Tag Archives: faith

Don’t you love the power in His simple words? (Mark 1:25) July 6, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 78-80

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 1:25
Jesus (rebuking him): Be quiet, and come out of him now!

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Jesus starts His ministry with a bang. He teaches and people listen. They are in awe of His understanding of the scriptures. They like what He says. He speaks with authority and the way He shares the Law and the Prophets with such intimate knowledge but as an uneducated carpenter from the village of Nazareth just blows them away. This just shouldn’t be happening. Nazareth was a dean of thieves and robbers. It was the bad side of the tracks for the bad side of the tracks. Nothing good came out of Nazareth and yet here is this Man with such a wonderful gift of teaching God’s message.

Then a man bursts through the crowd screaming out above the sound of His teaching, “I know who you are! You are the Son of the Holy God! What are you doing here? Have you come to destroy us?” It was the demons inside the man screaming out, evaluating the presence of this teacher. They knew exactly who the Man was. And they were afraid. They knew His power. They knew His holiness. They knew He could destroy them with just a single word.

But Jesus’ ministry was just beginning. He didn’t want people to believe because of the testimony of demons. He wanted people to believe in Him because of their faith. He didn’t want His demonstrations to sway them. He wanted them to exercise their faith to realize He was the Son of God. So Jesus stopped the demon from saying anything else.

“Be quiet. Come out of him now!” Jesus demanded silence from the demon that announced who He was. We probably can’t understand why other than what scripture tells us. The timing wasn’t right. He didn’t want to be found out and made king or priest or ruler because people found out too early who He really was. He didn’t come to hold any of those earthly positions. Jesus came to conquer sin. He knew the best way for Him to do that was to live a sinless life and die as the perfect sacrifice for our atonement.

So what can we learn from this exchange between Jesus and this demon He exorcised from this tormented man?

First, we find without a doubt that Jesus is God incarnate. He is the Son of the living God. The second person of the triune Godhead. We don’t understand how all that works, but we can trust that God’s words is true and Jesus, by declaration of the those who walked with Him and the demon’s who feared Him recognized He is God.

The second thing we learn from this exchange is the demons lived among the people of Judea. They inhabited some and did all sorts of dispicable things in and through them. Sometimes it was one demon and sometimes it was many that invaded the life of a single person as we discover in scripture. The Bible doesn’t tell us how demons came to possess this man or others in scripture, but we know they did so to a violent end in most instances. And often the individual had little control over their behavior when the demons decided to take control. No sane person without that influence would throw themselves into the fire, throw themselves on the ground injuring themselves, require chains outside the city because of their violent behavior. But all these describe the activities we read about in God’s word among the demon possessed.

The third thing we learn about this exchange is the demons feared the Son of God. They thought He came to destroy them when they saw Him among the crowd. They feared for their very existence when He approached. They assumed their time had come to an end and judgment day had dawned because Jesus appeared on the scene. They knew they could not defeat Him and bowed in cowardice in His presence.

Next, we learn Jesus had complete and total control over these demons. He told them to be quiet and they spoke no more. He told them to get out of the man and they left. He told the demons to leave immediately and no sooner had Jesus spoken the words than the demons fled. He showed complete and total mastery over the minions of Satan. They could not stand in His presence and power and all He did was speak the words. They could do nothing but obey Him.

Finally, I think we learn that Jesus wants to bring freedom to any of us who want freedom from the sin and evil that is resident within us. We may not be possessed by demons, but we all have sinned and harbor that dark place that needs His light shined upon it so the darkness is dispelled. He wants to do that for us if we will let Him. He is anxious to do the work and all it takes is the sound of His voice. Come out and leave him. For Jesus, it’s that simple. Where no one else can soothe the guilt and turmoil in our soul, Jesus can with just a few simple words. You are forgiven. Enter in. Faithful servant. Child of God. Simple words with great impact.

Don’t you love the power in His simple words?

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Through the eyes of faith (Matthew 23:34-39) May 28, 2016

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Luke 7-8

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 23:34-39
Jesus: That is why I am sending you prophets and wise men, teachers of breadth and depth and substance. You will kill some of them and crucify others. You will flog others in your synagogues. You will pursue them from town to town. And on your heads, stained through your hands and drenching your clothes, my friends, will be all the righteous blood ever shed on this earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah whom you murdered in the house of the Lord between the sanctuary and the altar. I tell you: this generation will bear the blood of all that has gone before.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem. You kill the prophets whom God gives you; you stone those God sends you. I have longed to gather your children the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you refuse to be gathered. Surely you can see that God has already removed His blessing from the house of Israel. I tell you this: you will not see Me again until you say, with the psalmist, “Anyone who comes in the name of the Eternal One will be blessed.”

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

I grew up in a parsonage. And I was ordained in my denomination twenty-five years ago, myself. So I’ve been around the pulpit a long time. One of the things I’ve learned in that time, is that a lot of people like to have the pastor for lunch. I’m not talking about inviting the pastor to their house to enjoy a meal together. I’m talking about carving the pastor up and devouring him or her over the dinner table. I didn’t know until I was a teenager how often my dad got criticism about his messages from the faithful few that just had to say something. And it was always the same few. And there were always a few in every congregation.

I discovered when I began filling pulpits the same thing happened. Most people seemed to appreciate what I had to say from the pulpit. It wasn’t always comfortable, but I always try to share what God places on my heart and invariably the message reaches the right people in the congregation. I never preach to individuals, but individuals get God’s message, often in a way I never expected. That’s how God works.

But some people will hand me a note or make a comment or send me an email and let me know I missed the mark. Do I realize the political state of the world today? I really need to preach about that. Do I understand how many people are being killed by gun violence today? I ought to have a sermon about that. Do I know how many babies die in abortions every year? Am I concerned about that?

It’s interesting how many times I’m given sermon topics that someone is sure God has spoken to them about and so is sure I should speak to the congregation about it. Well, it just doesn’t work quite that way. At least it doesn’t work that way in any of the homiletic classes I’ve even taken. So I usually thank them for their concern and let it go. I would hate to be as miserable as they appear when they pick apart sermon topics and miss what I’ve tried to talk about in that day’s message.

I think that’s what Jesus was telling the crowd of teachers and Pharisees gathered around Him that day. God sent teachers and prophets and wise men to them to help them understand God’s message, but instead of listening to their message, they had them for dinner. Criticizing everything those prophets and teachers and wise men tried to do to help them. Those Pharisees thought they knew better. They thought they knew the law better than God knew the law.

Pretty silly, isn’t it? God gave them the law. He sent the prophets. He put the words into the prophet and teachers’ mouths. Why did these governing priests, who continually fought for position and power think they knew more than those God sent?

The answer is pretty simple. The Bible tells us Satan puts a veil over our eyes. The analogy I like to use takes you back to elementary school days. Remember those hidden picture puzzles? The teacher would give us a picture and we would have to find the shovel and the comb and the pail and the apple and umbrella and other objects hidden in the picture. God’s truth in this world is like looking at that hidden picture. Satan has put a veil over our eyes and all we see is the picture until we deliberately exercise our faith in Him.

When we put our faith in God, the hidden objects appear. We see all those things we couldn’t see before. The truth stands out and every time we look at that picture, there are the hidden objects. We can’t help but see them from then on. The truth stares at us. We can try to ignore it, but we can’t. But first, we must exercise our faith in Him. So what are you waiting for? Want to know the truth? It’s there in plain sight. Take another look through the eyes of faith. 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

The weight of the stone (Matthew 21:42-44) May 19, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Job 39-40

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 21:42-44
Jesus: I wonder if any of you has ever opened your own psalter:
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the very stone that holds together the entire foundation.
This is the work of the Eternal One,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
Therefore, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to people who will tend its sweet fruit and who will give the Creator His due. He who falls on the stone will be broken to pieces, and he on whom the stone falls will be crushed.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

If there was ever any question in the chief priests and elders’ minds about who Jesus was talking to when He talked about the landowner of the vineyards and the tenant workers who killed the landowner’s son, this statement cleared it up for them. Jesus took a passage out of the Psalms and aimed it square in their faces. He announced they would lose the kingdom of God and it would be given to people who would tend to it the way God intended.

You think that might have smarted a little when Jesus told them those words? You think they might have been a little embarrassed to get chastised by this man in front of the very crowds who followed Him. These were the same people they had taken offerings from for years. They had told these people how to live their lives, how to obey the laws God handed to Moses on the tablets of stone, how to practice the rituals set up through the centuries. These same people now heard this uneducated preacher from Nazareth dare to tell them they would lose the kingdom of God and it would be handed over to others who would care for it better than they could. How dare He make such statements, and especially in public places.

Jesus kind of stepped on their toes, well, he kind of stomped all over them. He let them know God’s kingdom is more than rules and regulations and rituals. God’s kingdom is about relationship with the Father and relationships with each other. It’s about grace and mercy and love. But that message went to the heart of the chief priests and elders in Jesus’ day, right?

Well, maybe. Do we act any different? Do we get so caught up in our programs and schedules and rituals and church rules that we forget what we’re really doing and why we do them? Do we put our processes above the reason for doing them in the first place? Do we get so set in the routine of our services and our ministries that we leave God out altogether?

Sometimes I wonder if God would be pleased with the focus we have in our churches and our ministries. Oh, we do some good things. But do we do them in the name of Jesus or to get our brand elevated in the eyes of the market? Do we feed the homeless making sure nothing has our church name on it or do we put a banner up and advertise who is helping? There’s a good question for you.

Why do we do the things we do in ministry? Is it really to serve others or to serve ourselves? Do we want to do good and help others or are we trying to buy that ticket into heaven? James tells us faith without works is dead and I agree with Him. And quite frankly, no one looking in from the outside can tell the difference between someone doing good works because of their faith or someone who is doing good works to try to attain favor. The outcome for the person receiving the help is the same. It looks alike to the person being fed or clothed or taught or housed. It’s just good works to them.

But God sees our heart. He knows what’s on the inside. He knows why we do what we do. Do we act out of love or duty? Do we feel the necessity to help others because God prompts us or because we have this inner ego that wants others to see how good we are to others? Only we and God know the answer to that question. We can fool everyone else for a long time, but there will be a day of reckoning and Jesus words will still be true.

If we don’t give the Creator His due, Jesus warning will happen to us just as it did to those religious leaders who worked so hard to push Him out of the way 2,000 years ago. “The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to people who will tend its sweet fruit and who will give the Creator His due. He who falls on the stone will be broken to pieces, and he on whom the stone falls will be crushed.”

You don’t want to find yourself under the weight of that stone. It’s much more than you can bear.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Do you believe Him? (Matthew 21:19-22) May 15, 2016

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 2 Corinthians 9-10

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 21:19-22
Jesus: May you never bear fruit again!
Immediately the tree shriveled up. The disciples were amazed.
Disciples: How did that fig tree wither so quickly?
Jesus: I tell you this: if you have faith and do not doubt, then you will be able to wither a fig tree with one glance. You will be able to tell mountains to throw themselves into the ocean, and they will obey. If you believe, whatever you ask for in prayer will be granted.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

We hear the story of Jesus’ power over the fig tree and we stand in awe of Him. We hear the story of His power of the storms at sea and wonder at what He can do. The power He demonstrates, the command He has over nature, disease, demons, when we hear those stories, if we believe they are true there can be no doubt about His divinity. No one can have that kind of authority over creation except God.

But then the disciples ask Jesus a question that we sometimes forget when we recall this story of the withered fig tree. “How did that fig tree wither so quickly?” And Jesus answer, we totally ignore when we tell the story to our children. “If you have faith and do not doubt, then you will be able to wither a fig tree with one glance. You will be able to tell mountains to throw themselves into the ocean, and they will obey.”

Do you have that kind of faith?

I am pretty good at making plants wither. But I’ll have to admit, I’ve never looked at plant and have it wither at a glance. It takes me a little longer than that. I’m just terrible at keeping plants alive. When I plant things they die. But to wither a thriving tree in a single glance? I haven’t done that. Or even a bush or a blade of grass. Do I have enough faith?

But then again…maybe I do. What does it mean to have the kind of faith Jesus talks about. Could I do something or let God teach me something that could wither a fig tree? Over the years I’ve learned about different chemical, poisons, mechanical reactions, that God allowed me to learn over the course of my education and career that in a pretty short time could wither a fig tree. Does that count? Well, God put me through the right training and experiences to enable me to do it.

And how about moving mountains? Can I tell a mountain to throw itself into the sea and it happen? We certainly have the equipment, explosives, moving capability to do that today. Does that count? Some would say you can’t move a mountain. I know you can because of what I’ve seen happen in large construction projects. It might take some time, but I know we can move a mountain from where it sits today and put it into the ocean. Is that faith? It is. Is it faith in God’s ability? Yes.

God doesn’t tell us how He will get a task done when it’s in His plan. Sometimes He does things in God-like ways. Sometimes He will cause something to happen that makes that mountain move almost instantaneously. He could send one of those car-sized meteors to hit a mountain and blow it away letting the debris fall into the oceans around the world. He could split the crust under one of those mountains and let the molten core melt the rock until it flows out into the sea and cools there forming a new land mass. God could just pick it up and put it in a new location if He wanted to. He’s God.

He could also tell us to get our hands dirty and do the work to move it one shovel at a time. We can’t presume to tell God how to accomplish His plan, but we can have faith that God works His miracles. He answers our prayers. Sometimes instantaneously, sometimes through the knowledge, skill, and effort of His children. But God does answer our prayers.

The faith we exercise in our belief in God and His will for us is not different than the faith we exercise in our belief that our car will start when we turn the key. Faith is faith, the question is what and who do we put our faith in? Do we believe God will do what He says He will or help us get done the tasks He gives us to do? Sometimes He works His plans instantly. In my experience, more often He works His plans through the people who have given their lives to Him. He uses us to help those around us. He builds relationships between us to enhance our relationship with Him. He wants us to show His love by doing God-like things for others through the resurrection power available to us through His holy Spirit in us.

Jesus said, “If you have faith and do not doubt, then you will be able to wither a fig tree with one glance. You will be able to tell mountains to throw themselves into the ocean, and they will obey.” Do you believe Him? 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Have a little faith (Matthew 17:20-21) April 20, 2016

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 45-47

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 17:20-21
Jesus: Because you have so little faith. I tell you this: if you had even a faint spark of faith, even faith as tiny as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and because of your faith, the mountain would move. If you had just a sliver of faith, you would find nothing impossible. But this kind is not realized except through much prayer and fasting.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

When I was a kid, on rainy Saturdays when it was too wet to go outside and play, I remember watching cartoons on television. Those were great cartoons. Mickey Mouse, Rocky and Bulwinkle, Atom Ant, Deputy Dawg, Felix the Cat. If you’re old enough to remember some of those old black and white cartoons, you’ll probably remember the public service announcement that came on with them every once in a while.

This big giant bear would show up in the middle of the forest wearing overalls and a park ranger hat. Of course, it was a cartoon forest and a cartoon bear, but Smokey Bear fit the bill. He’d come on and show us a news clip of a campfire that was left smoldering in the forest or a cigarette that was carelessly flicked out a car window onto the dry brush on the side of the road.

The next scene was that of acres of forest aflame and the forest animals running for their lives to flee the onslaught of the flames. The scene would shift to the devastation left because of the carelessness of one person with that campfire or that cigarette and Smokey Bear would come back into the picture. You probably remember his famous words. “Remember. Only you can prevent forest fires.” Of course, I learned as I grew older that most forest fires are actually caused by lightning strikes. But there are enough caused by man’s carelessness that the public service announcement was worth the cost with the cities encroaching on the forests around them. The safety of those living on the borders of those forests and the lives of the park rangers and firefighters were at stake.

Jesus’ words today reminded me of that commercial. Just one little spark, one smoldering ember can create acres and acres of forests to catch flame and destroy hundreds of years of forest growth. I don’t know if Jesus saw many forest fires in Judea. When I was in the middle east, I don’t remember seeing much that would create a wildfire. But we understand wildfires in this country and the devastation they can cause. Just a little spark and it seems like the whole world is on fire if you live in one of those wildfire prone areas.

Jesus tells us we only need that much faith, just a spark we could tell a mountain to move and it would move from one place to another. You might wonder how that is done. God could do it any number of ways you know. He could generate an earthquake that shifts the crust of the earth and makes on mountain disappear as the crust of the earth pushes above it and causes the crust to push up in another place. It has happened in the past and can happen again.

He might use a volcano to do the work for Him. Volcanologists talk a lot about how the geography of the west and midwest would change if the supervolcano under the Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park were to erupt. They tell us it’s past time and if it errupts with the explosive power they say it will, the terrain of the region will be forever changed. Mountains will move.

God could use water to crash through some natural barrier and forge new rivers through what was a mountain and reduce it to nothing. Think of what would happen to the terrain downstream if the Hoover Dam were to suddenly let loose its tons of water all at once. It’s not the only dam holding back a reserve of such mass that nothing, including a mountain, could hold it. What if God decided to shift an ocean? You think mountains might change?

Or God could decide to tell a thousand people to pick up a pick and shovel and get to work. With faith, the mountain could move from one place to another. All you need to do to see that truth is follow our highways across this country. How many hills and mountains have shifted by the hands of men and machines to make way for steel rails and asphalt roads so we could get commercial goods from one side of the country to another. Yep, a little faith can move mountains.

So why is it so hard for us to believe in God. We believe we can do incredible things, like make holes in mountains to drive through. Impossible feats. Yet we don’t believe in the Creator who put that rock there in the first place. We don’t believe it took a Master Designer to make these biological miracles we call life to actually take form and breath and move and live and die. Somehow we get the idea all this just happened. Hmmm.

If I didn’t think about the complexity of the world we lived in, you might convince me there is no God. But the more I think about the complexity of life. The more I see how intricate the support of each substance and each species of life on another. The more I examine the vastness of the universe we live in and the extreme improbability that life could even exist in this vast almost limitless space. The more convinced I become there is a God in heaven. And to think He knows each one of us personally and loves each one of us individually. What a God we serve. Have a little faith.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Have some faith without the signs (Matthew 16:2-4) April 12, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 1 Samuel 21-25

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 16:2-4
Jesus: At evening time, you read the sky as a sign—you say, “The weather will be fine because the sky is shading red,” and in the morning, you read the sky as a sign, saying, “The red, stormy sky tells me that today we will have storms.” So you are skilled at interpreting the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times? Only a cheating and evil generation such as this would beg for a miraculous sign from heaven. The only sign you will get will be the sign of Jonah.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

God, I would believe in you if you make me rich. God I would believe in you if you heal my kid. God I would believe in you if you get me that promotion. God I would believe in you if you turned my hair blue.

We make fun of the Pharisees and Sadducees that came to Jesus asking for a sign from heaven, but so many of us do the same thing. They used to call those foxhole conversions back in the days of World War II, Korea, and Viet Nam. We don’t dig very many foxholes any more. But we still try to get a sign from heaven so we can believe that Jesus is who He says He is. Show me the evidence. I just can’t take someone’s word for it. I need to see something miraculous for myself before I can believe.

Did you ever meet someone like that? Are you someone like that? Be careful.

Jesus poked a pretty big stick in their eye with their request. They wanted a sign from heaven. So Jesus pointed to heaven. See that moon up there? What’s going to happen if it’s red? Well, there’s a little poem that everyone near the sea knows, “Red in the morning, sailor’s warning; red at night, sailor’s delight.” We look at the moon and we tell the weather by the color of the moon.

These guys knew that poem. They learned it as kids just as you probably did. But they also knew scripture. They were supposed to be the religious leaders watching expectantly for the coming of the Messiah. They should have their charts all laid out with the things that would show them when He arrived. We’ll give them credit for a few things we know that they didn’t. They didn’t know Mary and Joseph had a baby in Bethlehem, the place where the Messiah would be born. But it wouldn’t take much to find out Jesus was born there.

So let’s go from there. All the kids around His age were killed except Him. His mother and father miraculously whisked Him off to Egypt and saved Him when Herod had all the kids killed. Joseph settled in Nazareth. The home of the coming Messiah. Lineage of David? Yep. In the temple in Jerusalem at the age of twelve confounding the rabbis with His knowledge of the scriptures. Does things no one has ever done before like make blind men see, make the deaf hear, make the lame walk, raise the dead back to life. Hmmm? Is it possible that this guy could be who He says He is?

Surely not. He doesn’t look the part. He doesn’t sound pious. He doesn’t spend all His time at the temple, instead He’s out here healing and teaching. What religious leader worth his salt would stay out in the hot sun all day doing that? Surely the Messiah would want to stay in the shade and converse with the rabbis, right?

Well, let’s just make sure we’ve got it straight. Hey, Jesus. We have this argument. We know you fit the bill from scripture, but you we don’t think you look or act like we think a Messiah should look and act. So do us a favor and show us some miraculous sign from heaven just so we can make sure. Then we’ll know and we can get on board with you. Sound okay with you?

They got the same answer we get from our foxhole confessions. Exercise faith first. God doesn’t make deals. Who do we think we are that we can set the rules for our salvation? We deserve every punishment God could dish out for our disobedience. He is God, after all. Jesus said don’t be looking for a sign. Just look around and see that God is already at work. If you can’t see Him around you, how are you going to exercise any faith if you see some sign in the sky? You’ll just try to explain that away with some scientific mumbo-jumbo anyway.

Instead, just be honest with Him. Either believe in Him or don’t. He knows anyway. But there is only one way to heaven and that’s to believe in Him for salvation. If you don’t, well,…the book has those signs listed pretty well, too. In fact, that path is pretty broad and easy to follow. Just join in with the crowd headed that way. You’ll find that path pretty easily. It’s just that you really don’t want to get to the destination at the end of that road. Really, you don’t. Have some faith in Him. 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Her faith paid off (Matthew 15:24-28) April 9, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Mark 9-10

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 15:24,26,28
Jesus: I was sent here only to gather up the lost sheep of Israel.
The woman came up to Jesus and knelt before Him.
Canaanite Woman: Lord, help me!
Jesus: It is not right to waste the children’s bread by feeding dogs.
Canaanite Woman: But, Lord, even dogs eat the crumbs that fall by the table as their master is eating.
Jesus—whose ancestors included Ruth and Rahab—spoke with kindness and insight.
Jesus: Woman, you have great faith. And your request is done.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Jesus’ words at first seem pretty harsh, don’t they? Here’s a women in desperate need for her daughter. The girl is possessed by a demon and she can do nothing to help her. She comes to the Master hoping that He can do something to relieve her of the plight she suffers. And what does Jesus do? He snubs her. “I was sent here only to gather up the lost sheep of Israel.”

And it gets worse!

The woman cries and pleads, falls on her face at His feet and cries out, “Lord, help me!” What was the reply of the only One who could help her? “It is not right to waste the children’s bread by feeding dogs.”

Did Jesus just call her a dog? Did He insult her in the most vile way and cast her aside as so much garbage?

I don’t think so. I think we have to look at the rest of the story as Paul Harvey used to say. Sometimes we get so use to God answering our prayers that we forget who does those miraculous things for us. We forget that it really is God answering and we just walk away after He has done some incredible thing for us without even thanking Him. Sometimes we are really ungrateful, snobbish little brats. And I think Jesus in some ways wanted those around Him to understand we sometimes need to get desperate in our asking.

When you really think about it, none of us deserve to have God answer our requests. What have we really done to deserve His grace, mercy, and kindness? What have we done that merits His expenditure of power on our behalf? Nothing. We were His enemies. Lost. Rebellious. Disobedient. Sinful. Still He pours out His favor on us. Pretty remarkable, isn’t it?

So one thing Jesus wants to show us in this story is to be grateful for what we get from God, because we really don’t deserve anything.

Another point that comes out clearly in this story is that sometimes we need to be persistent in our desperate petitioning. Jesus will give us more examples of being persistent in our prayers and petitions later. I think it’s a hard lesson for us to learn, but one that is so important for us in the United States where we live under a philosophy of instant gratification. I want what I want…and I want it NOW! I even get frustrated with the little hour glass on my computer when it takes more than five seconds for a website to load. Can you imagine? What have we come to? Where is our patience, our persistence? We sometimes need to be like this woman who came back to Jesus and said, but Lord, even the dogs get crumbs from the table.

And that’s the next point. God gives even us dogs His grace and mercy. We don’t deserve it, but He gives it to us. In fact, He pours out His love lavishly on us. He loves us so much that He gave His only Son to die for us. We can not begin to imagine the love the Father has for us. Compared to God, we are so far below the level of a dog or a rat or a worm, how could He be mindful of us, David asks in the Psalms. Yet, God gave us His very best. And Paul tells us, if God gave us His Son, would He withhold anything else from us? We gives us everything. He makes us heirs as He adopts us into His family. Just stop and think about that. We are not worthy to receive the crumbs from His table, yet He adopts us and sits us in chairs at the banquet feast.

But it takes something on our part. It takes faith. The woman in our story had enough faith to come back to Jesus and plead for her daughter. She had enough faith to believe He could do something for her that no one else could do. She had enough faith that she was not going to go away until Jesus did something for her. She knew He might tell her no, but she had to try. She had to exercise her faith in Him. She had to plead for her daughter. And she was willing to break all the social norms to do so. She was a Canaanite. Even worse than a Samaritan. She lived among the worst of the pagans. And she was a woman. How in the world could she dare to approach Jesus with such boldness? But she did because He was her hope.

Do you have the gratitude, the persistence, the faith to approach Jesus? This lady did. And it really paid off.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Step out of the boat (Matthew 14:29, 31)April 6, 2016

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 39-41

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 14:29, 31
Jesus: Indeed, come.
Peter stepped out of the boat onto the water and began walking toward Jesus. But when he remembered how strong the wind was, his courage caught in his throat and he began to sink.
Peter: Master, save me!
Immediately Jesus reached for Peter and caught him.
Jesus: O you of little faith. Why did you doubt and dance back and forth between following Me and heeding fear?

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

This is the rest of one of my favorite stories in the New Testament. Jesus walking on the water. The disciples think He is a ghost or some apparition, then Peter calls out to Him, and the Master confirms it is really Him in the flesh. But then Peter does something few of us would have the courage to do. He’s still not quite sure, so He makes a request of this dim figure in the mist. “If it’s really you, tell me to join you out there.”

There’s something most of us don’t understand about the culture of that day that makes those words really important. And Jesus next words equally important. You see, these men in the boat were becoming disciples. In Jesus day, that carried certain characteristics. Everyone understood wht it meant to be a disciple. Jesus wasn’t the only person with disciples, every rabbi with any smarts had disciples.

A disciple gave up what he had to follow his rabbi. He lived with him, and watched him carefully. He ate what he ate, drank what he drank, slept where he slept, wore what he wore. He studied what the rabbi studies. He became like his rabbi in every way possible. The mark of a good rabbi was the mimicry of his disciples. How much like the rabbi were his disciples?

We sometimes decry Peter for his lack of faith and taking his eyes off Jesus. We preach sermons about his looking at the storm around him and failing to keep his eyes on the prize. We talk bad about Peter’s faith sometimes. But if you really stop and think about it, there were at least twelve disciples in the boat. All of them saw Jesus out there. All of them heard the conversation. The boat wasn’t that big that they could avoid what was going on. All of them heard Peter’s request and Jesus’ reply.

All twelve of the disciples had an opportunity to step out of the boat that night and do something no one else had done. All of them had an invitation to come out and see what it was like to walk on the surface of the sea. But only one really acted like a disciple that night. Only Peter decided he would be like his Master and stepped out of the boat. He longed to be like Jesus so much he dared to put his foot over the side and onto the stormy sea.

Peter was rewarded for his action. He began to walk to Jesus…on the water. The Bible doesn’t tell us how far he walked. We don’t know if it was two feet, ten feet, or a hundred feet, but we know it was far enough that everyone in that boat knew Peter walked on top of the Sea of Galilee. They also watched him long enough to see him take his eyes off of Jesus and look at the storm around him. When he did, he began to sink.

Two things happened then, Peter cried out, “Master, save me.” And immediately Jesus reached out His hand and rescued him. Peter knew who could help him and cried out to Him. He knew he was in over his head and needed help fast. There was only One who could rescue him and Peter sought that One, Jesus. And Jesus did.

We can learn a lot from this story. Jesus talks to them when He gets into the boat about their faith, and so we must exercise our faith in Him. But we do that by remembering this story. If we are to be a true disciple of Jesus, we must do what He did. We need to be willing to step out of our comfort zone into the unknown inexplicable areas of life sometimes when He tells us to come. Recognize that when we do, if we keep our eyes on Him we do not need to sink under the waves. We can do miraculous things through His power in us. We just need to remember Who to focus on, not the circumstances around us.

We don’t need to worry about the storms around us. Jesus is here. If we belong to Him, we have nothing to fear. He tells us that over and over, but we just don’t seem to get it sometimes. We fret over unimportant things and wonder why our faith falters. He says lift up your eyes and look at Him. It will be okay. He will rescue you from the storm.

When the storms do seem to swallow you up, remember you have One who can rescue you from what seems like an ocean of problems, distress, frustration, or fear. When we call on Him, He is ready to reach out His hand and pull us free from the things that keep us from our peace. His legacy is peace. He may not take us out of the storm, but He gives us the assurance of His presence and His peace.

I pray that I will be like Peter and step out of the boat when Jesus calls. 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

It’s time to open your eyes of faith (Matthew 13:11-17) March 23, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 33-35

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 13:11-17
Jesus: The knowledge of the secrets of heaven has been given to you, but it has not been given to them. Those who have something will be given more—and they will have abundance. Those who have nothing will lose what they have—they will be destitute. I teach in parables so the people may look but not see, listen but not hear or understand. They are fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy:
You will listen, but you will not understand;
you will look, but you will not see.
The people’s hearts have turned to flab;
their ears are clogged;
their eyes are shut.
They will try to see, but they will not see;
they will try to hear, but they will not hear;
they will try to understand, but they will not comprehend.
If they, with their blindness and deafness, so choose, then I will heal them.
Many holy prophets and righteous men and women and people of prayer and doers of good have wanted to see but did not see, and have wanted to hear but did not hear. Your eyes and ears are blessed.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Maybe you’ve asked yourself or God the same question the disciples asked Jesus that day. Why do you speak to the people in parable? Why do spiritual things sometimes seem to be hidden from us? Why does it seem that some of your teachings are so misunderstood today? Why don’t you make yourself known clearly to the world so everyone will know you are God? Why don’t you perform the signs and miracles today in your church so that everyone will know that you are the only way to heaven? Why is all of this clouded in our minds to some extent?

We have a lot of questions as to why God just doesn’t blast us with His voice, signs and wonders in the sky, the kinds of things we read in the Old Testament, to help all the world understand exactly who He is and how we should worship Him. We wonder why God doesn’t make all of this as plain as the nose on your face so everyone can understand it and stop the fighting among religious factions and everyone become Christians immediately.

Although I don’t pretend to understand the enormity of the mind of God, I think there are some answers to those questions that we can explore. First, we need to understand that God doesn’t hide from us. He wants us to find Him and know Him. It is His will that all would come to know His saving grace. He created us to love and worship Him. At the same time, He wants our voluntary love. Love that is coerced isn’t love. There may be an appearance of love, but it isn’t genuine. So He wants us to seek Him. He wants to know that we want a relationship with Him.

Second, God isn’t like Waldo. He doesn’t make it difficult to find Him. But we must exercise faith in Him to find Him. We must recognize He is God. And that is the problem most of us have until we acknowledge just how broken, depraved, and sinful we are. We want our way instead of His. We want to pretend we know what is best for us instead of bowing to our Creator. So until we acknowledge God is God and we are not, we will have difficulty finding Him.

Third, Satan, the father of lies, has been at his business for a long time. He has plagued humanity since he first tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and convinced them that God didn’t mean what He said about the trees in the middle of the garden. Satan is a master at deception and has pulled a veil over our eyes. We can’t see the truth in front of us because we believe the lies he has told us through the years. We let him feed us those lies so consistently that we think they are the truth instead of listening to God’s words.

But if we will open our minds and hearts to God’s word, if we will exercise just a little faith in Him, if we will recognize that He is God and we are not, He will open up His word to us and make Himself known to us. He doesn’t hide. But like the objects in those hidden picture puzzles, once you see the object, you can’t help but see them every time you look at them. So it is with God. Once you exercise just a little faith and recognize who He is, you see Him in all His glory. You recognize the truth of His word. You see the power of His Spirit in the world. You begin to see His handiwork around you. His miracles unfold around you and He is evident everywhere.

God doesn’t hide from us, but we must open our eyes of faith to see Him. God doesn’t make His word obscure, but we must let His Spirit speak to us through His word and trust Him to open His truth to us. God makes plain who He is to those who are ready to listen. But to those who refuse, like the object in the hidden picture puzzles, you’ll have a hard time finding Him. Isn’t it time to open your eyes of faith?

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Exercise some faith (Matthew 12:39-42) March 19, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Mark 3-4

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 12:39-42
Jesus: You wicked and promiscuous generation—you are looking for signs, are you? The only sign you will be given is the sign of the prophet Jonah. Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of a great fish, as the Son of Man will spend three days and three nights in the belly of the earth. One day, the people of Nineveh will rise up in judgment and will condemn your present generation—for the Ninevites turned from sin to God when they heard Jonah preach, and now One far greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will also stand in judgment and condemn this generation—for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom. And today One greater and wiser than Solomon is among you.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Sometimes I hear people say, “It would be easier to believe if Jesus were here.” Or, “If I could just see Him I could believe.” But you know what? That is a real cop out. I’ll tell you why. If anyone should have a hard time believing it was those who saw Him in the flesh. Jesus came at the right time and lived among us. He showed Himself to be God incarnate, the perfect sacrifice for our sins. But He preached a radical message. If you really listen to His words, He said some things that really upset the apple carts of His day.

Jesus came on the heels of a rebellion that Rome just quelled in Judah. The reason they had such a large army there was because these Jews revolted against Rome and tried to govern themselves…again. Another of their number declared he was their Messiah, their deliverer and had come to free them from the oppression of the Roman government. This Messiah and his followers died a horrible death as the Roman soldiers crushed the rebellion and stationed their cohorts across the countryside.

Now Jesus comes. But instead of revolt against Rome, He preaches love and something of a revolt against the religious rules and regulations that the Sanhedrin put in place for decades. He disrupted the religious norm, not the political norm. He came to bring peace to men’s hearts, not war in the nation. Yet Jesus let His followers declare Him to be the long awaited Messiah. He didn’t make the proclamation Himself, but let His works and His words point to the prophecies fulfilled by His coming.

To many of those who lived when Jesus came, He was just another prophet. Just another rebel making a name for Himself. Jesus was just another man doing things around the countryside. Until they stopped and listened to His words and looked back at the scriptures and put together words of the prophets with the actions of Jesus, no one saw in Him the fulfillment of the prophecies that pointed to the long awaited Messiah. Until the scribes, Pharisees, and Saducees could lay aside their hatred and compare their readings with Jesus’ actions, they would not see Him as anyone other than another rebel about to upset the delicate balance they tried to hold between their frail theocracy and the domaneering dictatorship of the Romans.

But what about us? We live on this side of the cross. We have at our fingertips 2,000 years of history. Unless you’ve studied the history of the Jewish people, you probably can’t name the eight or ten rebels who claimed their Messiahship. In fact, you probably can’t name the rebels that grew up to try to overthrow their shackles during the 400 silent years of the Bible. But they are there. Over and over, the nation tried to rebuild itself but failed. They remained under the rule of the Persians, the Greeks, then the Romans. They could not shake their chains.

But we have that history if we care to look. We know Jesus is a history fact. We have the scriptures that tell us who He is and what He did. We have the record of Pentecost. We have over 5,000 pieces of the New Testament that date back to within a hundred years of His birth that tell us the same thing. All those manuscripts lasted through the centuries and each copy is the same. The scribes meticulously copied them to ensure the letters and gospels were handed down from generation to generation. What a miracle!

So we have all of the evidence of who Jesus is. We have the stories. We have the testimonies of the disciples and the early church leaders. We have the faith of those early Christians who even suffered martyrdom for Christ. Would they do that if all of it were not true? Would they suffer the kinds of death they faced if Jesus were a farce? I don’t think so.

So we have 2,000 years of historic facts behind us. The Pharisees Jesus spoke to had only His words at the time and the gossip they heard from the uneducated masses that told them about this man who could perform miracles and must be God. We know. We have the evidence. We have the witnesses. We have God’s words handed down to us. What more do we need to believe Jesus is the Son of God? If you don’t believe Him now, like the Pharisees, you probably wouldn’t believe if He stood in front of you. What do you need to do about it? Exercise a little faith in Him. That’s all. Stop doubting and believe.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.