Rejoice with Abraham

What causes you to rejoice? Is it a promotion in your job? Is finding someone special to be your companion for life? Is it watching your child accomplish something they have been working hard for? What causes you to rejoice? Do you rejoice in Jesus Christ?

Many things in this world can provide us with momentary happiness. We rejoice in those moments but find sorrow waiting for us in the next. We celebrate accomplishments one day and mourn our losses the next. We seem to be riding a rollercoaster of emotions.

Yet, there is one thing we can rejoice every day. We can rejoice that our Savior came into this world to give Himself up for us. We can rejoice that we have been saved from ourselves and our human nature. We can rejoice that one day the sorrow of this world will never touch us again. We can rejoice alongside Abraham.

Have you ever thought about that? Have you ever noticed that Abraham rejoiced at seeing Jesus come into this world? Jesus is disputing the false accusations made against Him by the Jews in John 8 when He tells them that Abraham saw His coming and was glad. Abraham had been promised by God that his offspring would bless all the nations of the world. Now Abraham is seeing that promised blessing come to fruition.

What does this tell us about God and Abraham? It tells us a whole lot. First of all, God keeps his promises. Second, Abraham is alive and well with God. Third, Abraham can see what is happening on this earth. So, we can rejoice with Abraham when we rejoice at Jesus’ coming. A little rejoicing would do all of us good.

I pray we all choose to rejoice in Jesus. I pray we follow Abraham’s example and are glad that Jesus came into this world. I pray each one of us will rejoice each day we live, knowing Abraham and the angels are rejoicing with us. Rejoice in Jesus Christ. Be glad that He came into this world. Rejoice with Abraham. Rejoice with the angels. Above all, rejoice!

John 8:56 “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”

Be Like a Child

Do you sometimes feel like a child? Do you act like a child? Do you experience exhilaration, surprise, and pure joy like a child? Or are you an old fuddy duddy who frowns and prefers not to be excited or surprised? What if you needed to be like a child? Would that change your attitude?

As we grow older, being surprised and jumping for joy often takes a backseat to work and keeping a level head. The world of adults can be very serious and can weigh us down. Our attitudes can be one of focus, determination, and we can experience depression.

Jesus tells us we need the attitude of little children. That attitude has many facets to it. One facet is that of pure joy and excitement. We are to be overjoyed that we have a Savior. We are to be excited to know that we have been saved from the worst possible place we can imagine and given an inheritance beyond our wildest dreams.

Second, we are to have the faith of a little child. Think of a small child who is afraid of water, but Dad is in the water and promises to catch her. She trusts Dad with all her heart, so she jumps. He catches her and she has a big smile on her face. Not only that, but she asks Dad to put her on the side of pool so she can do it again.

Third, because of the trust the child has, he will follow Mom anywhere. Mom tells him they need to go to the doctor. He is afraid of doctors and the smells of a doctors’ office. But Mom reassures him it will be alright. He follows her into the doctor’s office and discovers the doctor is there to help him. By following his Mom, he finds his faith is confirmed.

I pray we all accept Jesus like a little child. I pray we are excited to see what He will do in our lives. I pray each one of us put our faith in Him and follow wherever He leads us. Be excited. Be surprised. Experience pure joy. Have the faith of a child. Put your faith in Jesus. Follow Him.

Luke 18:16-17 But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Seek Renewal

Have you ever felt like you just needed to get away for a little while? Have felt like you needed a break from the hustle and bustle of life? Has your job been very busy, causing you to feel frazzled and worn out? Were you able to find solace somewhere or were you bothered via your electronic leash?

There are times when we really need a break. We have been going at breakneck speed for a lengthy period of time and need some downtime. We may plan a week away in a quiet place. Yet, through our cell phones, people continue to reach out to us asking for guidance.

Today’s world is fast paced. We are continually connected. It wasn’t that long ago that companies would issue a cell phone to someone if they were required to be available. Today, we all use our personal cell phones. It has even become rare for a company to pay a stipend to offset the cost of our personal phone for using it to conduct business. It has become expected that we use our personal cell phones and depending on our profession, we are available virtually all the time.

Once Jesus had performed a few miracles, especially healing those who were sick or battling a disease, He was sought after nearly all the time. He, too, needed to get away from the constant demands of people. Sometimes, He would go up on a mountain to spend time with the Father. In today’s passage, He traveled to a place several miles from Galilee. Tyre was northwest of Galilee along the Mediterranean Sea. Jesus did not go into the city but went near it. However, people discovered He was there and ran out to see Him.

Most of us can sympathize with Jesus’ predicament. On the one hand, He cared deeply for people and wanted to help them. On the other hand, He needed some time of renewal and rejuvenation. Our own renewal is key to our own mental and spiritual health. We, too, need to seek a place of solace to renew ourselves and our commitment to God.

I pray we all set aside time to be renewed. I pray we find a quiet place to allow God to rejuvenate us. I pray each one of us will follow Jesus’ example of renewing our commitment to God. Seek renewal. Spend time with God. Be rejuvenated. Turn off you phone. We all need time away from the busyness of life.

Mark 7:24 Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret.

Do You Believe?

Have you wrestled with knowing Jesus? Do you continue to learn something new about Him? Do you wonder about some of the stories you have heard about Him? Do you believe He is the Son of God? Do you believe He is who He says He is?

Belief can be a challenging thing. We may believe someone can soar above the clouds, but only when they are in an airplane. We may believe a person can heal another, but only once they have been educated or trained. We believe many things we are told without proof.

Believing the stories about Jesus can challenge our understanding of the natural world. We don’t know anyone who has opened the eyes of someone who was born blind. We have not witnessed someone being raised from the dead. We are told in Scripture that Jesus did them both.

It takes a leap of faith to believe these stories, even if we have been told them since we were children. That is what it is all about, isn’t it? It’s all about faith. Mere belief won’t allow us to believe the stories. It takes faith, faith in Jesus, to believe He did the things we are told about Him.

Jesus tells Martha, and us, that He is the resurrection and the life. As long as we live in Him, we will never die. Sounds absurd, doesn’t it? Yet, Jesus makes this promise and keeps it. We do not die, if we are in Him. We continue living, even when our mortal bodies die.

I pray we all believe in Jesus. I pray we put our faith into Him so that we believe the stories about Him. I pray each one of us trust Him and believe we never die. Believe in Jesus. Believe the stories about Him. Believe He is who He says He is. Believe Jesus is the Son of God.

John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Think About It

Do you plan what you are going to do? Do you think through the options and decide on the best or correct action? Have you suffered consequences when you have not? Have you experienced things working out when you do? Have you considered Jesus did everything on purpose?

Sometimes, we make spur-of-the-moment decisions. We randomly decide we will stop for ice cream. We decide to buy the puppy in the window. We choose to run out the door when bad news is received, rushing to be of help. But often those decisions don’t work out well.

Jesus purposely went about His work. He made thoughtful decisions. He knew what His mission was and made every decision to accomplish that mission. In today’s passage, Jesus purposely decided to wait a couple more days. He didn’t rush to be with Martha and Mary. Perhaps He knew it was already too late to get to Lazarus before he died. I suspect Jesus intended for Lazarus to be in the tomb for four days to prove a point. From a Jewish perspective, once a person had been dead three days, they were no longer able to be resuscitated.

Regardless of the “why,” Jesus purposely waited. He arrived just when He intended to. He did exactly what He had already decided to do. He raised Lazarus from the dead against the objections of Martha, his sister. Jesus was not concerned about the Jewish understanding nor the fact there was a crowd watching Him as He stood outside the tomb.

We can learn a very valuable lesson from Jesus—take time to think about and plan our actions. I was once told by a Chief Warrant Officer when I was a young Corporal that no decision, short of life and death, is so important that we cannot take time to think about it. Jesus teaches us the same lesson. I submit that our lives would be much better if we abided by that advice.

I pray we all understand that Jesus did everything on purpose. I pray we learn a lesson from Jesus’ decisions. I pray we all decide to think and plan our actions rather than fly by the seat of our pants. Know Jesus made purposeful decisions. Learn from Him. Choose to think. Choose to plan. Choose to take a moment. Choose to make better decisions.

John 11:4-6 But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

Living Free

What does it mean to be alive to you? Do you distinguish between merely existing and really living? Is that distinction based on what you do or the possessions you have? Is it based on the relationships you have? Is one of those relationships your relationship with God?

We hear about quality of life. We may think of it from several different perspectives. Perhaps as part of end-of-life care. Perhaps as a work-life balance. It may include the location and size of the house we live in. It may include the job we have and the salary we receive.

Living the lives we are given includes many facets of life. For most of us, it does not include living in fear for our lives because of our faith in Christ. However, as Paul was writing to the Christians in Rome, persecution was a real concern. The early church was often misunderstood by those who were not part of it. They were accused of incest, being cannibals, and being atheists to name a few.

When Paul writes to the church in Rome the Spirit gives them life, he was trying to allay their fears. He was encouraging them to hold on to their faith. It is also an encouragement for us. To know the Holy Spirit gives us life is a comforting thought. The promise Paul repeats in today’s passage is a promise of resurrection. The same promise Jesus gave in John 11:25-26. It is a promise of eternal life spent with God. It was a reminder that the life we currently live is temporary, regardless of its length of time.

One other facet of the reminder Paul gave the church in Rome is that Christ has set us free. He not only set us free from our sins, but He set us from the oppression of this world. As we listen for the Holy Spirit and follow his guidance, we are set free from the desires to follow along with cultural norms. We can live a life that is truly free.

I pray we all take comfort in knowing the Holy Spirit gives us life. I pray we allow the Spirit to guide our lives. I pray each one of us realize we have been set free and live in our freedom. Be comforted. Listen for the Spirit’s guidance. Know you are free. Live in the freedom Christ has given you.

Romans 8:11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

New Life Given

What do you know of the Holy Spirit? Do you know that God has sent his Spirit to live within us? Do you know that God promised his Spirit would live in us long ago? Does it help you to know that God has delivered on his promise? Do you communicate with the Holy Spirit?

For many Christians, the Holy Spirit is often a mystery. We don’t often discuss the Spirit. There aren’t many sermons, classes, or Bible studies on the Spirit. We are told of the Spirit coming at Pentecost and that he comes to inhabit us when we accept Jesus as our Savior, but not much more.

God promised the prophet Ezekiel that he would send his Spirit some 500-600 years before Jesus was born. The story Ezekiel records in chapter 37 is an incredulous one. He is shown a valley full of dried-up bones in a vision. They were lying in disarray throughout the valley. God tells Ezekiel to prophecy to the bones commanding them to come together and be brought back to life. Ezekiel does as God commands and the bones come together, flesh is put on them, and the breath of life is breathed into them.

God tells Ezekiel this is the nation of Israel, and he will give them new life. The new life God promised came through Jesus. Not only did Jesus give new life to Israel, but He gives new life to anyone who will accept Him as Lord and Savior. Jesus also promised the Holy Spirit would be given, and he was. It is through the Holy Spirit that God teaches us, guides us, and changes us into the person he created us to be.

I pray each of us accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. I pray we accept the Holy Spirit into our lives. I pray each one of us will listen for the Holy Spirit to teach us, guide us, and change us. Accept Jesus as Savior. Accept Jesus as Lord. Listen for the Holy Spirit. Learn from the Holy Spirit. Follow his guidance. Be transformed by God.

Ezekiel 37:13-14 “And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act,” says the Lord.

One in Resurrection

What do you believe about the resurrection? Are you of the same mind as those you attend church with? Are you of the same mind with your pastor? Do you believe Jesus was resurrected? Will you testify to His resurrection to others?

The resurrection of the dead can be a fuzzy subject for us to discuss. Many of us believe in the resurrection, but we may not know much about it. We know it will occur at some point in the future, but don’t know the specific timeframe or what other events may indicate its coming.

When we talk of resurrection, we usually think of the end times. We think of Christ’s second coming. We think of the final victory over evil. We may even wonder if we will be among those to join Him in the end. There are several images and questions that come to our minds when we think of the final resurrection.

But what do we think about Christ’s resurrection? Because we have never seen someone who is dead come back to life, we may struggle with believing it deep within our hearts. We may write it off as a one off, God only event. Yet, we have eyewitness accounts of others being resurrected, including a valley full of dry bones in Ezekiel 37 which God brought back to life.

With the evidence and eyewitness accounts, why is it so challenging for us to speak of Jesus’ resurrection to others? We need to testify to His resurrection and state it is the reason for our hope. We need to be unified in our message. Put tradition a notch below and tell others about Jesus and His resurrection. It is the one reason all of us share that joins us together.

I pray we all are unified in the message of Christ’s resurrection. I pray we tell others about it. I pray each one of us set aside our differences to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Believe in Jesus’ resurrection. Tell others about the resurrection. Be of one heart and one mind. Be unified in Jesus Christ.

Acts 4:32-34a All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them.

Our Healer

Do you see your favorite doctor when you are sick? Have you gone to a doctor who was not very good, in your opinion? Have you gone to a different doctor to receive a different or to confirm a diagnosis? Do you ask people you know for recommendations regarding which doctor to see?

Medical diagnosis is important. A proper diagnosis is needed to appropriately treat the ailment. Many of us have sought a second opinion for a diagnosis. We may also have changed our family doctor due to loosing trust in the one we were seeing. Trusting the doctor we see is important.

When it comes to seeing a doctor we trust, people haven’t changed much over the past couple of millennia. In the first century, the stories of Jesus’ healings spread like wildfire. People were amazed at Him healing all kinds of illnesses, including some diseases the doctors of the first century could not heal.

Jesus’ fame grew to the point that people merely wanted to touch the edge of his clothing, believing they would be healed by doing so. Being both fully human and fully God, He certainly could heal them with a touch. The power of healing emanated from Him. He is the master Healer who can heal us of whatever ails us. Though we do not hear of many miraculous healings today, we do hear of them. Jesus still heals.

Some may say Jesus’ healing depends on the faith of the person who is sick. Others will say it is the faith of those who ask Jesus for healing. Still others will say it is solely Jesus’ choice to heal or not to heal. The truth of the matter is…we don’t know. What we do know is Jesus heals and believing He can and submitting to His will is always the right way to approach Him for healing.

I pray we all believe Jesus can heal. I pray we seek Him to heal us of all our sickness—emotional, physical, and spiritual. I pray each one of us put our faith in Jesus and submit to His will. Put your faith in Jesus. Seek Jesus for healing. Submit to His will. Trust Jesus.

Mark 6:56 And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

Spiritual Healing

Have you ever been sick—I mean really, really sick? Have you been so sick you could not get out of bed? Have you felt absolutely miserable, weak, and longing for healing? Where did you seek the healing you needed? Did you go to the doctor? Did you end up at the hospital?

When we are sick, we seek relief. We seek medicines that can relieve us of the symptoms and cure us of the illness we are suffering from. Sometimes we can get by with just over-the-counter medicines. Other times we need a doctor to write us a prescription. Still other times require hospitalization.

We may attempt to get by with over-the-counter medicines and discover they are not enough. Many of us prefer trying over-the-counter medicines first. We don’t want to go see a doctor unless there is no other alternative. Yet, when we finally go see the doctor, we receive the proper medicines to cure our illness quickly. We may battle the illness on our own for quite some time before submitting to seeing a doctor. In the end, there is no other choice.

This same paradigm applies to our spiritual life. We often like to attempt to fix ourselves first. We try the self-help books. We use physical exercise to help our emotional state. We may simply give in to the stress and overeat. When it is all said and done, we have made no progress toward the spiritual healing we need, even if those attempts provided short-term emotional relief.

Jesus came to call those who need spiritual healing. Unfortunately, it is only those who realize they need Him (a doctor) who will seek Him out. It is only those who seek Him who will be healed. And much like being very sick, it often requires someone else bringing the sick person to Him. If we are spiritually in need, we need to turn to Jesus. If we know someone who is spiritually in need, we need to lead them to Jesus.

I pray we all turn to Jesus to heal our spiritual sickness. I pray we lead others to Jesus to heal them. I pray each one of us see Jesus as our ultimate healer and seek Him each day of our lives. Recognize your need. Read God’s Word. Spend time in prayer. Seek Jesus for healing.

Matthew 9:12-13 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”