April 3, 2022
GOSPEL SHARING AND FEAR OF REJECTION Jesus sent out 72 disciples two by two to preach the gospel in every town and place he was about to go. He prepared them to understand that some people would accept their message and some would reject it. The main thing was to know that ultimately they were
April 4, 2021
THE ONE NECESSARY THING Martha was working hard in the kitchen while her sister, Mary, sat at the feet of Jesus listening. Martha was hurt, feeling that Jesus didn’t care that her sister had left her serving alone. But Jesus approved of Mary’s choice to sit and listen to Him, enjoying His presence without working.
April 3, 2021
OUR LONGINGS FULFILLED IN JESUS Jesus told His disciples that they were blessed because they were privileged to see and hear that which their forefathers had long awaited. The coming of the Messiah had been prophesied since the Garden when God spoke to the serpent saying that the woman’s “Seed shall bruise your head, and
April 3, 2019
HAVE YOU ACCEPTED OR REJECTED JESUS? Jesus sent out 72 disciples two by two to preach the gospel in every town and place he was about to go. He prepared them to understand that some people would accept their message and some would reject it. The main thing was to know that ultimately they were
April 3, 2018
THE LONGING OF GENERATIONS FULFILLED IN JESUS
Jesus told His disciples that they were blessed because they were privileged to see and hear that which their forefathers had long awaited. The coming of the Messiah had been prophesied since the Garden when God spoke to the serpent saying that the woman’s “Seed shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Gen. 3:15). For centuries, people of faith looked forward to the coming of Messiah, yet they didn’t see it. As the author of Hebrews wrote, “All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it” (Heb. 11:13). The disciples were seeing and hearing what generations had longed for, namely, Jesus the Messiah.
For those of us today that have placed our faith in Jesus, our longing is already fulfilled, but not yet. For the Lord has opened our spiritual eyes and ears, and we already have the Spirit of Christ with us and in us. Yet, our bodies long for the day when our “faith shall be made sight,” becoming like Jesus and seeing Him “as He really is” (1 John 3:2).
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.
April 3, 2016
“Who is my neighbor?” Asked the legal expert of Jesus. He asked this question seeking to “justify himself.” For the law is so perfect in its demand, who can keep it? Therefore, the lawyer sought a loophole or a limitation to the law in order to satisfy it. However, Jesus did not allow for a legal accommodation. Instead, he told a parable of three travelers passing by a man in need. The first two were experts in the law of Moses, yet failed to love their neighbor by stopping to help. The third man, a Samaritan, one hated by the Jews as a half-breed and certainly not a legal expert, he actually stopped to help the injured man. The parable surely hit the mark. It is not enough to know the law. One must do it. And since the lawyer must’ve realized the impossibility of keeping the law, perhaps he recognized his need for a Savior to rescue him from the sin that he couldn’t overcome. Because the truth is, both he and we are the ones in the ditch that needs someone to show us mercy.
April 4, 2015
Martha was working hard in the kitchen while her sister, Mary, sat at the feet of Jesus listening. Martha was hurt, feeling that Jesus didn’t care that her sister had left her serving alone. But Jesus approved of Mary’s choice to rest in Him and to enjoy His presence without working. He instructed Martha that resting in Him was the “good part,” the “one thing” needed.
Today is the 7th day of Passion Week, the day we remember Christ’s crucified body lying in the tomb. Just as God finished His creation by making man on the 6th day and rested on the 7th, so Christ redeemed mankind on the 6th day and on the 7th day, rested.
What are you “worried and troubled about” today? Rest in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who has defeated sin, death and the grave. Rest in Him, for He has already done what is needed to save us.
April 3, 2015
When the 70 disciples that the Lord sent out to bear witness returned, they were overjoyed that even the demons were subject to the name of Jesus. But Jesus told them not to rejoice over such things. Spiritual warfare is real and Christ-followers have been given authority, but we are not to glory in this. We are to “rejoice” that we are saved and that our names are in the Lamb’s Book of Life. On this Good Friday when we remember the price that our Lord paid for our inclusion into that Book, we rejoice in Him.
April 3, 2014
Jesus found joy in the way the Father revealed his true identity to those with childlike faith, yet concealed it from those who thought themselves wise. Jesus delighted in the Father’s sovereign plan. It brought him joy to the full. He shared the Father’s pleasure in this. This is the joy that is available to the Christian, an unconquerable exultation that flows to those filled with the Holy Spirit. This is not the conditional coincidence of happiness, but the perpetual state of the one whose contentment rests in Christ alone.