Facet of Christ (Day 54)
He lost every earthly friend he had while he lived, so that we can have in him whatever earthly friends we lose. (1 Thess. 4.17) Dane Ortlund 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. (1 Thes. 4:17)
Facet of Christ (Day 53)
He knows what it is to be alone, thirsty, hungry, hated, rejected, taunted, shamed, abandoned, stabbed, tortured, killed. Your pain is not lost on him. (Heb. 2.18) Dane Ortlund 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. (Hebrews 2:18)
Facet of Christ (Day 52)
He not only cherishes you, he nourishes you (Eph 5:29). He is feeding life into you by the Spirit moment by moment, sustaining you, preserving you, protecting you. Dane Ortlund 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, (Eph. 5:29)
Facet of Christ (Day 51)
His family thought he was nuts (Mark 3:21). Maybe your family thinks you are too. He doesn’t. He cherishes you (Eph 5:29). Dane Ortlund 21 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.” (Mark 3:21) 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, (Eph. 5:29)
Facet of Christ (Day 50)
He didn’t come to give a pep talk. He’s not a coach. He came to do, in our place, what every pep talk is trying to get us impossibly unmotivated people to do. (Phil. 4.13) Dane Ortlund 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (Phil. 4:13)
Facet of Christ (Day 49)
Speaking of his blood—he let it all out, while suffocating to death, naked, on a Roman cross, when I was the criminal deserving it. That sure was nice of him. (1 John 1.7) Dane Ortlund 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)
Facet of Christ (Day 48)
Taking on our humanity meant taking on all our human limitations. He has a specific fingerprint. A certain blood-type. (John 19.28) Dane Ortlund 28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” (John 19:28)
Meditation for Preparation – July 21st
Looking for the Wrong Light Read: Luke 11:27-36 27 As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” 28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” 29 When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to
Facet of Christ (Day 47)
This normal man was sinless, but he was a sinless man, not a sinless Superman. He woke up with bed-head. He went through puberty. Maybe he was a snorer. He’s not Zeus. (Phil. 2.5-7) Dane Ortlund 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. (Philippians 2:5-7)
Facet of Christ (Day 46)
There was nothing physically attractive about him (Isa 53:2). He would never have appeared on the cover of Men’s Health. He came as a normal man to comfort normal people. Dane Ortlund For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. (Isaiah 53:2)
