One Person at a Time

Saturday, March 20, 2010 Reading for the Day John 19-20; 2 Peter 1-3 Focus on John 19:10-11

Pilate thought he was in control of the situation on the day he crucified Jesus.  When Jesus wouldn’t answer his questions, Pilate tried to show his authority by telling Jesus that he had the power of life or death over Him.  Jesus responded by saying, “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above.”  How do you suppose Pilate felt in that instant?  He already saw no reason to condemn Jesus.  He knew the Jewish religious leaders were jealous of Jesus’ popularity with the people.  What Pilate didn’t know, or at least wasn’t willing to admit, was that Jesus held ALL authority in heaven and earth.  Jesus had to die.  He knew that.  Pilate was only the instrument God used to bring it about.  In the grand scheme of eternity, Pilate did the wrong thing at precisely the right time.  I don’t know how that all works in the day to day exchanges of our lives, but at the end of the day it’s comforting for me to know that even my sins cannot ultimately mess up God’s plans for my life.  When Pilate listened to the crowds and condemned an innocent man, he was definitely wrong.  It was definitely a sin, and yet it fulfilled God’s purpose.  As we look at the Good Friday account we see humanity at our worst, and God at His best.  Jesus was in complete control of the situation at every moment.  The crowd supposed they were in control.  Pilate supposed he was in control.  The Jewish leaders thought they were in control. The truth is God WAS in control. Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, we gained the opportunity to experience eternal life!  From a human perspective it makes no sense—but then we always think we’re in control and that our perspective is best.  Thank God—THANK GOD—that He is truly in control!

Heavenly Father, Thank You for having the BIG picture, while our perspective is so small. Thank You for sacrificing Yourself for us, so we may live in eternity with You.  Fill me with your Holy Spirit that I may also live with a sacrificial attitude as I go about this day.  This I pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Friday, March 19, 2010 Reading for the Day John 17-18; 1 Peter 3-5 Focus on 1 Peter 3:1-7

Peter’s words to wives and husbands in 1 Peter 3:1-7 sound a call to mutual love, respect and service that swims upstream against the current of marriage advice in our day.  Our culture teaches that marriage is a 50-50 performance relationship, with each spouse in the relationship doing his or her part to hold up the “bargain.”  The problem is we can never know when we have done our 50% and it never seems like our spouse has done his or her 50%.  The reality we find from Peter is that our love for our spouses calls us to serve, to put him or her before ourselves.  In the case of husbands we are called to work hard to show our love through understanding, and in the case of wives to show love through obedience.  Those concepts aren't exactly modern, but they are proven.  When husbands live with understanding toward our wives, our wives know we love and care for them. When wives submit to their husband’s authority, we husbands recognize that our authority is delegated to us by God and that we remain under His authority.  Then we don’t see ourselves as “masters,” but as fellow servants with our wives in serving Jesus.  As we put Peter’s words about marriage to work in our marriages in the power of the Holy Spirit, we’ll see our marriages growing, flourishing, being renewed and restored in ways we may not even have thought possible.  May we take his words to heart—literally--and may we apply them in the power of the Holy Spirit—today!

Heavenly Father, I pray for every married couple who calls Jesus Savior and Lord. I pray You will pour out Your Holy Spirit in marriages that Jesus may be first and that husbands and wives may live faithfully toward You, each other and their children.  Glorify Yourself in our marriages today, that others may see You in them, in us, and give You all the glory.  This I pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Thursday, March 18, 2010 Reading for the Day John 15-16; 1 Peter 1-2 Focus on 1 Peter 1:17-20

 

Peter gives us a great image of how faith and works come together in our salvation in 1 Peter 1:17-20.  He tells us we will be judged based on our works.  That sounds like our salvation is dependent on what we do, but He also tells us God paid a “ransom” to save us from the empty lives we inherited from our ancestors.  That “ransom” was the precious blood of Jesus.  So which is it:  works or Jesus' free payment of our ransom?  YES!  We are saved by grace through faith, as we have read throughout the New Testament, except in James, where we found James emphasizing our part in the process.  But here Peter brings faith and works together as they ought to be.  We aren’t saved by our works, but once we are saved, our works begin to reflect the “new management” we're under in our lives.  We do our part and God does His part.  God’s part is absolutely essential, since it is His provision of Jesus that brings salvation to us.  Our part is also essential since even Jesus told us that not everyone who cries, “Lord! Lord!” will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the ones who do the will of His Father in heaven.  Works have their place—AFTER—we receive the free gift of salvation Jesus died on the cross to procure for us.  Faith AND works go together in the growing Christian life.  When faith is emphasized to the exclusion of works, our lives turn to license and we find the Apostle Paul’s question to Christians in Rome coming to mind, “Should we sin that grace may abound?”  Paul’s own answer to that question was, “May it never be!”  When works are emphasized overly much in our lives, we become proud, forgetting that even the ability to do good works is a gift from God!  May we trust Jesus enough today to be empowered to live out the good works He designed for us to do before the foundation of the world!

 

Heavenly Father, Thank You for designing us to live in faith and for that faith to result in good works. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit in this moment that I may live out my faith in thoughts, words and actions that honor You.  This I pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 Reading for the Day John 13-14; James 4-5 Focus on John 14:1-6

Jesus’ claim: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  No one comes to the Father except through me,” puts Him on a level above everyone else who ever lived.  So many people in our day claim  there are “many ways to the top of the mountain,” as we seek spiritual direction and meaning in our lives.  In other words, many religious “paths” can lead to truth or enlightenment.  Jesus said He is the only path or way.  He is the only One who can lead us to God, because He IS God.  He is the only one who can ensure that our lives will be lived eternally with God in heaven.  Those claims make Jesus someone to take seriously or to dismiss completely.  Many have said Jesus was a great teacher, but He wasn’t God.  Actually, if Jesus wasn’t God, then He wasn’t a great teacher—He was a liar, or He lived under a great delusion—He was a lunatic.  You may have heard the statement that Jesus was either a liar, a lunatic, a legend or LORD.  He didn’t really leave us with many other options to consider.  His claims are so amazing and the actions recorded in the gospels so compelling we’re forced to see Jesus as greater than any human being who has ever lived, or as just so many stories.  The historic record both in the days of Jesus and in the centuries of the Church since offer compelling evidence that Jesus WAS and IS who He told us He WAS and IS:  the Son of the living God.  To be sure, faith will always play a role in what we believe about Jesus, since He isn’t here with us now, and since we can’t repeat many of the things He did in the “laboratory.” Even so, the evidence that Jesus is LORD was so strong in His own day that His original followers except for Judas gave their lives in serving Him.  The early church bore witness to Jesus’ powerful impact in the lives of those who belonged to it.  As we move through the season of Lent, a time of reflection on the life and ministry of Jesus, and of preparing for the celebration of Easter, Jesus’ words resound down through the millennia, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  May we put Jesus first.  May we follow Him.  As we do, may we know the assurance of our faith that only comes when we Jesus is OUR way, truth and life, and we come to know the Father through Him!

Heavenly Father, Thank You for Jesus’ bold proclamation that He is the only way to You. Thank You for validating that claim by raising Him from the dead, and by living in Jesus followers in an unbroken line from His days on earth to ours!  Fill us anew with Your Holy Spirit that we may be bold in bearing witness in our lives of how Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life and that no one comes to You, our Heavenly Father, except through Him.  This I pray in His holy name.  Amen.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010 Reading for the Day John 11-12; James 1-3 Focus on John 11:43

“Then Jesus shouted, ‘Lazarus, come out!’”  Many times when I read accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry in the gospels I think, “I wish I could have been there,” but never more so than when I read the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.  The account contains so many interesting details, nuances and proclamations.  In all of it, though, the most compelling verse for me is John 11:43.  Can you picture being there?  Can you picture standing near the entrance to the tomb, when Jesus has told the people to roll the stone covering the entrance aside?  Lazarus’ sisters sought to stop Jesus, because they were afraid Lazarus’ body would have stunk by that time.  Jesus wouldn’t be stopped.  He shouted, “Lazarus, come out!”  I picture a dramatic pause, and then the mummy-like figure of Lazarus appearing at the door in his grave clothes.  Did the crowd shout?  Did they stand in silent awe?  I once heard someone say the reason Jesus said, “Lazarus, come out!” is if He had simply said, “Come out!” every person in the tomb would have appeared at the door!  No doubt they would!  Jesus is the author of life, and He holds command even over death.  Had I been there in that moment, I don’t know what I would have done, but I would surely have believed Jesus was amazing—probably the Son of God.  The only ones who stood by unimpressed, or at least unmoved by the incident, were the religious leaders.  Far from celebrating Lazarus’ resurrection, they now realized that Jesus’ place among the people had become that of a leader, if not their Messiah.  They started plotting Jesus’ death.  It makes no sense on the surface.  Why would anyone kill a man who had the power over life and death?  The only reasonable answer to that question is – fear.  They feared the Romans would intervene if Jesus proclaimed Himself king.  They feared a loss of control if Jesus were proclaimed a religious leader among the Jews.  They feared the possibility of even considering that Jesus was who He claimed to be.  Fear is a powerful motivator.  In our lives fear will eliminate Jesus from taking central place in our lives, or Jesus will take the central place in our lives and overcome our fears.  Which will it be?  Jesus offers all who seek Him first a place in His Kingdom and the assurance of lives of meaning and purpose.  May we choose Him over fear, that HE may overcome fear in us!

Heavenly Father, Thank You for sending Jesus to overcome every obstacle in the way of eternal life with You—including death!  Thank You for the account of Jesus raising Lazarus, which shows us that for Jesus there is never a hopeless situation.  Glorify Yourself in our lives today, by filling us with Your Holy Spirit and empower us to live the kind of lives that will draw others to You.  This I pray in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Monday, March 15, 2010 Reading for the Day John 9-10 Focus on John 10:10

Few verses in Scripture say so much as John 10:10:  10The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Jesus made it clear that the goal of His life is to make our lives ABUNDANT.  In the Greek New Testament we find two words for life:  bios and zoe.  Bios is physical life.  Zoe is the life of God.  Some would call it spiritual life.  When Jesus tells us He comes to give us life, and that we may have it more abundantly, He was talking about zoe.  Jesus cares about our physical lives, but He cares much more about our spiritual lives.  Why?  Because at most we are going to live a century in this, physical life.  Then we will live for eternity in our spiritual lives!  We want to live that eternity with God:  Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  That means in this life we must follow Jesus.  We must make Him first in our lives.  Jesus makes it clear that the goal of His opponent, Satan, or “The thief” as He put it in John 10:10, is to steal, kill and destroy.  Most often Satan disguises his theft, murder, and destruction in pleasant sounding, smelling, tasting, touching or feeling packages.  After all, few of us would go willingly to our own destruction!  The key for us to remember is Jesus ALWAYS leads us to life—abundant life. His way is often hard.  His way is often filled with challenging decisions.  His way will cause us to depend absolutely on His life within us through the Holy Spirit, but all of that is far more fulfilling at the end of the day than following the ways of “The thief.”  As we go about this day, let’s make sure our priority is to seek after the life that is truly life, which comes only through Jesus.  Let’s make sure when the thief comes, and he surely will, that we are ready for him, and are prepared to defend ourselves from his lies, temptation and destruction.  The Good News is we may experience the abundant life of Jesus here and now—we don’t have to wait for heaven to experience it—and we WILL experience it as we live IN Him and in the power of His Holy Spirit!

Heavenly Father, Thank You for all You are, and for the abundant life You give us through Your Son, and our Lord, Jesus!  Fill me with Your Holy Spirit today and everyday that I may live that abundant life moment by moment and offer it to others.  This I pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Sunday, March 14, 2010 Reading for the Day John 7-8 and Hebrews 11-13 Focus on Hebrews 11

Hebrews 11 is referred to as “The Faith Chapter.”  From the beginning of the chapter when the author defines faith for us, through the body of the chapter where the author presents us with a “Who’s Who” in the “Faith Hall of Fame,” to the conclusion of the chapter when we’re reminded all that “Who’s Who” list of faithful men and women didn’t receive what we have received---The assurance of our faith:  Jesus Christ come to the world, crucified for our sin and risen from the dead. All the amazing men and women of faith in the Old Testament looked forward to the coming of the Messiah, but they never saw the day when He came.  We live 2,000 years AFTER He came.  While all of us would love to have lived in Jesus day, to have walked along side of Jesus when He walked the earth, the reality is we’re way better off than those who lived BEFORE Jesus came.  We’re better off, because we are SURE of what we’ve hoped for.  We are SURE that Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords.  We’re sure that either during our lives or at the end of them we will stand face to face with Jesus and hear His words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.  Enter the joy of your Master’s kingdom.”  I am so glad to live on the “victory side” of the cross and resurrection, to be able to wake up each day with the assurance that my faith is well placed.  Does that mean I never have even the smallest doubt?  Not at all!  I’ve doubted many things about the faith over the years, but every time I start to doubt, I consider again what faith is:  The substance of things hoped for; the evidence or conviction of things not seen.  Faith must leave room for doubt, or it isn’t faith! If it’s 100% no doubt sure, then it doesn’t require faith.  When I start to doubt I simply doubt my doubts and hold onto my faith.  That may sound simple or simplistic, but the reality is I KNOW that my faith in Jesus is well-founded and well-grounded, so when the doubts come, I doubt them and keep trusting in Jesus!

Heavenly Father, Thank You so much for Your faithfulness, and for being worthy of my faith.  I thank You for all those who came before me in the faith, and who have set the stage for my life of faith.  Fill me with Your Holy Spirit that I may be faithful and live in faith.  This I pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Saturday, March 13, 2010 Reading for the Day John 5-6 and Hebrews 8-10 Focus on John 6:1-15

Jesus performed many miracles, or as John preferred to call them “signs and wonders” during His life and ministry on earth.  Only one of those miracles is recorded in all four gospels:  the feeding of the five thousand.  Each of the accounts has slightly differing details, as one would expect when reading four different authors’ viewpoints on a particular event.  What I have always loved about John’s account of the feeding of the five thousand is that we’re told the source of the five loaves of bread and two fish that Jesus prayed over and multiplied so that they fed 5,000 people was a “lad” or a “boy.”  I’ve always thought about the impact the event must have had on that boy for the future.  After all, for the rest of his life, the boy would    Have been able to tell anyone who would have listened, “I gave Jesus five loaves of bread and two fish and He turned it into enough food to feed 5,000 men PLUS all the women and children who were with them."  Can’t you see folks rolling their eyes or shouting, “No way!”?  But the boy saw what he saw, and he had participated in a miracle of God.  He provided the “seed” for the great “harvest” made available to the crowd by Jesus.  I once read, “God can do a lot with a little if He has it all.”  The feeding of the 5,000 may be the best example of that adage recorded in the four gospels.  The boy didn’t have much.  In fact, that’s what Andrew said when he brought the boy to Jesus:  “He has five barley loaves and two fish but what is that among so many?”   What, indeed!  May we have the attitude of that lad who gave all he had, little as it was, and saw a miracle as a result!  What miracles are waiting to happen in our lives individually, and as a congregation, until someone steps forward and says, “It isn’t much, but I’ll give it all to You, Jesus!”?  May each of us live out that attitude, because as we do, we can be sure that miracles are on the horizon!

Heavenly Father, Thank You so much for Your faithfulness!  Thank You for taking the little we offer You and multiplying it.  I pray You will take all of me, little as that is, and multiply my effectiveness in offering Your salvation to my family, friends, and all I meet. This I pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Friday, March 12, 2010 Reading for the Day John 3-4 and Hebrews 5-7 Focus on Hebrews 6:1-2

Several years ago my good friend, Pastor John Nuzzo, was talking about the “elementary teachings of our faith.”  I interrupted him and asked, “What ARE the elementary teachings of our faith.” He quickly responded, “Repentance from dead works, faith toward God, baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.”  I asked, “Where did you get those?”  He said, “Hebrews 6:1-2.”  I tucked that away in my mind and when I went home I looked up Hebrews 6:1-2. Sure enough, there they were:  1Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. Hebrews 6:1-2 NKJV  Those six elementary teachings of our faith provide a good handle for us to grab hold of when we want to consider what’s really important to believe and do as Jesus’ followers.  As you look at the six, you may be surprised by a couple of them.  For example baptisms is plural not singular, as one might think at first glance.  The reality is there are TWO baptisms documented in the New Testament:  baptism in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit to demonstrate that we have trusted Jesus as our Savior and Lord, and The baptism of the Holy Spirit, which both John the Baptist and Jesus talked about and which we have examples of throughout the Book of Acts.  The others surprise for me was “the laying on of hands.”  While I believe that we ought to lay hands on babies when we dedicate them, people when we baptize them, and leaders when we ordain or license them, I never thought of it as one of the “big six,” as the author of the Hebrews obviously did.  As you think of the remaining four teachings they do provide the basis of our faith.  Until we repent from sin, we cannot live in faith toward God. Unless we believe in the resurrection of the dead, then there’s no real power in our lives as Jesus’ followers.  Understanding that all of us will stand before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ reminds us that eternal judgment is for ETERNITY, and we will either live that eternity with God in heaven or separated from Him in hell.  Those elementary teachings help us focus on what’s truly important and to live in the power of the Holy Spirit!

Thursday, March 11, 2010 Reading for the Day John 1-2 and Hebrews 3-4 Focus on John 1:1

Jehovah’s Witnesses focus on John 1:1 as a verse in Scripture that shows Jesus wasn’t THE God, but that Jesus is "a god".  They make this statement based on their reading of the original Greek text of John 1:1.  In English we typically read:  In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.  The Jehovah’s Witnesses “translate” it: In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was a god.  They translate it this way because the word God in the Greek doesn’t have a definite article—a “the” in front of it, as it frequently does in the New Testament.  The problem with their translation is that we find many other places in the New Testament where the word God appears without a definite article and there is absolutely no doubt that those verses refer to the one, true and living God.  We can’t simply pick and choose when the word means God and when it means a god for the sake of our opinions.   The founder of the Jehovah’s Witnesses couldn’t even read Greek, and yet he provided an English “translation” from it.  As followers of Jesus we don’t have to learn Greek in order to understand the Bible, but what we must do as we read God’s word in English is recognize that EVERY English translation is a commentary.  It shows the assumptions and sometimes the theology of the translators.  I like to compare several English translations when I'm reading the Bible, because then I get a fuller understanding of a text.  Since, I can read Greek, I’ll get out the Greek Bible when I have questions and see if the original language sheds any light.  Thankfully, the original language does NOT confirm the Jehovah’s Witnesses assumption that Jesus is merely a god instead of THE God.  As followers of Jesus, who believe that Jesus IS fully God and fully human, it’s important for us to understand the strong case that John chapter one makes for that truth!

Heavenly Father, Thank You for sending Jesus as the Word who became flesh and lived among us! Thank You for revealing Yourself to us in such a clear and helpful way.  Fill me with Your Holy Spirit that I may, also reveal You to others through Your love and grace in me.  This I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Wed., March 10, 2010 Reading for the Day Luke 24 and Hebrews 1-2 Focus on Luke 24:1-12

I have always loved the angels’ question in Luke 24:5, “Why are you looking in a tomb for someone who is alive?”  Or as the NIV puts it, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”  How often does that describe us?  We say God’s in charge of our lives, and yet we get in a tough situation and forget to call out to Him for help.  We think we’re all alone.  We worry about so many things in life, when Jesus told us NOT to worry.   We find ourselves looking in the tomb for a dead Jesus, when He’s ALIVE!  We can fault the women for not remembering that Jesus told them He was going to rise from the dead, but then we’d have to fault ourselves, too, for forgetting so often the promises Jesus has made to us.  What’s happening in your life right now that needs God’s attention?  Is it a relationship?  Your finances?  A situation at school or work?  Have you gone to Jesus FIRST?  The longer I live, the more I realize how seldom my FIRST response is Jesus.  Yes, there are times when I turn to Him before trying to solve a problem myself, and those times are more frequent than they used to be, but they’re still not consistent.  As we go about this day, let’s remember the angels’ message to the women---He isn’t here among the dead.  He’s alive!  When you encounter your first challenge today – turn to the living Lord before looking around in the tomb.  Deal?

Heavenly Father, thank You so much for raising Jesus from the dead and showing us once and for all that nothing is too hard for You!  Fill me with Your Holy Spirit so that I may honor you in every situation and in every relationship of my life.  This I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010 Reading for the Day Luke 23 and Philemon 1 Focus on Luke 23:39-43

As Jesus was dying on the cross, the thieves who were crucified on either side of Him started joining those who were mocking Jesus.  Actually, one of them started mocking Jesus, while the other stood up for Him.  The thief who stood up for Jesus understood the reality that sin has consequences.  He reminded the other thief that they were hanging on crosses because they deserved it for their “evil deeds.” Then he pointed out that Jesus was innocent.  We don’t know how the thief beside Jesus knew this.  Perhaps it was the way Jesus handled the whole crucifixion event.  Jesus had asked God to forgive those who crucified Him.  That’s not the act of a criminal!  Jesus had made sure that His mother would be care for after His death—while He hung on the cross.  When the crowds insulted Him, He didn’t say a word.  Jesus’ attitude even while hanging on the cross was that of a servant. The thief recognized that Jesus was, indeed, the Messiah, and he asked for forgiveness.  Jesus gave it!  The thief’s reconciliation with God just moments or hours before his death shows us that it’s never too late—as long as we’re still breathing—to repent of our sin and turn to God.  God has given me the opportunity to offer the gift of salvation to a number of folks who were on their “death beds,” and some of them have responded.  One time in particular, it seemed so sad to me that a man came to know Jesus just two days before he died.  He really “got it” when he was saved.  He realized how he had wasted his life in the pursuit of things instead of the pursuit of God.  His wife was a believer and he had basically forbidden her from attending church, because Sundays were the best days for pursuing the things he sought in life.  I thought the wife would be upset that when her husband finally trusted Jesus, and they could have had Jesus in common, that he was gone.  Instead, she said that God had been so gracious to her husband, keeping him alive just long enough that he would spend eternity with God, instead of separated from Him!  Do you know anyone who doesn’t know Jesus, who’s getting close to that time when life here will end?  Actually, that could be any of us at any moment, but the odds are not in favor of some because they are at the age when they will be seeing Jesus soon.  What will you do to help ensure that when that person sees Jesus it will be as a friend instead of as an enemy?

Heavenly Father, Thank You so much for giving me the opportunity to know Jesus as my Savior and Lord!  I pray for those who don’t know Him, and especially for those who like the thief on the cross, may only have moments or hours.  Let them turn to Jesus.  Let them trust in Him!  This I pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Monday, March 8  Read Luke 22, Titus 1-3  Focus on Luke 22:19-20

Yesterday in worship we celebrated the Lord’s Supper.  I pointed out that when Jesus gave the disciples the bread, He said, “This is my body GIVEN for you,” not “This is my body BROKEN for you,” as many liturgies of the Lord’s Supper say.  Here is the actual account from Luke 22:19-20:  19Then he took a loaf of bread; and when he had thanked God for it, he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This wine is the token of God’s new covenant to save you—an agreement sealed with the blood I will pour out for you.”  You may ask, “What’s the difference?”  The difference is significant.  One of the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah was that not a single bone of His body would be broken.  That means if Jesus’ body was literally “broken” for us, He could not have been the Messiah.  In fact, Jesus body was beaten, battered, and nearly mutilated through the whipping He received before the crucifixion and the crucifixion itself, but not a bone was broken.  When the two thieves crucified next to Jesus had their legs broken to ensure their death at the end of the crucifixion, Jesus’ legs were NOT broken, because He was already dead.  The point of all this is that even when it came to the most minute detail of prophecy concerning the Messiah, Jesus fulfilled it.  When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, and hear the words of institution, “This is My body, given for you…” let us remember both that Jesus gave His body freely in exchange for ours on the cross, and that the giving rather than breaking of Jesus’ body fulfilled prophecy and deepened our assurance that Jesus is, indeed, the Messiah, and our Savior and Lord!

Heavenly Father, Thank You for giving Jesus to us, and for Jesus’ great sacrifice on our behalf.  Fill me with Your Holy Spirit this day that I may live boldly and confidently in You, knowing that my salvation is sure in Him!  This I pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Sunday, March 7   Read Luke 21, 2 Timothy 3-4  Focus on 2 Timothy 3:15-17

2 Timothy 3:15-17 is one of the clearest passage in the Bible on the importance of the Bible! As Paul drew to the close of his second letter, to his beloved son in the faith, Timothy, he reminded him of the source of his wisdom, and of his salvation.  Let’s look again at these vital verses:  15You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. 17It is God’s way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do.  Timothy held a great advantage in following Jesus—he had been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood.  I have held that same advantage in my life.  Thankfully, I have been reading and studying God’s word since I learned to read, and really before that, because in Sunday School and worship I learned the accounts of God and His people each week.  Paul tells us that God’s word IS God’s word because every, single word of it is INSPIRED by God.  Inspired by God literally means “God breathed.”  That makes it useful for teaching us what is right and for realizing what is wrong.  As we read verses 16 and 17 we see all the ways Scripture builds into us as God’s people.  When the New Testament Challenge concludes in another 21 day, My prayer is we will ALL continue reading His word every day, that we may be inspired by Him and empowered by Him to live out our faith in such a way that others will see us as their “Bible.”  After all, as someone has said we may be the only Bible some people ever read—at least until they come to know Jesus as their Savior and Lord.  Wouldn’t it be awesome if a person’s “reading” of us today, led to their trusting Jesus as Savior and Lord?

Heavenly Father, Thank You so much for giving us the Bible!  Thank You for using it to teach us about You and to lead us to You.  Empower us by Your Holy Spirit to apply what we read today, to bring You glory and honor.  This I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Saturday, March 6 Read Luke 20, 2 Timothy 1-2  Focus on 2 Timothy 1:5-9

When we read the Apostle Paul’s letters to Timothy it is obvious how much Paul loved Timothy and felt like a father to him.  We don’t know whether Paul had any biological children, or even whether he was ever married, although it seems doubtful from his letters.  Yet, Paul had many spiritual “sons.”  As 2 Timothy begins, Paul reminded Timothy of his spiritual heritage. Timothy’s mother and grandmother were believers.  Timothy’s faith was awakened or deepened by a ministry of prayer and laying on of hands by Paul.  Paul showed the depth of his understanding of Timothy when he encouraged him to be courageous and to remember that God hasn’t given us a spirit of fear or timidity, but a spirit of power, love and self-discipline.  It seems that Timothy may have been prone to fear and anxiety.  He may have been physically weak, since Paul elsewhere advised him to take a little wine for his stomach.  Yet, God used Timothy in powerful ways.  That’s because God isn’t dependent on worthy “vessels,” only willing ones.  Since the Holy Spirit provides the power, love and self-discipline we need in our lives, all that’s required of any of us is that we are willing to give control of our lives to Him.  As Paul mentored Timothy, a young man who already had a heritage of faith, the Holy Spirit empowered Him to live faithfully and lead effectively.  He will do the same in every area of our lives, too, when we submit ourselves to the Spirit and live in His power!

Heavenly Father, Thank You for Your word written to instruct, challenge and encourage us!  Thank You for Paul investing in Timothy’s life, so that Timothy could invest in others lives for the advancement of Your Kingdom.  I pray that I will invest in others lives, and that I will allow others to invest in me that my wisdom will grow, and I will make a difference in my generation and in those that come after me for Your glory and honor.  This I pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Friday, March 5 Read Luke 19, 1 Timothy 4-6  Focus on Luke 19:1-10 and 1 Tim. 6:17-19

Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus and Paul’s instruction to Timothy regarding those who are “rich” in this world serve as interesting cases in the use of money.  Zacchaeus, the tax collector, worked with and around money.  Most tax collectors in Jesus’ day were dishonest.  Zacchaeus may have been. Yet, when Jesus came into Zacchaeus’ life, the change was immediate and dramatic.  Now, money instead of being the goal and focus of Zacchaeus’ life, became a tool for showing his love of God.  Money’s hold on Zacchaeus was broken, and now he could live as a “son of Abraham”, as a true member of God’s family.  In the same way, Paul told Timothy to tell those of us who are rich in this world, and that includes ALL of us who are reading this and live in middle class America, to use it wisely.  We may not feel rich, but by comparison with the remainder of the world we are.  Paul’s admonitions include using money for God’s purposes, not trusting in money—or making it our God, and helping others with it. These were the very things Zacchaeus did immediately and naturally once Jesus came into his life.  Larry Burkett used to say that when a person is truly converted to faith in Jesus there’s a noticeable impact on that person’s use of money.  Today’s Scriptures underline and confirm that.  May we be faithful stewards of all God’s blessings in our lives.  May we use money to win people for God, rather than using people to gain our own selfish desires.  May we use money as a servant to provide blessing to others, and never let it enslave us!

Heavenly Father, You are the owner of everything.  I am a steward, a manager, of what You entrust to me.  Empower me by Your Spirit to be a faithful and trustworthy steward, investing the wealth You provide me to provide for my family and to open the door to Your kingdom to others.  This I pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

I hope you're planning to join us in worship this Sunday as we continue the New Testament Challenge!  Our focus for Sunday is The Challenge of Godliness! In a nutshell, godliness is becoming more like Jesus.  What a worthy investment of our lives--becoming more like Jesus.  Imagine the revolution in our world if each of us would become a little more like Jesus every day of our lives!  That's the goal, and that's the focus for Sunday.  We'll also be celebrating the Lord's Supper, and as always the music will be jammin'!   Hope to see YOU there!

Thursday, March 4 Read Luke 18, 1 Timothy 1-3  Focus on Luke 18:35-42

Many times in the gospels as Jesus traveled from one place to the next people sought Him out that He would hear them or heal them.  In today’s Scripture from Luke 18:35-42, a blind beggar was sitting beside the road.  He heard the noise of a crowd passing by him and asked what was happening.  When the people near him told him that Jesus was passing by he started shouting, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”  How did the blind man KNOW that Jesus was the Son of David?  Was this something God revealed to him?  Was it a conjecture based on the rumors he must have heard even though he couldn’t see?  Whatever it was, the blind man realized Jesus was his one chance to receive his sight.  People tried to tell him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more.  Eventually, Jesus heard him, and ordered for the man to be brought to him.  When the man stood in front of Jesus, his disability would have been apparent.  Beggars wore special cloaks in that day.  A blind man would have stood out, because he wouldn’t have been able to see Jesus.  Even so Jesus asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”  Why would Jesus ask THAT question?  The answer was “staring” Jesus in the face.  Then again, as long as the man was a blind beggar, he was assured of the pity of the crowds, and probably of coins for food.  What if his vision WAS restored?  What then?  Those answers were unknown, but the man didn’t hesitate, “Lord, I want to see!”  As soon as Jesus heard the answer, He said, “All right, you can see! Your faith has healed you.”  Really?  Was it Jesus or the man’s faith that gave him back his sight?  Jesus said it was the man’s faith.  The man probably spent the rest of his life giving Jesus the credit---and they were both right!  As we’re reminded in Philippians 2:12-13 we have to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, AND God is at work in us.  Our part, God’s part—both are necessary, or blind people stay blind, hurting people keep hurting, lost people stay lost. That’s not because God can take care of all those things with a word.  It’s because He wants us to participate in it and experience the joy of being part of becoming whole—whether for ourselves or others.  What do you and I want Jesus to do for us?

Heavenly Father, I pray right now that You will heal me of any physical or spiritual problem in my life.  I want to be made whole!  In the name of Jesus, glorify Yourself by restoring me to all You want me to be and have.  This I pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Wednesday, March 3 Read Luke 17, 2 Thessalonians 1-3  Focus on Luke 17:11-19

Most of us have heard the account of Jesus and the ten lepers.  What we may or may not know is that leprosy did something for that group that health could not—it brought integration between Jews and Samaritans.  The one Samaritan in the group was accepted by nine Jews even though the Jews and Samaritans hated one another. Their disease brought them together in community.  If they had been healthy, they would have avoided each other like the plague. That’s rather ironic, isn’t it?  A plague of sorts brought them together.  I wonder what happened after Jesus healed them?  We know that in the instant of their healing only the Samaritan came back to tell Jesus thank you.  The rest?  Perhaps they simply wanted to obey Jesus’ command.  We don’t know, but I wonder whether they ever spoke to their Samaritan companion again?  Did they look one another up, or continue to get together regularly once they could go back to their homes and families?  During their illness they were required to live away from every, healthy person even their families.  Now, what?  Isn’t that a question for us?  Once Jesus has healed us of the ultimate deadly disease: sin, how do we respond?  Do we integrate our lives and welcome other former sinners, and even current sinners who are seeking the cure, or do we keep to ourselves?  So many times, I wish I could know what happened a year after Jesus encountered a person or group of people.  This is one of those times.  If we had an annual update from the ten lepers, make that “used to be” lepers would the group consist of ten or only nine?  Would they welcome their Samaritan “buddy” or would he be an outcast to them?  May our lives reflect the healing of Jesus a day, a year, a decade even a century--if God gives us the time—after we have been healed.  May we continue to welcome others to His glory and praise!

Heavenly Father, Thank You for Jesus’ ministry of healing on earth that included so much more than just physical healing. Thank You that through His life, ministry, death and resurrection Jesus has become the fulfillment of Isaiah’s promise that by His “stripes” we are healed.  Fill me with the Holy Spirit right now, that I may experience that healing in every part of my life, and then embolden me to be an ambassador of that healing to everyone You send my way today.  This I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Tuesday, March 2 Read Luke 16 and 1 Thessalonians 4-6 Focus on 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

One of the most difficult days of my life was February 15, 1988.  On that day Nancy had a miscarriage and we lost our first child.  We had waited a long time for Nancy to get pregnant, so it was doubly hard when she lost the baby.  As it turned out, although I was serving as an associate pastor at the time, and preached on a sporadic basis, I was scheduled to preach on 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 the following Sunday.  In that passage the Apostle Paul addressed the question of the Thessalonian Christians about what happens to those who “fall asleep” or die before Jesus returns.  Their concern was that if a person died before Jesus’ return, which they expected at any moment, that the person might miss out on being with Jesus forever.  Paul responded with a detailed explanation, but the key statement for me in our time of grieving the loss of our first child was this:  we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. Notice that Paul did not say, “We do not grieve—period.”  Some in the Christian family believe we ought to be joyful when loved ones die, because they are better off since they are going to be with Jesus.  The reality is the person who dies in the Lord IS better off, but we who remain still grieve.  Paul tells us that our grief is filtered through hope.  We do not grieve like the rest of people—who have no hope. We have hope!  We have the great and amazing hope that the end of this life is not the end.  It’s just the beginning of a new era of eternity with God, and with all whom we love who have gone on before us to be with Him!  One day Nancy and I will get to meet our child, which we believe is a daughter, even though the doctors couldn’t tell us that.  But on February 15, 1988, we grieved.  We grieved for our loss.  And we hoped—we held the hope of every follower of Jesus—those who are dead to the world are still alive in Him.  You may be going through a time of grief over a loss you’ve experienced.  That’s okay.  It’s normal—even for believers.  The Good News in our times of loss is that we DO have hope.  The hope comforts, but it doesn’t eliminate the loss.  The hope assures us, but it doesn’t make it “all better.”  The hope keeps us looking forward, even when we may just want to stay stuck in the time of loss.  The hope is why we can and do move forward through our grief, and why we can live differently from the rest of people who have no hope.  May we rest in the hope we have in Jesus.  Just as He died and rose again, so will we on that day appointed to each of us---unless He comes before that day arrives!

Heavenly Father, I thank You for hopeful grief, for the assurance of Your word and the reality of Your Son that confirms the reality of life after death.  I thank You for giving me life in this life, and for showing me that I may live confidently NOW and LATER, because You have overcome the world. You have overcome sin and death, and You have promised that one day I will be with You.  In the mean time, keep me faithful, keep me hopeful whatever life may bring, and thus let me glorify You.  This I pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.