Hi how are you today? I am good and have had a busy week at work. My oldest son also had to have all his teeth removed and dentures put in due to previous lifestyle choices. He is on the mend now and I know he will be more confident and have more energy.
This week I felt God tell me to blog on the right hand. I can think of a few verses in the Bible that pertain to this. One is found in Matthew 10: 35-37 in the Message Bible. James and John asked to be seated at the right and left hand of Jesus.
35 James and John, Zebedee’s sons, came up to him. “Teacher, we have something we want you to do for us.”
36 “What is it? I’ll see what I can do.”
37 “Arrange it,” they said, “so that we will be awarded the highest places of honor in your glory—one of us at your right, the other at your left.”
Why those places? Because they are influential places in heaven. The only issue is that Jesus sits at Gods right hand so would one of them be seated between God and Jesus- I think not. Jesus answered that it was not His realm of responsibility.
I really want to focus on Jesus sitting at the right hand of God. It tells us this in Hebrews 1:1-3 in the NKJV Bible:
1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
When Jesus ascended back into heaven after His death and resurrection, God seated Him at His right hand. In Exodus 15:6 in the Message Bible, it states:
Your strong right hand, God, shimmers with power;
your strong right hand shatters the enemy.
Jesus sits at the right hand of God- the right hand that has authority and power. Why is this important?
Because Jesus doesn’t just sit in heaven watching us. He still has an important role.
In our Christianese, we say things like Jesus lives in my heart or Jesus is with me. But Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to be our guide, teacher, helper and protector and more.
So why is it important to remember where Jesus is?
In Romans 8 in the Message Bible, it tells us:
And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us.
Jesus is in Gods presence advocating for us. What is an advocate? In the Oxford dictionary, one of the meanings is a person who puts a case on someone else’s behalf. He hears our prayers and advocates on our behalf to provide the answers.
In I John 2:1 in the Message Bible it states:
2 1-2 I write this, dear children, to guide you out of sin. But if anyone does sin, we have a Priest-Friend in the presence of the Father: Jesus Christ, righteous Jesus. When he served as a sacrifice for our sins, he solved the sin problem for good—not only ours, but the whole world’s.
Jesus is in the presence of God so that when we sin, He can tell the Father to forgive us because he died for us. He is pleading our case to the Father. Isn’t it great that we have Jesus as our advocate in heaven who defends us?
Remember God is love but He is also a God of justice.
So this week I want us to remember, the Holy Spirit is with us on earth but Jesus is in heaven as our defender and pleader before God.
One more thing, does Jesus just sit? No, He stands when we finally arrive in heaven. How do I know? He did it for Stephen in Acts 7.
Bless you and keep living the life God intended.
Karen
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