Tag: Christ

Devotional 126: His Own Word

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John 4:39-42

The Savior of the World

39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of His own word.

42 Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”

The woman at the well had already spoken to Him, and Jesus had revealed Himself to her, as her heart was seeking Him, and her life certainly needed Him. While the text doesn’t specifically say she was something of an outcast, she was certainly alone, but something in her was so different the people who heard her were curious enough to see for themselves who this man was that had the woman so fascinated.

And their lives changed as well.

What they found was someone who was supposed to be the enemy of their people, two cultures that despised one another, and yet they too, were open to His words, looked on Him, and most importantly, listened. 

Throughout Christ’s ministry, His words always got past the layers, broke the walls,  stripped away the veneers, and got to the heart of the problem, the real question, and the true need.

His teaching had carried an authority that had been amazing not only to the people, but to the rabbis in the temple from the time He was missing as a child.

The Boy Jesus Amazes the Scholars (Luke 2:41-47)

41 His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42 And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. 43 When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother did not know it; 44 but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day’s journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances. 45 So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him. 46 Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers.

Our Savior says to us, even today:

John 10:24-27

24 Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

Yet we have among us false Christs, false teachers and prophets, and those calling themselves apostles who are not. Caught up in the world, their true trust is in their riches, and the belief that Jesus does not, in fact, mean what He says about all nations being gathered to Him.

They walk with hate in their hearts, and arrogance, exuding airs of exclusivity, mocking those who are different from themselves, and placing trust of their eternity in the hands of false shepherds who are focused on riches, favors, politics, and gimmickry.

I once debated, almost daily, with a man who held a different view, and when I showed Him from the Scriptures where his error lay, it shook him. We parted ways due to circumstances, and kept in touch for a short while, but way lead on to way, and I trust he held onto the truth, as he also believed the Word of G-d was unerring. His claim, however, was that his faith required teachers who studied and rose through the church ranks to reveal the word to the flock, and he believed that they were the most accurate. Until I showed him the error of his belief that there was no hell, that Jesus Himself spoke of it, so it could not be a metaphor.

The most disturbing thing he told me was how many Christians they angered because those Christians didn’t read their Bibles. I imagine that’s how they got most of their converts, showing them in the Scriptures what they wanted them to see, and convincing them, because they had no spiritual voice of their own, neither connecting with Christ or the Holy Spirit.

Believers, we have the Word in our own hands, and to neglect it is to be led astray. While study is necessary, reading it is also required. Jesus tells us that even hearing it is not enough, we must act on it.

There is only one path back to the Father, only one true G-d, but His enemy does have power and influence. In fact, he is called the prince of this world. Let us give thanks that we have the King of kings, the Most High, and the Almighty G-d, whose power is greater than he who is in the world.

Acts 17:10-18

Ministering at Berea

10 Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. 12 Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men.

The Word of our Father is such that, even in a polytheistic pagan society, men and women came to faith in the Savior of the world.

Therefore I pray:

Father in Heaven,

We are losing sight of our Shepherd, Your Son, who came to reveal the truth of Your existence, the honesty of Your Word, and the love that You bear for His errant, straying, ever-rebellious, ever-doubting flock, for He tells us that You have given all over to Him regarding our righteousness as well as our judgement.

Counted worthy to be among the flock, we have the power within us to not make the Shepherd work harder than He needs to, but we are incapable of withstanding temptation, of doubt, of cleansing ourselves from sin.

Daily, the Shepherd must wash us clean again.

We are grateful to Him, Father, that He tells us You are faithful and just to forgive, and that You would see us reconciled to be with Him in the kingdom, and that the memory of this sinful world will be no more.

We humbly submit ourselves today back under His hand, back into Your favor, back into Your grace, back into Your presence.

As we search our Word, let us also search our hearts, minds, and motives. Let us deny ourselves, take up the cross, count the cost, and follow Him through the valleys of the shadow of death on either side of the narrow path, that we might find the Way, the Truth, and the Light, and live forever.

Until then, may we no longer be like the sin-filled pagans among us, who believe all manner of things that require no change within themselves. Let us not put our trust in the created, and in men who love the praises of men, or who call ‘good’ that which you call ‘evil.’

Let the Holy Spirit close our eyes to false teachers, prophets, and Christs; they are tares the enemy has sown among the wheat.

Let us come out to hear You for ourselves, Father, that we might believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and that You have told Him all He should say to us concerning You. Let us affirm that our search for the Savior of the World is over, because now we ourselves have heard His own word, and know Him by His voice.

May it be done to us as You have said.

Amen.

 

 

Devotional 112: The Jesus Whom Paul Preaches

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Acts 19:11-

Miracles Glorify Christ

11 Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. 13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 

At some point, as believers, we’ve walked into places and felt a presence, either of the Holy Spirit, or something else, an ‘off’ feeling, or an outright feeling of malevolence. What is fortunate is that the powers Jesus imparted to His disciples weren’t just given to the twelve, or to the seventy, but to all who put faith in His Name that He empowers to preach the Gospel.

Paul and the itinerant Jewish exorcists were not of the Twelve, yet the Word states that the miracles performed through them by G-d’s power were unusual in and of themselves. People were healed by inanimate objects that were in Paul’s possession, anointed with holy power in that the Spirit abided on them, and did the work He was supposed to perform on the afflicted where Paul preached.

Jesus Himself said to the Twelve,

Jesus Forbids Sectarianism

38 Now John answered Him, saying, “Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us.”

39 But Jesus said, “Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me. 40 For he who is not against us is on our side.

It stands to reason that if we are grafted into the Branch, we are not forbidden to carry on His work. In fact, He expects that, and calls to account those who don’t as unprofitable servants.

The work of the Kingdom supersedes all, and the work must be carried out by the faithful, for that’s the only way the power of the Spirit can work.

John 14:12 The Answered Prayer

12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

But He also cautioned the disciples He sent out: Luke 10:19-20

19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”

More, as we understand it, is not given in greater measure to one than another, Paul says:  (1 Corinthians 12:4-6)

4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.

If the gifts were of diverse gods, or diverse paths to G-d, there would be no need to preach the Gospel to every nation.

The Christ Paul preached is the same one we hear about on Sundays, and read about in our Bibles, and He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, until He comes again in His fearful glory, ready to vanquish His enemies and judge His people, to be redeemed to the Father, or separated forever.

G-d did not spare Christ from His absence when He took our sins to the cross to the point where Jesus physically felt Himself forsaken; how then, are we spared His wrath?

Let us, like the itinerant priests of Israel, be steadfast in the unity and consistency of our faith as we drive out the darkness while we pray, sow, and reap by the power of the Holy Spirit, done in the Name of Jesus.

Therefore I pray:

Lord Jesus,

The veil tore not only the barrier between man and the Father, but between the Chosen and the unworthy, the Jew and Gentile, and we who are now grafted in through grace now know, too, that the joy of salvation is ours through faith in You.

We have sometimes taken grace for granted, and put You in a human box of tolerance and acceptance of that which G-d did not allow. Those You forgave, You also told to repent. It is a hard calling to deny our flesh, take up our crosses, and follow a narrow road to unseen glory. Sin feels good, and we justify our evil by twisting the Word to our purposes, by putting repentance on a schedule, and by continually removing ourselves from G-d’s presence.

Suffering with You is better, but not desirable, and when You tell us that to find our lives with You we must lose the earthly one, seeds of doubt sprout in the heart.

As we spiral downward toward tribulation, increasing our own sorrows, we who believe will continue to pray and intercede, as You did for your disciples, sent out as sheep among wolves, trusting You to fill us with the power of the Gospel for present times.

Yet Your love and power converted one of your most staunch detractors into the most powerful ministry of the Gospel, and he reminds us that You are the same yesterday, today, and forever, and that the Father is not a man that He should lie, and that we must suffer to attain the promises.

We want redemption on our terms, but that is being lukewarm water, unfruitful, unprofitable, tasteless salt, and a dim lamp indeed if on our best days, our righteousness is as rags in the Father’s sight.

Strengthen us, Lord, to continue on with You as the days grow dark, and the signs of the end You spoke of manifest themselves through the evil hearts of powerful people who do not know You, and the beauty of the grace You offer. You tell us they have their reward, and there will be none to be found on the new earth, or in the Kingdom of G-d.

I would not be among that company, Lord. Rekindle in me the love and reverent fear of the Father, who will not compromise and make exceptions for me, having revealed You to me, for the life I now live, and the parts of it I do not, will not, give to You. Help my unbelief, but complete my submission as well, for my heart is hard, and my head is filled with earthly concerns so that my focus is not on You, or the Narrow Road.

Without You, Lord, I will fall, and stumble, and embrace the darkness, believing it light.

Without You, I am only fit to be burned out of existence, never knowing peace, and never entering into my Father’s rest.

You are the Christ whom Paul preaches, even now, reaching down to strike me from my pedestal, and newly open my eyes, continually. Let what miracles You manifest through me, if any, always give the Father greater glory, as You have done.

And with a grateful heart, I thank You.

May it be done to me as You have said.

Amen.

 

Devotional 100: A Man Called Jesus

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John 9:8-12

8 Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was [a]blind said, “Is not this he who sat and begged?”

9 Some said, “This is he.” Others said, “He is like him.”

He said, “I am he.”

10 Therefore they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?”

11 He answered and said, “A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received sight.”

12 Then they said to him, “Where is He?”

He said, “I do not know.”

For a lot of us who’ve received Christ, outside of the movies a crucifixion is an abstract concept, but every time we’ve seen it portrayed our spirit recoils a bit no matter who the victim is.

It is designed to cause suffering, suffocation, nerve damage, and that’s before death.

The whips were designed to tear flesh from the body, not just scar.

The crucifixion of our Lord was enhanced by beatings with fists, whips, a crown of thorns, and constant striking, spitting, hair pulling, and mocking.

Yet He asked forgiveness for his accusers and executioners, because He knew the nature of the world, and testified to it that its works were evil.

As He’s commissioned us to be His hands and feet as He sits at the Father’s right hand and intercedes for our backsliding, those without Him remain in their fallen nature, being the hands and feet of our Enemy. As we are to go about preaching, they go about mocking. As we come fight against moral decay, they use the faithless and the cowardly to advance.

Christ told us:  14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. 16 These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness;17 and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble. 

The Apostle Peter experienced this first hand, and had to be restored. So have we, and so do we.

Christ was a miracle working man, yet untainted by the earthly seed of man. He was attached uniquely to the Father. But He also grieved, wept, and marveled, just as we do. I imagine there were times he even laughed. He got thirsty, hungry, and tired.

He climbed mountains to be alone and pray.

To heal Bartimaeus, He spit.

He is not only our Savior, but our Brother. He is not only our King, but our Friend. He is not only the Son of G-d, but our Shepherd. He is not only the Lion of Judah, but our judge. All of the latter terms are earthly offices, and all of the former divine in nature.

Let us not deny His humanity, though His works were of Heaven through the power of faith in the Holy Spirit, and the approval of the Father.

Bartimaeus received his sight, but didn’t know where Jesus went.

Let us thank the Father that today, we don’t have that problem, for Christ again tells us:

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

That’s fitting, since He is the finisher of our faith.

Therefore I pray:

Lord Jesus,

Never let the horror of Your sacrifice be lost on us. You suffered much, in flesh and spirit, for our sake. Those of us who believe and follow must suffer also, to share in the glory.

We don’t understand it all, but one day, we will, and that will be a glorious day for the faithful. 

No hatred, war, bloodshed, evil intent, deceit, greed, lust, or transgression. All things made new, all evil destroyed. The light of the Father Himself will be our sun, and the heavens will ring with holy praise.

Help us to remember our places are prepared, our rewards set aside, our crowns given to throw at Your feet, for the silver and gold is Yours.

As Your prophecies unfold, help us to keep hold of the hem of Your garment, that we might be made whole, spotless before the Father, our unworthy names not blotted from the Book of Life, Your Book of Remembrance of us as You come into Your kingdom.

Help us to know that what we’ve read, seen, and heard in our own walks was appointed to us from before the foundation of the world. Some of us came later rather than sooner, and endured some unneeded hardship, but You applied the goads that got us to declare our faith in You, as we reached the end of ourselves and our own ways, lost in darkness too deep to dispel on our own.

As with Bartimaeus, some of us would declare it a late-life miracle indeed, but we are here, now, and all that’s left behind is no longer important. Our eyes are focused on You, and our lives, the very ones You gave back to us, are Yours to make what You will of them to the Father’s glory.

And for it, we shall be eternally grateful, dwelling with You in the sight of God, reconciled to Him forevermore.

May it be done to us as You have said.

Amen.