If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved. We believe with our hearts, and so we are made right with God. And we declare with our mouths that we believe, and so we are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disappointed.” [Romans 10:9-11 (NCV)]
You will find all true theology summed up in these two short sentences: Salvation is all of the grace of God. Damnation is all of the will of man. [Charles Spurgeon]
Thinking we’d never be old enough to retire in Florida, we used to spend our winters in a Colorado mountain town and our days skiing on the slopes. The lift line crew at one lift often posted riddles or trivia questions on a board at the bottom of the hill. As we pondered the answer while riding up, we’d see the answer at the top as we skied off the lift. One day the question was, ”What is greater than God? The poor have it, the rich need it and, if you eat it, you will die!”
We pondered the riddle while riding to the top of the run. I was perturbed that someone would think anything or anyone was greater than God, even in a silly riddle. Seeing no answer posted at the top, I skied back down to get it. When getting on the lift again, I complained that nothing had been written on the upper board. “But, you’ve just said the answer!” replied the lift operator. Duh! I’d completely ignored the obvious response while concentrating on the second part of the riddle. By focusing on the rich, the poor, and some sort of poison, I’d missed the first and obvious response—nothing is greater than God! The poor have nothing, the rich need nothing and, if we eat nothing, we’ll die!
I made a simple riddle far more complicated than necessary, something we often do with our faith. For example, during one Bible study someone asked what would happen to our dogs during the Rapture. While it made for a fascinating discussion (did you know some non-Christians offer “After the Rapture” pet care?), the various Christian views about the end times are perplexing. As for me, I’m not going to complicate my faith by pondering the Rapture’s date, let alone worry about pets when it happens or whether dogs and cats will be in heaven. We have a loving God and I’m sure He’s got everything planned out quite thoroughly.
It’s admirable that some people want to dig deep into questions of theology, doctrine, and dogma. I do it myself at times but often end up going down a rabbit hole which leaves me more confused than when I started! It’s incredibly easy to get bogged down in complex and unclear issues that make Christianity and the Bible far more difficult than they need be. Our relationship with God won’t suffer if we can’t hold forth on subjects like the Rapture and tribulation, annihilationism, predestination, Calvinism, Arminianism, and the various doctrinal differences between denominations. Trying to come to terms with the minute details can keep us from the big picture: having a relationship with God the Father, believing in his Son Jesus Christ, and feeling the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
We don’t have to be theologians to be Christians; we just have to be followers of Christ. It’s not necessary to know Greek or Hebrew to read or understand the Bible. Attendance at seminary isn’t a prerequisite for prayer; it’s no more difficult than talking on the phone. We don’t have to take lessons in how to worship to be able to lift our hearts in praise and no evangelism seminar is required for us to share God’s message of love.
Let us remember that we have a God who designed caterpillars so they become butterflies and gave marsupials pockets in which to carry their young! He doesn’t repeat fingerprints or snowflakes, keeps our solar system functioning flawlessly, turns tiny acorns into giant oaks, gives us incredible rainbows, and made crying babies loveable. A God so powerful and resourceful that he merely spoke the universe into existence certainly was able to create us in such a way that knowing Him, understanding His word, having faith, saying a prayer, offering praise and thanksgiving, and sharing His message are well within our capabilities. Let’s remember—none of the Apostles were rocket scientists or Greek scholars and they did just fine!
The Bible is shallow enough for a child not to drown, yet deep enough for an elephant to swim. [Augustine]
While anointing people seems a bit strange to us in the 21st century, in Jesus’ day it was a tradition among the Hebrews to anoint a guest with oil as a way of welcoming them into your home. Anointing them with perfume like nard, however, was a costly and significant act of devotion and honor—one saved for exceptional occasions. A major economic sacrifice, it signaled wholehearted commitment. That twelve ounces of nard used to anoint Jesus in Bethany represented a full year’s wages!
For three days, Israel traveled across the desert without finding any water. When they arrived at Marah, the exhausted and thirsty group was disappointed to find the water undrinkable because of its bitterness. When Moses cried out to the Lord, God told him to throw a piece of wood into the water to make it sweet. It was then that God proclaimed His name to be Jehovah Rapha, the “Lord who Heals You.” Jehovah Rapha took the bitter out of the Israelites’ water and made it palatable.
We’re two weeks into the season of Lent. While we typically associate this time before Easter with giving up something, it is more than simply abstaining or fasting from some thing or things. Fasting without prayer is nothing more than a diet and abstaining from some pleasure without prayer is more like dry January than a Lenten discipline! Without prayer, fasting and abstinence are physical acts but not spiritual ones! When we give up something for Lent, we need to deliberately and intentionally seek the Lord in prayer at the same time!
The whole matter of Pharaoh’s hardened heart and how it got so stubborn is confusing and an issue that has been debated at length by Biblical scholars. Based on the verses in Exodus where God says He will make Pharaoh’s heart hard (as He did in 7:3), some say that God deliberately hardened Pharaoh’s heart to demonstrate His power and glory. But, wouldn’t that mean Pharaoh had no free will? If Pharaoh couldn’t submit to Moses’ demands, the plagues hardly seem justified. How could a just God inflict such cruel punishment on all of Egypt when He was the one who made Pharaoh so inflexible?
Devotions of the Heart 