Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Hebrews 7:25
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There are some people who always are there for you.  We each have people in our lives that are constants.  Maybe it’s our family (mother or father), maybe it’s a special friend, maybe it’s a spouse - whoever it is, there are always there for us.  These people are willing to do anything for us.  They would give us the shirt off their backs.  Quite simply, their love for us has no end.  
 
Here the writer of Hebrews reminds us that there is one who has love for us that does not end - Jesus Christ.  I love the language here: “he always lives to intercede for them.”  This verb is important “always lives.” This is in the perfect tense and shows continuous action that doesn’t end.  Christ lived and continues to live at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us to the Father.  This is Christ’s life work.
 
The good news is Jesus Christ.  It is only through him that we have our life, our purpose, and our salvation.  He doesn’t intercede for us begrudgingly, He does so willingly so that we will be with Him and the Father forever.  Let’s live confidently today with this truth in mind.

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. - 1 Corinthians 15:20-22
 
 
Often, I wonder what one person can do.  How much impact can one person make on the world?  There are famous names that we all recognize who have changed the world we live in.  These people are often referred to as “change agents.”  Change agents are famous because they question the status-quo and bring much needed transformation to their own particular specialty or situation.  Without these people we wouldn’t have the Voting Rights Acts, the Civil Rights act, or the Emancipation Proclamation.  Can you imagine life without these earth-shattering changes in our world?
 
While many make a significant difference in our material world, we also need to consider our spiritual world as well.  Here in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians Paul writes about the one person that is a change agent in both our spiritual and material world: Jesus Christ.   Even though we all experience death and pain, we are guaranteed to have life restored to us through Jesus Christ.  All have died, but all will be made alive in and through Christ.  True change - a change from life to death - is only found in Jesus Christ.
 
Changing a person’s life is a profound thing.  Perhaps the only more profound thing is having your own life changed.  This is what happens in Jesus Christ - we have new life.  As we go throughout our day and week let’s not let this profound fact be lost in the busyness of our lives.

For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! - Romans 5:10
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None of us like to have enemies.  We don't need everyone to like us, but we don't want to think someone is our enemy.  When I think of having an enemy I think of someone that is antithetically opposed to me, my thoughts, and even my well-being.  An enemy is someone that takes delight at our bad luck or demise.  Further, I don't want to be an enemy of anyone.  I don't want to think of myself as someone that delights at someone else's misfortunes or takes joy in someone else's pain.  Friendship is not required of everyone, but I don't want to wish people ill-will either.

Here is Romans 5, Paul makes it clear that we (including me) were enemies of God.  We wanted the opposite of what God wanted.  We were, as I put it above, antithetically opposed to God and His will for our lives.  To put a visual to it, we were walking one way and while God was walking another.  

There is good news in Romans 5.  Despite being enemies, we are reconciled back (brought back into a healthy relationship with) to God through the death of Christ.  There is something important to notice here: we were enemies when we were reconciled!  Despite our rebellion against God's plan for us He reconciled us back to Himself.  It was 100% His love and His doing to move towards us.   This move towards us is amplified even more as we realize that this sets the stage for our own salvation because of this reconciliation to God.

As we go throughout our week let's remember the indisputable truth that God has reconciled us to Himself, even as we were His enemies.  Now that we have been reconciled we are His friends and no longer "objects of wrath."  Through this friendship we are saved which supplies our life and being.

 
We are taught to dream big.  You can be anything you want we are told as small children.  Just think about the amount of time we spend on training to achieve and dreaming big: primary school, military training, college, continuing education, etc.  We train to achieve.  We are wired to achieve.  We spend our lives “working our way up” in whatever our chosen field is.  We have ambition for greatness.
 
While we have ambition for greatness, one area that we don’t have ambition for is humility.  Yet humility is one of the defining characteristics of a Christ-follower.  Primarily because it is one of the defining characteristics of Christ.  Isaiah 66:2 reminds us “This is the one to whom I will look; he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”  To put it another way, those who are humble are the ones who get God’s undivided attention. How do we define humility?  Let me suggest this definition: “humility is honestly assessing ourselves in light of God’s holiness and our sinfulness.”  
 
Humility and the lack thereof are the subject of Mark 10:35-44.  The two sons of Zebedee, John and James, are dreaming big here in Mark 10.  They are thinking about what they want . . . what should be coming to them.  They have been faithful disciples and want a piece of the pie, if you will.  “Let us be in glory with you,” they ask.  Sadly, with this one request, they prove that they have misunderstood all that they have experienced with Christ. 
 
Jesus’ response is interesting. He doesn’t criticize them.  He redirects their ambition.  They should “dream big” not in terms of glory, but service, “Not so with you.  Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (v. 43-45).  Instead of asking what they could get being a follower of Jesus, they should have been asking how can they could serve.  This was a lesson not only for them, but for the rest of the disciples as well.
 
Sadly, we often walk the same road as John and James.  It was humanly impossible for the disciples to free themselves from their selfish pursuit of self-exaltation.  It is equally impossible for us to free ourselves from the very same sins.  We focus more on “getting what is coming to us” than we do developing an attitude of humility.  The more we assess ourselves in light of God’s character, the more we realize that we don’t have reason to lift ourselves up - only to humble ourselves to serve God.  We are called to a life of service to God and to others.  
 
Peter gives us a promise regarding humility.  In our pursuit of humility, we are covered in God’s care, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7).  Humility is giving ourselves over to God.  Humility is trusting that God will take care of us so we can take care of others through serving Him and others.
 
This Maundy Thursday, let’s remember Christ’s humility in washing the feet of the disciples.  Let us learn from John and James in Mark 10. Let us serve God and others as we develop a life of humility.