Tag Archives: impossible

Too old to start…never

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Bible Reading Plan – www.Bible-Reading.com; The Story, Chapter 30; You Version Bible app Engaging God’s Story Reading Plan Days 204 through 210

Sometimes I get the feeling I’m too old to take on something new. Then I remember a few stories of successful people like Harland “The Colonel” Sanders who opened his first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise store at the age of 65 in 19654. When he sold the business twelve years later for $2 million, there were over 900 stores across the country.

Then there is Jack Cover. His name might not be a household word, but you’ve heard about his invention. In his early career as a nuclear physicist, he worked in the aerospace and defense industry. But at age 50, Jack submitted a patent for a weapon that would incapacitate but not kill assailants. By the time he died at age 88, his taser was in use in almost every police department around the world.

I remember people like Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the best selling series of Little House on the Prairie series of books, who didn’t write her first book until she was 65, but continued to crack them out for years later.

I think of Anna Mary Robertson Moses, one of the most recognized names in American art. She started painting because her arthritis became too bad to allow her to continue her embroidery. At the age of 76, she picked up her first paint brush and painted for the next 25 years. She lived to see one painting she sold for $3 later sell for over $10,000.

Ronald Reagan didn’t run for his first public office until he was 55, but found himself sitting at the desk of the most powerful political position in the world as President of the United States before he passed away.

All these people did things that certainly changed their lives and those around them. They didn’t think life was over as they aged. They didn’t decide to retire. They didn’t think life should pass them by or they didn’t have anything to contribute the years piled up. Instead they took the experience they gained through the years and applied it to the purpose and task in front of them. Each of them set an impossible goal for themselves and worked to achieve it.

They didn’t let time or age or physical conditions or the ridicule of others or anything else get in their way. Colonel Sanders had a restaurant that was going under because an interstate opened seven miles away from his business. He figured out how to not only resurrect his business, but explode the business through the franchise of his now famous recipe.

Jack Cover saw the need to help law enforcement capture assailants in Los Angeles, but wanted to help reduce the number of permanent injuries and deaths at the hands of police that plagued their image with the public. The taser, incapacitating its victims for short periods without permanent damage to nervous systems answered the need and changed the way police approached assailants from that point on.

Laura Ingalls Wilder gave us a picture of the settlement of the plains in vivid detail through the eyes of a child and captured the imagination of millions as her stories spread around the world through her best sellers.

There is another we can watch through the pages of the New Testament that didn’t let age stop him either. Paul didn’t let age or any adversity stop him in his mission. Once given his task on the road to Damascus, Paul never slowed down. He remained as energetic in spreading the gospel as he did in persecuting the church. In fact, he seemed more enthused. More determined.

Thirteen of the books contained in the New Testament are authored by Paul. Many written while he sat in prisons awaiting punishment or during his last days awaiting execution. I’m certain Paul would rather have been traveling to other places speaking to churches, opening new works, spending time with new congregants than cooling his heels in jail. But if he had not spent so many years in prison, I’m not sure we would have the rich instruction written to the churches we have at our disposal today.

God uses events and circumstances in ways we can never understand. Paul didn’t want to spend time in prison. He didn’t understand why God allowed the beatings and shipwrecks and imprisonment. But Paul couldn’t see the upper story unfolding the way God could. Paul couldn’t know that his letters to the churches that were sent as informal letters of encouragement to those fledgling groups of followers would be kept for safekeeping. He didn’t know they would be passed from church to church. He didn’t know that the letters would be carefully copied by scribes and monks and priests for centuries. He didn’t know they would be part of the canon that would become the basis for the doctrine of the Christian movement.

Paul wrote simple letters of encouragement and instruction to followers who heard the message of Jesus. Paul spent the later part of his life doing everything he could do to continue the purpose God laid out for him in the only way he knew how. Paul continued to take the opportunities God gave him and walked through the open doors wherever they might lead. Thankfully, he did so. Otherwise, we would not have the letters today. Half our New Testament would be empty. Imagine those thirteen books gone.

We cannot know the impact God has in store when we follow him. We don’t know what our influence will have on those around us. We can not understand how the upper story unfolds in our lower story because all we can see is the short distance to the next bend in the road. So much of our present circumstances get in the way of being able to see what is next. But God knows his plans for us. He knows what lies ahead. God’s plans will happen. His promises will come through. We don’t know when or how, but we know they will.

Paul knew it, too. So he could withstand the beatings. Paul trusted God’s promises to be true, so he could handle the shipwrecks. Paul knew God would do what he said he would do. So Paul could take the imprisonment in stride. Paul knew God had something better in mind. So on that last morning they took him from his cell, Paul could walk calmly to the post on the Ostian Road, lay his neck on the block and wait for the executioner’s sword to swiftly do its job.

What dream is wiggling in the back of your mind that you think is just too hard? What is it God wants you to do that you think you can’t get done because life has passed you by? What task is nagging at you because you’re now too old or too feeble or just don’t have the skills to get it done? Can I tell you that everyone who accomplished anything had those same doubts at one time or another? The secret is to push past those doubts and realize that with God nothing is impossible. If it is his plan for you, he will make it happen through you.

Life is replete with great examples of those who accomplished great things at every stage of life, young, middle-age, old, retired. The phase of life doesn’t matter when working for God. Letting God use you is what matters. When he is in it, he will make it happen. All he wants is your willingness to be used as an instrument of his grace and truth. Are you ready to make things happen? He is.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more about The Story and our part in it. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

 

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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 impossible story, March 26, 2018

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Bible Reading Plan – www.Bible-Reading.com; The Story, Chapter 27; You Version Bible app Engaging God’s Story Reading Plan Days 183 through 189

This week we read about the unbelievable for too many people. It’s the thing that makes them pause and say, “It just can’t be true. It’s not possible. The story is just a story.”

What are we talking about? This week we read about the resurrection. We read the reaction of those closest to him who also recoiled at the thought that it was possible even after watching him do the impossible and them telling them it would happen. We watch Joseph and Nicodemus gently remove Jesus’ broken body from the cross and take it to Joseph’s newly finished tomb. We watch from afar as they race the clock before the sun sets to do some minimal burial preparation of Jesus’ body because nothing can be done on the Sabbath.

We hear of the disciples cowering in locked rooms discussing what they will do now that their king has died. The one they put their trust and hope in lies in a tomb. How could it happen? How could he be the One to rescue them if he is buried in a grave? What happened? Just a few days before, the crowds waved palm branches and cried out their Hosannas. Now he’s dead.

Then we see the Sanhedrin worry about these rebel disciples and the revolt that might arise if they steal Jesus’ body from the tomb and declare that he really did rise from the dead. We watch them plead with Caesar to put his seal and a guard on the tomb so no one would tamper with the body and continue the “farce” this teacher kept up.

We listen to the story of that first Easter morning when the angels meet the two Marys at the tomb and announce that their Messiah rose just as he said he would. We try to empathize with Mary Magdalene as she grieves and begs the “gardner” to tell her where he has taken her master’s body.

But the realization of what has happened begins to dawn on Jesus’ followers. Jesus calls Mary by name and she recognizes her risen Lord. She races back to tell the disciples the good news. Peter and John race to the empty tomb and find the linens collapsed on the bier. Those linens contain no body. The guards recovered from their faint race to tell the priests what happened. The Sanhedrin make up a story to protect the guard.

Two disciples walk toward Emmaus, puzzled by the events of the day, don’t recognized their master walking with them until they sit down to eat and he reveals himself to them. Have you ever wondered about that? I have. I think they were looking for a bloodied, crucified, disfigured man. The one they last saw hanging on the cross. Broken. Bruised. Bleeding. Flesh hanging in strips from the flogging he suffered. Instead they saw the risen Lord. Refreshed. Restored. Resurrected. Perfect. Except for the scars in his hands and side so he could later show Thomas.

Would I have reacted any different? Would I have thought Jesus anything other than a ghost when he suddenly appeared behind closed doors if I were one of the disciples that night? Would I have recognized a restored Jesus if he walked with me on the road to Emmaus? Would I have thought Jesus rose from the dead instead of being stolen by the gardner?

I sometimes we look at “doubting Thomas” and give him a hard time. I think I’d be a lot like him. It takes faith to believe in the impossible. Jesus told them some incredible things over the three years he was with them. He also told them some hard things. “You must eat my flesh and drink my blood to have any part in me.” How do you accept that in the culture you’ve lived in all your life?

If you live you lose your life, you must lose your life to gain it? How does that make sense when you hear it for the first time?

But there it is staring at you. The empty tomb. The reports of the disciples. The more than 500 people who saw him over the next 40 days. The fact that no matter how hard the religious leaders tried to squash the story, people kept it alive. Not just that, thousands upon thousands have been willing to die for this One person. No other figure in all history has changed the world the way this one man did.

All the things people through the centuries have tried to do to stop the message or discredit the story have only served to strengthen it. The risen Lord. The impossible story. It isn’t just a story. It truly is God’s story. His plan to bring us back into a face to face relationship with him. He is a holy God. So much higher in his thoughts and ways that the only way we could come near to him was for him to come to us and become the perfect sacrifice for us.

Hard to believe? So is the perfect balance of nature around us. So is the uniqueness of a snowflake. So is the diversity of humanity around our world. So is the warmth and light of the sun. So is the miracle of birth. All those things are impossible. So is it so impossible that God so loved us that he came to live among us in human flesh so that whoever believes in him will not perish but will live eternally with him?

Impossible? He tells us and shows us in his actions it is not. All things are possible with him. The empty tomb on the first Easter morning is just one more demonstration of the impossible to show us his love for us and his desperate desire to restore an intimate, personal, face to face relationship with each of us. All we have to do is believe.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more about The Story and our part in it. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

 

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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.

A Few Good Men…and Women, October 23, 2017

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Bible Reading Plan – www.Bible-Reading.com; The Story, Chapter 8; You Verson Bible app, Days 50 through 56

When I was a kid and sometimes even today, when I see the title of the seventh book of the Old Testament I think of men in long black robes taking their seat behind the high benches of the courtroom ready to pass judgment on the guilty. I think of judges with sober faces and legal power beyond my comprehension. If we were to title the book today, we would probably call it Generals. That would much better describe the role these men and women played in the life of the Israelites during that part of their history.

God chose these unlikely heroes to lead His people back to Him after their apostasy. The children of Israel, like Adam and Eve, didn’t take long to make some wrong choice and begin to fall away from worshiping the only true God. Despite all the miracles God performed for them in bringing them out of slavery and into the promised land, the inheritance He gave Abraham’s descendants as He outlined in His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Despite the way God helped Israel defeat their enemies as they moved into this new land flowing with milk and honey. The Israelites began to take up worship of the idols they discovered in this new land.

It seems a little crazy to us when we stop and think about it. These gods the inhabitants worshiped didn’t deliver them from the Israelites, so why would they bow to them when they came into the land? Why would they abandon the God who delivered them and begin to worship the gods their God defeated so easily? It just doesn’t make sense to us. But then we do the same sometimes when we begin to worship our jobs or our spouse or our children or anything else we put before the God who makes all those things possible in the first place, don’t we?

Back to The Story.

When we begin to examine those generals, those judges God chose. We see how God intervened for His people. As we saw with Abraham and Jacob and Joseph, God chose unlikely people to lead rebellions against Israel’s oppressors and gain their freedom. A good example of such a leader is the story of Gideon. Here was the youngest son of the weakest tribe in the nation hiding in a broken down winepress hiding from the Mideanites threshing grain so those enemy troops wouldn’t take the few handfuls of grain he had gathered from the field.

Gideon was not a brave man. Gideon was not a warrior. Gideon was not into leading a rebellion. But God sent a messenger to him and said, “I want you to lead an army against your enemies and free Israel from these Mideanite raids. I want you to be the one to show the rest of your countrymen that I am God and have heard their prayers. I want you to show them I can do anything.”

Gideon, the runt of the tribal runts, calls everyone together to rise up against the Mideanites. Now, if you think about it, that in itself is pretty amazing. How much charisma would this runt of the runts really have in his own strength? Yet 100,000 men answered the call and came to wage war against their enemies. That made the odds three to one…in favor of the enemy. But God said there were too many men. He didn’t want anyone to think they defeated the enemy themselves. So God told Gideon to send anyone home who was afraid.

Fear is an interesting thing. Sometimes it’s a good thing and keeps your senses a little sharper. Sometimes it paralyzes you. When those with any level of fear went home, Gideon was left with only 10,000 to face his opponents. Now the odds were thirty to one. Things didn’t look so good for the Israelites from a human perspective, but God still didn’t want anyone in the Israelite camp to think they had anything to do with the outcome of the battle.

God told Gideon to take his 10,000 men on a road march across the desert and then He would show him who to send home. They marched all day across the dusty trails until they came to a stream. They had run out of water hours ago, so all of them were thirsty. Everyone could hardly wait to get to that stream to quench their thirst and cool down. Some plunged right in. Some dunked their head under to shake the dust off their head and start downing the water as fast as they could. 300 keep their spear in their hand and brought water up to their mouth so they could keep their eyes up to look for any enemy that might approach.

God told Gideon, “Keep those 300. Send the rest home.”

“But God!! That makes the odds 666 to 1. Do you realize we won’t have a chance? Do you understand we are not really warriors? Do you know we are farmers and really don’t know how to fight these professional soldiers? Do you understand that 666 to 1 is a really strange number to start with and those odds are not good from a military perspective? Don’t you realize we need to turn the ratio around if we expect to win this thing?”

God said, “Don’t worry. Don’t be afraid. Here are the wonderful tactics I have for you. Give everyone a trumpet, a lantern, and a pitcher. Light the lantern but put it in the pitcher so no one can see the light. Then when I tell you, have everyone break their pitcher and blow their trumpet.”

“That’s it? That’s the plan? Okay God. Let me get our tombstones ready and right out our wills and we’ll get ready to go.”

Can you imagine the conversation between God and Gideon? I expect Gideon was like most of us. The plan sounded crazy. But then Gideon remembered that God is God and he wasn’t. God is in the business of doing the impossible. God lives and works in His upper story while we are stuck in our lower story where we can only see in the present moment. We can’t see what’s around the bend or how our actions will affect tomorrow. We can’t see how God is working events for our good. We can’t see God working through the events of our lives to enact His plan to restore our relationship with Him. All we can see is what seems impossible when we look across our horizontal plain.

Gideon trusted God. He believed God knew what He was doing. He took his 300 men and surrounded the Mideanite camp. In the early hours of the morning, those 300 men broke their pitchers so the light of their lanterns shone brightly. They blew their 300 trumpets. God confused the Mideanite warriors so they began slaughtering themselves in the darkness. Gideon and his 300 men saw God win a great victory because they trusted God to work in His upper story for their good even though they could not see how when they began their journey with Him.

Maybe God will use you to accomplish some impossible task for Him. But to do that, you’ll have to let go, look up, and recognize that you may not understand how He can do it. You may not understand what in the world God is thinking. But remember, He works in His upper story and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts and His ways are higher than our ways. He does the impossible. Remember, He spoke and creation happened. If God can do that, He can use you to carry out His work if you let Him. Our problem most often is just believing He can do what He says He will do.

Gideon dared to believe. Today it’s your turn. How about it? Can you let God use you to do His impossible work? He’s ready, are you?

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more about The Story and our part in it. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

 

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.

Why doesn’t He do the impossible? (Mark 14:36) September 12,2016

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Numbers 17-20

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

Today’s Devotional

Mark 14:36
Jesus: Abba, Father, I know that anything is possible for You. Please take this cup away so I don’t have to drink from it. But whatever happens, let Your will be done—not Mine.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Jesus, the man, acknowledges that God, His Father can do anything. Nothing is impossible for Him. He also know that He, as God, the Son, must die on the cross to fulfill the prophecies and become the sacrifice for all humanity. His purpose, His duty, His life is dedicated to that single goal. He will die for us. But Jesus, the man, wants no part of it. He wants relief from the agony He is about to endure.

So here’s the question that comes from Jesus’ words today. If anything is possible for God, why doesn’t He intervene for us in those darkest times of life? Why does He let these terrible things happen to His children? Why do His believers get sick and die? Why do loved ones we pray for pass away earlier than we expect? Why are children taken away from us before their time? Why do we suffer so much, if anything is possible for God? Why didn’t He answer Jesus’ prayer and relieve Him of the suffering He was about to endure?

All good questions. Some would be bold enough to tell you it’s because of sin in our lives. I will tell you that is not so. Remember the blind man Jesus healed? The people who sinned to cause the malady, the blind man or his parents? Jesus answered, neither. He was blind to show God’s power and glory. As odd as it seems at the time, sometimes, the suffering we endure demonstrate God’s power and grace and glory in our lives. It might not make sense to you as you go through the pain of the circumstances you face, but often those who watch you struggle through those rough times see you lean on and trust in God to comfort you and find His grace through your strength in Him. I don’t think God causes the suffering, but He will certainly use the suffering for His glory when we let Him.

I think He also lets us suffer through difficult times to help us depend on Him. There are times in our life when we just need to draw closer to Him. Again, God doesn’t cause the evil circumstances in our lives. Those things are a result of the sin-scarred world we live in. Those are the consequences of being a part of Adam’s race. But God, in those times of suffering, asks us to draw close to Him so we can feel His mighty arms around us. He comforts us as a loving parent comforts their children in times of fear or sorrow or illness or any other heartache we endure. He wants us close and so He allows suffering to happen to let us draw closer to Him.

I think sometimes He lets us suffer because He knows what’s next. We live in an evil world. It is marred with the consequences of generations of sinful people’s actions. As long as we breathe, we cannot get away from those consequences as a part of humanity. But as we face some of those difficulties, we can build up our resilience in the same way we build callouses on our hands as we use tools. The first time you rake leaves, you can get some pretty good blisters on your hands, right? But by the end of the fall season, callouses have developed that let you rake the leaves without injury. Sometimes I think God lets us experience those sufferings to help us build up the ability to face the next ones without injury, just like we toughen our hands when raking leaves.

Sometimes I think He lets us suffer because He knows we will meet someone in the future who faces the same issues or problems we are facing. If we have gone through it with God’s help, we can be a voice of comfort, a mentor, a friend to walk along side that person to help them know there is hope and a brighter day on the other side of the issue they face. The suffering won’t last forever and one day the sun will shine for them again. We can be a witness for them because we have gone through the same suffering they face.

And quite frankly, I think sometimes God lets us go through some of the suffering the world dishes out because He doesn’t want us to get comfortable here. If this place gets too comfortable, why would we want to go to heaven? But instead, His children long for the day when we can escape the pain and suffering of this world and move on to be with Him forever. We look forward to the new heaven and new earth, the New Jerusalem that has been prepared for His followers. I think God wants to make sure we remember there is a better place awaiting us. A place so much better than the one that holds the pain and suffering we endure here.

Why doesn’t God do everything for us? I really don’t know the answer to the question. It’s something we can ask when we get to heaven. But then again, once we’re there, will we really care? He’s God and He knows what He’s doing. We can trust 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.

Crazy tasks become possible (Mark 11:2-3) August 27, 2016

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – John 10-12

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

Today’s Devotional

Mark 11:2-3
Jesus: Go to that village over there. As soon as you get into the town, you’ll see a young colt tied that nobody has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it back to Me. If anybody stops you and asks what you’re doing, just say, “The Lord needs it, and He will send it back right after He’s done.”

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

What do you think would happen today if the disciples did the same thing they did as they approached Bethphage and Bethany? I suppose it would partly depend on where it happened. In some places they might find themselves staring down the barrel of a shotgun or rifle. They might find a guard dog chewing on their leg when they tried to untie the colt. They might discover police cars surrounding them and thrown into the back of a paddy wagon on their way to jail.

I’m not sure there are nearly as many trusting souls today as there were in Jesus day. Maybe there are, and I’m sure Jesus would pick out the right person for His disciples to visit to make the prophecies come true just as they are written, but can you imagine if you were one of those disciples? Let’s put the story into a modern setting.

You are following Jesus and listening to His words. He is on His way to the capital city to finish His task on earth. As you approach Washington, He says, “Go to Georgetown and you’ll see a red convertible parked on the street. Hop in and drive it away. If anyone asks what you’re doing, just tell them I need it and you’ll bring it back when I’m through with it. I want to ride that convertible into the city.”

So you walk into Georgetown and there among the brownstones you see a red Corvette convertible that happens to have the keys in it. Bingo. You jump into the drivers seat and start the engine. Then the owner steps out of the Starbucks on the corner. “Hey, what are you doing? That’s my car.”

“It’s okay. Jesus wants it. I’ll bring it back when He’s through with it.”

Feel good about those directions from Jesus? Are you ready to go pick up that car and drive it away? Are you excited about going into town and just taking off with someone’s property that you don’t know? Takes some faith to do what Jesus wants us to do sometimes. We don’t always stay in our comfort zone when we walk in the path Jesus tells us to go, but we will have some exciting times.

We don’t know the details of who Jesus talked to or how He arranged for the colt. Maybe the colt belonged to a friend. Maybe another of His disciples went ahead of the group and arranged for the colt to be tied in the village so that when Jesus and His entourage came it would be there. Maybe Jesus just knew it would be there and that the owners had heard of His exploits and would be willing to give up the animal for His use.

Scripture doesn’t tell us any more than a few simple facts that Jesus told His disciples to go to the village, find the colt, and bring it back. He gave them a simple message for the owner or any others who might question their actions and apparently things happened just as Jesus predicted. The next thing we know is that Jesus rode that colt into the city and that’s the extent of our knowledge of the event.

Sometimes it would be nice to know more of the details, but we can surmise that the disciples who went to carry out Jesus directions did so with the confidence that it would happen just like He said it would. Or maybe not. Maybe Jesus sent a couple of His disciples that still had some doubts about who He was and what He could do. Maybe He sent a couple of His disciples to see that He had abilities that could not be explained by ordinary means. That He really was the Son of God.

We don’t know how all of the events and actions surrounding this little colt transpired. We don’t know how much trouble these disciples had getting an unbroken colt back to Jesus. It’s not always easy to lead a colt that has never been ridden. They sometimes don’t want to be led anywhere. We don’t know if it decided to stay where it was or whether it followed meekly or whether they pulled and dragged and pleaded with the animal to get it from the owner’s house to the crowd where Jesus waited. We do know Jesus was about to ride an unridden colt into a city crowded with people. Now that is really brave. No one rides and unbroken colt into a crowd! Someone is about to get hurt.

What does all this mean for us? Jesus will sometimes give us some crazy sounding tasks to do for Him. They may sound ridiculous to us and almost impossible to carry out. But Jesus makes a way. I’m not sure those disciples knew they could make it happen when they went into the village, but Jesus did. And when He gives us a task to do, He make it possible for us to complete it. No matter how hard it may seem, He make the impossible possible. 

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.

God specializes in the impossible (Mark 10:27) August 21, 2016

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 1 Timothy 4-6

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

Today’s Devotional

Mark 10:27
Jesus (smiling and shaking His head): For human beings it is impossible, but not for God: God makes everything possible.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Jesus is nearing the end of His earthly ministry. He is heading toward Jerusalem where He will soon share His last meal with the disciples and be sacrificed for our sins. These last teachings He gives grow more difficult for those around Him to hear and understand. They sound more radical to the average listener of that day as He tries to make them understand the relationship the Father wants with His children. Jesus wants His disciples and those who will hear them later to realize that God wants to do incredible things in and through us if we will just trust Him to do so.

Jesus has already done incredible miracles in their presence. He has taught them many marvelous things. But as He shares with those around Him about the kingdom of heaven and tells them it is for children and it is better to enter it lame or blind if that is how you must get in, the people begin to fall away from Him. He no longer preaches the feel good sermons anymore. He preaches a pretty rugged life for those who will follow Him. Take up your cross and follow Me. Expect to lose your life for Me. Expect to be hated. Give up your wealth if it detracts you from worship.

His disciples look at Him with puzzles stares. They had looked up to these wealthy men Jesus talked about. These were the pillars of the community, or so they thought. These were the men who gave the most to the temple. These were the ones who were first to make pledges to special projects for new synagogues, new programs for the poor, new accoutrements for the worship services. These were the people who were always giving from their storehouses of gold to keep the religious business moving.

But Jesus said these people would only make it into the kingdom if God worked a miracle in their lives. But not just the lives of the wealthy, but everyone’s lives. Did you notice the questions and comments before this verse? If it’s hard for the rich to get into heaven with all the good things they do, then how are we ordinary, everyday, run of the mill folks supposed to get in. The truth is, we, too, need a miracle.

No one makes it into the kingdom without the miracle of God’s mercy and grace touching our lives. None of us meet the standard required to enter into His kingdom. None of us are good enough. Smart enough. Pretty enough. Rich enough. Poor enough. None of us have done enough. We haven’t prayed enough or sang enough praises to God. None of us come even close to getting into heaven by our own stength or power or on the merits from the lives we live. We are all sinners and fall very short of God’s glory.

Satan tries to tell us we can get there by any or all of those methods, but he’s a liar. None of those work. Jesus is the standard by which we are measured. The God/Man who lived alongside us as the perfect representation of both God and Man showed us how to live and please God in every way. None of us measure up. We fail on every front. We don’t measure up to His standards and cannot in our own power. Many have tried in as many ways as you can ever dream, but none meet the standard. It is impossible for us.

But listen to Jesus words again and understand the comfort they bring to our sinner’s heart. “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God; God makes everything possible.” Did you get that? God makes everything possible. There is nothing He cannot do. There are many things He will not do, but there is nothing He cannot do. If He had a business card, it would probably read, God, master of the impossible. I can do it all.

The question is, do you have faith enough to believe Him. Do you know that He can do what He says He will do? Sometimes, I must beg like the man with the demon possessed son, “Lord, I believe, but help me with my doubts.” God doesn’t always answer my prayers the way I think they should be answered. But I’m not God. I can’t see the big, god-sized picture. He can and I have learned to trust that in the end, His way is the right way even when I cannot see around the bend to know that He will use the outcome of some tragic incident for His glory and my good. I can’t always see it, but He can. And I can trust Him.

Nothing is impossible with God. And in the positive sense, anything is possible with God. What is it you want Him to do? What is His will and how can something you are praying about bring glory to Him? How can you become an instrument for Him in the time of testing you might be feeling at the moment so that others can see Jesus in you? Think it can’t happen? Anything is possible with God. Trust in Him. God specializes in the impossible. 

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.

Nothing is impossible (Matthew 19:26) May 5, 2016

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Job 35-36

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 19:26
Jesus: People cannot save themselves. But with God, all things are possible.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

We sure try to save ourselves, though, don’t we? We try to buy our way into heaven by giving tokens of material goods. We think if we give enough to a church and get our name on a pew or the wing of church or maybe on the wing of a hospital it will earn us that spot in the kingdom. It’s kind of foolish to think that way, though. Take a look around. How much would it cost to buy the ocean and everything in it? That belongs to God, so does your wing of the hospital impress Him?

Do you know how much gold has been dug out of the earth? If you’ve never thought about it, it’s not quite enough to fill an Olympic swimming pool. That’s all. Men have been pulling gold out of the ground for centuries and that’s all they’ve found. So how much of that Olympic swimming pool sized lump of gold do you own? Do you think that impresses God? I guess not. So buying your way, just can’t save you, can it. There’s nothing you can give God in material goods that could impress Him.

So how about something you could do. Is it some good deed you could do that could get you into heaven? What could it be? What act could you perform that could impress God enough to win your salvation? The answer is nothing. He has seen it all and people have tried everything to try to assauge the guilt of sin they carry with them from their youth. No one has found the cure in good works. Every prophet, every preacher, every priest has talked about it. When you compare what we can do with what God can do, what can we do that would impress Him? Again, the answer is nothing.

We try hard. We do all kinds of things to make up for our past, to atone for our sins, but those actions just don’t do enough. You see, nothing we do can clean up the darkness in our heart. We can’t create light in the darkness. Oh, we can strike a match, but that ’s a chemical reaction, it doesn’t actual create something. We can’t create something out of nothing. Only God can do that. We always start with basic ingredients.

So Jesus starts with this basic premise, this indisputable fact that we try to dispute, people cannot save themselves. We have tried throughout the centuries to prove Him wrong, but no one has, because we can’t. We are not God. We are far from it. We wouldn’t know where to begin to make ourselves pure enough to be in God’s holy presence, but we try…unsuccessfully.

God abhors sin. It sometimes amazes me that He pays any attention to us at all in our sinful state. We separate ourselves so far from His holy, perfect, pure state in our sin, yet He wants to bring us back into His presence. In fact, He puts in place an impossible plan. A God-sized plan to bring us back. He takes all His mighty energy and smashed Himself into the form of a tiny human baby, the likeness of sinful man, and lived among us for thirty years to become the perfect sacrifice for our sins.

He did what we could not do for ourselves. He acted in a way none of us could because we are sinners. He paid what we could not pay. He did the impossible. Because He is the God of the impossible, He can save us. Because He can speak and create light out of darkness, He can save us from ourselves. Because God can speak and spark life from death, He can bring life to us and grant us eternal life even though we don’t deserve it. Because God has creative power, He can do the impossible. Even bringing us, sinful man, into His holy presence.

How does God do it? I don’t understand it. I only know that He gave His Son, Himself wrapped in flesh, as the sacrifice for the atonement for our sins. I only know that when we exercise our faith in Him as that sacrifice and ask for His forgiveness, He grants it because of His infinite grace and mercy. I only know that because of His love for us He does God-sized things when He forgives us of our sins and makes us right with Him so we can come into His presence covered by the blood of His sacrifice on the cross. How does it work? It’s impossible for my finite mind to grasp the wonder of it all, I’m just glad it does.

I’m just glad that when I cannot save myself, nothing is impossible for God and He shows it by rescuing me from a life of sin. He’ll do the same for you if you ask 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 an upper room experience (Acts 4:23-37), October 15, 2015

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Acts 4:23-37

Set – Malachi 2; Acts 4

Go! – Nehemiah 13; Malachi 1-2; Acts 4

Acts 4:23-37
23 Peter and John, upon their release, went right to their friends and told the story—including the warning from the council. 24 The whole community responded with this prayer to God:
Community of Believers: God, our King, You made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything they contain. 25 You are the One who, by the Holy Spirit, spoke through our ancestor David, Your servant, with these words:
Why did the nations rage?
Why did they imagine useless things?
26 The kings of the earth took their stand;
their rulers assembled in opposition
against the Eternal One and His Anointed King.
27 This is exactly what has happened among us, here in this city. The foreign ruler Pontius Pilate and the Jewish ruler Herod, along with their respective peoples, have assembled in opposition to Your holy servant Jesus, the One You chose. 28 They have done whatever Your hand and plan predetermined should happen. 29 And now, Lord, take note of their intimidations intended to silence us. Grant us, Your servants, the courageous confidence we need to go ahead and proclaim Your message 30 while You reach out Your hand to heal people, enabling us to perform signs and wonders through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.
31 They finished their prayer, and immediately the whole place where they had gathered began to shake. All the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began speaking God’s message with courageous confidence.
32 During those days, the entire community of believers was deeply united in heart and soul to such an extent that they stopped claiming private ownership of their possessions. Instead, they held everything in common. 33 The apostles with great power gave their eyewitness reports of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Everyone was surrounded by an extraordinary grace. 34 Not a single person in the community was in need because those who had been affluent sold their houses or lands and brought the proceeds 35 to the emissaries of the Lord. They then distributed the funds to individuals according to their needs. 36-37 One fellow, a Cyprian Levite named Joseph, earned a nickname because of his generosity in selling a field and bringing the money to the apostles in this way. From that time on, they called him Barnabas, which means “son of encouragement.”

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

Something special happens when you really connect with Me. I’m not talking about regurgitating a rote prayer at mealtime or a sleepy prayer of “now I lay me down to sleep…”. I’m talking about doing what My disciples did when they spent time with Me in the upper room. A hundred twenty of them gathered together to get everything out in the open. They prayed until they got through to Me.

What does it take to do that? First, you have to get through to your brothers and sisters. Get the garbage out of the way between you. Forgive and offer grace between your fellow man. Make sure you extend grace to those around you to the extent you can and then come to Me with your petitions. It’s called love. Give grace as you’ve been given grace. Then touch heaven with your prayers. Let go of everything that hinders our relationship. Open yourself to Me.

That takes more than those perfunctory prayers you might be used to. It will take more than a few minutes of your time. It will take focused attention on My word and on Me. It will take getting out of the world and getting into My kingdom. Pray earnestly to receive My Spirit and let Me consume you. That’s what those 120 disciples did to receive My Spirit in the upper room.

What happens when you let go of yourself and let Me fill you with My Spirit? The impossible! You extend My grace to those around you. You’ll find that the grace you extend to your brothers and sisters extends beyond those to your enemies, to those that despise and persecute you. You become surrounded by My grace extended to all men and women so that they experience My love and mercy through you. You do the impossible.

You also become the instrument of the impossible by letting My Spirit work through you. See, you cannot do the impossible, but I can. And My hands can use you as the tool to implement My actions and work the impossible in the lives of those around you. I can do the impossible. I spoke and the worlds came into place. I spoke and created light and darkness. I spoke and life began. I molded you from the dust of the earth. Everything that is, came about because of an impossibility supplied by My hand.

Peter and John experience My impossible work through them. Many since them have experience My power at work through them. The impossible happens when you let My Spirit work through you. But it will only happen when you, like those in the upper room, really let Me take hold of your life and let Me work My plans through you.

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.

God specializes in the impossible (2 Samuel 5:1-16), Apr 29, 2015

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Today’s Podcast


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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – 2 Samuel 5:1-16
Set – 2 Samuel 5; Psalms 139
Go! – 2 Samuel 4-5; Psalms 139; Matthew 16

2 Samuel 5:1-16
1Then all the tribes that made up the people of Israel came to David at Hebron.

Leaders of Israel: We are all related: we are flesh of your flesh, bone of your bones. 2 When Saul was king, you always led the army of Israel out and then brought it back safely. The Eternal said to you, “You will be the shepherd of My people Israel, the ruler over all of them.”

3 All the leaders of Israel came before the king there at Hebron. So King David made a covenant with the leaders there before the Eternal, and they anointed David king over all Israel. 4 David was 30 years old when he first became king, and he was king for 40 years; 5 he reigned in Hebron over Judah alone for 7½ years, and then he reigned over the united kingdom of Judah and Israel for 33 years.

6 At one point, David and his army marched to Jerusalem to fight the Jebusites who lived there. The Jebusites felt secure behind their walls and were sure David could not enter into the city. They jeered, “Even the blind and the lame could defend this city against you.” 7 Despite the taunts, David and his army managed to capture the fortress of Zion, which became the city of David.

David (to his army): 8 If you want to strike down the Jebusites—these blind and lame defenders whom I hate—then go through the water tunnel.

(From this exchange came the saying, “The blind and the lame cannot enter the house.”)

9 Once David captured the fortress, he stayed there and named it the city of David. He built it up all around, carefully terracing the hillside from the Millo inward. 10 And David continued to grow in power and reputation because the Eternal God, Commander of heavenly armies, was with him.

11 King Hiram of Tyre sent diplomats to David with cedars and carpenters and masons to build David a palace.

12 David realized then that the Eternal One had established him as king over Israel and that He was increasing David’s kingdom in power and majesty for the sake of His people Israel.

13-14 After the move from Hebron to Jerusalem, David married more women from Jerusalem, took more concubines, and fathered more sons and daughters: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 15 Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, 16 Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

The Jebusites became comfortable in their fortress atop the mountain. Armies had tried for decades to take the city, but no one could penetrate the city. The sides of the mountain were too steep. The passages to the city were too narrow to launch any kind of massive siege against it. The Jebusite leaders maintained confidence in their ability to hold off any enemy as they had done for many years.

However, the Jebusites didn’t know David had Me on his side. Nothing is impossible for Me. I created that mountain. I knew how the Jebusites got their water. I knew about the springs that tunneled through the mountain and I knew they were big enough for a warrior to slip through them. The Jebusites didn’t know the tunnels were that large. They didn’t know enough of an army could slip through to open the gates for David’s mighty men.

They also let themselves get soft in their false security. Because they were sure no one could get through their defenses, the Jebusites didn’t prepare to fight. They thought even their lame and blind could defend their gates, so why spend time training to fight another army? But again, they forgot I was with David and his men.

They forgot David killed Goliath. They forgot David’s famous mighty men killed tens of thousands of Philistines before the nation crowned him king in Hebron. The Jebusites didn’t consider that if just a few of those men made it into their fortress, they would wreak havoc on the city and hundreds or thousands could die before those few could be silenced by their best warriors.

Mostly, the Jebusites failed to consider I fought for David and I never lose. I’m in the business of doing the impossible and if those opposed to Me think I can’t do something, I sometimes do it just to show them I can. I had a purpose in mind for that mountain top, though. I not too many years, I would let David’s son build a Temple there. David recognized the importance of the location as a political center and military stronghold. I saw it as a center for worship. I would show David many things from the top of that mountain.

So what fortress seems impossible for you to burst through? What enemy seems impossible to defeat? What mountain seems impossible to climb? Remember, I made the universe out of nothing. I make oak trees out of acorns. I made you. I’m in the business of doing the impossible. Your mountain fortress of problems is nothing to Me. Let Me help.

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.