Category: God is good

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, From the Insideout, God is good, Journey Through The Word, Quiet Time

Overcoming Anxiety About Material Needs

Posted on by MaryEllen

Why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Matthew 6:28-29

As a child, to my remembrance, I didn’t want for anything. We had food and clothing, a comfortable and safe home. My dad worked as an inspector at a local plant, and my mother was home with us before we started school. At some point after that, she began working as a receptionist in the local doctor’s office. She had various other jobs after Doc Sadler retired. Most of my growing-up years, there was only one car; if my dad drove to work, we did without the car during the day, but our small town was equipped with a grocery store, a bank, a pool, our schools, and friends and family all within walking distance. Our clothes were from thrift stores, rummage sales, the local Sears department store, and occasionally from one of the nicer/bigger downtown stores, particularly on dollar day. I didn’t know it at the time, but they scrimped and saved and took advantage of layaway plans, and life was always good. I truly do not recall ever having thought that the grass was greener on either side of the fence. However, I’m sure after growing up and hearing the stories of how they scrimped and saved, life wasn’t as easy or rosy for my mom and dad as it was for me.

Today’s snapshot of God’s character is still zoomed in on Him being a God of peace. Just as my mom and dad provided in ways that never left me wondering if we would have food, a place to live, or clothes on our backs, our God does the same. He’s never left me wondering, even when money’s been tight, or I didn’t know how repairs would get done, or I would manage on my own when my husband left – God always provided, always sent help, always made a way. He is a good and loving provider and a loving Father who has also taught me not to put too much emphasis and/or focus on having to have all the latest and greatest clothes, shoes, and purses. The lessons haven’t always been easy or comfortable, but they have been valuable and even life-altering.

Friend, let me close with this encouraging quote from The God Shot:

God is your provider. He knows all your needs. He is attentive to them. That means you have enough for this moment. And the next. And the next.

God Shots, p 17

Reflection and Application

Are there times/places where you’ve forgotten that He is a trustworthy provider? Thank Him for meeting your needs in the past. Ask Him to meet your needs in the present. Trust Him to meet your needs in the future. Rest in the peace of His provision. He’s where the joy is! (p 17, God Shots)

Ask yourself, do you see God as your provider, as an all-sufficient provider? Or do you feel like He leaves you wanting and needing to strive harder to have more or keep up with others around you? ~ Let’s face it, in this world of excess and pleasure, it is difficult not to get caught up in the desires of the culture and ‘keeping up with the Joneses’; my prayer is that I/we will remember to not focus on what we have or don’t have or what the people beside us have, or being the trendiest. Instead, may our focus be on God, our provider, and what’s important to Him, which is to reflect Jesus to the world around us.

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, From the Insideout, God is good, Journey Through The Word, Prayer Starters, Uncategorized

Worry Doesn’t Help

Posted on by MaryEllen

Full disclosure

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

Matthew 6:26-27

Years, probably more like decades ago, I remember a little ditty/chorus that turned into the catch-phrase of the day. I’m guessing you’ll remember it too:

“Don’t worry, be happy ~ put a smile on your face ~ don’t worry be happy”

Then the chorus would just repeat itself … or so I thought. However, when it came to my mind today after I read today’s verse, I looked it up and learned that there were also three or four verses with the chorus. The premise of every verse is that “In every life we have some trouble ~ but when you worry you make it double.” Then the chorus would repeat… “Don’t worry be happy, don’t worry be happy …. put a smile on your face 🙂 Don’t worry be happy”

As Jesus continued His teaching, known as the Sermon on the Mount, He not only continued His instruction on not being anxious, but He posed the question, “Which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” He uses an example that most, if not all, of His audience can relate to, pointing out that if God takes care of the birds, “how much more attention/care will He give to His children”?

The book, “God Shots” states that, “We’re given to anxiety when we forget that God is attentive and active in our lives, so Jesus again makes the point that He doesn’t want them to be anxious.” So important is this lesson of “not being anxious”, that my little “God Shots” book points out the warning/instruction is given “366 times in Scripture God tells His children not to be afraid.” He says it over and over but only to His children, which the book suggests is, because He wants them to know that He is will take care of them.

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

Friend, let me ask you a question the book poses, “Is your heart at peace right now? Or does it need to remember the goodness of your Father’s attentive love? if you’re feeling anxious , be on the lookout today for all the ways your Father has provided and is providing.” Write them down, thank Him for these reminders and keep a running list for all the times ahead when anxious thoughts fill your mind. Use them to speak truth and calm to your mind – that Your Father who cares for the birds also cares for you – and even more.

Now back to that little song that seems so nonsensical, but oddly enough, when I stopped to consider it aligns quite nicely with the teaching of God’s Word. For Jesus told His disciples that in this world they would have troubles. But He follows that up with the encouragement for them not to lose hope because “He has overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

So, don’t worry – be happy, put a smile on your face 😎

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, God is good, Journey Through The Word, Know These Truths, Love, prayer, Quiet Time

A Life of Prayer

Posted on by MaryEllen

Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.

Colossians 4:2

Yesterday’s Scripture Reading from ourdailyverse.com was Colossians 4:2. “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.” What a gracious gift God has given us through these words of Paul. We have been invited into a life of prayer. He doesn’t demand it but graciously offers us the privilege to not only come boldly before His throne but to come often – actually to stay in an attitude of prayer, making it the “heartbeat of our existence.”

“It is an opportunity to experience the profound intimacy of continual communion with our Creator, to align our hearts with His in every waking moment.” ourdailyverse.com

Through the years of knowing/quoting this verse, God has trained my heart to hear His voice, to be alert not only to the guiding hand and voice of His Spirit, but to watch with expectation for His answer and to discern His purposes unfolding in and around me. It has been in the watching and the staying alert, as Paul instructed his readers to do, that my prayers have morphed into not just requests but offerings of thanksgiving and praise. This way of praying becomes a way of living and has the power to change us from the inside out. It changes not only the way we think but the way we live and how we respond to life, to others, and to God.

We recognize that every blessing, every trial, every moment is an opportunity to experience God’s grace and faithfulness. Gratitude becomes the lens through which we view life, transforming even the darkest days into opportunities for praise.

ourdailyverse.com

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, From the Insideout, God is good, Journey Through The Word, prayer, Quiet Time, She, Volume 4

Sarah~ [Sarai], part 2… and Hagar

Posted on by MaryEllen

adapted from the study She, delighting in the examples of the women of the Bible, volume 4/pp63-64

Today’s Scripture Reading: Genesis 16 and Isaiah 55:8-9

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar.

Genesis 16:1

In our last encounter with Sarah, we learned that she was married to Abraham, and she left her family and a life she had known for more than 50 years to follow Abraham to a land God said He would show them. She has heard God’s promise to Abraham of many descendants that would make up a great nation. Yet, four chapters later, Scripture still reports that she has no children.

Sarah was considered barren, Yet she knew what God had promised.

She, Delighting in the examples of the women of the Bible, Volume 4, p65

The journal for this study poses the question, “Why had she not gotten pregnant yet?” This made me think of others we’ve met on our journeys, like Hannah (1 Samuel 1:5) and Rachel (Genesis 30:22), both of whom are reminders of the fact that it is God who opens the womb and/or keeps it closed. The journal also reminds us that “she was getting up in years, and it seemed as if time was short.” This truth is made evident in today’s journey through Genesis 16, where we find that Sarah decides not to wait any longer; she devises a plan and takes the necessary steps to carry it out. The plan involved her Egyptian handmaid, Hagar, and the very desperate act of having her sleep with Abraham. (Yes, this was a cultural norm at the time, but I can only imagine how desperate you must be for a child to consider, let alone actually, employing it.) I would like to say that I have never been one to manipulate situations for a certain outcome, but sadly, I played those games for years when I was younger, and I learned, just like Sarah, that manipulation comes with regret and consequences that are often more difficult and disappointing than waiting for God and His timing.

Friends, we must never forget that patience is a highly esteemed virtue in the Bible, often described as “long-suffering” or “endurance”. It is not passive waiting, but an active, steadfast trust in God’s timing and loving treatment of others. Patience is not only a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), but according to James, it is also a key ingredient in developing spiritual maturity (James 1:3-4).

We would be wise to remember that our God, the same God of Abraham and Sarah, is a sovereign God, a keeper of promises, and His timing is always perfect. Apparently, though, the years of waiting have made her question, if not flat-out disbelieve, that she would ever get pregnant. Unlike God, she had a plan B and set it in motion through a conversation with Abraham, explaining her plan. She then takes Hagar and gives her to Abram as a ‘surrogate’ wife. Can you even imagine what a desperate desire Sarah had for a child, to the point that this became her solution?

A Plan Gone Wrong

2 So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal. 3 So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife. (This happened ten years after Abram had settled in the land of Canaan.) 4 So Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. But when Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress, Sarai, with contempt.

Genesis 16:2-4

The plan accomplishes Sarah’s desire for a child, but it backfires in every other way. Her husband was now the husband of Hagar, her handmaid, who was now pregnant with his child. On top of that, Hagar now despises Sarah and treats her with contempt, and in turn, Scripture says that Sarah treated Hagar harshly, and Hagar fled from Sarah’s presence.” (Genesis 16:6, CSB)

Sarah is an example of how impatience, not being willing to wait on God’s will, can lead to trouble and heartache ~ having a negative impact on our lives as well as others. I also believe Hagar serves as an example of how jealousy can lead to broken relationships. ~ May God guard us from jealousy and impatience. In His worthy and powerful name I pray – AMEN!

The More We Know

I hope you will take time to learn more about Hagar from this commentary, borrowed from Gotquestions.org.

Posted in 100 Meditations on The Names Of Jesus, Bible study, Devotion, From the Insideout, God is good, Journey Through The Word, Know These Truths, prayer, Quiet Time

Apostle of Our Confession

Posted on by MaryEllen

Holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus. But Jesus deserves far more glory than Moses, just as a person who builds a house deserves more praise than the house itself. Hebrews 3:1-2

According to the commentary by Bibleref.com, “for the Jewish people, there was no greater example than Moses, but according to this section of Hebrews, Jesus is far greater. These verses make a connection between Jesus’ role as our ultimate example—the “founder of our salvation”—and His superiority to even Moses.” The author clearly wanted the people of God to know and understand that Jesus is the One they are to follow.

Some may see the term “apostle” here as confusing. This is a title often given to the men who preached the gospel immediately after the ascension of Jesus. The term itself literally means, “one who is sent.” In the context of this passage, that is a perfect description of Jesus. He is One sent from God to bring us good news. He is meant to be our example, and we are meant to do as He did (John 13:13–15; 20:21).1

“In the next verses, the author will point out that Moses was faithful, but was also a created servant of God. Jesus, on the other hand, is the Creator and the Son of God. What Moses predicted, Christ fulfilled.” In doing so, He made a way to the Father where there was no way. So that all who come to Him by faith “are met with the power of His grace and love. There is forgiveness of sins, yes! There is also a call to a higher way of living.”2

In Luke chapter 2, Jesus turned to the crowd and told all who were listening that anyone who wanted to follow Him would have to turn from their selfish/wicked ways and take up their cross daily in order to follow Him. In other words, He was telling them they would have to be faithful to Him above everything else. In Mark chapter 12, He explained that this faithfulness required loving God and others above self, and in John chapter 3, He made sure that they understood what that love was to look like, namely, it was to be a mirror of His love- loving God and others, just as He has loved us. Thankfully, we who believe have been given His Holy Spirit, who empowers us to live and love like He did.

“There is no shortcut or bypassing the mandate to love God and to love others. Love encompasses the whole of the Law (Galatians 5:14). Anything else falls short of our heavenly calling.3“

Friends, may this prayer, borrowed from 100 Meditations of the Names of Jesus, be our prayer – on repeat …

Apostle of our Confession, You showed me how to walk in the ways and the power of God. May I be wise and discerning, choosing Your love above fear and pressures to conform. ~ Amen

Reflection and Application

“Beware of those who claim to know what it is to walk in the name of Jesus and do not live out the ways of Jesus.”4

  1. 100 Meditations on the Names of Jesus p14 ↩︎

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, From the Insideout, God is good, Journey Through The Word, Know These Truths, LGG Study, Love, prayer, Quiet Time, She, Volume 3

Tabitha

Posted on by MaryEllen

adapted from the She study, delighting in the women of the Bible, volume 3, pp 68-69

Today’s Scripture Reading: Acts 9:32-43 and Proverbs 31:10

“Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.”

Proverbs 31:10

Tabitha, also known as Dorcas, is another woman of the Bible who is seldom taught and little known by most. Actually, if you had asked me three weeks ago (before I began looking through this study book) who Tabitha was, I would have told you she was a character from the Bewitched Show.1 It wasn’t until I began reading today’s passage of Scripture that I remembered her story. This Tabitha was not an adorable child who could twitch her nose and make things move or disappear. Instead, she was a New Testament believer known for her good works and kind deeds. These deeds/works are not really elaborated on, but what we do know is that she was specifically known for her good works and acts of love for the poor/needy, particularly the widows (Acts 9:36 & 39).

While Tabitha’s story is told in a mere seven verses, it is one of inspiration and a miraculous restoration of life that led to many more believers in the city of Joppa. It is safe to say that her testimony is far more valuable than rubies. This is made evident when Peter not only responds quickly to the message he received about her passing, but then raises her from the dead.

SHE WAS ALIVE AGAIN, A LIVING TESTIMONY OF THE MIRACULOUS GRACE OF GOD.2

Friends, like Tabitha, our testimonies matter. How we live for God, not only on Sundays or when people are watching, matters. From our words, to our facial expressions, to the things we do for God and for others matter. How we live will either lead people toward God or away from Him. As my pastor preached yesterday,3 “others will know when we have spent time with Jesus”(Acts 4:13).

Every time a person is raised from the dead, it is a stupendous miracle, showing that the God who is Himself the Source of Life has the ability to give life to whom He will—even after death.4

Tabitha serves as an example that faithfulness can lead to great miracles and much fruit, which in this case was other believers5 (Acts 9:42).

Reflections and Application

When others see us, will they see that we have spent time with Jesus? Will they be able to tell that we are faithful followers of Jesus? When they hear or see that we are sick, will they call others in the body of Christ to pray for us? Will the watching world see what Jesus is doing in us and choose to follow him as well?

Faithfulness is a rare quality. How can you/we be more faithful?

The More We Know

How many people were raised from the dead in the Bible?

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bewitched ↩︎
  2. She, delighting in the women of the Bible, volume 3, p 69 ↩︎
  3. Sermon, The Cost of Following, by Pastor David Lemming ↩︎
  4. https://www.gotquestions.org/raised-from-the-dead.html ↩︎
  5. She, delighting in the women of the Bible, volume 3, p 69 ↩︎

https://lmbc.org/media/v5r87c4/the-cost-of-following-part-3

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, From the Insideout, God is good, Journey Through The Word, prayer, Quiet Time, She, Volume 3

Rhoda

Posted on by MaryEllen

Adapted from the She study, volume 3, pp. 57-58

Today’s Scripture: Acts 12 and Matthew 7:7-8

7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8

Have you ever been so excited or stunned by something or someone that you reacted differently than expected? That appears to be how it was with Rhoda – today’s woman of the BIble. Did you even know there was a Rhoda in the Bible? – I remember the story of Peter coming to the door of the house unexpectedly, but I did not remember the “damsel,” as the KJV describes her, named Rhoda. Her reaction to Peter’s appearance made me laugh out loud, mostly because I could picture myself reacting the same way.

James is killed, and Peter is imprisoned

12 About that time King Herod laid hands on some from the church to harm them. 2 He had James, the brother of John, executed with a sword. 3 When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too. (This took place during the feast of Unleavened Bread.) 4 When he had seized him, he put him in prison, handing him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him. Herod planned to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but those in the church were earnestly praying to God for him. 6 On that very night before Herod was going to bring him out for trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, while guards in front of the door were keeping watch over the prison. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the prison cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly!” And the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. 8 The angel said to him, “Fasten your belt and put on your sandals.” Peter did so. Then the angel said to him, “Put on your cloak and follow me.” 9 Peter went out and followed him; he did not realize that what was happening through the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10 After they had passed the first and second guards, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went outside and walked down one narrow street, when at once the angel left him. 11 When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from everything the Jewish people were expecting to happen.”

12 When Peter realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many people had gathered together and were praying. 13 When he knocked at the door of the outer gate, a slave girl named Rhoda answered. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she did not open the gate, but ran back in and told them that Peter was standing at the gate. 15 But they said to her, “You’ve lost your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was Peter, and they kept saying, “It is his angel!” 16 Now Peter continued knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were greatly astonished. 17 He motioned to them with his hand to be quiet and then related how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. He said, “Tell James and the brothers these things,” and then he left and went to another place.

Acts 12:1-17

Their answer to prayer was literally knocking on the door of the house.1

While I love Rhoda’s reaction, I appreciate even more that the very thing (person) they were praying for was knocking on the door of the house. Yet when they received her report, they thought she was crazy and declared that it must be his angel. However, when they heard the knocking, “they opened the door and were greatly astonished.“

Friends, while this might come across as a slapstick comedy at first, it is real. Peter was captured and awaiting a trial that would most likely result in his death. Prayer warriors were gathered together, praying for him – a prayer that, I imagine, most certainly would have included pleas for his protection and deliverance. Now, he stood knocking at the very door where they were praying. Yet when Rhoda, who recognized his voice, told them he was there, they could not believe it was true. I would dare say, most, if not all, of us may have reacted the same way. Much like Thomas2, they needed to see it to believe it. While this is, of course, human nature, it brought a surge of conviction/reminder to me that when we pray, we are to pray believing and expecting God to answer, we are to watch and wait expectantly, and not doubt. We are to remember His deeds from the past, from speaking the world into place, to parting the Red Sea, to the empty tomb … and all of His miraculous deeds, including the evidence of His hand in our own lives. May we continually stand amazed at the door – astonished – not because we didn’t believe He could do such a great thing, but because we are overwhelmed with the joy we receive when we see His great deeds and experience His response to our prayers.

Rhoda serves as an example of the gladness and joy that we can receive when the Lord answers our persistent prayers.3

Reflection and Application

What evidence of His hand have you seen in your own life?

The More We Know

  1. She, Volume 3 [delighting in the examples of the women of the Bible], pp 57 and 58 ↩︎
  2. John 20:24-29 ↩︎
  3. She, Volume 3 [delighting in the examples of the women of the Bible], p 58 ↩︎

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, From the Insideout, God is good, Journey Through The Word, She, Volume 3

Elizabeth

Posted on by MaryEllen

adapted from the She study, volume 3, pp11-12

You will show me the way of life,
    granting me the joy of your presence
    and the pleasures of living with you forever.

Psalm 16:11

Elizabeth is a well-known woman of the Bible. She is a beautiful example of faith and of the fullness of joy in the presence of the Lord. We find her story in Luke, chapter 1, verses 5-80, where we learn that she was the wife of Zachariah, the prophet, and she was very old when she conceived. She was also the cousin of Mary, the mother of Jesus. It is this part of her story that we will focus on today.

Not long after Mary learned that she was pregnant with Jesus, the Son of God, she traveled to visit her cousin Elizabeth in Judea. Let’s stop and marvel for a minute at the contrast of the miracles God had worked in both women. Mary, a young, unmarried virgin, has just learned that she has become pregnant through immaculate conception, while Elizabeth, who was described as ‘barren and very old’ in Luke 1:7, is now six months pregnant. I can’t help but notice how their stories accentuate the beautiful truth that: “Nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).

35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. 36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month. 

Luke 1:35-36

While I love the entire story of Elizabeth and Mary, I particularly appreciate the beauty of Elizabeth and her baby when Mary arrived.

39 A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town 40 where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. 41 At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
42 Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. 43 Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me? 44 When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. 45 You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”

Luke 1:39-45

Elizabeth was clearly overwhelmed at Mary’s arrival, but it was more than excitement to see Mary. Scripture says that it was because “at the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s baby leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” This was evident by Elizabeth’s “glad cry and exclamation to Mary,” that “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed.” Elizabeth goes on to question why she is so honored to be visited by the “mother of her Lord.” What a moving and beautiful example of how the joy we find in the presence of the Lord our God affects those around us.

Experience and Application

Friends, I know that I share (or perhaps overshare) various stories of how God has worked in my life – so forgive me if you have heard this too many times. However, I cannot read this story without remembering my own experience with being unable to conceive for eight long and often torturous years. While I realize this in no way compares to the number of years that Elizabeth waited, it did offer me a similar experience as God restored a joy that had long been stifled by life’s sorrows and disappointments. For it was during my pregnancy and the birth of my first daughter that God sent several “Elizabeth’s” to me who poured out encouragement and joy by feeding my soul and mind with the Word that I had somewhat tuned out for years because of my disappointment in myself and in God. The pregnancy itself brought a sense of joy because I had hoped so long for it, but through the joy of godly friendships, He began doing the work of changing me from the Insideout and when that baby girl was born and they held her up to me – I knew my life would never be the same … not only because I had been blessed with a child but because I was filled with an awareness of His Presence in me.

“May we all seek to be an Elizabeth to someone else.”

She, Volume 3, p12

The More We Know

  • Who is an Elizabeth in your life?
  • Who was Elizabeth’s Son?
Posted in Bible study, Devotion, Easter, From the Insideout, God is good, Journey Through The Word, Know These Truths, Prayer Starters, Quiet Time

A Day of Lament

Posted on by MaryEllen

As He approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it.

Luke 19:41

Friends, we have journeyed for weeks now, toward the cross, and we have known this day would come. The day God planned from eternity past, the day His only begotten Son would hang and die for us, sinners, condemned unclean! Yet in this world of animatronics, it is easy to forget that He came not as a spirit or a robotic type creature, but as “fully man”! He came as a baby in a manger – a suffering servant – the son of God, yet sent to earth as the son of a carpenter – sent not to sit on a royal throne and be served but to serve and ultimately to die for the world God so loved. Yet not before He would seek and save those who were lost. For He came to dwell among them, teaching them about the God who saves, and to show them the way to live and the way to eternal life. A life that could only come through death – the death of the spotless, scarificial lamb of God.

Just days before His death, we find Him walking into Jerusalem, weeping as He entered the city.

Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem

41 But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep. 42 “How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes. 43 Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you from every side. 44 They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not recognize it when God visited you.”

Luke 19:41-44

Even as He was being welcomed by the crowd as He rode in on the donkey, the crowd was waving palm branches and shouting, “Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in Heaven and glory in the highest heaven!” Even then, (like us today), He wept for He knew what the leaders and rulers were planning. He knew then what had to be – ‘fully man but fully God,’ -He knew and had come to accomplish it – to redeem the lost, a lost and dying world – a world God had chosen to love and to save through the blood of a lamb – a people who would believe in this man – who was also fully God! He knew the death He would die and the destruction that would come upon this city and its people, and He wept – lamenting that the Jews – “of all people,” would have understood the way to peace! He was that Way, but they had rejected Him. They could not see Him as the rescuer He was, but rather as a threat to be done away with! — So He wept, and continued on the road … the road that led to the Temple…the road that led to Him lamenting their blindness, their lack of understanding, and what would come because of it – not just His own death – but the destruction of Jerusalem – The City of God!

Jesus Clears the Temple

Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people selling animals for sacrifices. 46 He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”

47 After that, he taught daily in the Temple, but the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the other leaders of the people began planning how to kill him. 48 But they could think of nothing, because all the people hung on every word he said.

Luke 19:45-48

It was a road that led to His authority being challenged…the road that would lead to the upper room…the washing of feet…the last supper with His disciples…the Garden of Gethsemene and His heartfelt prayer of lament that the Father would “let this cup pass from Him” It was the road that led to…Judas’ betrayal and the arrest that followed…Peter’s denial…the trial… and ultimately the road that ended at the cross, or more appropriately stated today – “On the cross”, where He suffered and bled and died, not as one without feeling, but in agony,1 on a cross of scorn, of sin, and shame meant for us.

Friends, Jesus could have called down 10,000 angels to take Him from the cross – , where He suffered and bled and died, not as one without feeling, but in agony.1 It wasn’t His cross to bear, it was ours – a cross of scorn, of sin, and shame but as a sacrifical lamb led to the slaughter He took our place, our scouraging, our nails, our pain and shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last.

And when all the crowd that came to see the crucifixion saw what had happened, they went home in deep sorrow. 49 But Jesus’ friends, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching. – Luke 23:48-49

Prayer of Response

Father this day brings great sorrow to me, a great awareness of Your sacrifice, of Jesus’ suffering, and of my sin. But I do not sorrow as one without hope – but one who knows that Sunday is coming! And so I cry with grateful heart, thank You, God, for loving me. Thank you, Jesus – Lamb of God, for Your tears and Your willingness – even through lamenting – to not turn back but to take my stripes and my wounds and all the torment it must have been. I am forever indebted and forever changed because of Your love and Your obedience to the will of the Father. Amen and amen! – May my life and lips forever tell Your story!2 –

The More We Know

Credits for today’s graphic belong to Susan Hill’s excellent Easter Devotional, “A Savior Is Risen”, p121.

  1. The Medical Aspecs of the Crucifixion ↩︎
  2. I love to tell the Story ↩︎

Dear Reader: If you do not know the story of Jesus, the truths of His Word and the invitation that is open to you to receive salvation through Faith in Jesus, the sacrificial lamb of God – I invite you (urge you) to click on “Know These Truths” and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ ~ the Way, the Truth, and the Life -~ to all who believe.

KNOW THESE TRUTHS

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, From the Insideout, God is good, Journey Through The Word, She, Volume 1

The Widow of Zarephath

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Adapted from She, Volume 1/p67-68

1 Kings 17

What would you do if you were down to only enough food in your house for one more meal for you and your child … and a stranger came along and asked for you to feed him? Would you offer him to share in what you had left, or would you explain honestly that you had just enough for you and your child to have one last meal before you died? Would you turn him away? If you were the man hearing her plight, would you still let her feed you or go on your way?

Our journey today takes us to a time when Elijah finds himself in this very situation. Sent by God to a widow, living in a time of severe drought, was down to her last handful of meal and just enough oil to make one more meal for her and her son. It is a beautiful story of both faith and obedience and there is much we can learn from it today. Gotquestions.org describes the insights like this:

“First, God often uses unlikely people and sources to accomplish His purposes. Second, God’s mercy extends to all people, both Jews and Gentiles, and the Sidonian widow was blessed for her faith (see Acts 10:34–35). Third, God requires faith (Hebrews 11:6). The widow’s miracle only came after she prepared a meal for Elijah—an act of sincere faith on her part.?

Gotquestions.org/The widow of Zarephath

The widow of Zarephath serves as an example of the many promises God has made to us, if only we will simply trust & obey Him.

She, Volume 1/p68
The More We Know

For a wonderful synopsis of Elijah’s encounter with the widow and her son, you will want to visit the link below, from gotquestions.org, and read how Elijah was fed, the woman’s faith was tested, and the widow’s son, though dead, was made alive.

“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.”

Reflection and Application

Take a minute when you’re done reading to tell us what the testimony of the Widow of Zarephath means to you. You can share your answer/thoughts in the comment section below.

https://www.gotquestions.org/Elijah-widow.html