[Leviticus 5]

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Verna McCrillis, 6/9/2010

John

Who Was Jesus? [John 1]

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. 5The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

John's gospel continues to be my favorite book of the Bible because John was the one disciple who really understood that Jesus loved Him and freely received the intimacy that came with that divine love. Using seven of Christ's miracles, John not only told Jesus' story, but also showed how the Father, the Spirit and Jesus work together as One. Here in the opening verses, he lifted Jesus up and showed Him to not only be a special person, but that Jesus was God. In these four verses, he spoke volumes about His beloved Jesus.

Jesus

Was in the beginning
Was the Word
Was With God
Was God
Was in the beginning with God
All things came into being through Him
Apart from Him nothing came into being that came into being
In Him was life
The life was the Light of Men
His Light shines in the darkness
The darkness does not comprehend His Light

I praise you God for manifesting your character through Jesus here on the earth to be my life and my light. Cause me to walk by Your grace in the power of His life and light.

Did Jesus Trust Anyone? [John 2]

²³Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing. ²⁴But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, ²⁵and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.

In John 2 we see that Jesus began His public ministry at the urging of His mother by turning the water into wine at a wedding in Cana. At the end of the chapter we see that many believed in His name as they observed His signs (miracles). And then the odd statement - "But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men." What is that all about? He knew what was in man so He didn't trust Himself to them.

I looked at the word entrust and it is the Greek word "pisteuo" and is the verb form of the word used for faith. The same Greek word was used in v.23 and translated believed. It is the same word used in John 1:12, "those who believe in His name" were the ones who were given "the right to become a child of God."

Now I am intrigued. I am looking forward to understanding what God through John wants us to know about how Jesus lived and what He believed while He was on earth. Let's see if this thought of Him not entrusting Himself to man is explained further as we read the book of John. As for today, we can proclaim the truth - Jesus is worthy of our trust, man is not.

I praise You, Lord, that I can trust in Your name. Cause me to believe today when I see Your power at work.

All Things Are in His Hand [John 3]

³¹"He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.³²"What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony.³³"He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true.

³⁴"For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure. ³⁵"The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. ³⁶"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

Jesus is above all. "For God sent Him and He speaks God words." (Holman, CSB) If we accept Jesus' testimony we affirm that God is true. Jesus is calling us to believe that everything He says about the Father is true.

Today, I praise you for being the Father who "loves the Son and has given all things into His hands." Cause me to walk through this day as one who knows that all things are in the hand of the Son that You love.

I Am the Messiah [John 4]

⁷There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." ⁸For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

¹³Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; ¹⁴but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."

¹⁵The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw."

¹⁶He said to her, "Go, call your husband and come here."

¹⁷The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have correctly said, 'I have no husband'; ¹⁸for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly."

¹⁹The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. ²⁰"Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship."

²¹Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. ²²"You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. ²³"But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. ²⁴"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

²⁵The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us."

²⁶Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."

Jesus, a Jew, asked this Samaritan woman for a drink from Jacob's well. She is stunned because He is talking to her. She is woman, she is a Samaritan ("For Jews do not associate with Samaritans" v.9) and she does not have a good reputation (which she finds out that He does know v. 18). Any of those three things could have kept Him from speaking with her. But He initiates the conversation and keeps engaging her even when she is defensive. What a beautiful picture of expressing God's love in an awkward conversation. He moves past the current objections and points to the future, "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth." He points her to the Father, "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." And He points her to the Messiah by mentioning what is coming.

Why did Jesus take the time to talk to this woman? Even the disciples were amazed that He was talking to her when they returned. (v. 27) In the verses following we find the answer, "Open your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ready for harvest." (v. 35) He looked past the obvious - a woman, a Samaritan, a sinner. He saw this woman as someone who needed to know the Messiah. He came to "do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work." (v. 34) He invited her to become a worshiper of God through believing in the Messiah. She not only responded but she brought others to meet, "the Savior of the world." (v.42)

I praise You, Father, for sending Jesus to be my Savior. Cause me to worship You today, in spirit and in truth. Thank You for Jesus who explains Your love so beautifully to us and meets us right in our state of need.

Will You Honor Jesus as God? [John 5]

¹⁸For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.

¹⁹Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. "For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel. "For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. "For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

Marvel with me today about who Jesus is:

If God is His own Father, He is equal with God v.18

He does nothing of Himself, only what the Father does v.19

The Father loves the Son and shows Him everything He is doing v.20

In concert with the Father, Jesus raises the dead and gives life to to anyone He wishes v.21

The Father has given all judgment to the Son v.22

All people will honor the Son just as they honor the Father v.23

You cannot honor the Father if you don't honor the Son v.23

Do you want to know that you will not come under judgment? That you will have life in eternity instead of death? Would you like to walk around having those issues already settled? Jesus assures you can. How? Hear Jesus' word and believe the Father who has sent Jesus. v.24

Father, I honor Jesus as Lord. You and He are in complete concert together in all that You do. I praise you that Jesus spoke frankly about how He lived here on earth, "I can do nothing on My own. I judge only as I hear, and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me." (John 5:30, Holman, CSB.) Cause me to be in concert with You in the same way today.

What Is the Work of God? [John 6]

²⁶Jesus answered them and said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.

²⁷"Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.

²⁸Therefore they said to Him, "What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?"

²⁹Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent."

³⁰So they said to Him, "What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? ³¹"Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'HE GAVE THEM BREAD OUT OF HEAVEN TO EAT.'"

³²Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. ³³"For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world."

³⁴Then they said to Him, "Lord, always give us this bread."

³⁵Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. ³⁶"But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. ³⁷"All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. ³⁸"For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.³⁹"This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. ⁴⁰"For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.

Jesus had fed the 5000 and now many were following Him, not because they were amazed at the miracle He had done, but because they wanted their physical needs met. What were they thinking? Maybe they were thinking that if they followed this man maybe He would feed them all the time and they wouldn't have to think about providing their own food. "Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'HE GAVE THEM BREAD OUT OF HEAVEN TO EAT."

Jesus used this opportunity to show them that even the manna in the wilderness was pointing to what God would provide in Jesus, the "true bread of heaven." Even as Jesus makes the statement, "For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world," they immediately realize that this is what their hearts yearn for. "Then they said to Him, 'Lord, always give us this bread.'" (emphasis added.)

It had to be all mixed up in their heads, the physical desire to not have to deal with hunger and the spiritual desire to have that deep longing, that feels like hunger, completely satisfied. It is sure mixed up in my mind, at least. Oh, to taste of the Bread of Life, coming to Him and believing in Him in such a way that I am completely satisfied. So completely content that I don't worry about what to eat, what to drink, what to wear or what is going to happen in the future. Being fully persuaded that my Father in Heaven knows what I need and that He will abundantly provide for each need (Matthew 5).

Jesus graciously brought them full circle back to the original question, "What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?" Believe in God, believe in Jesus so you can live with Him eternally - that is the work of God.

Lord, help me with my unbelief. Cause me to believe You (know, agree and act) as the true Bread of Life so that I will never be hungry and thirsty again. You are worthy of my complete trust to provide ALL that I need.

He Is True and Righteous [John 7]

¹⁴But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and began to teach.

¹⁵The Jews then were astonished, saying, "How has this man become learned, having never been educated?"

¹⁶So Jesus answered them and said, "My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.

¹⁷"If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself.

¹⁸"He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

¹⁹"Did not Moses give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law? Why do you seek to kill Me?"

²⁰The crowd answered, "You have a demon! Who seeks to kill You?"

²¹Jesus answered them, "I did one deed, and you all marvel.
²²"For this reason Moses has given you circumcision (not because it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and on the Sabbath you circumcise a man.

²³"If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath?

²⁴"Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."

The Jews were astonished at Jesus' teaching because He had not been educated. Jesus responded with the truth, "My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me." He did not receive their compliment with a polite, "thank you," but rather was quick to point to the Father.

He was not seeking His own glory by speaking from Himself, but was "seeking the glory of the One who sent Him." That was how Jesus was true and righteous - He did nothing apart from the Father.

I praise You, Jesus, for living a life that was completely dependent on the Father and for always pointing us to Him.

Jesus, Brilliant Teacher [John 8]

1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them. 3The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court,4they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act.5"Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?"6They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground.7But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."8Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.9When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court.10Straightening up, Jesus said to her, "Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?"11She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "I do not condemn you, either Go From now on sin no more."]

I always imagined that this event took place apart from other people, however, according to John, Jesus was in a public venue. He was seated in the temple teaching all the people who were coming to Him when "the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery and having set her in the center of the court." Jesus, then, proceeded to very quietly and brilliantly use this situation as an object lesson for His teaching for the crowd that were gathered to learn from Him. He wasn't flustered or angry and with just a few words to the scribes and Pharisees and then to the woman, the situation was defused and the crowd had a powerful object lesson. So what lessons were learned by those who watched this situation unfold before them? First, they learned that Jesus was peaceful and calm in contrast to the scribes and Pharisees who not only disrupted His teaching, but were inciting Jesus and the crowd to participate in a stoning there in the temple. Second, they learned that the scribes and Pharisees were not as innocent as they led people to believe. And, finally, they saw the compassion and forgiveness that Jesus offered to the scribes and Pharisees and to the adulterous woman. Jesus was not like their other leaders and this whole situation backfired on those religious leaders and gave a setting for Jesus to shine in their darkness.

We praise you that you are a brilliant teacher full of calm compassion and forgiveness. Cause us to daily sit at your feet and learn the lessons you are teaching us and to see how you use the things in our lives as object lessons for us, too.

Jesus Gives Sight to the Blind [John 9]

35Jesus heard that they had put him out, and finding him, He said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"36He answered, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?"37Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you."38And he said, "Lord, I believe." And he worshiped Him.39And Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind."40Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, "We are not blind too, are we?"41Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, 'We see,' your sin remains.

After the Pharisees grilled the blind man that Jesus healed on the Sabbath and kicked him out of the synagogue, Jesus heard what happened and went looking for him. Once again, I see that Jesus cared about each individual, as well as for the masses who came to Him. Just imagine how hard it would have been for Jesus to find time to follow up on a man he had encountered one time for a few minutes when thousands were following Him with huge needs. But He did look for and found that healed blind man and then Jesus invited him to be part of a new community, the budding community of Jesus followers. Jesus wanted all those who were blind to see, however, He was more interested in spiritual blindness. In the case of the physically blind man, Jesus used the physical healing to lay the foundation for spiritual healing. In the end, however, only those who know they are spiritually blind will be able to receive the spiritual sight that Jesus has to offer. When the blind man accepted the truth about Jesus, His spiritual eyes were opened and He became part of the kingdom. But to continue to walk with our spiritual eyes open involves a daily going to Jesus through the Word and prayer and fellowship with other believers (Romans 12:1-2).

God we praise you that you give spiritual sight through Jesus. Cause us to know even though you have opened our eyes and we are part of Your kingdom, that we continually need you to keep on opening our eyes day after day so that we walk in Your Light.

Jesus, My Shepherd, Is God [John 10]

22At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem;23it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon.24The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, "How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly." 25Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father's name, these testify of Me. 26"But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. 27"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;28and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29"My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.30"I and the Father are one."31The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him.32Jesus answered them, "I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?"33The Jews answered Him, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God."

John is my favorite book in the Bible and chapter 10 is one of my favorite chapters in John. From his opening words, John made it clear throughout the book that Jesus is God. I like things to be clear so that when people challenge me concerning Jesus, I can take them to John as well as other places and show them how Jesus demonstrated and explained His deity. He was not just a good man and He was not a liar, nor was He crazy. He said He was God and He backed it up with not just one miracle, but with so many that John said at the end of the book that if all that Jesus did were written, he supposed that "not even the world itself could contain the books that would be written." (John 21:25)

Jesus

Did works in the Father's name
The works testified about Him
His sheep know His voice and follow Him
He knows His sheep
He gives eternal life to His sheep
His sheep will never perish
No one will snatch them out of His hand.

The Father

The Father has given the sheep to Jesus
He is greater than all
No one is able to snatch the sheep out of the Father's hand
Jesus and the Father are one

The Jews listening to Jesus speak these words that winter in the temple in the portico of Solomon understood that Jesus was claiming to be God. Just look at their response.

"31The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him.32Jesus answered them, "I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?"33The Jews answered Him, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God."

We praise You Jesus that you and the Father are One and that we can know your voice and follow you and be eternally protected in Your hand. Cause us to walk in the truth of who You are, hearing Your voice and following You and in the power of your protection.

Jesus Is the Resurrection and the Life [John 11]

18Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off;19and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother. 20Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house.21Martha then said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.22"Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You."23Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."24Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day."25Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,26and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?"27She said to Him, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world."

I loved my brother and can relate to the pain that Martha, Mary and Jesus felt when Lazarus died. When I was 19, my 21 year old brother and one of my closest friends, Rick, was in a motorcycle wreck. His roommate called me to tell me he was hurt and in the hospital. I was in a city four hours away and a friend drove with me to the hospital. We weren't able to reach my parents until the next day. When we arrived, some orderlies were wheeling my brother to the ICU. I spent the next three days by myself next to his bed in the ICU holding his hand and talking to him. He never answered me because he was in a coma. Amazingly, except for the bandage on his head, he had no other visible injuries. My parents arrived on the third day and made me go to the motel with them that evening. My brother died that night and I never saw him again.

I wasn't a Christian at the time and it was years before I was able to process the deep hurt. My pain was not wasted though because that hurt from Rick's death was one of the major things that drove me to Christ several years later. And now I know that even though I wasn't aware of Him, Jesus was there with me through it all. He had numbered my brother's days and had even exposed Him to the truth of the gospel. I don't know if he was saved, but I do know that I have his Bible and that he had a Sunday School teacher who told him about Jesus at some point in his life. And I also know that Jesus is the resurrection and the life and that I won't be too surprised if I see my brother again when Jesus comes to gather His church. Meanwhile, Jesus comforts my sadness as I think about Rick and He always is willing to carry my pain when I give it to Him.

Jesus, I praise you that you are the resurrection and the life and that life and death are in your hands alone. I praise you that you weep at my pain and loss and can carry it for me. Cause me to walk in the comfort that You alone can give.

Jesus Shows Us the Father [John 12]

44And Jesus cried out and said, "He who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in Him who sent Me.45"He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me.46"I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.47"If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.48"He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.49"For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.50"I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me."

One of my favorite things about the book of John is how clearly I can see the Trinity or three persons of our one God (The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit). Up until now in John, the emphasis has been the relationship between the Father and Jesus. However, in just a few more chapters, Jesus introduces the Holy Spirit and His role.

Relationship Between Jesus and the Father

If you believe in Jesus, you believe in the Father who sent Jesus.
If you see Jesus, you see the Father.
Jesus came as God's light into this dark world to save the world.
If you reject Jesus and His sayings, you will be judged by Jesus' words in the last day.
Jesus' word were not His own, but the Father's words
The Father's commandment is eternal life and Jesus speaks just as the Father told Him.

I praise you Father for sending Jesus to show us who You are and to speak Your words of eternal life. Cause us to walk in Your light as we get to know Your Son through the Word.

Owner of All Things Washed Feet [John 13]

3Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, 4got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself.5Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.

If I were in Jesus' place (I know that is a gigantic stretch of the imagination) and knew all of the things that Jesus knew; that the Father had given Him everything, that He had come from God and was going back to God, the last thing I would do is wash other people's feet! This act was a powerful statement to all who were present and continues to astound people who read about this through the ages. Just imagine President Obama or Queen Elizabeth or members of the G20 doing some equally humiliating and menial task for those around them. And these people, who are so influential on the world stage today, don't even come close to the majesty of our God and King, Jesus the Messiah. What a surprising and amazing God we have!

Jesus

Knew the Father had given all things into His hands
Knew He had come forth from God
Knew He was going back to God (after a horrible death at the hands of the people He came to save)
Laid aside His garments and washed the feet of His disciples on the eve of His death

I praise You, Jesus, for demonstrating majesty and humility. Cause me to walk in the truth of your Sovereign majesty and in humility with others by your grace.

Parting Words of Comfort [John 14]

²⁷"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.
¹"Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.

²"In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.

³"If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

⁴"And you know the way where I am going."

⁵Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?"

⁶Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

I had to put verse 27 first because that is the way these verses came tumbling out as my mom, my sister and I sat around my father's bed shortly after he died a year and a half ago. The promise was first - "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you;" It was beautiful how our voices, first timid, gradually growing stronger, spoke those verses in unison. Our hearts sang together those precious words of our Lord.

"Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me." Throughout this whole chapter Jesus reminded his disciples of truth that should comfort their souls, in preparation of His upcoming death and resurrection.

"I go to prepare a place for you." v.2

"I will come again and receive you to Myself" v.3

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." v.6

"If you know Me, you also know the Father" v.7

"I will give you another Counselor to be with you forever (He is the Spirit of truth)" v.16

"I am coming to you" v. 18

"Because I live, you will live too" v. 19

"I leave My peace with you" and it won't look anything like the peace the world has to offer you!

Lord, we praise You for leaving us with such words of comfort. Thank You that because we love You, we are loved by the Father and by You. You are revealing Yourself to us today. Cause us to see You today and to embrace Your words of comfort.

Abide in Me and Have Full Joy [John 15]

¹"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. ²"Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.

³"You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. ⁴"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.
⁵"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. ⁶"If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. ⁷"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸"My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.

⁹"Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. ¹⁰"If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.

¹¹"These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

What is Jesus calling us to when He invites us to abide in Him? Abide the same way a branch abides in the vine to bear fruit. The branch cannot bear fruit by itself. It has to be connected to the vine which has a root system. Jesus is the vine in which He is calling us to abide (remain, sojourn).

John has been weaving this them throughout the book. He has been showing the idea the Jesus and the Father are one. They do everything together. "For God sent Him and He speaks God's words" John 3:34. "I do nothing on my own" John 8:28. Now He is inviting us to be part of that union - remaining in the One who produces fruit "because you can do nothing without Me."

abide in Me

My words abide in you

abide in My love, abide in My Father's love

My joy in you - your joy is overflowing

Jesus, I praise You that You are calling me to sojourn with you and You have provided the way for that to happen. I want to respond to Your invitation to stay connected to You through Your Spirit ministering Your words to me. Cause me to remain in your love so that Your love can spring out of me as fruit springs forth from the branch.

He Left Us With His Holy Spirit [John 16]

⁵"But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?'

⁶"But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

⁷"But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.

⁸"And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;

⁹concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me;

¹⁰and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me;

¹¹and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

¹²"I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

¹³"But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.

¹⁴"He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.

¹⁵"All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.

Jesus recognized that the words He was telling His disciples in the upper room was causing them sorrow. They did not want Him to go away to the Father, they wanted Him to stay with them. They could not believe that it would really be to their advantage if He went away. Didn't Jesus just say how great it was going to be to abide with Him?

What they didn't understand was while Jesus was on earth, He could only physically be in one place at a time. When He was with Peter, James and John, He was not also with the others. He was limited in presence. What He wanted them to know was that it was going to be a greater benefit to them to have His Spirit living in them than for Him to stand among them. "...or if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you." What is the Helper (One who comes alongside to help) going to do?

For God's children the Holy Spirit:

He is the Spirit of truth

He will guide you into all truth

Whatever He hears from Jesus (which is also from the Father) He will disclose it to you

He will glorify (give the correct estimation) Jesus

For the world the Holy Spirit:

He convicts the world concerning sin ("concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me")

He convicts the world concerning righteousness ("because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me")

He convicts the world concerning judgment ("because the ruler of this world has been judged.")

Father, we praise You for sending Jesus to earth to make it possible for us to become Your children. We praise You that You loved us so much that You did not leave us stranded, as orphans. You gave us Your Spirit of truth who will lead us into all truth. We are asking that You cause us to abide with You as we listen to Your Spirit in us.

At One With Him [John 17]

¹³"But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.

¹⁴"I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.¹⁵"I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.¹⁶"They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.¹⁷"Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.¹⁸"As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.¹⁹"For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. ²⁰"I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; ²¹that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

When I was a 20 year, deeply in love and wondering what scripture to have read at my wedding, Jesus' prayer for me in John 17 seemed exactly what I wanted. "...that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us." It was this oneness that I was anticipating and longing for. Thirty five years later as I read this passage again I am reminded of the oneness that the Father and Jesus shared together, the oneness that They are inviting me to share. I realize that I have had glimpses of what oneness is in my marriage. The moments when I surrender my plan and together we move in the same direction.

I know you've had moments like this. I am arm and arm with Dick, we are really together, listening to each other, being in touch with what each other is thinking and feeling. We are walking through the mall and without words, his nudge directs me into a shop. We walk in spontaneously together, in harmony. It is no longer me, an individual walking into the shop I want to go in, pulling him along. We are so in tune with each other, we have surrendered our individual wants and plans, and move together as one.

Jesus showed us over and over how that oneness happens. Have you caught the numerous times He has said that He says only what the Father speaks, He does what the Father wills, He judges as the Father judges? As we have read about His everyday life in the book of John, there is a sense of the instantaneous, not premeditated, moving in synch with the Father. “I do nothing on my own initiative.” He surrendered, moment by moment, to the Father. We see it vividly when He prayed, "Not My Will, but Your will."

Lord, I praise You that You have invited me into this union with You. Cause me to surrender to Your leading today, moment by moment. I want to walk through the day, arm in arm with You, not me tugging to do things my way. Only Your Spirit can keep me mindful of this oneness we have. Keep m in Your truth.

What Is Truth? [John 18]

³³Therefore Pilate entered again into the Praetorium, and summoned Jesus and said to Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?"
³⁴Jesus answered, "Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?"

³⁵Pilate answered, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You to me; what have You done?"

³⁶Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm."

³⁷Therefore Pilate said to Him, "So You are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."

³⁸Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?" And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, "I find no guilt in Him
³⁹"But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover; do you wish then that I release for you the King of the Jews?"

⁴⁰So they cried out again, saying, "Not this Man, but Barabbas." Now Barabbas was a robber.

In His trial by Pontius Pilate in the last hours of His life, Jesus states very clearly why He was born and why He was on earth. He came to testify of the truth. Pilate asks the question he has been struggling with his whole life, "What is the truth?"

If Pilate would have listened to Jesus' words, he would have known his answer - hearing Jesus voice means you have truth. If you want truth, listen to Jesus. God the Father declared at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!" (Matthew 17:5, NIV).

He has shown us the Father. "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." (John 14:6).

What truth did you hear from Jesus today as you spent time abiding in His words?

Jesus, I praise You that You are the Truth. You are a king but Your kingdom is not of this realm. Thank You, for being willing to speak the truth even as You faced incredible pain and suffering. Thank You for being willing to lay down Your life so that I might hear the truth and be set free. I praise You that I have Your Spirit of Truth in me. Jesus, You are my King.

It Is Finished! [John 19]

⁶So when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out saying, "Crucify, crucify!" Pilate said to them, "Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him."

⁷The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and by that law He ought to die because He made Himself out to be the Son of God."

⁸Therefore when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid;

⁹and he entered into the Praetorium again and said to Jesus, "Where are You from?" But Jesus gave him no answer.

¹⁰So Pilate said to Him, "You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?"

¹¹Jesus answered, "You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin."

¹²As a result of this Pilate made efforts to release Him, but the Jews cried out saying, "If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar."

¹³Therefore when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.

¹⁴Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour And he said to the Jews, "Behold, your King!"

²⁸After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, "I am thirsty."

²⁹A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth.

³⁰Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

We praise You, Jesus for the finished work of redemption!

Jesus the Miracle Worker [John 20]

30Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples,which are not written in this book;31but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

John, the disciple that Jesus loved, summed up all that he had written in the Gospel of John in one powerful little sentence in John 20:30-31. Our Jesus, the God/man, walked this earth, suffered and died for one purpose, that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah resulting in eternal life.

John focused on Jesus' miracles in telling the story of Jesus. However, only seven of Jesus' miracle made it into John's gospel message. John must have prayed and thought long and hard about which ones to include making the ones he did include special in some way or fashion. But I am intrigued by John's statement that "many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciple , which are not written in this book." That statement is clarified in the next chapter (John 21:24-25) in his closing remarks. There he says: 24This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true.25And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.

Can you imagine how many miracles Jesus must have done in His short three years of ministry, if they were written in detail, as were the seven John covered in his book, that he supposed "that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written."
Jesus was the ultimate miracle worker! It is in His very nature to do supernatural acts that minister to people. And we know that He is alive today continuing in that miracle working through His Spirit in us. Perhaps after over two thousand years, the universe may not contain all of the detailed accounts of all the miracles He has wrought through believers through all of those years.

We praise you Jesus for your miracles that show us your supernatural nature and character and for the gift of faith and eternal life. Cause us to continue to follow you through your Spirit and be a little part of a huge story of miracles on the face of this earth.

Do You Love Me More Than These? [John 21]

15So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You " He said to him, "Tend My lambs."16He said to him again a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Shepherd My sheep." 17He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You " Jesus said to him, "Tend My sheep.

18"Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go."19Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me!"20Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His bosom at the supper and said, "Lord, who is the one who betrays You?"21So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, "Lord, and what about this man?" 22Jesus said to him, "If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!" 23Therefore this saying went out among the brethren that that disciple would not die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but only, "If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?"

My heart goes out to this man, Peter, maybe because he reminds me of me. He really wanted to do the right thing. He had such good intentions but as soon as the going got rough his intentions fall flat. (Wasn't he sure he could follow Jesus even to death? But in the heat of the battle, he denied even knowing Jesus three times.) What emotions he must have experienced as he watched Jesus being crucified and buried. How timid he must have felt waiting to see Jesus after he heard that He was indeed alive.

If it were me I would have replayed everything in my mind wondering why I was so stupid to deny Him. Why couldn't I have stayed awake in the garden to pray with Him? Would He ever forgive me for failing Him so many times? What now? Was the last three years a total waste?

In the midst of his sadness Peter must have remembered how tenderly Jesus had understood him and loved him. Did he remember that Jesus had seen his willing spirit but had known how weak his flesh was in those final hours? Jesus gently yet firmly invites Peter to a restored relationship after the resurrection:

In John 21 We see that Peter got tired of waiting around (It has been eight days and Jesus has only appeared twice to them.) So he he decided to go fishing. The others joined him and they went fishing and caught nothing. Jesus was on the shore and told them to try casting their net on the other side. So they did and caught a large number of fish. They realized it was the Lord and Peter plunged into the sea. It was Peter who hauled the net to shore when Jesus asked them to bring some of the fish to shore.

After they had eaten breakfast Jesus directs his questions to Peter, “Peter (full name), do you love (agape) me more than these? Each time Peter answered that he did love (phileo - brotherly love) Him. Jesus responded, “Tend My lambs, shepherd My sheep, tend My sheep.” Peter was grieved that the Lord asked him the third time, using his own word , "Simon, son of John, do you love (phileo) Me?"

I have been pondering this morning why Jesus didn't just tell Peter how much He loved him but instead asked him did he love Jesus? He gave Peter the opportunity to see what was in his own heart; how he had not received the love Jesus was offering him. But even as Peter was not receiving that love, Jesus showed him that nothing had changed. He was still inviting Peter to follow Him. He was also giving him purpose - "Shepherd My sheep." Jesus graciously moves him from the past he is pondering and points him to the future.

How sweetly the Lord met Peter in his hour of need. Now, we see a man who is ready to wait for the coming Holy Spirit. A man who is ready to walk by the Spirit instead of by his flesh. We will see that transformation when we read the book of Acts. It is no wonder that Peter later writes a letter to the scattered believers about believing the gospel in the midst of suffering (1 Peter)! What growth in confidence in God's forgiveness, mercy and love.

Lord, I praise you for asking me the question that really gets down to the heart of the matter, "Do you love Me more than these things?" (Everything I put my hope in.) I praise You for Your forgiveness and love that points me forward instead of backward.

Verna McCrillis, 3/21/2010

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Luke

To Guide Our Feet in the Way to Peace [Luke 1]

68"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people,69And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of David His servant--70As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old--71Salvation FROM OUR ENEMIES, And FROM THE HAND OF ALL WHO HATE US;72To show mercy toward our fathers,And to remember His holy covenant, 73The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,74To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,Might serve Him without fear,75In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.76"And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;For you will go on BEFORE THE LORD TO PREPARE HIS WAYS;77To give to His people the knowledge of salvationBy the forgiveness of their sins,78Because of the tender mercy of our God,With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,79TO SHINE UPON THOSE WHO SIT IN DARKNESS AND THE SHADOW OF DEATH, To guide our feet into the way of peace."80And the child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

God

Blessed

Visitor to earth

Redeemer

Savior from enemies

Merciful

Covenant Keeper

Enables us to serve Him without fear

Most High

Giver of Prophets to prepare people

Tender Mercies

Provider of Light

Guide on our path to peace

May you spend time asking God to believe these things about Him today and in the days to come. He will lead you in the path to peace as you trust Him each day.

Recognizing Jesus [Luke 2]

25And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, 28then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said, 29"Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word; 30For my eyes have seen Your salvation, 31Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, And the glory of Your people Israel." 33And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him. 34And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, "Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed--35and a sword will pierce even your own soul--to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed."36And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage,
37and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers.38At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

There were two people who recognized the baby Jesus when Mary and Joseph brought Him to the temple. They were Simeon and Anna. Simeon "was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him." Anna was a widow who "never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers."

They recognized Jesus as:

God's salvation

A light of revelation to the Gentiles

The glory of God's people Israel

Appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel

A sign to be opposed

A sword to pierce your own soul--to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed

The one they were looking for

The redemption of Jerusalem

We praise You, God, that You have made a way for us to recognize You through the Word, prayer, the Holy Spirit and fellowship with other believers just as You did with Simeon and Anna. Enable us to look for the grace that is to be revealed at Your coming. Cause us to be filled with Your Spirit , like Simeon, encouraging many to trust in You. We can't, but You can!

Identified With Jesus [Luke 3]

15Now while the people were in a state of expectation and all were wondering in their hearts about John, as to whether he was the Christ, 16John answered and said to them all, "As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17"His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

21Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, 22and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased."

John the Baptist was a man who knew his mission and was willing to fulfill it. He declared, "One is coming that is more powerful than I. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." John was sent to "prepare the way for the Lord" and he did not waver in proclaiming who Christ was. He also said in another passage that Christ must increase and he must decrease (John 3:30). He humbly submitted to be sent ahead of the Messiah, preparing hearts to receive Him.

When the Holy Spirit showed up, we know something significant was happening. From creation on, we see the Spirit involved in pivotal moments of God's plan, especially in the life of Jesus and the birth and growth of the church. In this case, He was part of the baptism of Christ and God's announcement affirming Jesus as the Christ.

The word baptism means to identify with something. It was found in an ancient recipe for making pickles. The cucumbers were to be baptized in the liquid so as to be identified with the liquid as it permeated every part of the pickle. The cucumber was no longer a plain old cucumber, but something radically different because it had been baptized.

Baptism with water is just an outward sign of the inner change, baptism or identification with Christ. When we accept Christ, we are baptized with the Holy Spirit and His nature permeates our being changing us radically and forever. The old creature we were is gone and the new creature takes its place. And we can know that when the Father sees us, He is saying, "You are My beloved Child, in You I am well-pleased."

We praise You, God, for Jesus, Your beloved and well-pleasing Son. Thank You that Your Spirit that identifies us with Jesus. Cause us to remember that we are radically and forever identified with Jesus and that You are well-pleased with us. Cause us to bear the fruit of that change by Your amazing grace. May we know the One who has been declared God's beloved Son - the One who pleases the Father well. May we joyfully prepare His way by declaring who He is.

Today This Scripture Has Been Fulfilled [Luke 4]

14And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. 15And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all. 16And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. 17And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,
    18"THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME,
         BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR.
         HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES,
         AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND,
         TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED,
    19TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD."

20And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." 22And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, "Is this not Joseph's son?"

As Jesus read these words from the prophet Isaiah in his home town, "they were amazed by the gracious words that came from His mouth." They were caught up in the wonder that Jesus was by the Spirit of the Lord making the blind see, setting free those oppressed by unclean spirits, setting free those who were captive of lies and that this was indeed "the year of the Lord's favor." (Holman,CSB). The poor were being sought out to hear the good news. Was this the Messiah? Yet, something kept them from believing. We know this kid. Isn't this the boy we have watched grow up in Joseph's shop? The Messiah can't be a normal guy. He can't be one of us. He has to be, you know, heavenly. They didn't know what to do with these opposing thoughts running around in their minds. Since it didn't look the way they thought it should, they ignored the wonder of what the Lord's Spirit was doing in Jesus.

Lord, I know I have been in this same dilemma. I have seen Your Spirit at work setting captives free and doing a healing work in my life and in others. Yet it didn't look quite right to me and so I walked away mulling over my doubt instead of rejoicing that I had seen You at work. Grow me today in recognizing when You have fulfilled Your word and cause me to worship You instead of doubting.

Follow Jesus Into Deeper Waters [Luke 5]

1Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; 2and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. 3And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat.
4When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch."
5Simon answered and said, "Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets." 6When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; 7so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. 8But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus' feet, saying, "Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!" 9For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; 10and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men."
11When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

There are several things I learn about Jesus from this incident. First, it was morning and Jesus was teaching at the edge of the Sea of Galilee while a bunch of people pressed around Him to hear what He had to say. Some of those present were fishermen who had returned from a night of fruitless fishing. Second, He convinced Peter to go out into the deep water in spite of his protests that there were no fish. But when Peter obeyed Jesus, the catch overwhelmed him and his net. Third, Peter couldn't bring in the catch alone. He needed others to join him and even then, the boats nearly swamped. Finally, Jesus turned Peter's focus from catching fish to catching men.

As I consider these things and what they could possibly mean to me, I see once again that listening to Jesus is critical and that He has something to say that is always worth hearing. However, by His grace, I have to put myself in a position to hear Him. In general, that means reading my Bible each day asking Him to teach me about Himself. It also means praying and talking to Him about who He is, what is going on in my life and asking what He wants to do through me today. It means spending time hearing and studying the Word with others.

Often, as I listen to Him, He directs me to go out in the deep water even though I can't understand why I should go there and it is somewhat uncomfortable. But that is where His work happens to be and if I want to be in on it, I need to, by His grace, go where He commands. Finally, His best work through me is in concert with other believers who are willing to go back out into the deep water with me where God is working.

We are like Peter and His friends, fishers of men and women. However, it is Jesus who calls You, guides You to the people and stays with You providing wisdom, courage, strength and other believers resulting in the abundant harvest.

We praise You, God, that you have called us to follow You into the deep waters to share the gospel and catch those You have given to us to catch. Give us the wisdom to listen to You, the courage to go where You take us and the strength for us to bring in the catch. By Your grace alone, we can't, but You can!

Radical Jesus! [Luke 6]

5And He was saying to them, "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."6On another Sabbath He entered the synagogue and was teaching; and there was a man there whose right hand was withered.7The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find reason to accuse Him.8But He knew what they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, "Get up and come forward!" And he got up and came forward.9And Jesus said to them, "I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?"10After looking around at them all, He said to him, "Stretch out your hand!" And he did so; and his hand was restored.11But they themselves were filled with rage, and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.

I can't imagine standing up in a public forum knowing that some important people present will be offended and then do the "offensive" thing anyway. Jesus could have avoided the whole rage thing by waiting a day to heal the man's hand. But Jesus didn't change His behavior for any man. He was radically obedient to what the Father wanted. The things He did and said shook up the people of His day. However, His legacy of radical obedience, as daunting as it may be, is now our legacy as His followers.

Thank You, God, that You allow us to follow in His steps to be part of the radical transformation You are doing on this earth in the lives of men. Cause us to listen to You, to find strength in You and to do what You want us to do no matter what. We can't, but You can!

Is Jesus the Expected One? [Luke 7]

19Summoning two of his disciples, John sent them to the Lord, saying, "Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?"20When the men came to Him, they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to You, to ask, 'Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?'"21At that very time He cured many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits; and He gave sight to many who were blind.22And He answered and said to them, "Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM.23"Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me."

Jesus did not tell them He was the Expected One, but He allowed them to make their own conclusions about Him by pointing to the proof of His actions. He challenged them to figure it out themselves by seeing that all He did was in concert with what was prophesied concerning the Messiah. He was saying to them, look at the evidence, if it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck and acts like a duck, it is probably a duck. People often don't want to think and decide for themselves, but want to be told all of the answers. However, Jesus wanted the people to think. He never wanted people to blindly follow Him, but to follow Him because they saw the truth about Him and therefore, were willing to put their faith in Him.

We praise You, Jesus, for showing You were the Messiah by giving the blind sight, making the deaf hear and raising the dead. May we exercise our mind as we spend time in Your Word and choose by Your grace to walk by faith in this awesome Messiah.

Go In Peace...[Luke 8]

41And there came a man named Jairus, and he was an official of the synagogue; and he fell at Jesus' feet, and began to implore Him to come to his house;42for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. But as He went, the crowds were pressing against Him. 43And a woman who had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and could not be healed by anyone,44came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped.
45And Jesus said, "Who is the one who touched Me?" And while they were all denying it, Peter said, "Master, the people are crowding and pressing in on You." 46But Jesus said, "Someone did touch Me, for I was aware that power had gone out of Me."

47When the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, she came trembling and fell down before Him, and declared in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched Him, and how she had been immediately healed. 48And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace."

You can’t read this chapter of the gospel of Luke without sensing the tenderness of Jesus. I am particularly struck by the interaction between Jesus and the woman who had bleeding for 12 years that could not be healed by anyone. It sounds like she had tried everything on the market to stop the hemorrhaging. Now she has heard about another possible cure – Jesus! I suspect she had been on the outskirts of the crowd for days, hoping to get a chance to speak to Him. Finally, she is right beside Him as He is on His way to heal Jairus’ daughter. She reaches out and touches His robe and is immediately healed. She tries to slip away unnoticed but Jesus stops the whole procession to talk to her. He wanted her private moment with Him to be public for her sake. He gave her the opportunity to declare in the presence of everyone why she needed to be healed and that she had been healed. What a tender moment when He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace."

Do you sense the importance of that moment? She now could not go on her way wondering if she was really healed, doubting that moment of the power of God. She had declared it to everyone!

Lord Jesus, we praise you for Your tenderness to this woman and to us. You knew what she needed and You carefully provided it for her. You know how important it is for our private moments of healing to be confirmed in public so that Your light may be revealed.

"Now no one after lighting a lamp covers it over with a container, or puts it under a bed; but he puts it on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light.” Luke 8:16-17

Listen to My Chosen One [Luke 9]

28Some eight days after these sayings, He took along Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray.29And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming.30And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, 31who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
32Now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him.33And as these were leaving Him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah"--not realizing what he was saying.
34While he was saying this, a cloud formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!"
36And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent, and reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had seen.
37On the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Him.

They went up to the mountain to pray and did not come down until the next day. So that means they prayed all night, which was a consistent pattern for Jesus. However, Peter and his companions had a hard time staying awake to pray. But they finally woke up in time to see that God had provided Moses and Elijah to fill in the gap to talk with Jesus and to encourage Him in the things that were about to happen to Him. Peter must have been a little groggy as He recognized the significance of what he had been sleeping through. Thankfully, God interrupted Peter's fumbling speech with an important one! "Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, 'This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!'"

We praise You, Jesus, that You are God's Son. You are God's Chosen One. Lord, cause me to listen to You!

Rejoice in Your Salvation [Luke 10]

17The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name." 18And He said to them, "I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 19"Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. 20"Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven."
21At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, "I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. 22"All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."
23Turning to the disciples, He said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see, 24for I say to you, that many prophets and kings wished to see the things which you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them."

As the seventy returned with joy after seeing all that God had done through them Jesus encouraged them not to rejoice in that power or the results of it but to rejoice that their "names are recorded in heaven." He wanted them to rejoice in God and in their great salvation.

Jesus then exemplified for them rejoicing in the Holy Spirit. "I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."

Thank You, Jesus for showing us the way to rejoice. We praise You, Father that Your Son knows You and desires to reveal You to us. We are blessed to see Jesus and to see the prophesies fulfilled in Your Son. Cause us to rejoice in our great salvation today. Our names are recorded in heaven because of Jesus!

The Best Gift Giver [Luke 11]

9"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10"For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.11"Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12"Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? 13"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"

Jesus is the entrance to the Father, the Almighty God and the door is always open to all who come through Jesus. Not only that, but God is looking for ways to bless us with good gifts because we are His precious children. His best gift to us is His Jesus and Jesus' Spirit living in us. We can go to Him each moment and fill to overflowing with that amazing wise and powerful Spirit. God knows even better than an earthly father how to give us good gifts and He desires that we be persistent to go into His door often and fill up with all that He has for us. His door is always open!

We praise You, Father, that You are the giver of good gifts. You want us to ask, seek and knock and You promise to open to us. You are a good Father and You will not give us a snake when we need a fish. You know how to give good gifts to Your children. Thank You for the best gift of all - Jesus, Your only Son.

God Knows and Cares [Luke 12]

21"So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."
22And He said to His disciples, "For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. 23"For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing 24"Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds!25"And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life's span? 26"If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters?
27"Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 28"But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You men of little faith! 29"And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying. 30"For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things.
31"But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you. 32"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. 33"Sell your possesions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. 34"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Are you worried about things - about your life or what to wear or what to eat or drink? "Your Father knows that you need these things." And if He is willing to clothe the lilies, "how much more will He clothe you?"

These words spoke volumes to me this morning. I have been doing some worrying. As I am reading this passage I am reminded that what I worry about and what I am seeking are the things I am worshiping. He is calling me to set those things aside. He is drawing me to willingly say, I am being one of little faith.

I have been seeking something besides You, Lord. Cause me to seek You eagerly. Thank You for understanding that I am a "little flock" that gets fearful easily. Thank You for choosing gladly to give me Your kingdom. Thank You that I am much more valuable to You than the birds and that You are taking good care of me. Cause me, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to treasure these truths in my heart today. I praise you that You are my Father and You know exactly what I need.

Jesus Longs to Gather Us [Luke 13]

34"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it!

Every time I read this verse, I have this picture in my mind of Jesus gathering us under His wing where it is safe and warm and where we can feel His heartbeat. And I imagine that all of us little chicks are overwhelmed by His heartbeat so that all of our hearts under that wing beat as one with His heart. I see in the verse that I have to choose to let Him gather me (He never forces His invitation on me) with the rest of His brood, my brothers and sisters in the Lord. In addition, I believe we each have a responsibility to help each other in this gathering process, too, by nudging each other along. This last idea isn't from reading this verse, but from the many verses throughout the New Testament that encourage us to love one another and to minister to one another.

However, the historical picture is not so cozy. When Jesus spoke these words, He was just a few days from His arrest, torture and death and He was looking over the city where God chose to place His name, His precious Mt. Zion or Jerusalem. He lamented over her because His people, the Jews, repeatedly rejected His invitation to be gathered under His wing of love and protection. Instead they killed God's messengers. Still He died for them continuing to invite them and longing for them to accept His invitation. But because He died for the whole world and not just for the Jews, everyone who believes in the name of Jesus is invited to find peace and comfort under His wing.

We praise You, Jesus for being the One who gathers and protects. May we accept Your invitation to be gathered under Your wing. By Your grace, may we nudge many other chicks to join us under Your wing.

Salty for Jesus? [Luke 14]

6"If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.

27"Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

33"So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. 34"Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? 35"It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

These words cut through to my heart this morning. In an effort to get ready for Christmas, my focus has been family, friends and gifts. I've spent the last couple of days pondering what I want for Christmas in order that my secret Santa will know what to get for me, and so these words hit especially hard. In addition to thinking about family, I realize that I have a lot of possessions accumulated through many many years. What is it that Jesus is saying to me about my possessions? Am I supposed to sell them? Stop buying things? Refuse to let my secret Santa get me anything?

No, Jesus wants me to put Him first before all else. He is to be my only focus. As I focus on Him and let Him have charge over the people and things in my life, He will show me what to do with them. Focus and surrender are the words that I need to remember during this season of gifts. As I give Him my family and how to serve them this holiday, He will guide and love them. He loves them more than I do. There is no anxiety or frenzy when Jesus is given Lordship over Christmas.

Thank You, God, that You have provided clear teaching about what to do with family and possessions now and throughout the year. I praise You for the focus on Christ, a man in heaven Who was born and lived and died for us. Thank You for His Holy Spirit who will guide us and empower us to live with peace and joy in this season of celebration of His miraculous birth. Cause us to keep our eyes on Him, surrendering all to Him so that we may live for You and be filled with Your peace and joy. May others taste the salt of our lives and be led to You as a result.

More Joy In Heaven [Luke 15]

8"Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9"When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!' 10"In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

What makes God and the angels rejoice in heaven? It is a sinner becoming a saint. It is a lost person finding God. It is seeing one whom Jesus was seeking being saved.

I (Beth) woke up this morning all anxious about how I was going to get everything done. There's the blog, read Luke 12 to Mom, have a phone meeting with Verna, take Mom on her errands, pick up John from the car repair, get to the store for Christmas dinner, and attend a meeting about the Sister Celebration and on and on it goes. Then, as I read Luke to my Mother, at least 12 times it says don't be anxious or afraid. Seek God and He will take care of the rest. When I came back upstairs to read Luke 15 for the blog, God reminded me of what He cares about and what makes the angels rejoice. So now I have a choice. Will I stay anxious and bothered about so many things, or will I trust God by His grace to guide me through the day and take care of things? Will I focus on the temporal or will I be on the look out for that sinner who is ready to hear about Jesus.

Thank You, God, that You have made Your word so clear concerning Your care for us and for Your joy in seeing a sinner become a saint. Cause us to rest in You today with all the things that need to be done and follow You to know what those things really are. And cause us to be available and ready to share the story of Jesus as we go. May we get to participate this season in heavenly rejoicing by Your grace!

Verna McCrillis, 2/22/2010

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Mark

Jesus According to Mark 1

1The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
         "BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER AHEAD OF YOU,
         WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY;
    3THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS,
         'MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD,
         MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT.'"
45But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere.

Mark covered a lot of territory in the first chapter of His gospel story. In verse one, He introduced Jesus and quoted an Old Testament passage concerning both John the Baptist and Jesus. By the end of the chapter, John's ministry was finished and Jesus' ministry had grown to the point that He could no longer teach in cities, but had to stay in unpopulated areas because so many people were coming to Him. Mark reveals a lot about Jesus in these 45 verses.

Praise Jesus from the list:

Son of God

Introduced by John the Baptist

Mightier than John the Baptist

Baptized with the Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove at His baptism

God's announced that Jesus was His beloved Son with whom He was well pleased

Called men to be fishers of men who immediately followed Him

People were amazed at His teaching as One with authority

Cast out unclean spirits

Healed the sicknesses

Withdrew by Himself to pray early in the morning

Felt compassion and healed a leper

Became so well known that He could no longer stay in the cities

Constantly Under Scrutiny [Mark 2]

"6But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7"Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?"
8Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, "Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts?9"Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven'; or to say, 'Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk'? 10"But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"--He said to the paralytic, 11"I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home." 12And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this."

Already in Mark 2, Jesus is beginning to be questioned by the religious rulers of the day. They found fault with just about everything He did in chapter 2. Jesus did not fit the religious mold of the day and many of these leaders couldn't adjust to His new way of teaching and doing things. So they criticized Him and looked for ways to discredit Him.

I love how Jesus answers their questions with questions that get to the heart of the matter. He also doesn’t let their questions stop Him even when He knew He was going to be criticized.

We praise You, Jesus, for showing that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins in spite of the criticism. May we live our lives boldly before men that they will see Christ in us. By Your grace cause us not to fear what others may think of us.

They Said He Had Lost His Senses [Mark 3]

21When His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, "He has lost His senses." 22The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, "He is possessed by Beelzebul," and "He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons."
23And He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in parables, "How can Satan cast out Satan?24"If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25"If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.26"If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but he is finished!

I can imagine the religious leaders attacking Jesus, but when His own people began to say He has lost His mind, how hard that must have been for Him. Family is supposed to be the one place you can find hope and refuge, acceptance and encouragement. Sadly, it wasn't that way for Jesus at this point in His life when He was pouring His life into so many and knowingly heading for a cruel death. And sadly, some of our families don't understand us and support us as we take a stand for Jesus. In my family, I (Beth) get ridiculed at times for my faith. Thankfully, no one has told me I have lost my senses yet. But what a privilege to suffer for the sake of the gospel. If you are facing attacks or just some joking about your faith, take heart and know that you are in good company with the Son of God and talk to Him about how to be a light among those who would ridicule you. Who knows, perhaps those are the very ones that God would use you to lead them to salvation.

We praise You, Jesus, for suffering the ridicule from your family and friends without losing heart. You continued to answer them with truth and compassion. May we find joy in suffering for the sake of the gospel and comfort in the company of our real family (the family of God) and in our Lord Jesus. Thank You that we are loved and well graced today!

So You Still Have No Faith? [Mark 4]

35On that day, when evening came, He said to them, "Let us go over to the other side."36Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him.37And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. 38Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing? 39And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Hush, be still." And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.40And He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?" 41They became very much afraid and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?"

Fear undoes faith. The disciples witnessed Jesus healing the sick, making the blind see, feeding thousands of people, casting out demons and constantly showing compassion for people. And yet, when a storm reared its ugly head, they forgot all that they had seen and actually accused Jesus of not caring that they were perishing. Earlier in the chapter, Jesus told a parable of the soils.

18"And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

Fear makes you unfruitful. It chokes out spiritual growth when you let it run its course. And it can even make you question whether God cares about you.

9And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Hush, be still." And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.40And He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

All Jesus said was, "Hush, be still" and "it became perfectly calm." It must have been quite a storm to scare seasoned fishermen on a lake they had fished all of their lives. But all Jesus had to say was "Hush, be still."

I don't know about you, but fear is a constant companion to most of us on the face of this earth. Storms come and go and sometimes with devastating damage. If you keep your eyes on the storm, you will not only lose your faith, but you will end up wondering if God even cares about you. The key is to keep your eyes on Jesus exchanging your fear for His peace in the midst of the storm. He is right there with you caring about your life and allowing trials to grow your faith if you will let them.

Remember that when you are afraid, if you don't look to Him, He is asking you, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

We praise You, Jesus, that we can take all of our fears to You, the one who calms the storms, and You exchange our fears for Your peace. You love and care about our faith. Thank You that You grow our faith through the storms of life.

Tender Mercy for a Man, a Woman and a Child [Mark 5]

18As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him. 19And He did not let him, but He said to him, "Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you." 20And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.
30Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched My garments?" 31And His disciples said to Him, "You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?'" 32And He looked around to see the woman who had done this. 33But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. 34And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction."

40They began laughing at Him. But putting them all out, He took along the child's father and mother and His own companions, and entered the room where the child was. 41Taking the child by the hand, He said to her, "Talitha kum!" (which translated means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!"). 42Immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded. 43And He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this, and He said that something should be given her to eat.

In this chapter three lives are changed drastically - a man, a woman and a child. The man was living in the tombs because "no one was strong enough to subdue him. And always, night and day, he was crying out among the tombs an in the mountains and cutting himself with stones." When the people saw him after Jesus has healed him, he "was dressed and in his right mind: and they were afraid." What an incredible change for this man. Jesus told him he could tell everyone "how much the Lord has done for you and that He has had mercy on you." (Holman, CSB).

On the other side of the sea, "One of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at His feet and kept begging Him, 'My little daughter is at death's door. Come and lay Your hands on her so she can get well and live.'" As Jesus was going with Jairus, "a woman suffering from bleeding for 12 years had incurred much under many doctors…, having heard about Jesus, she came behind Him and touched His robe. "(v.27) "Instantly her flow of blood ceased, and she sensed in her body that she was cured of her affliction." Jesus told her that her faith had made her well and that she could go in peace and be free from her affliction. If you have ever been sick for a long period, exhausted your resources trying to get well and was just getting worse, you can imagine how this mercy would change your life.

While He was still speaking people came saying that Jairus' daughter had died. Jesus went anyway and said to them "The child is not dead but asleep." (v.39). Here was a twelve year old who had been very sick, had died and Jesus tenderly offers her mercy by bringing her back to life. Not just laying there, still sick, but life where she began walking and was ready to eat. Utterly astonishing! This child's life was changed and so was her family's. But He gave them strict orders not let others know about this event.

We praise You, Jesus, for your tender mercy. May we see how Your love and mercy has changed our lives and go tell everyone You ask us to tell.

Compassion for the Sheep Without a Shepherd [Mark 6]

30The apostles gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught. 31And He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while." (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.) 32They went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves.
33The people saw them going, and many recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the cities, and got there ahead of them. 34When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.

Jesus had sent the twelve disciples out in pairs, "so they went out and preached that people should repent. And they were driving out many demons, anointing many sick people with oil, and healing." v. 12. When they came back to report all they had done and taught, He invited them to get away and rest for awhile. So they headed out by boat to a remote place. "So as He stepped ashore, He saw a huge crowd and had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd." (Holman CSB)

If you read the rest of the chapter you know what happened next. After teaching them all day, the disciples approached Him and said, "This place is a wilderness, and it is already late! Send them away, so they can go into the surrounding countryside and villages to buy themselves something to eat." But instead Jesus fed 5,000 men with five loaves of bread and two fish.

Do you sense the disciples’ frustration? Didn't they come here to rest and get away from the many people? But instead they had to deal with the crowds all day and now they were hungry. So Jesus fed them, along with all the crowd and then "immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He dismissed the crowd. After He said good-bye to them, He went away to the mountain to pray." vs. 45-46.

He knew what the people needed and He knew what His disciples needed. They all need a shepherd. One that will take care of their physical needs so that they have a chance to be ministered to spiritually. Later He walked across the water to meet the disciples' physical needs again - causing the winds to cease and offering them courage when their emotions were raw.

We praise You, Shepherd, for all the ways You are meeting our needs physically, emotionally and mentally preparing us to receive how Holy Spirit is ministering to our soul.

He Does All Things Well! [Mark 7]

32They brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they implored Him to lay His hand on him. 33Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; 34and looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, He said to him, "Ephphatha!" that is, "Be opened!" 35And his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was removed, and he began speaking plainly. 36And He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it. 37They were utterly astonished, saying, "He has done all things well; He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."

I can understand the utter astonishment that the people felt. I have a grandson who was born deaf. I wondered how we would tell him about Jesus and God's love? At two, he was able to get a cochlear implant and immediately could hear. I am often reminded of this miracle when he comes into my house with a big grin and says in an enthusiastic voice, "Hi grandma!" What great joy I feel that he can understand when we tell him about Jesus.

He has done everything well. I would love to be able to see all the miracles God is doing around me with the same eyes. Am I aware of how well He does everything?

May we be utterly astonished today as we see the things God is doing around us and proclaim in our hearts, "He has done everything well."

Does He Care About Your Needs? [Mark 8]

1In those days, when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples and said to them, 2"I feel compassion for the people because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat. 3"If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come from a great distance." 4And His disciples answered Him, "Where will anyone be able to find enough bread here in this desolate place to satisfy these people?" 5And He was asking them, "How many loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven." 6And He directed the people to sit down on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them, and started giving them to His disciples to serve to them, and they served them to the people. 7They also had a few small fish; and after He had blessed them, He ordered these to be served as well. 8And they ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large baskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces. 9About four thousand were there; and He sent them away.

Jesus felt compassion for the people because they stayed with Him for three days and he knew they were hungry. He didn't want to send them to their homes (some lived far away) without food in their stomachs because they would faint on the way. What does it mean to feel compassion? The word translated compassion means "to have bowels that yearn, sympathy, pity." The idea is that this is an emotion that is felt deeply inside.

I am not so sure the disciples felt this compassion for the people yet. As you read on in this chapter you find that when they get into the boat "they had forgotten to take bread and had only one loaf with them." They were discussing among themselves that they did not have any bread. (I think they were starting to feel hungry again.)

Jesus asked them, "Do you not yet understand? Is your heart hardened? Do you have eyes, and not see, and do you have ears, and not hear? And do you not remember?" (Holman CSB). Then He quizzes them about how many pieces of bread they collected after feeding the 5,000 and again after the 4,000. They do remember the numbers (12 and 7) but they don't understand the compassion Jesus has when He sees that His people are hungry.

Lord, cause us today to remember and understand how You are moved with pity as you see the physical needs of Your people. Open our eyes and ears to the compassion that you feel for us. As we sense Your compassion, give us that gut-wrenching compassion for others around us and move us to action. Keep us from having a hard heart because we are focused on our own needs and wants. (Oh no, we forgot to bring bread!)

I Do Believe - Help My Unbelief! [Mark 9]

20They brought the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. 21And He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood. 22"It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!"

23And Jesus said to him, " 'If You can?' All things are possible to him who believes."

24Immediately the boy's father cried out and said, "I do believe; help my unbelief."

25When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and do not enter him again." 26After crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, "He is dead!" 27But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he got up.

28When He came into the house, His disciples began questioning Him privately, "Why could we not drive it out?"

29And He said to them, "This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer."

Here is a father that is so desperate to see his son well that he cries out to Jesus, "'But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!' And Jesus said to him, 'If You can? All things are possible to him who believes.'"

Does he dare to hope that Jesus can do anything to help his son? Aren't we just like this father? We have hoped many times and each time our hopes have been dashed. Do we dare to believe? But here is the Son of God saying that is is possible. There is no "if". He can help, He can heal.

The father wants to believe that ALL things are possible. So he dares to hope again and cries out feebly, "I do believe." Even as the words come out of his mouth, he realizes the doubt, the fear to hope again. But then it rings true in his heart that "all things are possible" and that includes giving him belief that he doesn't have. He can't believe but God can. He submits to that truth about God and asks God to do it for him, "help me believe!"

May we join this man in recognizing that we can't believe but that God can cause us to believe. Let's cry out to Him today to give us the faith to believe that all things are possible with Him.

He Came to Serve You [Mark 10]

42Calling them to Himself, Jesus said to them, "You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. 43"But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; 44and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. 45"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

James and John had approached Jesus asking Him to allow them to sit on either side of Him in the kingdom. They were caught up in the hope of being great. In other passages we know that their mother had this in mind for them as well. They sensed they were part of something greater than themselves. They have been with Jesus as he healed the sick, deaf, blind and demon possessed. They have seen Him perform miracles. Jesus has taught them about the kingdom of God and how hard it is to enter. "With men it is impossible, but not with God, because all things are possible with God" (v. 27).

Were they so caught up in the greatness of Christ's ministry that they have missed something? Did they miss what He said about the little children? "Let the children come to Me. Don't stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I assure you, whoever does not welcome the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it" (vs. 14-15, Holman CSB).

It is the opposite with the kingdom of God than with the kingdom of men. Whoever wants to be great must be your servant. And if you want to be first you will be a slave to all. Can you get a hold of this thinking? Only as you see Jesus showing what that looks like. He came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for me.

May we live this truth by letting Him serve us instead of trying so hard to serve Him. He came not so we could do something for Him but so He could do something for us. May we be like a little child (knowing that we have nothing to offer) and receive His provision of power and grace that He has for us today.

He Experienced Human Emotions [Mark 11]

12On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry. 13Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14He said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again!" And His disciples were listening.

15Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves;

16and He would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple.

17And He began to teach and say to them, "Is it not written, 'MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL THE NATIONS'? But you have made it a ROBBERS' DEN."

Did Jesus share the same emotions you and I have? In this passage we see a range of emotions. He was disappointed that the tree didn't have fruit to eat when He was hungry. Can you sense the emotion that He felt as He drove out the people who were making profit off of the things needed to offer a sacrifice? Listen to the emotion in His voice as He was teaching them, "Is it not written, 'MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL THE NATIONS'? But you have made it a ROBBERS' DEN."

Hebrews 4:14-16 reminds us, "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

He understands our weakness - He experienced our same emotions. He is completely qualified to be our High Priest. Through Him we can come with confidence to the throne of God and receive mercy and find grace every moment of need.

May we come to Him with each disappointment, frustration and fear that we face, knowing He truly understands.

Jesus Showed Us About God [Mark 12]

28One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, "What commandment is the foremost of all?" 29Jesus answered, "The foremost is, 'HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; 30AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.' 31"The second is this, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
32The scribe said to Him, "Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that HE IS ONE, AND THERE IS NO ONE ELSE BESIDES HIM; 33AND TO LOVE HIM WITH ALL THE HEART AND WITH ALL THE UNDERSTANDING AND WITH ALL THE STRENGTH, AND TO LOVE ONE'S NEIGHBOR AS HIMSELF, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."
34When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." After that, no one would venture to ask Him any more questions.

This exchange comes in the midst of some parables that Jesus told the people. The scribes and Pharisees begin questioning him. In everything Jesus said, He always exalted and explained God.

There is so much to learn about the God of the Bible as you read looking at who God says He is. When we know, agree with and act on the truth of who He is, we have the privilege of living a life full of grace and peace. That grace and peace is multiplied as you develop an intimate relationship with God (2 Peter 2:1) through the word, prayer and fellowship with other believers.

We praise You God:

You, God, are incredibly patient - as seen in the parable

You are just - as seen in the parable

Jesus spoke the truth fearlessly - not intimidated by the religious leaders

Always had brilliant answers to those testing him - no one ever tripped Him up

The God of the living - we will live with Him

One God - we have only the one true God

God Always Warns [Mark 13]

33"Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come.

Throughout the Bible God always warned the people through prophets or angels before He did anything. In Mark 13, God provided us with a warning concerning the future events through Jesus. He described the difficult things that are going to happen. No one but the Father knows when these things will take place, but they will take place. The facts about this time are listed in Mark 13 and we would do well to keep these things in mind each day so we can be on the alert and live as if it could happen any day because it could! And know that we can endure because we are God's elect and we have His Holy Spirit to guide us and comfort us through whatever happens. We also know the end of the story: God wins and we get to live with Him for eternity free of the evil that now overshadows everything and everyone on this earth.

26"Then they
     will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN CLOUDS
        with great
            power and glory.
27"And then He
     will send forth the angels,
     and will gather together His elect
        from the four winds,
         from the farthest end of the earth
            to the farthest end of heaven.

We praise You, God that Your Son is coming again. Cause us to live today in Your power ready and alert for Your coming. Thank You for Your warning.

He Graciously Received [Mark 14]

8"She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial.9"Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her."

Jesus came to this earth to show us God and to save us for His Kingdom. He did that by entering into this world as a baby who grew up to serve so many hurting people and to confound the wise. He was the ultimate example of a servant and yet He also showed how to be a gracious recipient of the service of others. The perfume the woman poured over Him was an extravagant gift and yet He received it with such grace and appreciation at a time when His agony and death were hours away. Although, God calls you to be His servant, you are also called to be a gracious receiver of His extravagant grace through the Holy Spirit and through His precious people. In fact, you can't be His servant without first receiving and filling with His grace. Many have tried to serve Him in their own strength and got burned out trying.

We praise You Jesus for Your example of receiving as well as serving. May we learn to graciously receive all You have for us and be satisfied and spill out that extravagant grace on a hurting world.

Verna McCrillis, 2/21/2010

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Live As One Who Has Been Rescued From Sin [Matthew 1]

18Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.

19And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. 20But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." 22Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23"BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US."

24And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.

Even though we may not be celebrating Christmas isn't it appropriate to remember the story of Jesus' birth? It is a great reminder of His humble beginning. It is a story of disgrace and intervention. it is translated by the angel as being what will save God's “people from their sins” and bring God to dwell with them. May we never grow tired of being reminded of His coming and the reason He came it. If we have received this Jesus we are saved from our sins and we have God in us. May we walk today believing this to be true.

I (Verna) know I have read this passage many times before but what really struck me today is Joseph's response. The angel told him these things and he woke up and did just as the angel had commanded him. Maybe it is because of storybooks and movies but I have pictured Joseph reluctant and needing persuasion before he decided to marry Mary. Not this Joseph. This Joseph woke up and did exactly as God had told him. No wavering. No asking everyone else what he should do. There is a sense of the Spirit giving him the determination to carry through all that had been commanded him - even calling His name Jesus, months later. This is a man who left us the example of living in full belief of what God said.

Praise:

Lord, I praise you for through Your Spirit. Cause me to believe in the same way as Joseph and walk, without hesitation, as one who has been saved from my sins and has God abiding in me.

Worship the Shepherd King [Matthew 2]

1Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, 2"Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him." 3When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet:
    6'AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH,
         ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH;
         FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER
         WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.'"

Did you come today looking for your king?   Did you come to worship Him? Worship Him because He came to shepherd God's people. He came as a ruler to shepherd. A ruler to shepherd? Shouldn't a ruler come to rule in order to lead us? Instead He comes to lead us as a shepherd leads. One who lives among us not off in a palace. One who is known by His sheep who can hear His voice. In John 15:3-11, Jesus tell us that He is the good shepherd, "He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. The sheep follow him because they recognize his voice" (Holman CSB).

Do you recognize His voice? Do you know Him? In the rest of the chapter we see Joseph two more times following immediately when the angel of the LORD speaks to him in a dream (vs. 21 and 22). He followed God because he recognized God's voice.

Praise:

May we know the Good Shepherd, who laid down His life for His sheep, so intimately that we recognize His voice and worship Him in response.

God Takes Delight in His Son [Matthew 3]

13Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him.14But John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?" 15But Jesus answering said to him, "Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he permitted Him. 16After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, 17and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."

God announced it to the world - Jesus is His beloved Son and He takes delight in Him! He is well-pleased with Him. Marvel with me today this announcement. It means something for you and me who have His beloved Son living in us. We are those who are being transformed by God's grace to be like Christ. You and I are His beloved child too and He is delighted with you and me.

Praise:

As you see God's love for Christ, may you know the length and width, height and depth of God's love and Christ's love for you and be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:18-19).

Jesus Faces Tests Triumphantly [Matthew 4]

1Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.
3And the tempter came and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." 4But He answered and said, "It is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'" 5Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, 'HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU';and 'ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.'" 7Jesus said to him, "On the other hand, it is written, 'YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.'"
8Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; 9and he said to Him, "All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me." 10Then Jesus said to him, "Go, Satan! For it is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'"
11Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.

Do you remember what happened right before this passage? God had confirmed in public that Jesus was His loved Son and how pleased He was with Him. Then the Spirit led Him into the wilderness to be tempted. What a gift to have the truth of God's love seared into His heart and mind as He dealt with deception and temptation. You have the same opportunity each day as you read His word to have His words of endearment burned into your heart and mind. Do you sense what a difference it would make for you to know His love as you face deception?

Praise:

You are the Lord who is the only One worthy to be worshiped and served. Cause me to stand firm in the truth of who I are in Christ when the testing comes.

You Are The Light Of The World [Matthew 5]

14"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 5 is an amazing chapter beginning with a list of those who are blessed. According to Jesus, the rich and famous, the most religious, the good looking, etc aren't those who are blessed. It is the humble people who live honestly and fervently for God in their spiritual poverty who will be blessed. These are the ones who know they are nothing and exchange that nothing for God's grace and blessings each day.

Matthew 5 ends with Jesus' interpretation of some of God's laws making the standard even higher than it was before. Jesus gave a standard so high that none of us could keep to it. But praise God that Jesus died to enable you to not only live according to the law by His grace, but when you do, you will stand out like a light in a dark place. And by your good works of God's grace, God will be glorified in your life (see verses above).

Praise:
We praise You for being our Father in heaven. Cause us to embrace our poverty and humbly go to You each day and exchange our darkness for Your light so the world may through our good works, glorify You.

Seek First His Kingdom [Matthew 6]

33"But seek first His kingdom
    and His righteousness,
    and all these things will be added to you.
34"So do not worry about tomorrow;
    for tomorrow will care for itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6 (and 7) is a continuation of the words and wisdom of Jesus that began in Matthew 5. As I (Beth) prayerfully read and reread chapter 6, some things began to pop out at me. First, verses 1-18 are summarized by verse one:

"Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them;

Jesus repeatedly used the words "in secret" in describing spiritual practices like praying, giving and fasting. Man's natural tendency goes totally against the idea of doing right things in secret. Along with "in secret" was the word reward. So as you put off your natural tendency to let people know how spiritual you are and put on letting God's grace flow through you God's way, there will be a reward for you. Think about it, you can get praise of men now, or you can have God's reward for eternity.

The next thing that caught my attention was at the end of verse 24:

“You cannot serve God and wealth.”

Jesus talked about wealth from verse 19 to the end of the chapter at verse 34. He explained very clearly that God knows how to take care of you and your needs and that He wants to take care of you. However, He can't if your focus is on you providing for yourself. And so we come to the final famous verses of Matthew 6:33-34 as written above.

Praise:

We praise You, Father, that You take care of us. You know our needs and You promised to meet them. Cause us not to worry about tomorrow but to seek Your righteousness instead.

Hear and Act [Matthew 7]

24"Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man... 26"Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man...

As Jesus finished His discourse that began in Matthew 5, He emphasized the importance of these words He had spoken to them. These words demand action. However, as I consider what the Lord expects of me through these words; to not judge others, to not give what is holy to swine, to treat all people as I would like to be treated, to enter the narrow gate, to recognize and stay away from false prophets, and to understand that not everyone who says Lord, Lord is going to be in the kingdom (even though they did miracles) because they did not know Him, I (Beth) feel overwhelmed and inadequate. How can I enter the narrow gate where few will enter? I know what a mess I am and that I deserve to go on the wide path to destruction. And then tucked among all of these expectations of our Lord, are the most awesome encouraging words that give me great hope:

7"Ask,and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8"For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Praise:

I praise You, Father that you are waiting for me to ask so that You can give. May I be as the wise man who hears and acts upon the words of Jesus because I keep asking You to do it through me, as I seek You and knock on Your spiritual door through prayer.

Who Was This Man? [Matthew 8]

In Matthew 8, Jesus stopped talking and began acting and His actions spoke volumes about who He was.

Jesus

Touched a leper and healed Him - showed fearless compassion and ability to heal
Healed Centurion's servant - showed Jesus' authority to cause things to happen at a distance (head of a spiritual hierarchy)
Marveled at the Centurion's faith - showed how Jesus values faith
Touched Peter's Mother-in-law's hand and healed her fever -showed a willingness to be intimate in healing her
That evening they brought many to Him and He cast out demons and healed them - showed a willingness to minister to many
He had no place to lay His head - showed humility
He told the man to let the dead bury the dead - showed that there was a window of time for Him on this earth
He calmed the storm - He had authority over the weather
He cast the demons out of the two uncontrollable men - showed His authority over many demons

Take a minute to pretend that you were there watching these things that Jesus did in Matthew 8. What sort of conclusions would you make about this man, Jesus? Pray that as we read through the gospels in the weeks to come, we will continue to watch Jesus and hear His words and be blessed by His life as never before.

He Felt Compassion For Them [Matthew 9]

35Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. 36Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.38"Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest."

Throughout Matthew 9 Jesus went from one encounter to another as people came to him to be made whole again. He graciously dealt with each person with compassion and power. However, throughout chapter 9, opposition from the scribes, Pharisees and others began to surface as Jesus did His healing work. Jesus responded to the opposition with grace and truth.

Then as chapter 9 comes to a close, we read the words above and learn even more about Jesus, the Son of God.

Jesus

Went through all the cities
Went through all the villages
Taught in their synagogues
Proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom
Healed every kind of disease
Healed every kind of sickness
Saw the people
Had compassion on the people because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd
Asked the disciples to pray for the harvest - workers are needed

We praise You, God, for the tireless, compassionate and powerful work Jesus did while on this earth. Praise God that He is still tireless, compassionate and powerfully working through His Spirit in us today. May you walk with Him in His work today.

He Felt Compassion For Them [Matthew 9]

Jesus

Praise God for the tireless, compassionate and powerful work Jesus did while on this earth. Praise God that He is still tireless, compassionate and powerfully working through His Spirit in us today. May you walk with Him in His work today.

Do Not Be Afraid - Let God Take Care of You [Matthew 10]

26"Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.

27"What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops. 28"Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29"Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30"But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31"So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

These words were spoken to the 12 disciples before Jesus sent them out. He told them that He knew He was sending them out like sheep among wolves (v. 16) but still all the way through this passage He exhorts them not to be afraid. Why? Because nothing happens (not even a sparrow falling to the ground) without your Father's consent. And just in case you are thinking that surely there are some things God is not bothered with, He adds that even the hairs of your head have been counted.

Fear. It is the thing that keeps us from moving. It means "to hold in highest value." As I (Verna) read that Jesus sends us out like sheep among wolves, I immediately have fear. I hold in highest value that sheep are vulnerable and need to be protected from wolves not sent out among them. But what He is calling me to hold in highest value is my Father who is protecting me. He is even going to speak through me by His Spirit (v.20).

May we walk today fearing (holding in highest value) God, our protector, who considers us valuable enough to not let anything happen to us without His consent. As we recognize the other things we fear may we exchange them for the truth about God's character.

Come To Jesus and Find Rest [Matthew 11]

25At that time Jesus said, "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.

26"Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. 27"All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. 28"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29"Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. 30"For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

Are you weary today? Are you caring heavy burdens? Jesus is offering you rest. He is calling you to come, be united with Him in a way that ties you together as you walk. As you walk with Him in commitment you will learn from Him. You will learn to know the Father as the Son knows Him. Jesus will humbly and gently reveal the truth about the Father, Lord of heaven and earth. As you learn who He really is, you will grow in trusting Him and the walk will be easy and light. Isn't this what your heart longs for?

"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, because He cares about you." 1 Peter 5:6-7 (Holman CSB). It will require being humble - acknowledging that we need God and asking Him to cause us to cast our burdens on Him.

We praise You the You are longing to carry our burdens for us, walk beside us and to give us rest. May we humbly take His yoke upon us today.

Truth and Love [Matthew 12]

14But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.

15But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and He healed them all, 16and warned them not to tell who He was. 17This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:
    18"BEHOLD, MY SERVANT WHOM I HAVE CHOSEN;
         MY BELOVED IN WHOM MY SOUL is WELL-PLEASED;
         I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT UPON HIM,
         AND HE SHALL PROCLAIM JUSTICE TO THE GENTILES.
    19"HE WILL NOT QUARREL, NOR CRY OUT;
         NOR WILL ANYONE HEAR HIS VOICE IN THE STREETS.
    20"A BATTERED REED HE WILL NOT BREAK OFF,
         AND A SMOLDERING WICK HE WILL NOT PUT OUT,
         UNTIL HE LEADS JUSTICE TO VICTORY.
    21"AND IN HIS NAME THE GENTILES WILL HOPE."

The Pharisees did not like that Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath. Jesus even told them that "the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." They began to conspire against Him, plotting how they might destroy Him.

I love that He was aware of their plotting, left to go somewhere else but the crowds kept following Him. Still He kept healing them. As He warns them not to tell who He was in order to fulfill what Isaiah had prophesied years ago, we see more revealed about Jesus and His Father's relationship.

* Jesus is the Father's beloved

* The Father's soul is delighted by Jesus

* Jesus will proclaim justice to the ones who are not Jews

* He will not be heard in the streets arguing and shouting

* Even the Gentiles will hope in His name

Once again we see that He came with authority but it was a quiet, serving authority. Remember the King that came to serve as a Shepherd. It is hard to keep those two thoughts together but Jesus is consistently blending them together in all He does and says. Truth and love at the same time. Justice and hope. Judgment about sin and at the same time compassion and mercy. May we learn from Him today as we observe these incredible combinations. He will heal us as we embrace both His truth and His love.

The Righteous Will Shine Like the Sun [Matthew 13]

36Then He left the crowds and went into the house And His disciples came to Him and said, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."

37And He said, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, 38and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; 39and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. 40"So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. 41"The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

43"Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. 44"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, 46and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

In this chapter Jesus begins to speak in parables to the people about the kingdom of heaven. The parables were stories about something in life that they could relate to with spiritual truths woven into the story. The disciples didn't understand why He was speaking to the people in parables. He told them "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand." He then quotes Isaiah again who describes this people's heart as having grown callous and their ears hard of hearing. Because of the state of their hearts Jesus is talking about things they do understand, like wheat, fish, pearls, etc. and engaging their minds so that they ponder the spiritual truths He is giving them, instead of outright rejecting them.

So what do we learn from the parable about the wheat and the weeds? The kingdom of heaven is here in the world where the Son of Man has sown the sons of the kingdom and the enemy has sown his sons. They are living together until the end of the age when the "Son of Man will send out His angels and gather from His kingdom everything that causes sin and those guilty of lawlessness" and they will be thrown into the blazing furnace. (Holman CSB). Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father.

This kingdom is the treasure worth seeking. Sell everything and buy that field. Place all that you have on the fine pearl. You will shine like the sun in your Father's kingdom if you are indeed a son of the kingdom. We praise You Father for sending Your Son and for establishing Your kingdom. May all the things of this world grow strangely dim in the light of Your glory and grace.

He Is Certainly the Son of God! [Matthew 14]

22Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away.
23After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone.
24But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary. 25And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea.
26When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out in fear. 27But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid."
28Peter said to Him, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water."
29And He said, "Come!" And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
30But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!"
31Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" 32When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. 33And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, "You are certainly God's Son!"
34When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. 35And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent word into all that surrounding district and brought to Him all who were sick; 36and they implored Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were cured.

When reading this story I am right there with those guys. I have sailed at night, fighting a storm. I would be terrified too, if I had seen Jesus walking on the water. Would I be brave like Peter and want to test the waters? Probably not. But if I had blundered into that I certainly would have felt the same terror when I saw the wind. And I would have doubted too.

Are you picturing what is happening? The wind just stops as Jesus and Peter get into the boat. All doubt is now gone - this is certainly the Son of God. He has command of even the wind. Add to it that they had that morning watched Jesus feed 5000 men plus women and children with five loaves of bread and two fish. This is a turning point in the disciples faith - they are not convinced that Jesus is God's Son.

May we worship Jesus today by recognizing the amazing things He is doing and declaring Him to surely be the Son of God.

Jesus Satisfies [Matthew 15]

32And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, "I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way."33The disciples said to Him, "Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?" 34And Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven, and a few small fish."35And He directed the people to sit down on the ground;36and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.37And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large baskets full. 38And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into the boat and came to the region of Magadan.

Jesus satisfied the over 4000 people with 7 loaves and a few fish. You can trust Him to satisfy your needs. May you look to Jesus in your time of need.

We praise Jesus for:

being willing to challenge the Pharisees and scribe

having mercy on the Caananite mother and daughter

healing lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others

having compassion on the people and feeding the 4000

What Will You Give in Exchange for Your Soul? [Matthew 16]

"24Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 25"For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.26"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27"For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS."

How can I come after Jesus? I must deny myself, take up my cross and follow Jesus. I am not exactly sure what God means about taking up my cross but I think it is connected with being willing to lose my life for His sake?

We praise You that Jesus, the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels. Keeping sight of that truth makes the things I desire on this earth not even worth gaining. Cause me to be willing to follow You completely today.

Get Up and Do Not Be Afraid [Matthew 17]

1Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. 2And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. 3And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. 4Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah." 5While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!" 6When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified. 7And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, "Get up, and do not be afraid." 8And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.

Jesus chose three disciples to accompany Him up the mountain. They watched Jesus transfigure before them with "His face that shone like the sun and His garments as white as light." They marveled at this and even when Moses and Elijah showed up to talk with Jesus, Peter's response was excitement and a willingness to build places for them to hang out. Not one of the disciples seemed to be afraid when they saw these miraculous things. But when the voice of God spoke from heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him,” the three men fell face down to the ground and they were terrified. It wasn't until Jesus "touched them" and told them "not to be afraid" that they were even able to look up.

Being with Jesus and experiencing His miraculous life did not provoke fear in the disciples, but the voice of God melted all their strength. We serve a terrifying God who can send strong men shivering to the ground with just a few words... and words that were not even fearsome or threatening. But Jesus who is comfortable with the awesome God of the universe is also comfortable with frail and broken humans, takes the fear out of standing before a holy God with His touch and words.

What an awesome God we serve who provided a link between man and Him in the person of Jesus Christ. We praise You for Jesus who died to save us from our sins and made us able to boldly with great confidence able to enter into the presence of a holy God without fear. (Hebrews 4:16) May we enter the throne room of God often with confidence through Jesus Christ.

Like A Child [Matthew 18]

1At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"2And He called a child to Himself and set him before them,3and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4"Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

When I (Beth) was a child, I couldn't wait until I was old enough to be on my own. I was dependent upon my parents to take care of me, to provide everything that I needed. They got to decide when I got up and went to bed, what I ate and where I got to go. It was a relief when I finally was old enough to get that parental yoke off my shoulders. However, by the time I was 23 years old and a young married wife, I was ready to end my life because of my eating disorder. Life felt like a living hell and I was tired of fighting. That is when I gave my life to Jesus. I remember telling Him, "I don't know if you are real, but if you can fix this mess I am in, I want you in my life." From that day, my life began to change for the better. It was quite a few years before I realized the truth of Matthew 18:1-4 and began in earnest to let Jesus run my life and learn to be His obedient child. Over 20 years later, I still struggle against His parental yoke, but each year, by His grace, I am a little more like a child and so blessed as a result.

We praise You God for giving children to be examples of humility Thank You that You want us to be like little children. May we become like a child and be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

The Impossible Standard [Matthew 19]

21Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." 22But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property. 23And Jesus said to His disciples, "Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.
24"Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
25When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, "Then who can be saved?" 26And looking at them Jesus said to them, "With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

The Christian life is impossible. Jesus said it pretty clearly in the verses above. Although He was talking about getting saved, it is also true concerning living the Christian life. I (Beth) heard those words from the pulpit the first and last time some 20 years ago. At that time, God had me in such a weak place that those words not only resonated in my mind, but they pierced my heart and I knew they were true. I had been trying to act like a Christian with all my strength and without much success. This sermon by a visiting pastor was a turning point for me. It took a while to figure out how to stop trying and to let God do the impossible through some really painful stuff, but that's another story. Over the years I have been learning to let God do the impossible through me. When I am surrendered, He is faithful to do amazing things in my life.

We praise You God that all things are possible with You, even what seems impossible to us. May we grow in surrendering to You, the God of the impossible. Your amazing power is at work moving each person to salvation.

In His Kingdom Things Are Different [Matthew 20]

January 23, 2010

28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

In His kingdom, all people are the same before Him without preference according to salvation date or the amount of work done for Him. This world in which we live is all about preference. If you have seniority or money or great talents, you get ahead of the rest. His Kingdom is different. In this world, we are driven to accumulate wealth for ourselves. In His Kingdom, generosity is the norm. His Kingdom is different. In this world, kings and presidents are exalted and are protected. They have people who will die to keep them alive. Jesus, God’s chosen King was sent as the King who would die to keep us alive. His Kingdom is different. In this world, servants are at the bottom of the social system, but in His kingdom if you want to be great, you will be a great servant. His Kingdom is different. And He is a different kind of King, one who came to serve His enemies and give His life so that some could be part of His Kingdom, a Kingdom like no other.

We praise You, Jesus, for coming to serve us. You served us by giving up Your life. You ransomed us with Your death and resurrection. Cause by Your power to live in Your kingdom even while we are on earth.

He Silenced Their Questions with a Question [Matthew 22]

15Then the Pharisees went and plotted together how they might trap Him in what He said.
34But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. 35One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, 36"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?"
37And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' 38"This is the great and foremost commandment.
39"The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' 40"On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."
41Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: 42"What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?" They said to Him, "The son of David." 43He said to them, "Then how does David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord,' saying,
    44'THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD,
         "SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND,
         UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES BENEATH YOUR FEET"'?
45"If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his son?" 46No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question.

This is the last week of Jesus' life and the leaders have questioned Him at length. They were trying to trick Him into saying something that would condemn Himself. He has answered some of the questions directly and some with parables. But the question about which is the great commandment is their last formal question. His answer is love. Love God with all your heart, soul and mind. Love your neighbor as yourself.

Then Jesus asks them a question. What do you think about the Messiah that has been promised? "Who's son is He?" They know the scriptures well so they answer with confidence, "The son of David."

Then Jesus quotes David as saying, "THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD," and asks how David could call Him 'Lord' if He is his son? They could not answer.

I (Verna) have been pondering all morning why that was such a hard question for them. They knew it was true but they couldn't answer why it was true. Did the answer point to the truth that Jesus was the Messiah and they didn't want to hear that truth? Were their ideas about scripture so entrenched with preconceived ideas that they were not even willing to think about the answer?

May we be willing today to let Jesus ask us hard questions about what we believe the scripture says. May our hearts be open to consider what truth the Holy Spirit may be asking us to look at with new eyes. And above all, let us ask Him to cause us to love God with all our heart, mind and soul today.

I praise You, Jesus, that You are the Son of God. You are sitting at God’s right hand. This is the truth proclaimed through all of Scripture.

Jesus Speaks the Truth with Love [Matthew 23]

5"But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. 6"They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, 7and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men.
8"But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9"Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10"Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. 11"But the greatest among you shall be your servant. 12"Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.
37"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. 38"Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! 39"For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, 'BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!'"

In this chapter Jesus told the crowds and His disciples to do what the Pharisees told them but not to do what they did. They gave others loads that are too hard to carry, they are hypocrites, blind guides, blind fools, and like white-washed tombs. Read the chapter to see all the evil they actually do in the name of "being the righteous ones."

I love the mixture of speaking the truth with love that Christ demonstrated in this chapter. He looked at the city of Jerusalem, where the temple is housed, where these blind leaders are leading the people astray and said, "How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, yet you were not willing." What a tender picture of His heart for His people. He longs to care fur us and comfort us but He waits until we are willing.

We praise You, Jesus for Your tender heart for Your people. May we be humble and willing today to let You press us close to Your heart protected under Your wings. May our heart beat with Your’s as we are close enough to listen.

Are You Ready for His Coming? [Matthew 24]

32"Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; 33so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door.
34"Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35"Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. 36"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
37"For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.38"For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
40"Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41"Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left. 42"Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.
43"But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 44"For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

"This is why you must be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." (Matthew 24:44, Holman CSB) I want to be ready. I want to be alert. But life is so distracting. I think about His coming and look forward to it at times. Most of the time it is far from my mind.

Why is it so important to think about His return? It keeps life in proper perspective. The thought that He could come today - does that change what I would do today? It does. Things that I think are important at this moment would fade from the picture. And yes, I would want to get ready.

He is near, He is right at the door! His words will never pass away. May we live today without distraction. May we live from a pure and simple devotion to Christ (1 Cor. 7:35), knowing that He could return for His elect today with power and great glory (Matthew 24:30).

Jesus Speaks the Truth with Love [Matthew 23]

5"But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. 6"They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, 7and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men.

8"But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9"Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10"Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. 11"But the greatest among you shall be your servant. 12"Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

37"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.

38"Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! 39"For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, 'BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!'"

In this chapter Jesus tells the crowds and His disciples to do what the Pharisees tell them but not to do what they do. They give others loads that are too hard to carry, they are hypocrites, blind guides, blind fools, and like white-washed tombs. Read the chapter to see all the evil they actually do in the name of "being the righteous ones."

I love the mixture of speaking the truth with love that Christ demonstrates in this chapter. He looks at the city of Jerusalem, where the temple is housed, where these blind leaders are leading the people astray and says,"How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, yet you were not willing." What a tender picture of His heart for His people. He longs to care fur us and comfort us but He waits until we are willing.

We praise You, Jesus, that you long to gather Your children together. May we be and willing today to let You press us close to Your heart protected under Your wings. May my heart beat with Your heart as I stay close enough to listen.

I Was Hungry and You Fed Me [Matthew 25]

31"But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32"All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
34"Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'
40"The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.' 46"These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

This conversation follows the parable of the talents. A man goes on a journey and gives his possessions to his slaves. One he gives five talents, another two and another one - to each according to his own ability. After a long time the master comes back to settle accounts with them and they show him what they have earned. Both the ones who invested them have doubled the amount and the master called them both good and faithful slaves. But the one with one talent was afraid of his master and buried the talent he had received. The master took away his talent, calling him a evil and lazy slave and sending him into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

I have never really understood this parable but today as I looked at it in combination with the conversation about the sheep and goats I am beginning to wonder if Jesus is talking about faith. It is growing faith that distinguishes the sheep from the goats and the good slave from the evil. When we by faith feed the hungry and invite the stranger in, we are doing it to Jesus. To Jesus? Wow, that makes me want to keep investing in faith.

Rejoice today, good and faithful servant, because God is growing your faith. When we see "the Son of Man come(s) in His glory, and all the angels with Him, ...on His glorious throne," it will be a joyous occasion. He will say to you, "Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."

A Day to Remember [Matthew 26]

These were Jesus' words during His last hours before His death:

1When Jesus had finished all these words, He said to His disciples, 2"You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be handed over for crucifixion."

11"For you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have Me. 12"For when she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial.

18And He said, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, 'The Teacher says, "My time is near; I am to keep the Passover at your house with My disciples."'"

24"The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!

26While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is My body. "27And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you; 28for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.

32"But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee."

38Then He said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me."39And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will."

42He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, "My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done."

53"Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels? 54"How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?"

63But Jesus kept silent and the high priest said to Him, "I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God." 64Jesus said to him, "You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN."

75And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, "Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly.

This is Jesus' last day on earth. His words during that day were packed with rich insight, most of which was lost on the disciples until much later. What do we learn from His words? He was tenderly trying to prepare His followers for what was to come. He reminded them often that the Scriptures had foretold the events that were about to unfold. He was also aware of what He personally was about to endure in order "for many to have forgiveness of sins."

In His emotional struggle and sorrow we also see His embrace of the Father's will. The peace that envelops Him as He laid aside His own will is evident as He walks through the events of the night.

May we with grateful hearts, lay down our will and embrace what the Father has for us today. "For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in His steps. He did not commit sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth; when reviled, He did not revile in return; when suffering, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to the One who judges justly." (1 Peter 2:21-23, Holman CSB.)

P.S. While reading Matthew I (Verna) was intrigued with this Peter who wrote those words above. He was mentioned by name a number of times. I went back and wrote down all the specific things about him and put it together in a blurb called, "Who Is Peter?' It was very insightful to see his growth in his relationship with Jesus. You can read it on the website under Community, under "Leader's Pearls of Wisdom."

Truly This Was the Son of God! [Matthew 27]

37And above His head they put up the charge against Him which read, "THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS."

38At that time two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left. 39And those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads 40and saying, "You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."

41In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him and saying, 42"He saved others; He cannot save Himself? He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him. 43"HE TRUSTS IN GOD; LET GOD RESCUE Him now, IF HE DELIGHTS IN HIM; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'" 44The robbers who had been crucified with Him were also insulting Him with the same words.

45Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. 46About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?" that is, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?"

47And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, began saying, "This man is calling for Elijah." 48Immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink. 49But the rest of them said, "Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him."

50And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. 51And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. 52The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.

54Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, "Truly this was the Son of God!"

As I (Verna) am pondering the things the mockers said to Jesus, I see myself among their ranks. Haven't I said some of those same words in my mind? "If God is really God, why didn't He ______________? (Save this person from suffering? Stop the man who blocked my husband's promotion? Kept this child from doing that deed?) But today I am seeing that the answer to all my questions is the same as the answer to the mockers questions. Why didn't God save His Son from dying on the cross? His love for me. He was willing to suffer and die so that I may have life with Him. He loves me so much that He was willing to endure the greatest suffering ever suffered in all history - to die not having done any wrong thus not deserving one ounce of suffering or death.

May I today receive God's answer to my questions. He truly is the Son of God whose great love for me sent Him to the cross. Everything He does or allows is for the purpose of wooing me into that great love.

The Women Were the First to Know [Matthew 28]

5The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.6"He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said.

What an amazing ending to an incredible story. I am especially intrigued by the fact that it was women who met the angel and were the first to hear the news that He was risen. What a gift for those ladies to have the eternal privilege of this discovery. And then, as they went to tell the disciples, Jesus met them on their way. Even though in the structure of the church and the family, men are over the women, Jesus showed the women how precious and important they were to him in many ways throughout his life and here after His death and resurrection. And He emphasized in His teaching (as seen earlier in Matthew) that although the men were to lead, as leaders they were to be great servants caring for the church, the women and the children, not lording over them.

Women need to know these things in a world that doesn't build them up to become the women God designed for them to be. Often I see women competing with their husbands for significance in the workplace instead of complementing them. Women are significant in God's Kingdom and their role as wife and mother is worthy and sufficient. There are other women who haven't the privilege to become a wife or Mom, and God blesses these women, too, as they seek Him for what He has for them in this world.

We praise you Father for raising Christ from the dead. Thank You that You chose to give the news to the women first. May we appreciate Your creation of women and encourage women to find their significance in You and not in the world.

Beth and Verna, 1/5/2010

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