Category Archives: Knowing Him

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

January 6, 2020

Posted under

Bible Stories, Church & Worship, God's Grace & Love, Holidays & Holy Days, Knowing Him

THE FEAST OF EPIPHANY – JANUARY 6

Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.” [Matthew 2:1-2 (NLT)]

magi

Assuming you don’t worship in the Orthodox Church, today is known as the Feast of Three Kings or Epiphany. Since the church year for Orthodox Christians follows the Julian calendar, tonight is their Christmas Eve and Epiphany won’t be until January 19th. For those of us using the Gregorian calendar, however, today often is the day the Christmas tree is taken down, the nativity sets boxed up, and the holiday decorations are tucked away until next December.

Epiphany, however, isn’t about decorations or eating the last of the Christmas cookies. The word “epiphany” means to show, make known, or reveal. Those “ah-ha” moments when we have a flash of insight or understanding are often called epiphanies. (I frequently prayed for epiphanies when studying algebra and geometry.) When the travelers to Emmaus (in the gospel of John) suddenly recognized the resurrected Jesus, they had an epiphany as did Saul when Jesus revealed Himself on the road to Damascus. Today’s Epiphany celebration is about the coming of the wise men with gifts to visit the Christ child. Their visit revealed Jesus to the world as Lord and King, not just to the Jews, but also to the Gentiles.

When the long awaited Messiah was born, angels sent the birth announcement to lowly shepherds rather than religious leaders. The king was born, not in a palace, but in a stable. The newspaper didn’t list His birth but a star led the way. The baby gifts were brought not by Jews but by Gentiles: pagans who traveled from Persia, Arabia or India for several months to find this newborn king. They didn’t present the family with typical baby gifts and their offerings certainly weren’t what a poor carpenter’s family would expect to receive. Their offerings, however, were standard gifts to honor a king or deity in the ancient world. Gold, the metal of royalty, symbolized His kingship and acknowledged His right to rule. Frankincense, used in worship and the anointing of priests, symbolized the role Jesus would take as our High Priest. Myrrh, a spice used for embalming, was an odd gift for a child but the magi were familiar with the prophecies that told of the Messiah’s suffering. This was the perfect offering for the One who would be a sacrifice. Perhaps the greatest gift the magi brought was the one that didn’t come in a box: their worship!

As we put away the last of the holiday decorations, let’s not put away the message of Christmas. May the living Christ remain in our hearts: our King, God, and Savior—the One who lived and died so that we might die and live.

Born a king on Bethlehem’s plain, Gold I bring to crown Him again,
King forever, ceasing never Over us all to reign. …
Frankincense to offer have I. Incense owns a Deity nigh.
Prayer and praising all men raising, Worship Him, God on high. …
Myrrh is mine: Its bitter perfume Breaths a life of gathering gloom.
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding dying, Sealed in the stone-cold tomb.
[“We Three Kings” by John Henry Hopkins, Jr.]

They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. [Matthew 2:11 (NLT)]

Copyright ©2020 jsjdevotions. All rights reserved.
Standard

Posted by

Posted on

January 1, 2020

Posted under

Attitudes & Behavior, Church & Worship, Faith & Hope, God's Grace & Love, Holidays & Holy Days, Knowing Him, Obedience, Prayer, Salvation: A New You, Today: Make it Count

RENEW – NEW YEAR’S DAY

But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. … And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins. [Jeremiah 31:33,34b (NLT)]

Come, let us use the grace divine, and all with one accord,
in a perpetual covenant join ourselves to Christ the Lord;
Give up ourselves, thru Jesus’ power, his name to glorify;
and promise, in this sacred hour, for God to live and die. [Charles Wesley]

queen butterflyJohn Wesley had an excellent alternative to making a New Year’s resolution that’s unlikely to be kept. Believing that Christians should reaffirm their covenant with God, in 1755, he introduced a covenant service to the Methodist Societies. By 1775, this service was usually held on New Year’s Eve (and called a Watch Night Service) or New Year’s Day. This was a service of renewal in which believers would gather for self-examination and reflection and then renew their covenant with God by dedicating themselves wholly to Him. The practice of a covenant renewal service held on the Sunday nearest January 1st continues in some Methodist churches today and is a practice that has crossed denominational lines.

A covenant is a promise between two (or more) parties to perform certain actions. The covenant of the New Testament between God and man is that He will restore fellowship with and forgive the sins of those whose hearts are turned to Him; it is a covenant of salvation by grace through faith. Our part of this promise is our faith in Jesus and a giving up of self so that He can fill us with His Spirit; it is the taking of His yoke and a commitment to follow Him. Unlike a resolution to eat healthier or exercise more, it is God’s power, not our good intentions, that keeps this covenant in place.

I don’t know if you’re making any resolutions today, but let us all join together in renewing the covenant of grace—to be God’s people, trusting in His word, empowered by Him to be His hands and feet, seeking to bring His light into this dark world. Our prayer can be as simple as, “O Lord, I dedicate my life to you and will serve you in every way I can!”

Lord, I am no longer my own, but Yours. Put me to what You will. Rank me with whom You will. Let me be employed by You or laid aside for You, exalted for You or brought low by You. Let me have all things. Let me have nothing. I freely & heartily yield all things to Your pleasure and disposal. And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, You are mine and I am Yours. So be it. Amen. [John Wesley]

Now may the God of peace—who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood—may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen. [Hebrews 13:20-21 (NLT)]

Copyright ©2020 jsjdevotions. All rights reserved.
Standard

Posted by

Posted on

December 27, 2019

Posted under

Bible Stories, Faith & Hope, God's Grace & Love, Knowing Him, Miracles, Nature

DEFYING NATURE

ngorongoro crater

At the blast of your breath, the waters piled up! The surging waters stood straight like a wall; in the heart of the sea the deep waters became hard. … The finest of Pharaoh’s officers are drowned in the Red Sea. The deep waters gushed over them; they sank to the bottom like a stone. [Exodus 15:8,4-5 (NLT)]

Skeptics love questioning the miracle of the Red Sea. Either they provide a natural explanation or deny it ever happened. Unfortunately, sometimes we even find believers doing the same thing. A miracle is usually defined as something that violates the laws of nature, but God wrote those laws! “Miracles are not contrary to nature,” said Augustine, “but only contrary to what we know about nature.” As Christians, we base our faith on a miracle—the resurrection of Jesus—so a belief in God’s powerful ability to defy nature’s laws is essential to our faith.

How can the waters part for the Israelites and then come surging down on the pursuing Egyptians? For decades, scientists have tried to find a natural explanation using various computer models. In spite of Moses giving a good description of where their crossing occurred, land and water are not static and the topography of the area has shifted over 3,500 years. Not knowing exactly where it happened, many suggest that, instead of it being the Red Sea, the crossing actually took place further north in a shallow lake called the Reed Sea. They explain that a wind temporarily drained this shallow marshy area just enough to allow the Israelites to safely cross. The Hebrew word used to describe the seabed was yahbashah which means dry land, not the muck or mud of a damp marsh. Moreover, while the Egyptians with their heavy chariots might have gotten bogged down in the mire, that can’t explain how an entire army was drowned in a few feet of water.

Other skeptics have argued that a volcano or earthquake north of Egypt produced a tidal wave or tsunami that parted the Red Sea. A tidal wave happens suddenly which hardly supports Moses’ description of the gradual retreat of the waters during the night or the fortuitous return of the waters in time to drown the Egyptians.

Scientists also have estimated that a steady 63 mph wind from the east could have swept the water back to the western shore to create a land bridge. Winds of just 45 mph make driving hazardous and can knock down a person weighing 100 pounds. A wind of 63 mph would make the crossing nearly impossible. Moreover, Moses described two walls of water, one on each side. I’m not a scientist but two opposing walls of water would seem to imply winds blowing in opposite directions and I can’t see how anyone could get anywhere in that kind of crosswind! When considering the width of the path required for about two million Israelites (along with sheep, goats, and cattle) to cross a seabed in just part of one night, it needed to be at least one mile wide. It’s hard to believe that any natural wind could do that.

Even if some of these explanations are partially or totally correct, there is no explanation for what would seem to be the most amazing coincidence in all of history: that the Israelites arrived at some body of water at the exact moment a tsunami or gale force winds occurred that caused the waters to recede, that the land remained dry just long enough for them to cross, and that the waters gushed back at precisely the moment the Egyptians were in the seabed! That so-called coincidence would require the miraculous power of Almighty God!

Scientists admit they can’t explain everything but even a valid scientific or medical explanation doesn’t negate a belief in the hand of God. While her doctors might say that Pearl’s recovery from metastasized cancer is a result of oncology advances, they originally thought she’d not live a year. While John’s doctors could say his ability to walk after having his pelvis crushed is the result of their skills as orthopedic surgeons, they initially thought he wouldn’t live, let alone walk! I know how thoroughly Pearl’s body was attacked by cancer and I’ve seen John’s x-rays; I have no doubt that without our prayers and God’s intervention, modern medicine would have failed them both. In spite of a medical explanation for their recoveries, they are nothing short of miraculous.

Skeptics and atheists have trouble believing in miracles because a belief in miracles necessitates believing in the hand of someone or something that can cause them: God. I’ve seen His wonderful work firsthand; our God is a God of miracles and that’s explanation enough for me!

I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor and your wonderful miracles. [Psalm 145:5 (NLT)]

He does great things too marvelous to understand. He performs countless miracles. [Job 9:10 (NLT)]

Copyright ©2018 jsjdevotions. All rights reserved.
Standard

Posted by

Posted on

December 23, 2019

Posted under

Bible Stories, God's Plan, Holidays & Holy Days, Knowing Him, Miracles

THE FORERUNNER

God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. [John 1:6-9 (NLT)]

Steamboat Ski“I didn’t know Van was racing,” I said as he skied through the gates and sped across the finish line. “He isn’t,” explained his wife. “He’s just a forerunner.” While the focus is on the racers at a ski race, there wouldn’t be any race without the forerunners. Before the race begins, forerunners ski the course, set the line, allow the officials to test their systems, and assess course conditions. While proficient enough to race the course well, they are not in the competition. Although it’s an honor to be a forerunner, forerunners don’t get a number, nobody knows their names, and only the judges care about their times. It’s the races’ winners who get the accolades. Understanding that the race is not theirs to run, forerunners are happy just to prepare the way!

After 400 years of silence from God’s prophets, John the Baptist appeared as the forerunner for Jesus. Like prophets before him, he called for the people to repent and turn back to God. Linking the Old Testament and the New, John also prepared the way for the coming Messiah. Denying that he was the Messiah, John quoted the words of Isaiah 40:3 saying, “I am a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Clear the way for the Lord’s coming!’” John knew his qualifications were to prepare the way, not to be the Way. When he saw the Holy Spirit descend upon Jesus after His baptism, John knew whose way he’d been preparing and testified that Jesus was “the chosen One of God.” [John 1:34]

After acting as forerunner, John condemned Herod for marrying his brother’s wife which resulted in his imprisonment. Having heard about all that Jesus was doing, John sent his disciples to openly ask if He were the Messiah. Had John started to doubt? Let’s not forget the expectations people (even John) had of the Messiah: a political and military prince who would slay Israel’s enemies, not a Prince of Peace. Having prophesied that the Messiah would inflict punishment upon the wicked, did John wonder why, if Jesus were the Messiah, he’d done nothing to punish the Romans or free him from Herod’s prison?

At first glance, Jesus’ answer to John’s disciples seems evasive: “Tell them what you have seen—the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.” [Matthew 11:4-5] But, to anyone as familiar with Isaiah’s prophecies as John would have been, it was a straightforward answer in the affirmative. Isaiah had prophesied that the Messiah would do those very things [Isaiah 35:5-6,61:1-2] and Jesus had done them all. I have no doubt that, upon hearing that answer, John no longer questioned the identity of Jesus. Having prepared the way for the one true Messiah, His task as forerunner was over; it was up to Jesus to complete the race!

Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, “Clear the way through the wilderness for the Lord! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God! Fill in the valleys, and level the mountains and hills. Straighten the curves, and smooth out the rough places. Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. The Lord has spoken!” [Is. 40:3-5 (NLT)]

Copyright ©2019 jsjdevotions. All rights reserved.
Standard

Posted by

Posted on

December 18, 2019

Posted under

Attitudes & Behavior, Bible Stories, Family, Friends & Fellowship, Holidays & Holy Days, Knowing Him

HIS FAMILY

mallard familyYou must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. [Philippians 2:5-7 (NLT)]

Jesus may have been the Son of God but, for most of His life, He chose to live as the son of a man. Luke’s words that Jesus “grew in wisdom and in stature” [2:52] lead us to believe that Jesus was bound, both physically and mentally, by the normal course of human development. He didn’t arrive as an infant who could speak in full sentences, recite the Torah, discuss Scripture with the rabbis, turn water into wine, or walk (let alone walk on water). Like other human children, Jesus had to grow, mature, and obey His earthly parents. While fully God, Jesus also was fully man, with a human nature and will; when He overcame mankind’s sinful nature by never sinning, He did that as a man.

Even though Mary and Joseph knew Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and would reign over Israel, they didn’t know the details of God’s plan or the magnitude of His power. Although they knew their son was special, they had no idea how special He really was! I can’t help but wonder what Jesus was like as a child, what was it like for Joseph and Mary to raise the Son of God, and what it was like to have God for a brother.

The gospels specifically mention Jesus’ sisters and four brothers: James, Joses, Simon, and Judas. [Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3] Some say that these siblings weren’t the children of Joseph and Mary but were cousins or distant relatives. The Greek words used, however, were specific: adelphos (brothers) and adelphe (sisters). After the wedding at Cana, John tells us that Jesus went to Capernaum with Mary, the disciples and “his brothers.” [John 2:12] Matthew, Mark, and Luke all mention that ”Jesus’ mother and brothers” came to see Him and John tells us that our Lord’s brothers had doubts about Him being the Messiah. That they eventually came to believe in Jesus is clear; they were united in prayer with the disciples after the resurrection prior to Pentecost. Paul refers to James as “the Lord’s brother” and both James and his brother Jude wrote epistles we find in the New Testament. That Jesus had siblings is clear; how they came to be is less clear.

There are many who hold that Mary remained a perpetual virgin: that she and Joseph never consummated their union. The Bible, however, does not support that assertion. Matthew wrote that Joseph did not “know” Mary (a polite euphemism for having sexual relations) until the baby was born, clearly implying that he did “know” her later. Both Matthew and Luke refer to Jesus as Mary’s “firstborn” rather than her “only” son. God ordained marriage and sex before sin entered the world and there is no reason to think Joseph and Mary did not follow His command to “become one flesh” and “be fruitful and multiply.” The sin would have been if Mary had refused to have relations with her husband. For those who want to think of Mary as a perpetual virgin, however, an alternate explanation is that Joseph was a widower and those six or more siblings were from his earlier marriage. In that case, Joseph would have been quite a bit older than Mary and, while he is described as being a righteous man, nothing indicates he’d been previously married. In this scenario, unless those children were all grown and out of his house, where were they that Christmas night in Bethlehem? No mention of a family is made.

Although He was God, Jesus came to earth to live and die as a man. I can’t imagine God wanting Jesus to grow up without experiencing the mayhem, noise, tears, conflict, teasing, and laughter that come with brothers and sisters in the house. As part of a family, Jesus learned how to play, share, wait His turn, tolerate annoying siblings, and help the little ones. The lessons He taught us about love, patience, forgiveness, generosity, and turning the other cheek were all lessons Jesus had to learn as part of a family unit. As Jesus “grew in wisdom and in stature,” he learned how to live peacefully with others, lessons that were invaluable when dealing with the petty rivalries and disputes of His disciples. As we approach the holiday season and the stress of large family gatherings, let us remember that we’re not encountering any challenges that Jesus didn’t face. He managed to do it without sin; can we?

This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. [Hebrews 4:15-16 (NLT)]

Copyright ©2019 jsjdevotions. All rights reserved.
Standard

Posted by

Posted on

November 12, 2019

Posted under

Challenges & Difficulty, Church & Worship, Faith & Hope, God's Grace & Love, God's Plan, Knowing Him, Temptation & Sin

LOST AND FOUND

Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. [Luke 15:4-6a (NIV)]

dahlia“The long, dull, monotonous years of middle-aged prosperity or middle-aged adversity are excellent campaigning weather. You see, it is so hard for these creatures [mankind] to persevere. …this provides admirable opportunities of wearing out a soul by attrition.” So writes the demon Screwtape to his nephew, an apprentice devil trying to win a young man’s soul, in C.S. Lewis’ book The Screwtape Letters.

A woman recently shared her story of Satan’s campaign of attrition. Since childhood, she dutifully attended church every Sunday and, once she had children, insisted that the family worship together. She’d taught Sunday school, volunteered for service projects, and attended churchwomen’s programs. Nevertheless, after her youngest left for college, she woke up one Sunday morning and, for no particular reason, decided to stay home. She skipped church the following week and the weeks after that. Before long, she returned the Bible on her bedside table to the bookcase and never picked it up again (not that she’d picked it up much before then). When she stopped praying, I’m sure Satan thought he’d won his campaign. None of this was because she was plagued with doubts or had experienced something that shook her faith. She just gradually stopped caring and, starved of fellowship, God’s word and prayer, her faith had withered away.

Fortunately, we have a loving Shepherd and, when one of his lambs goes missing, He will go in search of it, which is what the Holy Spirit did one Sunday several years later. The woman awoke that morning and, for no apparent reason, felt compelled to go to church. Once there, she learned of a church-wide challenge to read the Bible and committed to doing it. Realizing her need for a study group once she dug into her newly purchased large-print Bible, she joined one. Her faith again became active and alive; the good Shepherd had brought her home!

At one time or another, many of us have experienced similar experiences of having our faith grow dim and dusty; if you haven’t, chances are that you will. The enemy doesn’t quit when we accept Christ; he just changes his tactics. We must be alert to his methods and persevere in our faith as he tries to destroy our relationship with Jesus by making us complacent, neglectful, or simply bored. He nibbles away at things like church attendance, Christian fellowship, Bible study, and prayer so that, instead of growing spiritually, we begin to atrophy. When we take our eyes off the Shepherd, like the lost lamb, we wander into the wilderness.

Fortunately, we are never so lost that we can’t be found. Even when we think we’re finished with God, He’s never finished with us. God certainly wasn’t done with that woman. Shortly after her return to the church, she entered seminary at the age of 52! Now ordained, she is the pastor who teaches my Tuesday Bible study!

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. …You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.  [Hebrews 10:23-25,36 (NIV)]

Copyright ©2019 jsjdevotions. All rights reserved.