Let Him Sit in Your Chair

The Lord is…  A Series from the Psalms

Psalm 93

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2093&version=NIV;TPT

 

The throne… this is a picture of my living room chair. It’s the chair that I always sit in when watching TV; when friends or family come over; when opening Christmas presents. It’s really not a throne, and of course, I’m not a king; but you get the idea. However, I’m pretty sure that every house has a throne; king or not.

 

David was intimately familiar with thrones and kings. He was God’s anointed king of Israel. The people of Israel wanted a person to be king instead of God so that they could fit in with all the other nations around them.

 

In Psalm 93, David wrote the following.

¹ Look! Yahweh now reigns as King!
He has covered himself with majesty and strength,
wearing them as his splendor garments.
Regal power surrounds him as he sits securely on his throne.
He’s in charge of it all, the entire world,
and he knows what he’s doing!    TPT

 

God is King and He sits on His throne. During David’s reign, the Temple was where the presence of God could be found. But when Jesus came, the spiritual order of things was turned upside down. Paul wrote to the Corinthians about this change.

¹⁶ Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?   NIV

If you as a believer and follower of Christ are God’s temple, then it follows that He is sitting on the throne of your temple; the throne of your life. But the truth of the human condition is that we desire to sit on our own throne more than giving it up to another. After all, like my living room chair, it is MY chair.

 

Who is this God that would desire, ask and even demand to sit on our throne? He is immovable, undefeatable, unstoppable, unending, unchanging, unshakable; He is the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Savior of sinners; He is relentless, never giving up, never saying no, never doubting; He is the King… So let Him sit in your chair.

 

² Lord, you have reigned as King from the very beginning of time.
Eternity is your home.       TPT

 

 

 

 

 

Grading on a Curve

The Life of Jesus Series:

How Jesus interacted with others.

Luke 7:36-50

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%207%3A36-50&version=NIV;ICB

 

When I was in school, most of my teachers graded on a curve; except of course for Mr. Van Note. He was famous for saying things like, “You missed the boat” and, “I’m going to teach to the fast learners. The rest of you will just have to keep up”. He was a tough, but fair math teacher. But, going back to grading on a curve; how does it work?

 

According k12academics.com, "In education, grading on a bell curve is a method of assigning grades designed to yield a desired distribution of grades among the students in a class…  The instructor can decide what grade occupies the center of the distribution. This is the grade an average score will earn, and will be the most common. Traditionally, in the ABCDF system this is the 'C' grade”.

 

Although grading on a curve is normally thought of in terms of education, it can apply to every area of our lives. In fact, it would seem to be human nature to “grade on a curve”, especially when it’s to our benefit.

 

Consider the story in Luke 7. The sinful woman shed tears on Jesus’ feet; then dried them with her hair and finally anointed his feet with expensive perfume. In the mind of Simon the Pharisee, the situation was black and white. He was righteous and she was a sinner.

 

³⁹ The Pharisee who asked Jesus to come to his house saw this. He thought to himself, “If Jesus were a prophet, he would know that the woman who is touching him is a sinner!”                        ICB

 

In response to this, Jesus told a story about a moneylender who forgave the debts of two different people. One a very large debt and the other a moderate sized debt. What’s important here is that the moneylender forgave both the big and the small debtor. In the same way, Jesus offered forgiveness to both the sinful woman as well as the Pharisee.

 

So, who do you relate to in this story?

 

A more important question is; how do you respond to sin in your life? Are you blind to it like the Pharisee? Or, like the sinful woman, do you cry out to Jesus in love and faith, asking for his forgiveness and grace?

 

¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.                       Hebrews 4 NIV

 

 

 

 

 

Struggles and Doubt

Jude 17-25

  

Have you ever experienced a time in your life when you struggled and were filled with doubts? Maybe it was a broken relationship; or your job was downsized; or a family member died suddenly or was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Life has a way of bringing struggles and doubts to all of us.

 

Mark tells the story of the man who asked Jesus to heal his son because his disciples weren’t able to. Both the disciples and the father doubted Jesus.

 

^21-22 “Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has this been going on?” “Ever since he was a little boy. Many times it pitches him into the fire or the river to do away with him. If you can do anything, do it. Have a heart and help us!” ²³ Jesus said, “If? There are no ‘ifs’ among believers. Anything can happen.” ²⁴ No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the father cried, “Then I believe. Help me with my doubts!”       MSG

 

We live in a culture that is filled with values and beliefs that are not Christian – pride,

materialism and lust to name a few. God has called us to live in this culture; not to conform to it, but to transform it. If we are not careful, we can adopt those same values and beliefs of the world around us.

 

In his letter, Jude is writing to Christians who are struggling and doubting because of some false teaching about grace and sin. 

 

^22 “Try to help those who argue against you. Be merciful to those who doubt. ²³ Save some by snatching them as from the very flames of hell itself. And as for others, help them to find the Lord by being kind to them, but be careful that you yourselves aren’t pulled along into their sins. Hate every trace of their sin while being merciful to them as sinners.”        TLB

 

Whatever struggles you face in life; whatever doubts you may have; God is always with you. God is always at work in your life to draw you closer to Him. God has given you grace so that you may share His grace and love with others.

 

 

 

^16 “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”         NIV

 

 

 

Here are some other pictures on this topic that you may enjoy.