April 4, 2017
Does God give good gifts when we ask? Can we trust His response to our prayers? If we give ourselves fully to Him in prayer, will He test us with things we don’t want and take away things that we do?
Jesus answered these implied questions by asking His own, “If a son asks any father among you for bread, or fish, or eggs, will he give a rock for bread, a serpent for fish, or a scorpion for an egg?”
I’m sure His hearers must’ve responded with laughter at the ridiculous imagery of His rhetorical questions. “Certainly not!” They no doubt replied.
Jesus taught us to ask, seek, and knock in prayer expecting the Father to answer. We need not worry whether such persistence might cause the Father to give us hurtful or undesirable gifts. For if a sinful, mortal father knows how to give good, certainly the righteous God will give not only good gifts, but even the “Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
Never doubt the Father’s love and care for you. You can depend on Him to meet your needs when you ask. More than that, He knows your deepest need, namely, the Holy Spirit. For God has sent His Son to reconcile us to Himself, so that we might be adopted into His family by the Spirit of adoption, that we might truly be called children of God.
April 2, 2017
When Jesus sent out the Seventy to preach, he gave them instructions concerning whom they should look for as they entered a new town. He called this person, a “son of peace.” Today, missionaries refer to this as the “Person of Peace Principle.”
Pastor and seminary professor, Dr. Tom Wolf, has described this principle. He says that the missionary entering a new country or town should prayerfully look for a person identified by three “R”s. These three “R”s are:
– Receptivity (A person who is receptive to the gospel).
– Reputation (A person well-known in the community).
– Referral (A person who is ready to refer you to others).
When a person of peace is found, stay with them. Focus your ministry on them. God will use them to reach their community with the gospel.
March 23, 2017
This was Christ’s response to those who questioned why he associated with sinners, even eating and drinking with them. He had come to call sinners to repentance. Those who thought themselves righteous, as the Pharisees did, would not answer the call. Only those who admitted their sin would hear and obey his call.
This is still Christ’s ministry. As the Father sent him, he sends us (John 20:21). Having repented of our sins and believed in Jesus, we are sent to call sinners to repentance too.
March 21, 2017
The city of Capernaum embraced the ministry of Jesus. He made this fishing and marketplace crossroads, located on the northern end of the Sea of Galilee, His base of operations. The ruins of the synagogue in Capernaum still remain to this day, a testimony to the Word of Jesus which went out from there, and across the world. Those who heard His teaching were “astonished,” or as literally stated in the Greek, “thunderstruck.” Today, we might say, “blown away.”
There are still people groups and cities today that are ready to receive the Word of Christ and be astonished by it. All that is needed is for someone to go in the authority of Christ and preach there (Matt. 28:18-20).
March 18, 2017
Do you skip over names and places in your Bible reading? If so, you’re missing one of the richest parts of the Bible, namely, its historical and geographical rootedness. In these two verses, we see Luke’s careful research and historical accuracy on display. Wherever skeptics have cast doubt at the Bible’s historicity, it has stood the test of comparison to extra-biblical sources and to archaeological discoveries. The gospel of Luke is a historical masterpiece of its time.
Here’s an assignment for today: Look up all of the names, titles and places found in these two verses. Let your own research give color and shape to the time and setting of John the Baptist’s appearance on the scene. As you do this, ask the Lord to speak to you in your study and deepen your faith and understanding. The Word of God is true and powerful!
March 17, 2017
After a frantic, three day search, Mary and Joseph found twelve year old Jesus with the teachers in the temple. Mary asked why He had done this to them, causing them such worry, searching for Him. They didn’t understand Jesus’ reply at the time, but Mary continued to ponder such things in her heart.
Mary and Joseph and their entourage hadn’t even noticed that Jesus was missing from their company until they had gone well down the road to Nazareth. They went a whole day’s journey before they missed His presence. Then, they panicked as they looked for Him.
How many times have you headed out without Jesus? How many times have you gone a whole day without even missing Him? Where can we find Jesus? Where do we seek? Look to the Father’s business. You will find Him there. Wherever the Father is at work, Jesus will be at work with Him. Those who would be with Jesus, will follow Him in the Father’s work.
March 16, 2017
Two “beholds.” The “behold” of old Simeon pointed to the “behold” of Jesus on the cross.
When Joseph and Mary took eight-day old Jesus up from Bethlehem to Jerusalem to be circumcised, they were met in the temple by a man who was diligently waiting for the Christ. It had been revealed to him by the Spirit that he would not die before seeing the Messiah. As soon as he saw the Child, he took him into his arms and blessed him. Then, he turned to Mary and said, “Behold… a sword will pierce through you own soul.” Now, that’s a strange thing to say to the mother at a bris! “He’s a beautiful baby, but he will cause you to feel like a sword pierced your heart!”
Surely, the “behold” of Simeon must have flashed across her memory as she stood at the cross and heard her crucified Son say to her, “Woman, behold your son.” Jesus said this to Mary as he turned her care over to his disciple John. And to John he said, “Behold your mother.”
The Spirit had revealed this day to old Simeon and now Mary saw it with her own eyes, “Behold, the Christ who dies on a cross for the sins of humanity.”
April 28, 2016
After the Sabbath, several women went early in the morning to the tomb of Jesus to anoint his body. On the way, they worried about who might move the large stone, so they could gain entrance (Mark 16:3). Yet, when they arrived at the tomb they were surprised to find that the stone was already rolled away. Matthew’s gospel reported that an angel had moved the stone (Matt.28:2). But why? Did the Lord need help getting out? Certainly not. He that could overcome death and the grave needed no help moving a stone. Besides, as John’s gospel reported, the resurrected Jesus had no need of doors anymore (John 20:19). No, the stone wasn’t moved for Jesus. It was moved for the women. It was moved, so that they might bear witness to the empty tomb. God moved the stone that they might believe that Jesus was risen just as He said.
April 26, 2016
When the Jewish council questioned Jesus concerning whether he was the Christ, they did so not to determine the truth of his identity, but to gain a confession that would justify their desire to kill him. Yet, Jesus responded by describing their real motivation. Their agnostic questions weren’t motivated by a desire to discover the truth, but were from a heart that had already rejected Christ. He knew that they “would not” believe any of his claims, nor honestly answer any of his questions. Their unbelief was an act of the will, not the result of intellectual inquiry. He told them, “You will not believe.” How have you responded to Christ’s claims? How have you answered the question concerning Him? As Jesus asked Martha, so He asks us, “Do you believe?”
April 25, 2016
On the night He was betrayed, Jesus quoted the Messianic prophecy of Isaiah 53:12 to prepare the disciples for His crucifixion. He who knew no sin, would be “numbered” or counted among the sinners. And He would allow this accounting to take place willingly, so that those who believed in Him might be numbered among the righteous.