Triumph Over The Grave

From: Our Daily Bread

  

Read: John 11:25-44 | Bible in a Year: 1 Samuel 27-29; Luke 13:1-22

I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. —John 11:25

Death may steal from us the ones we love, but for followers of Christ the separation is only temporary. The resurrection of Jesus assures us that just as death could not hold Him, so too the tomb cannot cling to the children, parents, friends, and companions who have died before us. Christ’s resurrection is the foundation of our hope.

American evangelist D. L. Moody (1837-1899) told of a soldier at the battle of Inkerman (Crimean War, 1854) who was somehow able to crawl back to his tent after he was shot. When he was later found, he was lying face-down, his open Bible before him, his hand stuck to one of the pages by his blood which covered it. When his hand was lifted, some of the words from the printed page were clearly visible on it. The verse was this: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live” (Jn. 11:25). Said Moody, “I want a religion like that, which can comfort even in death, and can unite me with my loved ones. What gloom and darkness would settle upon this world were it not for the glorious doctrine of the resurrection!”

If you are grieving, find your comfort in this: Because Jesus lives, we shall live also!

Crown Him the Lord of life:
Who triumphed o’er the grave,
Who rose victorious to the strife
For those He came to save. —Bridges

The resurrection is God’s answer of hope to man’s cry of despair.

Why Did Jesus Have to Die?

Good Friday. The day we remember the Cross. Jesus’ suffering. God’s answer to our sin problem.

And I ask Christians, “Why did Jesus have to die?”

One stares at me, maybe thinking it’s a trick question or that if he waits long enough, I’ll give the correct answer. Another gives me the typical answer: “To save us from our sins.” I can tell they’re repeating what the preacher or Sunday school teacher told them and haven’t thought much about it since.

Inside I groan—again, because I get these types of responses so often. And so few believers ever think much about the depth of what salvation means.

So why do Christians insist Jesus had to die? Why couldn’t God just shout from heaven, “I forgive you!”—and be done with it? And why, oh why, isn’t it enough to simply be a good person?

Every other belief system on earth basically says that if you do this, obey that, or give this, you’ll get fixed or earn your way to paradise or enlightenment or nirvana or some kind of big banana in the sky. Only biblical Christianity insists that Jesus’ substitutionary death on the Cross is the one way to getting right with God and all that follows.

What’s the big deal with Jesus and the Cross? Let’s cut through the theological complexities to this:

God is Holy­­–God is almighty, perfect, and separate from his creation. He is without sin of any kind. That’s great, but it creates a problem for us: our sinful human state separates us from him (Leviticus 11:44-45, Isaiah 6:3-5). This is serious trouble—and it gets worse.

God is Righteous–God requires justice, either in this life or the next. A price must be paid for every wrong. Sin is like a cancer that won’t go away. It must be destroyed, which means we all get the death penalty. This is why no one can ever be good enough to make it to heaven by their own effort, ever (Leviticus 17:11, Romans 3:23-26). We’re all dead meat.

God is Love–God loves us, whom he’s created, and wants to have relationship with us. So after centuries of Old Testament animal sacrifice, he paid his own penalty and gave us Jesus Christ, who was simultaneously God and human. Jesus died in our place to pay the price (death) for the sins of all humanity and to give a “not guilty” verdict to those who receive him as Lord of their lives (Romans 5:8). His resurrection overcame the powers of death and hades to guarantee eternal life to those who are his (Revelation 1:17-18), while here and now his Spirit brings life to our previously disconnected human spirits. This is good, very good.

When we grasp how holy and righteous God is—and then recognize his love, it becomes far more meaningful to us and impacts us more powerfully than it ever could without first grasping the kind of God we’re dealing with and the mess we’re in.

May you be filled with wonder at God’s holiness, righteousness, and love—as it hangs on the Cross.

“God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 NIV).

Lord Jesus, open my eyes and mind to the depths and reasons you came to came to die for me. Pierce my heart to passionately understand.

Basin of Love

From: Our Daily Bread

  March 29, 2018  

Read: John 13:1–17 | Bible in a Year: Judges 7–8; Luke 5:1–16

After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet. John 13:5

One day in physics class many years ago, our teacher asked us to tell him—without turning around—what color the back wall of the classroom was. None of us could answer, for we hadn’t noticed.

Sometimes we miss or overlook the “stuff” of life simply because we can’t take it all in. And sometimes we don’t see what’s been there all along.

Lord Jesus Christ, fill my heart with love that I might roll up my sleeves and wash the feet of others for You

It was like that for me as I recently read again the account of Jesus washing His disciples’ feet. The story is a familiar one, for it is often read during Passion Week. That our Savior and King would stoop to cleanse the feet of His disciples awes us. In Jesus’s day, even Jewish servants were spared this task because it was seen as beneath them. But what I hadn’t noticed before was that Jesus, who was both man and God, washed the feet of Judas. Even though He knew Judas would betray Him, as we see in John 13:11, Jesus still humbled Himself and washed Judas’s feet.

Love poured out in a basin of water—love that He shared even with the one who would betray Him. As we ponder the events of this week leading up to the celebration of Jesus’s resurrection, may we too be given the gift of humility so that we can extend Jesus’s love to our friends and any enemies.

Lord Jesus Christ, fill my heart with love that I might roll up my sleeves and wash the feet of others for Your glory.

Because of love, Jesus humbled Himself and washed His disciples’ feet.

Look and Be Quiet

From: Our Daily Bread

  March 28, 2018  

Read: Luke 23:44–49 | Bible in a Year: Judges 4–6; Luke 4:31–44

Look around and see. Is any suffering like my suffering . . . ? Lamentations 1:12

In the song “Look at Him,” Mexican composer Rubén Sotelo describes Jesus at the cross. He invites us to look at Jesus and be quiet, because there is really nothing to say before the type of love Jesus demonstrated at the cross. By faith we can imagine the scene described in the Gospels. We can imagine the cross and the blood, the nails, and the pain.

When Jesus breathed His last, those who “had gathered to witness this sight . . . beat their breasts and went away” (Luke 23:48). Others “stood at a distance, watching these things” (v. 49). They looked and were quiet. Only one spoke, a centurion, who said, “Surely this was a righteous man” (v. 47).

Look at the cross and worship. 

Songs and poems have been written to describe this great love. Many years before, Jeremiah wrote about Jerusalem’s pain after its devastation. “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?” (Lamentations 1:12). He was asking people to look and see; he thought there was no greater suffering than Jerusalem’s. However, has there been any suffering like Jesus’s suffering?

All of us are passing by the road of the cross. Will we look and see His love? This Easter, when words and poems are not enough to express our gratitude and describe God’s love, let us take a moment to ponder Jesus’s death; and in the quietness of our hearts, may we whisper to Him our deepest devotion.

Dear Jesus, as I look at Your cross, I have no words to express my gratitude for Your perfect sacrifice. But I thank You for Your love.

Look at the cross and worship.

Broken Dreams

From: Our Daily Journey

  Mar 27, 2018  

Read:

Genesis 50:15-21
Joseph replied, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people” (Genesis 50:19-20).

In the 1950s, a promising running back at Florida State University dreamed of a professional career in American football. But an injury prematurely ended these ambitions, leaving the young man adrift. During that uncertain period, he enrolled in various acting classes, surprised by how much he enjoyed the craft. That young man was Burt Reynolds, who would go on to become one of the most famous US actors of the 1970s and 1980s. Few realize that Reynolds’ acting career began with the death of a dream.

In the book of Genesis, Joseph had a literal dream of success in which his father and brothers all bowed down to honor him. The vision enraged his brothers to the point that they wanted to kill him, but instead they decided to sell him into slavery (Genesis 37:27). To make matters worse, Joseph was wrongfully imprisoned, and his hopes seemed to be shattered beyond repair (Genesis 39:6-20).

But the reality is that Joseph’s enslavement and imprisonment were actually the path to the fulfillment of his earlier dream (Genesis 50:18), for it was through an encounter in jail that he eventually was brought before Pharaoh and made viceroy over the entire empire (Genesis 41:25-40). And it was through his leadership that many people were saved from starvation (Genesis 45:7). What seemed like only a broken dream was in reality the very path through which God lifted up Joseph and saved lives.

Many of us lament the broken dreams of our lives. But as we see in the story of Joseph, God’s plan and power is greater than our broken dreams. His wisdom and sovereignty are so amazing that what may seem like nothing more than a broken dream can actually be something He’s working out “all for good” (Genesis 50:19-20).

Hosanna!

Palm Sunday: “Hosanna”?

From: Norman Brown, Author

 

Scripture Reading — Mark 11:1-11

“Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” . . . “Hosanna in the highest heaven!” — Mark 11:9-10

The Prince of Peace enters the “City of Peace” (“Jerusalem”) as the people cheer, “Hosanna!,” which means, “Save!” Do they know what’s happening? Probably not. “Hosanna!” will become “Crucify him!” by the end of the week. Perhaps their “Hosanna” needs a question mark.

The crowds took their salvation cry from Psalm 118:25-26. They wanted Jesus to overthrow the Romans and take back their capital city (see John 6:15; Acts 1:6). Had they forgotten his prophecy about going to Jerusalem to suffer and die for their salvation (Mark 8:31; 9:30-32; 10:32-34)? Easter’s victory would be impossible without Good Friday’s surrender to death.

And what of the two disciples Jesus sent to get the colt? Were they honored to do this for Jesus? Thankfully, they did as directed, and their obedience challenges us to be obedient disciples. What about the other disciples? Did Jesus even need cheerleaders (Luke 19:37-40)and crowds waving branches and throwing cloaks to carpet the way for the Messiah?

Sadly, the crowds’ cheers would soon turn into jeers. So it goes when a hero—even God—doesn’t give us what we want.

But today we know who Jesus is and who and whose we are. Do our “Hosannas” ring true? Do we believe in and honor the one who saves?

Prayer

Lord, too often we cry for you to save us on our own terms. Please save us and mold us to honor you— on your terms and for your glory. In your name we pray. Amen.

With Us

From: Our Daily Journey

  Mar 25, 2018  

Read:

Psalm 23:1-6
Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid (Psalm 23:4).

Marilynne Robinson, the Pulitzer-winning author of Gilead and Home, has, in addition to her marvelous fiction, also spent much time pondering the current plight of modern America. Robinson has especially contemplated Christian faith in these times, and how modern pressures erode and distort our faith in insidious ways. Though there are numerous causes for our predicament, Robinson suggests that these questions always return her to a two-part conviction: “First, contemporary America is full of fear. And second, fear is not a Christian habit of mind.”

Yet we are a people drowning in fear. The 24-hour news cycle peddles fear. Politicians motivate with fear. Too many religious leaders fuel their causes by fear. Terrified by all this anxiety, we exert great amounts of energy trying to manage our fears, trying to avoid anything (or anyone) that seems threatening or risky. We want absolute security, whatever the cost.

The psalmist, however, paints a different picture. Rather than avoiding the treacherous places, the psalmist describes what it is like to go through them—to walk right through—whistling free as a bird. We don’t need to fear the terrifying possibilities because “even when [we] walk through the darkest valley, [we] will not be afraid, for you are close beside [us]” (Psalm 23:4). It is possible to live with joy instead of fear—not because there’s nothing to be afraid of, but because God is with us in the midst of our fear. God’s authority and power are with us. “Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me,” the psalmist says (Psalm 23:4).

We can reject the fears of our age. We can live with faith and hope because of God’s love (Psalm 23:6). He’s with us, and we need not be afraid.

Decreasing for His Purpose

By Oswald Chambers

 

He must increase, but I must decrease. —John 3:30

If you become a necessity to someone else’s life, you are out of God’s will. As a servant, your primary responsibility is to be a “friend of the bridegroom” (John 3:29). When you see a person who is close to grasping the claims of Jesus Christ, you know that your influence has been used in the right direction. And when you begin to see that person in the middle of a difficult and painful struggle, don’t try to prevent it, but pray that his difficulty will grow even ten times stronger, until no power on earth or in hell could hold him away from Jesus Christ. Over and over again, we try to be amateur providences in someone’s life. We are indeed amateurs, coming in and actually preventing God’s will and saying, “This person should not have to experience this difficulty.” Instead of being friends of the Bridegroom, our sympathy gets in the way. One day that person will say to us, “You are a thief; you stole my desire to follow Jesus, and because of you I lost sight of Him.”

Beware of rejoicing with someone over the wrong thing, but always look to rejoice over the right thing. “…the friend of the bridegroom…rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:29-30). This was spoken with joy, not with sadness— at last they were to see the Bridegroom! And John said this was his joy. It represents a stepping aside, an absolute removal of the servant, never to be thought of again.

Listen intently with your entire being until you hear the Bridegroom’s voice in the life of another person. And never give any thought to what devastation, difficulties, or sickness it will bring. Just rejoice with godly excitement that His voice has been heard. You may often have to watch Jesus Christ wreck a life before He saves it (see Matthew 10:34).

The Death of Unbelief

By: Ken Barnes, Author

“So give me the hill country that the Lord promised me. You will remember that as scouts we found the descendants of Anak living there in great, walled towns. But if the Lord is with me, I will drive them out of the land, just as the Lord said.” (Joshua 14:12 NLT)

Caleb was 85 years old and still had not received his promised inheritance. He asked for the land of the descendants of Anak, the giants, who had put fear and unbelief in the hearts of all Israel, save Joshua and himself. The fulfillment of the promise of God would not be complete if he did not conquer this part of the land and unbelief would remain in Israel.

The hill country, more than any other area, was the place that caused the ten spies to give their bad report. All the spies except Joshua and Caleb said, “We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next, to them, we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!” (Numbers 13:33 NLT) Unbelief had made them small in their own eyes. This negative mental state was disastrous — all the Israelites died in the wilderness except for the two who gave a good report. Remember they were spies; they probably did not know what the giants were thinking.

You may not be what you think you are, but what you think, you are. What you believe others think about you is dependent on how you feel about yourself. But the strange thing is that neither one of them may be true. Only what God says about us is true. Caleb believed he would drive out the giants, “just as the Lord said.” (v.12)

Joshua had already captured the city of Hebron (Joshua 10-36-37 NLT) except the mountainous area within it. It was considered unconquerable, too fortified for any man to take, but not so for God. Caleb could have taken the lowland and lived securely off of the fruits of someone else’s conquests, but he said, “Give me the hill country” (v. 12). If Caleb could not take what God wanted to give him, he would take nothing at all. Why? It was all about the integrity of the promises of God. Caleb knew that what God had promised, he would do. If God had said it was his, then that settled it, whether he was 40 or 85-years-old.

Has God promised you your hill country? Are you getting older or is there an immovable object in your way? Over and over God told his people that he was giving them the land, now go in and fight for it. We like to think about receiving the land, but not so much about having to fight for it. In taking your inheritance, the battle is between faith and unbelief and the battleground is mainly in your mind. If God has spoken to you, take the inheritance that God is giving you, and put to death unbelief. If the Lord is with you, you cannot fail.

The Cross of Christ

By: James McDonald, Pastor, Author

 

Monday, October 15, 2012

20Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God . —2 Corinthians 5:20-21

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
—Romans 6:23

The cross of Jesus Christ is the signature symbol of the central event in the history of civilization. Yet today we depict the cross as common. Jewelers pound it into all sorts of finery so we can staple crosses to our ears and wear them around our necks. Merchandisers manufacture this symbol of unlimited atonement into fuzzy things for our rearview mirrors or decorations for our gardens. From teacups to t-shirts, people have used the cross to corner the market on crassness. Department stores hawk chocolate-covered crosses for Holy Week. Baseball players and businessmen cross themselves before a big moment. The cross itself has become big business, but it was never intended to be some lucky trinket. Making the cross common or cheap is profanity in the truest sense. Is it any surprise we have lost the wonder of what happened on Calvary?

The resurrection of Christ was the event that accomplished salvation and verified Christ’s victory over death, but it was the cross of Jesus Christ that showed us the grace of God. Everything that God wants us to know about Himself comes together in those crossbeams.

Our entire purpose in life is to elevate the Cross. Think on Jesus Christ nailed to the wood. In your mind’s eye, picture Him stretched out against the sky. What’s He doing up there? Answer: He’s subbing for you and me. He’s taking God’s wrath for your sin. He’s satisfying the just demands of a holy God. He’s paying the price that God’s holiness requires so that you and I can be forgiven. In the place where our blood should have stained the ground, Jesus hung as our substitute.

You can’t understand the Gospel until you understand this idea of substitution. Jesus’ death was in the place of every person who has ever lived. I am in that line. You are too. Each of us deserves to die in punishment for our own sin, but Jesus stepped in and took that penalty for each of us.

Journal:

• When was the last time I deeply contemplated what Christ did for me on the cross?
• Do I cheapen or make common the cross? How?

Prayer – Heavenly Father, I could never repay You for what You gave for my salvation. How is it then, that I can lessen the meaning of the cross? Forgive me when I don’t elevate the cross, or worse, when I cheapen it, or minimize its meaning. Thank You for the priceless gift of Your Son. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Walking on Water

  March 21, 2018  

Read: Matthew 14:25–33 | Bible in a Year: Joshua 7–9; Luke 1:21–38

Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Matthew 14:27

From: Our Daily Bread

During an especially cold winter, I ventured out to Lake Michigan, the fifth largest lake in the world, to see it frozen over. Bundled up on the beach where I usually enjoy soaking up the sun, the view was breathtaking. The water was actually frozen in waves creating an icy masterpiece.

Because the water was frozen solid next to the shore, I had the opportunity to “walk on water.” Even with the knowledge that the ice was thick enough to support me, I took the first few steps tentatively. I was fearful the ice wouldn’t continue to hold me. As I cautiously explored this unfamiliar terrain, I couldn’t help but think of Jesus calling Peter out of the boat onto the Sea of Galilee.

Dear Lord, thank You for the assurance that You are always with us. 

When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, their response was also fear. But Jesus responded, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid” (Matthew 14:26–27). Peter was able to overcome his fear and step out onto the water because he knew Jesus was present. When his courageous steps faltered because of the wind and waves, Peter cried out to Jesus. Jesus was still there, near enough to simply reach out His hand to rescue him.

If you are facing a situation today where Jesus is calling you to do something that may seem as impossible as walking on water, take courage. The one who calls you will be present with you.

Dear Lord, thank You for the assurance that You are always with us.

When we call out to God, He hears.