Tag Archives: miracles

Death was never meant to happen (Matthew9:24) February 19, 2016

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Isaiah 40-44

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 9:24
Jesus (to the crowd): Go away, and do your ministering somewhere else. This girl is not dead. She is merely asleep.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Everyone knew the girl was dead except Jesus. How could He not know that eyes closed, no movement, total paralysis of every muscle, total lack of response meant no life? How could He not understand that when no heartbeat and no breath existed, no life existed either? The girl was dead. Plain and simple. Was this guy crazy? The mourners were already gathered and playing their funeral dirge. The professionals already made their declaration. The girl was dead! How could He say she was merely asleep? He was nuts!

Everyone knows the difference between life and death. Or do they? Do those who belong to Christ see things the way He does? How does He see life and death? What’s different about how Jesus saw the girl and how those mourners saw her?

We have to go back to the beginning to understand what Jesus saw. God never intended death to enter the world. He brought life here. He created every living thing. He breathed into us so we became living spirits. He gave us a part that He didn’t give other created beings. He gave us immortality when He made us in His image. He intended for us to live with Him forever. It was Adam and Eve who brought the curse of death on humankind. When they disobeyed God’s command, He let the consequences of their disobedience fall on them and on their descendants who could not help but follow in their footsteps. Death entered the world.

But Jesus saw past the curse of Adam and saw God’s intent. He saw death held no power over God, but only over sinful man. I don’t know the age of the official’s daughter, but I expect she still lived in an age of innocence. I expect He saw her heart and her innocence and saw sins curse had not yet reached out to defeat her. She slept in the arms of the Father. Safe. Innocent. Not yet poluted by sinful choices. Jesus saw life hereafter for her.

So for Jesus, He saw only life. Life in her physical frame and life in her spiritual frame. He saw only life, not death. He saw her untainted by the evil of the world at that point in her life and it didn’t matter which realm she sat in at the moment. She had life. Real life. It was just a simple matter of starting her heart again. Putting breath back into her lungs. Healing whatever malady plagued her. Those were simple for the Jesus. He created all things at the beginning. He knew how to do those things. What those around Him didn’t know, He could also move her spirit back and forth from the one realm to another.

No one could do such a thing. No one, that is, except God. God intended for all of us to live forever. God intended everyone to stick around and worship Him. In His grace, He cursed the human physical frame with frailty and disease so we would not live in these broken bodies in this broken world forever. He makes a better place to live with Him forever. A place free from the constraints of this physical frame and encased in a new body, a spiritual body, Paul calls it.

Jesus just moved her from one body to another, from her spiritual form to back to her physical form. We hear stories life that in near death or life after death experiences during surgeries, at car crashes, from victims of traumatic events or other phenomena that bring them past the point of clinical death. Eyes closed, total paralysis, heartbeat stops, breath stops, brain waves cease. Dead. Yet somehow, they come back to this physical world and relate what they’ve seen and experienced.

Jesus gives us a glimpse of what God must see as He looks at those who follow Him. And those who follow Him get a glimpse of what it’s like to give everything up for Him. “Death, where is your sting? Grave, where is your victory?” They are gone, because we know that death doesn’t exist. We just step from one world to another. We go from this broken down, decrepid old body, to a new body. A body with no pain, no illness, no sadness, no disappointment, nothing but life, joy, peace.

Those around Him stood amazed at the happenings that day. For Jesus it was nothing. God brings life. From the very beginning until the very end of time, God brings life. The consequence of our disobedience results in death. All it takes to stay on the side of the living is listening to His voice and doing what He asks, following Him. I think I prefer to stay on the side of the living. How about 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.

Where are the miracles? (Matthew 9:2-6) February 14, 2016

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Romans 13-14

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 9:2-6
Jesus: Rest assured, My son; your sins are forgiven.
Now some scribes and teachers of the law had been watching this whole scene.
Scribes and Teachers (to themselves): This man is blaspheming!
Though they had only spoken in low whispers among themselves, Jesus knew their thoughts.
Jesus: Why do you hold such hardness and wickedness in your hearts? Look, is it easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven,” or “Get up and walk”? To make clear that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins (turning to the paralytic man on the mat), Get up, pick up your mat, and go home.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Jesus returns home and some men there had enough faith in Him to bring their paralytic friend to Him for healing. They believed Jesus could help their friend walk again. Comparing their faith to much of the faith I see today, that’s pretty astonishing. We don’t see that kind of faith much today. We don’t see the kind of healing evident in the New Testament church. Why is that? God hasn’t changed. His Spirit hasn’t changed. The maladies and malignancies of life haven’t changed. So what’s different?

I think we find it in the attitude of the scribes Jesus addresses that day. Note that Jesus’ first response wasn’t to heal the paralytic, but to take care of more important business. “Rest assured, My son; you sins are forgiven.” Jesus addressed the man’s sins and cleansed his heart. Forget the secondary physical frame the man dealt with every day, the important thing on Jesus’ mind was to remake his heart. To bring him into God’s kingdom. To adopt him into the Family. To give the paralytic the thing he needed most, forgiveness.

But the scribes and teachers of the law took offense at Jesus’ words. They didn’t believe He could forgive sins. They didn’t believe the testimony of others who felt the cleansing power of His touch and His words of forgiveness. They didn’t believe He was truly the Son of God. Neither did they believe Jesus could make the paralytic walk. They came for the show, they came to trap Him in His words, the came to find out what all the fuss was about. But they didn’t believe in this Jesus who people were saying was the Messiah.

Is that what’s wrong with us today? Is that why we’re not seeing miracles today? Do we really believe He is who He says He is? I wonder. If we as Christians really believe Jesus is God incarnate, the Son of God. If we truly believe the only way to heaven is through forgiveness of our sins and obeying His commands, then why don’t we obey Him? Why don’t we do what He asks? Why do we hold back? Why do we fail to love each other? Why do we fail to believe? Why do we fail to worship Him and honor Him? Why do we fail to visit Him each day and learn more about Him through the study of His word?

Do we really believe in Jesus, the Son of God? Maybe we don’t see the New Testament church miracles because we don’t want to see them. Maybe we really don’t want to let God come upon us the way He did then. There’s some danger involved in letting loose and letting God have full control of your church, you know. Remember Ananias and Sophira? They lied about their giving and God struck them dead! Remember Silas, the sorcerer? God blinded him for his attempts at playing Christian. Certainly the early church saw miracles happen in their midsts, but God executed His wrath on the unfaithful in powerful ways as well. Maybe we’re afraid to let God do His mighty works in us because we’re afraid to let Him in the door.

Maybe we’re afraid of what God will see in us if we let Him look inside. We shouldn’t be afraid of what He sees, though. He already knows. Maybe we’re really afraid of what we’ll see. We might find just how broken and desperate and needy and sinful we really are. Maybe we’ll find how far we are from Him and find we must fall on our face before Him in true repentance before He can do any work in us or through us.

Maybe our faith is too much like the scribes and the teachers of the law and not enough like the four men who struggles through those hillsides with their paralytic friend to find their way to Jesus. Maybe we need to find a quiet place to let God turn His searchlight on our hearts and let us see ourselves as He sees us.

Can miracles happen today the way they did when Jesus walk alongside us? He told His disciples they would do greater things than He did. And they did with the power of His Spirit resident in them. God hasn’t changed, Jesus hasn’t changed, His Spirit hasn’t changed. What’s changed? Maybe it’s our willingness to just let Him have His way in our life. Complete and total control. That’s what He wants. And when He has it, we’ll see miracles happen again. 

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 do you follow Jesus? (John 6:22-40) December 19, 2015

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – John 6:22-40

Set – John 6

Go! – John 5-6

John 6:22-40
22 The following day some people gathered on the other side of the sea and saw that only one boat had been there; they were perplexed. They remembered seeing the disciples getting into the boat without Jesus.
23 Other boats were arriving from Tiberias near the grassy area where the Lord offered thanks and passed out bread. 24 When this crowd could not find Him or His disciples, they boarded their small boats and crossed the sea to Capernaum looking for Him. 25 When they found Jesus across the sea, they questioned Him.
Crowd: Teacher, when did You arrive at Capernaum?
Jesus: 26 I tell you the truth—you are tracking Me down because I fed you, not because you saw signs from God. 27 Don’t spend your life chasing food that spoils and rots. Instead, seek the food that lasts into all the ages and comes from the Son of Man, the One on whom God the Father has placed His seal.
Crowd: 28 What do we have to do to accomplish the Father’s works?
Jesus: 29 If you want to do God’s work, then believe in the One He sent.
Crowd: 30 Can You show us a miraculous sign? Something spectacular? If we see something like that, it will help us to believe. 31 Our fathers ate manna when they wandered in the desert. The Hebrew Scriptures say, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”
Jesus: 32 I tell you the truth: Moses did not give you bread from heaven; it is My Father who offers you true bread from heaven. 33 The bread of God comes down out of heaven and breathes life into the cosmos.
Crowd: 34 Master, we want a boundless supply of this bread.
Jesus: 35 I am the bread that gives life. If you come to My table and eat, you will never go hungry. Believe in Me, and you will never go thirsty. 36 Here I am standing in front of you, and still you don’t believe. 37 All that My Father gives to Me comes to Me. I will receive everyone; I will not send away anyone who comes to Me. 38 And here’s the reason: I have come down from heaven not to pursue My own agenda but to do what He desires. I am here on behalf of the Father who sent Me. 39 He sent Me to care for all He has given Me so that nothing and no one will perish. In the end, on the last day, He wants everything to be resurrected into new life. 40 So if you want to know the will of the Father, know this: everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will live eternally; and on the last day, I am the One who will resurrect him.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

Why do you follow Jesus? I knew that many that crossed the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum that day were following Me only to see more miracles. They didn’t care about My teaching, they only wanted to see Me turn a small lunch into enough to feed a crowd again. Or to cause a blind man to see. Or make a lame man walk. They followed Me to see some circus act and see what kind of spectacle I might perform in their presence so they could tell their children and their neighbors about it when they returned home.

But why do you follow Me? If you follow Me only so I protect you or heal you or provide for you, you’ve come to Me for the wrong reason. Remember what I told you. In this world you will have trouble. If you follow Me, you will find yourself surrounded by those who want to hurt you or even kill you. They tried to stone Me, push Me over a cliff, even kill Me. They could do none of those things until I allowed them to take Me to the cross, but they can and will do those things to you. Look at the trail of martyrs that have gone before you. Don’t think you will remain exempt from the persecution that has befallen the church.

So why do you follow Me? Do you want to hear My words? Do you want to learn from Me? Do you want to find out how to gain the abundant life I spoke about when I walk alongside you? Do you follow Me to discover how I want you to live? Do you follow Me to become like Me as My disciple? Why do you follow Me? Doing so will cost you everything. It will cost your plans, your wealth, your family, maybe even your life. The reward is worth it, but you must count the cost before you decide to follow Me. Understand it will cost you everything when you follow Me.

Stop and think about it. Most of the crowd that day just wanted to see more miracles. They didn’t understand My mission or meaning. Few who come beside Me will take up the mantle and truly follow. But abundant life awaits those who do. Will you be one of those who follow Me for the right reasons?

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.

Who gets the credit? (Acts 14:8-28), October 21, 2015

Leave a reply

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Acts 14: 8-28

Set – Job 8; Acts 14

Go! – Job 8; Acts 13-14

Acts 14: 8-28
8 In Lystra they met a man who had been crippled since birth; his feet were completely useless. 9 He listened to Paul speak, and Paul could see in this man’s face that he had faith to be healed.
Paul (shouting): 10 Stand up on your own two feet, man!
The man jumped up and walked! 11 When the crowds saw this, they started shouting in Lycaonian.
Crowd: The gods have come down to us! They’ve come in human form!
12 They decided that Barnabas was Zeus and Paul was Hermes (since he was the main speaker). 13 Before they knew it, the priest of Zeus, whose temple was prominent in that city, came to the city gates with oxen and garlands of flowers so the Lycaonians could offer sacrifices in worship to Paul and Barnabas! 14 When they heard of this, Paul and Barnabas were beside themselves with frustration—they ripped their tunics as an expression of disapproval and rushed out into the crowd.
Paul and Barnabas (shouting): 15 Friends! No! No! Don’t do this! We’re just humans like all of you! We’re not here to be worshiped! We’re here to bring you good news—good news that you should turn from these worthless forms of worship and instead serve the living God, the God who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that they contain. 16 Through all previous generations, God has allowed all the nations to follow their own customs and religions, 17 but even then God revealed Himself by doing good to you—giving you rain for your crops and fruitful harvests season after season, filling your stomachs with food and your hearts with joy.
18 In spite of these words, they were barely able to keep the crowds from making sacrifices to them.
19 Then unbelieving Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and incited the crowds against the Lord’s emissaries. The crowds turned on Paul, stoned him, dragged him out of the city, and left him there, thinking he was dead. 20 As the disciples gathered around him, he suddenly rose to his feet and returned to the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe. 21 After they proclaimed the good news there and taught many disciples, they returned to some of the cities they had recently visited—Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch in Pisidia. 22 In each place, they brought strength to the disciples, encouraging them to remain true to the faith.
Paul and Barnabas: We must go through many persecutions as we enter the kingdom of God.
23 In each church, they would appoint leaders, pray and fast together, and entrust them to the Lord in whom they had come to believe.
24 They then passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. 25 They preached their message in Perga and then went to the port of Attalia. 26 There they set sail for Antioch, where they were first entrusted to the grace of God for the mission they had now completed. 27 They called the church together when they arrived and reported all God had done with and through them, how God had welcomed outsiders through the doorway of faith. 28 They stayed with the disciples in Antioch for quite a while.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

Today’s story brings up a couple of questions I want to ask you. What do you do when you see something out of the ordinary happen? Who gets the credit? Do you give it to Me or the people involved? Do you praise Me for the healing that happens around you or does the credit go to the doctors and nurses? Yes, I gave them the knowledge and skills to apply the right treatments, but without the miracle of the human body in the first place, you would never find healing. I put all those things in place. I want you to give thanks to the people who aided and cared for you. They were My instruments, but I also want you to remember I had a part in your healing.

Sometimes I work instantaneously and still I don’t get credit for the work I do. Instead, some of the people standing around are seen as extra special or as those in Lystra saw them, as gods of a sort. I assure you, they are not gods. I use individuals, but without Me, they can do nothing. So be sure to give credit where credit is due.

The other question I have for you today is what do you do with those who are My instruments in working miracles? Do you treat them like the unbelieving Jews treated Paul and try to kill them either with stones or with words? Do you disregard the work I do through some of those that call on Me and lay hands on some for healing and I actually heal? I know some charlatans exist just making money on the emotions of crowds, but there are also those I use as instruments of healing and sometimes the healing is instantaneous because I want to show My power to a disbelieving world. What do you do with those?

Be careful to give Me credit when credit is due. And be careful how you treat those that work miracles in My name. You don’t need to worry about those that dupe the ignorant. I will take care of them in due time. Just keep praying. Keep believing. Keep living for Me. You’ll know the phonies when you see them if you spend time with Me, the real thing. 

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

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

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.

The bread of heaven (John 6:22-59), August 4, 2015

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast


Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – John 6:22-59

Set – 2 Chronicles 34; John 6

Go! – 2 Kings 22; 2 Chronicles 34; John 6

John 6:22-59
22 The following day some people gathered on the other side of the sea and saw that only one boat had been there; they were perplexed. They remembered seeing the disciples getting into the boat without Jesus.
23 Other boats were arriving from Tiberias near the grassy area where the Lord offered thanks and passed out bread. 24 When this crowd could not find Him or His disciples, they boarded their small boats and crossed the sea to Capernaum looking for Him. 25 When they found Jesus across the sea, they questioned Him.
Crowd: Teacher, when did You arrive at Capernaum?
Jesus: 26 I tell you the truth—you are tracking Me down because I fed you, not because you saw signs from God. 27 Don’t spend your life chasing food that spoils and rots. Instead, seek the food that lasts into all the ages and comes from the Son of Man, the One on whom God the Father has placed His seal.
Crowd: 28 What do we have to do to accomplish the Father’s works?
Jesus: 29 If you want to do God’s work, then believe in the One He sent.
Crowd: 30 Can You show us a miraculous sign? Something spectacular? If we see something like that, it will help us to believe. 31 Our fathers ate manna when they wandered in the desert. The Hebrew Scriptures say, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”
Jesus: 32 I tell you the truth: Moses did not give you bread from heaven; it is My Father who offers you true bread from heaven. 33 The bread of God comes down out of heaven and breathes life into the cosmos.
Crowd: 34 Master, we want a boundless supply of this bread.
Jesus: 35 I am the bread that gives life. If you come to My table and eat, you will never go hungry. Believe in Me, and you will never go thirsty. 36 Here I am standing in front of you, and still you don’t believe. 37 All that My Father gives to Me comes to Me. I will receive everyone; I will not send away anyone who comes to Me. 38 And here’s the reason: I have come down from heaven not to pursue My own agenda but to do what He desires. I am here on behalf of the Father who sent Me. 39 He sent Me to care for all He has given Me so that nothing and no one will perish. In the end, on the last day, He wants everything to be resurrected into new life. 40 So if you want to know the will of the Father, know this: everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will live eternally; and on the last day, I am the One who will resurrect him.
41 Some of the Jews began to grumble quietly against Him because He said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”
Crowd: 42 Isn’t Jesus the son of Joseph? We know His parents! We know where He came from, so how can He claim to have “come down from heaven”?
Jesus: 43 Stop grumbling under your breaths. 44 If the Father who sent Me does not draw you, then there’s no way you can come to Me. But I will resurrect everyone who does come on the last day. 45 Among the prophets, it’s written, “Everyone will be taught of God.” So everyone who has heard and learned from the Father finds Me. 46 No one has seen the Father, except the One sent from God. He has seen the Father. 47 I am telling you the truth: the one who accepts these things has eternal life. 48 I am the bread that gives life. 49 Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness, and they died as you know. 50 But there is another bread that comes from heaven; if you eat this bread, you will not die. 51 I am the living bread that has come down from heaven to rescue those who eat it. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever. The bread that I will give breathes life into the cosmos. This bread is My flesh.
52 The low whispers of some of Jesus’ detractors turned into an out-and-out debate.
Crowd: What is He talking about? How is He able to give us His flesh to eat?
Jesus: 53 I tell you the truth; unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you will not know life. 54 If you eat My flesh and drink My blood, then you will have eternal life and I will raise you up at the end of time. 55 My flesh and blood provide true nourishment. 56 If you eat My flesh and drink My blood, you will abide in Me and I will abide in you. 57 The Father of life who sent Me has given life to Me; and as you eat My flesh, I will give life to you. 58 This is bread that came down from heaven; I am not like the manna that your fathers ate and then died! If you eat this bread, your life will never end.
59 He spoke these words in the synagogue as part of His teaching mission in Capernaum.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

The crowd that followed Me to Capernaum were much like a lot of people I encounter today. They follow Me wanting Me to act as a cosmic Santa Claus. Their only interest is in what material things I can give them. The crowd followed to get more food after after fed them on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Too many want the same from Me today. You’re only interested in what I can give you materially.

Yes, the prayer I taught you does say, “Give us today our daily bread,” but that doesn’t mean I’m the genie in the magic lamp. I will meet your needs. I’m not here to grant your every wish. I want you to hunger and thirst for righteousness. I want you to long for the bread of heaven, the meatier things found in My word. I want you to long for Me, not what I can give you.

When you come to understand the difference, you will find yourself close to the Kingdom of Heaven.

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 is in charge (Numbers 17), Feb 25, 2015

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast


Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Numbers 17
Set – Numbers 17; Mark 4
Go! – Numbers 17-18; Psalms 29; Mark 4

Numbers 17
1The Eternal One continued.

Eternal One (to Moses): 2-3 Tell the Israelites that you’ll need twelve staffs—one for each of the extended families. Engrave on each one the respective leader’s name. (Aaron’s name should be on the Levi family’s staff.) 4 Bring the staff of each of them into the congregation tent and lay them in front of My tablets of witness with you in the place where I meet you. 5 I will indicate the person whom I choose by making his particular staff grow shoots and leaves. This will end once and for all any complaints about your leadership.

6-7 Moses passed these instructions on to the Israelites, and they all agreed to do it. They each gave their staffs as leaders representing their extended families with Aaron’s staff among them. Then Moses placed them before the Eternal One in the tent of the congregation and before the covenant. 8 The next day, when Moses went into the tent where the covenant was kept, it was obvious that Aaron of the Levite family was God’s choice. Aaron’s staff had grown not only little buds, but it had actually flowered and developed fully-ripened almonds. 9 Moses carried the staffs out of the Eternal’s presence, showed them to the congregation, and redistributed them to the twelve leaders.

Eternal One (to Moses): 10 Return Aaron’s staff to the tent and place it in front of the covenant, to serve as a reminder of whom I’ve chosen to lead this people. Let it be a warning to any who would question or undermine your leadership. I have made My choice clear and will kill anyone who persists in challenging it.

11 So Moses returned Aaron’s staff to the tent just as the Eternal told him to do.

Israelites (to Moses): 12 We’re going to die! We will be destroyed! 13 If anyone comes close to the tent where the Eternal One is supposed to meet with us, then he’ll die. Will we all die, then?

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

Why would anyone be foolish enough to question My authority? All you need to do is look up at the sky and that should end all questions about who’s in charge. If it’s daytime, ask yourself who can create a sun and keep it in place? Only Me. Who can form the mountains in the distance or keep the oceans within their boundaries? Only Me. Who grow an oak tree from an acorn or a beautiful flower from a tiny seed? Me again. Who makes the rain to water the earth and replenish the streams, rivers, and lakes to nourish the land? That’s Me.

No one can do the things I do, and I do them without even thinking about them. You don’t even think about them because they just happen. I set them in place and they go one day after day and year after year. Like gravity, weather, the seasons, you don’t think about them, they just happen. But how do you think they happen? I put them in place before the world began.

Let there be no question in your mind, I am in control of this world. I hold the ultimate authority over all that happens. Do I let bad things happen? Yes, as a result of the flawed state of humankind. The consequences of sin have changed My creation significantly and everyone alive shares responsibility for the marred state of the world. However, it is still Mine and I will return physically to reclaim it.

The other eleven tribes questioned My decision to put the Levites in charge of leading this new theocracy I formed through My servant, Moses. They should have known I would do something to show My pick. The consequences for those against Me probably seem harsh to you. But in the early days of this fledgling nation, I needed them to understand Moses was the man I put in charge. So I did the spectacular to prove a point. I took a plain staff and let it grow at high speed until it blossomed and bore fruit – overnight. Easy for Me. A first class miracle for all who observed it.

The story is recorded to let you know I chose Moses and Aaron to lead My new nation to the land I promised to give them. It’s also recorded to let you know I’m still in charge. My position hasn’t changed. Take My word for it.

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.