Christ In The Storm
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Posted:Apr 29, 2014 3:41 am
Last Updated:May 23, 2024 9:54 pm 9282 Views
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Read: Mark 4:33-41
Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? —Mark 4:40
Bible in a Year:
1 Kings 6-7; Luke 20:27-47
At the age of 27, Rembrandt painted the seascape Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee based on the story in Mark 4. With its distinctive contrast of light and shadow, Rembrandt’s painting shows a small boat threatened with destruction in a furious storm. As the disciples struggle against the wind and waves, Jesus is undisturbed. The most unusual aspect, however, is the presence in the boat of a 13th disciple whom art experts say resembles Rembrandt himself.
Mark’s gospel describes the disciples’ vivid lesson about who Jesus is and what He can do. While they were frantically trying to save a sinking boat, Jesus was asleep. Didn’t He care that they were all about to die? v.38. After Jesus calmed the storm v.39, He asked the penetrating question, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” (v.40). Then they were even more afraid, exclaiming to each other, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!” (v.41).
We could also put ourselves in this story and discover, just as Jesus’ disciples did, that to each person who trusts in Jesus Christ, He reveals His presence, compassion, and control in every storm of life.
Be still, my heart; for faithful is thy Lord,
And pure and true and tried His holy Word;
Though stormy flood which rageth as the sea,
His promises thy stepping-stones shall be. .
God is a safe dwelling place in life’s storms.
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Probing Questions
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Posted:Apr 28, 2014 4:59 am
Last Updated:Apr 28, 2014 5:01 am 9090 Views
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Read: 1 Peter 3:8-17
Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you. 1 Peter 3:15
Bible in a Year:
1 Kings 3-5; Luke 20:1-26
While riding on a train a few years after the American Civil War, General Lew Wallace of the Union Army encountered a fellow officer, Colonel Robert Ingersoll. Ingersoll was one of the 19th century's leading agnostics, and Wallace was a man of faith. As their conversation turned to their spiritual differences, Wallace realized that he wasn't able to answer the questions and doubts raised by Ingersoll. Embarrassed by his lack of understanding about his own faith, Wallace began searching the Scriptures for answers. The result was his confident declaration of the person of the Savior in his classic historical novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.
Probing questions from skeptics don't have to be a threat to our faith. Instead, they can motivate us to seek a deeper understanding and equip us to respond wisely and lovingly to those who might question our faith. The apostle Peter encouraged us to pursue the wisdom of God in the Scriptures when he wrote, Always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear (1 Peter 3:15).
We don't have to have an answer for every question, but we need the courage, confidence, and conviction to share our love for Christ and the hope that is in us.
Christ is the ultimate answer to lifeâs greatest questions.
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Fearful Fish
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Posted:Apr 25, 2014 3:19 am
Last Updated:May 23, 2024 9:54 pm 8163 Views
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Read: John 1:6-14
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. —John 1:14
Bible in a Year:
2 Samuel 21-22; Luke 18:24-43
Managing a saltwater aquarium, I discovered, is no easy task. I had to run a portable chemical laboratory to monitor nitrate levels and ammonia content. I pumped in vitamins and antibiotics and sulfa drugs and enzymes. I filtered the water through glass fibers and charcoal.
You would think my fish would be grateful. Not so. When my shadow loomed above the tank to feed them, they dove for cover into the nearest shell. I was too large for them; my actions incomprehensible. They did not know that my acts were merciful. To change their perceptions would require a form of incarnation. I would have to become a fish and “speak” to them in a language they could understand, which was impossible for me to do.
According to the Scriptures, God, the Creator of the universe, did something that seems impossible. He came to earth in human form as a baby. “The world was made through Him,” says John, “and the world did not know Him” (John 1:10). So God, who created matter, took shape within it, as a playwright might become a character within his own play. God wrote a story, using real characters, on the pages of real history. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (v.14).
All praise to Thee, eternal Lord,
Clothed in a garb of flesh and blood;
Choosing a manger for a throne,
While worlds on worlds are Thine alone.
God entered human history to offer us the gift of eternal life.
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Never Let Down
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Posted:Apr 24, 2014 5:42 am
Last Updated:May 23, 2024 9:54 pm 7680 Views
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Read: Lamentations 3:13-26
[The Lord’s] compassions fail not. They are new every morning. —Lamentations 3:22-23
Bible in a Year:
2 Samuel 19-20; Luke 18:1-23
When I was a , one of my favorite pastimes was playing on the teeter-totter in the nearby park. A would sit on each end of the board and bounce each other up and down. Sometimes the one who was down would stay there and leave his playmate stuck up in the air yelling to be let down. But the cruelest of all tricks was getting off the teeter-totter and running away when your friend was up in the air—he would come crashing down to the ground with a painful bump.
Sometimes we may feel that Jesus does that to us. We trust Him to be there with us through the ups and downs of life. However, when life takes a turn and leaves us with bumps and bruises, it may feel as if He has walked away leaving our lives to come painfully crashing down.
But Lamentations 3 reminds us that “the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end” (v.22 esv) and that God is faithful to the end even when everything seems to be falling apart. This means that in the midst of our pain, even though we may be lonely, we are not alone. And though we may not feel His presence, He is there as our trusted companion who will never walk away and let us down!
Thank You, Lord, that we can trust in Your
faithful presence even when we feel alone.
Help us to wait patiently for You to manifest
Your steadfast loving presence.
When everyone else fails, Jesus is your most trusted friend.
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Shout Hallelujah!
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Posted:Apr 23, 2014 3:24 am
Last Updated:Apr 23, 2014 3:28 am 7750 Views
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Read: 1 Corinthians 15:50-58
O Death, where is your sting? 1 Corinthians 15:55
Bible in a Year:
2 Samuel 16-18; Luke 17:20-37
A few days ago, I spied my old friend Bob vigorously pedaling a bike at our neighborhood gym and staring down at a blood pressure monitor on his finger.
What are you doing? I asked.
Looking to see if I'm alive, he grunted.
What would you do if you saw you were dead? I countered.
Shout hallelujah! he replied with a radiant smile.
Over the years I've caught glimpses of great inner strength in Bob: patient endurance in the face of physical decline and discomfort, and faith and hope as he approaches the end of his life journey. Indeed he has found not only hope, but death has lost its power to tyrannize him.
Who can find peace and hope and even joy in dying? Only those who are joined by faith to the God of eternity and who know that they have eternal life (1 Cor. 15.52,54). For those who have this assurance, like my friend Bob, death has lost its terror. They can speak with colossal joy of seeing Christ face to face!
Why be afraid of death? Why not rejoice? As the poet John Donne (1572-1631) wrote,One short sleep past, we wake eternally.
For the Christian, dying is the last shadow of earth's night before heaven's dawn.
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Acts Of Kindness
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Posted:Apr 22, 2014 4:36 am
Last Updated:May 2, 2014 8:24 am 7729 Views
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Read: Acts 4:1-13
By the name of Jesus . . . , whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole.
âActs 4:10
Bible in a Year:
2 Samuel 14-15; Luke 17:1-19
I was traveling with some men when we spotted a family stranded alongside the road. My friends immediately pulled over to help. They got the car running, talked with the father and mother of the family, and gave them some money for gasoline. When the mother thanked them over and over, they replied, We're glad to help out, and we do it in Jesus name. As we drove away, I thought how natural it was for these friends to help people in need and acknowledge the Lord as the source of their generosity.
Peter and John exhibited that same joyful generosity when they healed a lame man who was begging outside the temple in Jerusalem (Acts 3:1-10). This led to their arrest and appearance before the authorities who asked, By what power or by what name have you done this? Peter replied, If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man . . . let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole Acts 4.7-10.
Kindness is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22) and a powerful context in which to genuinely speak to others about the Lord.
Lord, help me to love with both words and deeds,
To reach out to others and meet their needs;
Lord, burden my heart for those lost in sin,
With mercy and love that flows from within.
One act of kindness may teach more about the love of God than many sermons.
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Victory Over Death!
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Posted:Apr 21, 2014 4:24 am
Last Updated:May 2, 2014 8:26 am 7670 Views
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Read: John 5:24-30
The hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth
. John 5:28-29
Bible in a Year:
2 Samuel 12-13; Luke 16
An ancient painting I saw recently made a deep impression on me. Its title, Anastasis, means resurrection, and it depicts the triumph of Christ's victory over death in a stunning way. The Lord Jesus, newly emerged from the tomb, is pulling Adam and Eve out of their coffins to eternal life. What is so amazing about this artwork is the way it shows how spiritual and physical death, the result of the fall, were dramatically reversed by the risen Christ.
Prior to His death on the cross, the Lord Jesus predicted a future day when He will call believers into a new and glorified existence: The hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth John 5:28-29).
Because of Christ's victory over death, the grave is not final. We naturally will feel sorrow and grief when those we love die and we are separated from them in this life. But the believer does not grieve as one who has no hope (1 Thess. 4:13). The witness of Jesus resurrection is that all Christians will one day be taken from their graves to be clothed with glorified resurrection bodies
1 Cor. 15:42-44). And so we shall always be with the Lord
1 Thess. 4:17).
Dear Lord, thank You for sacrificing Your life for our
sins so that we might live. Weâre thankful that
because You died and rose again, we can have
assurance that one day weâll be with You in a place of no more death.
Because Christ is alive, we too shall live.
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I'm Alive
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Posted:Apr 18, 2014 4:35 am
Last Updated:Apr 18, 2014 4:37 am 7780 Views
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Read: Ephesians 2:1-10
You He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins. Ephesians 2:1
Bible in a Year:
2 Samuel 3-5; Luke 14:25-35
Laura Brooks, a 52-year-old mother of two, didn't know it but she was one of 14,000 people in 2011 whose name was incorrectly entered into the government database as dead. She wondered what was wrong when she stopped receiving disability checks, and her loan payments and her rent checks bounced. She went to the bank to clear up the issue, but the representative told her that her accounts had been closed because she was dead! Obviously, they were mistaken.
The apostle Paul was not mistaken when he said that the Ephesian believers were at one point dead spiritually dead. They were dead in the sense that they were separated from God, enslaved to sin
(Eph. 2:5), and condemned under the wrath of God. What a state of hopelessness!
Yet God in His goodness took action to reverse this condition for them and for us. The living God who gives life to the dead (Rom. 4:17) poured out His rich mercy and great love by sending His Jesus to this earth. Through Christâs death and resurrection, we are made alive (Eph. 2:4-5).
When we believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we go from death to life. Now we live to rejoice in His goodness!
I know I'm a sinner and Christ is my need;
His death is my ransom, no merit I plead.
His work is sufficient, on Him I believe;
I have life eternal when Him I receive.
Accepting Jesus death gives me life.
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I'm Alive
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Posted:Apr 18, 2014 4:35 am
Last Updated:May 23, 2024 9:54 pm 7852 Views
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Read: Ephesians 2:1-10
You He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins. âEphesians 2:1
Bible in a Year:
2 Samuel 3-5; Luke 14:25-35
Laura Brooks, a 52-year-old mother of two, didnât know it but she was one of 14,000 people in 2011 whose name was incorrectly entered into the government database as dead. She wondered what was wrong when she stopped receiving disability checks, and her loan payments and her rent checks bounced. She went to the bank to clear up the issue, but the representative told her that her accounts had been closed because she was dead! Obviously, they were mistaken.
The apostle Paul was not mistaken when he said that the Ephesian believers were at one point deadâspiritually dead. They were dead in the sense that they were separated from God, enslaved to sin
(Eph. 2:5), and condemned under the wrath of God. What a state of hopelessness!
Yet God in His goodness took action to reverse this condition for them and for us. The living God âwho gives life to the deadâ (Rom. 4:17) poured out His rich mercy and great love by sending His Jesus to this earth. Through Christâs death and resurrection, we are made alive (Eph. 2:4-5).
When we believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we go from death to life. Now we live to rejoice in His goodness!
I know Iâm a sinner and Christ is my need;
His death is my ransom, no merit I plead.
His work is sufficient, on Him I believe;
I have life eternal when Him I receive. â
Accepting Jesusâ death gives me life.
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All Kinds Of Help
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Posted:Apr 17, 2014 4:01 am
Last Updated:Apr 17, 2014 4:05 am 7754 Views
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Read: Genesis 41:46-57
Pharaoh said to Joseph, âIn as much as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you.Genesis 41.39
Bible in a Year:
2 Samuel 1-2; Luke 14:1-24
In the wake of the shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, many people have felt strongly compelled to help. Some donated blood for the injured, some provided free lunches and coffee at their restaurants for workers. Others wrote letters of comfort or just gave hugs. Some sent gifts of money and teddy bears for the ; others offered counseling. People found ways to serve according to their personalities, abilities, and resources.
A story in the Bible about Joseph tells how he used his skills to play an important role in helping people survive a 7-year famine
Gen. 41.53-54). In his case, he could prepare beforehand because he knew a difficult time was coming. After Joseph warned Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, that the lean years were coming, Pharaoh put him in charge of the 7-year preparation time. Joseph used wisdom and discernment from God to get his country ready 41.39. Then, when the famine was over all the face of the earth, . . . Joseph opened all the storehouses (v.56). He was even able to help his own family 45.16-18.
These stories show the heart of God for the world. He has prepared us and made us who we are that we might care for others in whatever way He leads us.
Lord, help me feel the hurt that others feel
When life inflicts some bitter pain,
And use me in some loving way to heal
The wounds that may through life remain.
Compassion offers whatever is necessary to heal.
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