right and to KNOW that He is what makes them right within me. That’s grace. That’s why Jesus died. Because I will ALWAYS be a sinner. I will ALWAYS be wrong. And He will ALWAYS allow me at His table. In fact, He will carry me there.
Jodie says
Tuesdays’s Discussion–Do I realize I still need a Savior every single day? Sometimes, I think I can get caught up in the fact I’m saved, and I start to think it’s a one and done thing. But I need Jesus every single day. Doesn’t it get easy to think, “Oh, I’m saved, now I can go help out other people.” Guess what? Still in need of a Savior myself. Every day of my life. It’s dangerous thinking to believe we’ve got it all sewn up and our righteousness is our own. It’s not. It’s His. And know what else? If He was going to the sinners, why am I not doing the same thing? My life can get a little bit jaded, because I write Christian fiction and I’ve taught in Christian school. I miss sometimes just how much the world needs Jesus. Maybe it’s time to go out in it with my broken self being mended by Jesus and reach out a hand.
This week is challenging. So challenging, because God’s applying it to my life hard. How about you? What are you thinking as you read the prayer to “realize you still need Jesus to save you”?
Jodie Bailey says
Wednesday–How have you witnessed the power of God through Jesus in your life?
I was reading Danny Velasco’s story in the book, and just praising God for the fact that He is deliverer. I know this because He delivered me from a decade of fear and anxiety and panic. He literally changed me. And when I see stories like Danny’s, I know He is the God who changes people, who defeats the enemy, who is more powerful than we can fathom as humans. That He can deliver in a moment or over a lifetime. And I love that powerful, Almighty God bends down to touch us!
Jodie Bailey says
Thursday–This struck me as a writer today. Take a moment and let it hit you wherever you are…
“We open our hearts to Him eagerly waiting, painfully aware that if God doesn’t come to meet us, we will never accomplish His purpose.” -Carol Cymbala, Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir