Tag: salvation

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Miracles

Daily Reading

Acts 16-17

Daily Thought

Jail became common to the disciples, and outcomes were unpredictable; Herod killed James, an angel rescued Peter (see Acts 12:1-7). So, when Paul and Silas were thrown into prison, it was not surprising to find them praying deep into the night. But if you think they were praying for themselves, you’d be wrong.

The jailer had strict orders “to keep them safely” (Acts 16:23), but an earthquake struck, releasing their bonds and opening the gates of their cells. If they were praying for a miracle, this was it! The jailer knew it, too, and “he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped” (Acts 16:27). Instead, Paul and Silas had remained in their cell. They traded their safety for the jailer’s salvation and convinced the other prisoners to remain, as well. When the jailer saw this, he asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 

While sitting in jail, their future in doubt, the prayers of Paul and Silas were not for the safety of themselves, but the salvation of others, and the jailer “was baptized at once, he and all his family” (Acts 16:33). That was the real miracle.

Daily Prayer

Heavenly Father, my time is not as important as someone’s eternity, my safety not as important as their salvation. May my prayers and my priorities reflect the values of heaven and may my life point others to my Lord. 

I trust you with all my life and that changes my attitude about everything and everyone. Teach me to love others more, to live boldly, to share freely, to serve like my Savior.

Amen

Daily Question

What kind of things do you pray for that have to do with today and what kind of things have to do with eternity?

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God Bless You

Daily Reading

Acts 4-6

Daily Thought

For those who question whether the cross is the only way to salvation, Jesus wondered as well, praying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me” (Luke 22:42). But there wasn’t another way and there isn’t another Savior, and only Jesus died for our sins. Peter properly proclaimed, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). The Jewish religious leaders thought they had silenced Jesus in death, but death didn’t hold him. When he rose from the tomb, his followers rose from despair “and every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching” (Acts 5:42).

Now the leaders sought to silence the disciples, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name” (Acts 5:28).

For 80 years, the graduation ceremonies of Washington Community High School included a prayer, until 2001, when a lawsuit was filed and the court ruled, “No, you may not pray.” That was the year prayer was silenced. Almost. Ryan stood at the podium, the final student speaker. Quiet for a moment, he then opened his mouth to speak, but instead, “Ahh-choo,” he sneezed. From out of the graduating class of 2001 came the response, students united in a simple prayer, “God bless you.”

Peter and John answered then as we must answer now, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19-20). When Jesus rose from the dead, he made it clear, the world cannot cancel the Truth.

Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” ~John 14:6

Daily Prayer

Lord God, I shout Your Name because You are worthy of praise. And if I don’t, the rocks will cry out. Heaven and earth are full of Your glory. Creation itself declares loudly Your wonders, Your wisdom, Your beauty and grace, Your majesty.

Lord, may I be bold, may I say Your Name aloud because it is the Name of salvation, and because the world needs to be saved. How can I not speak of You? You are the good news of salvation to a lost world.

Amen

Daily Question

Why is there no other way to salvation than Jesus?

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See and Believe

Daily Reading

Mark 15-16

Daily Thought

The chief priests and the Hebrew council stood before Pilate, the Roman Prefect of Judea, and accused Jesus of any crime they thought might stick, the most damaging his claim to be King of the Jews, a crime that carried sentence of death. “‘Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you,’” asked Pilate. But Jesus made no further answer” (Mark 15:4-5). It was as if he was determined to go to the cross. 

Pilate thought him innocent, however, and had an idea. Each year at the Passover feast, Pilate would release one prisoner of Israel’s choice. Pilate offered Jesus, they chose Barabbas, “so Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified” (Mark 15:15), because whenever we choose to satisfy the crowds, we inevitably crucify Jesus.

Even while on the cross, Israel’s chief priests and scribes continued to jeer, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe” (Mark 15:31-32), as if he could not. It was, rather, that he would not. They were looking for the wrong sign.

“No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” ~John 10:18

What the religious leaders failed to see is what the centurion saw and believed. The centurion had seen many men die. No man, not one, had died like Jesus. “And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, ‘Truly this man was the Son of God!’” (Mark 15:39).

“Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” ~Hebrews 12:2

Daily Prayer

Lord God, You are awesome. You took the cross, exploded from the tomb, conquered death, defeated Satan, and rescued us from sin. You are risen, You are alive, and You are King.

You truly are the way, the truth, and the life. You are Savior. There is no other Name under heaven by which we may be saved, not because you could not, but because you would not come down. You stayed on the cross. You humbly died for me. May I boldly live for You. You are the King.

Amen

Daily Question

Why did Jesus have to die?

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Death Can Wait

Daily Reading

Mark 4-5

Daily Thought

The daughter of Jairus is at death’s door. “Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying, ‘My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live’” (Mark 5:22-23), What an opportunity, to save the daughter of a prestigious man. This would do much to advance the mission of Jesus. You would think. “And he went with him. And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him” (Mark 5:24).

Then, from the crowd, a woman (we don’t even get her name) “came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment” (Mark 5:27), and she was made well. For twelve years she had a bleeding illness no doctor could cure, but one touch healed her. And Jesus stopped. Jairus and his daughter and death would have to wait. “And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my garments?’” (Mark 5:30). 

“Everybody!” thought the disciples. “You are in a crowd. Hurry up Jesus. You have to get to the home of Jairus. This is important,” but the immediate is never more important than the eternal. “The woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease’” (Mark 5:33-34). Jairus’s was not the only daughter who needed the touch of Jesus.

While Jesus is not hurrying, while he is taking valuable time to talk to this woman–who is already healed, by the way–the news Jairus feared arrives: “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” (Mark 5:35). 

But the limits we place on God are not God’s limits. 

“Overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, ‘Do not fear, only believe.’” ~Mark 5:36

A little girl on the edge of death seemed to be what was urgent, but Jesus was interrupted by a woman. Death could wait while Jesus paused to heal this woman, but death did not wait and the little girl died. No matter, the King of kings is the Lord of life. “Little girl, I say to you, arise” (Mark 5:42), and she did.

Daily Prayer

My Great God, what an amazing story, Your Son born a baby to Mary. No earthly father, but a Heavenly Father, a poor family, peasant shepherds announcing His birth, a Friend of sinners and outcasts, and yet Jesus is King of kings and the Lord of lords. Big things come in small packages.

You came humbly and changed the world. You defeated all enemies, including the last enemy – death. You have established an eternal kingdom of peace and declared the good news of salvation. I’m listening and believing, and my life has been changed forever. Thank You, my God and Savior.

Amen

Daily Question

Is your schedule organized more by what is important or what is urgent? What’s the difference?

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Immediately

Daily Reading

Mark 1-3

Daily Thought

Mark writes a fast-tempoed, action-oriented Gospel of Jesus Christ. In it, everything happens “immediately” (Mark 1:10, 12, 18, 20, 21, 23, 29, 30, 42; and that’s just chapter one). 

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” ~Mark 1:9-11

The pace of Mark’s Gospel creates an urgency, not of action, but of choice. Jesus calls his disciples and says, “‘Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed him” (Mark 1:17-18). Jesus healed many, cast out demons, and preached in the synagogues, and in no time at all, “people were coming to him from every quarter” (Mark 1:45). No good deed goes unpunished, however, and immediately the religious leaders put their own spin on Jesus, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons” (Mark 3:22). They did not like Jesus.

God’s command, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,” was a favorite of the Pharisees; “On it you shall not do any work” (Exodus 20:8, 10). The Pharisees listed 39 categories of work, no cooking, no washing, no harvesting, etc.; then added one for Jesus, “No healing.” There were six other days to heal, so Jesus could easily avoid conflict, but Jesus always demands a choice. It was the Sabbath and he immediately found a man with a withered hand. “Come here,” he said, and brought the man in front of the Pharisees. “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” Are you for me or against me? But they were silent (see Mark 3:3-4). They made a choice, because silence is choosing. They were against him, and “the Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him” (Mark 3:6).

Jesus begins in Galilee “proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” ~Mark 1:14-15 

Now is the time to choose.

Daily Prayer

God, the desire of my heart is to follow You, to reflect You in all that I do, and to declare You in what I say. I will not be silent, or silenced by others, but I will stand for You and declare the wonders of knowing You and living in Your creation.

Your Law teaches me to love You and care for others. May my actions speak as loud as my words, but may that not stand alone. I serve in Your Name, but no one will know that unless I tell them. Strengthen me, God. Keep my heart soft and gentle, but bold.

Amen

Daily Question

Is there anything God wants you to do now that you are putting off until later?

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Crucify Him!

Daily Reading

Matthew 27-28

Daily Thought

From where he sat in a prison cell, Barabbas could not hear Pilate speak, but only the shout of the raucous crowd in the courtyard. “Pilate said to them, ‘Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?’” (Matthew 27:17). It was the governor’s custom at the Feast to release a prisoner chosen by this crowd, and the crowd cried, “Barabbas” (Matthew 27:21). Barabbas, in chains, in prison, a rebel, a murderer, and a thief, heard his name shouted from the crowd. “‘Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They shouted all the more, “Crucify him!” (Matthew 27:22).

Alas, all Barabbas could hear, over and over, was, “Barabbas! Barabbas! Crucify him! Crucify him!!” Imagine, then, his astonishment when he was set free. “Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified” (Matthew 27:26); and an innocent man was crucified on the cross of another, one who was guilty and deserved the punishment Jesus would endure. 

The horror of this is I find my place in the crowd and the criminal, and it should and would have been on the cross, but, there, Jesus took my place.

Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed. ~Isaiah 53:4-5

Replace the name of Barabbas with my own and I begin to grasp the wonder of the salvation. 

Daily Prayer

My Father in heaven, I am not forsaken. I deserve to be, but You loved me by death, death on a cross. Your Son took what I deserved. He took my place and my penalty and set me free.

I show someone the smallest amount of grace and I pat myself on the back–as if I’d done something grand. You demonstrate Your love in this, that even while I sin, and keep sinning, and delight in sin, you died for me.

Now, how can I keep sinning? I must not. I must embrace righteousness because I have received grace and mercy. I am newly born, a saint. Thank You, Jesus.

Amen

Daily Question

How much do you like your sins?

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Heaven Has a Dress Code

Daily Reading

Matthew 22-23

Daily Thought

Jesus described God’s kingdom as a wedding feast, and the celebration promises to be spectacular, “my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.” (Matthew 22:4). Everyone is invited, but many do not accept the invitation–“they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business” (Matthew 22:5). Perhaps it was the dress code. Yes, heaven has a dress code. “Friend,” the king asked, “how did you get in here without a wedding garment?” (Matthew 23:12). 

There is an attitude in those who “make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues” (Matthew 23:5-6). They dress for success and exalt themselves, but Jesus exposes their woefulness with the harshest of words, “you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence; you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones; you serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell” (Matthew 23:25, 27, 33). That is quite a rampage over clothes.

Jesus is exposing what the clothes are covering–their hearts. “They do all their deeds to be seen by others” (Matthew 23:5); but seen by God, “all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment” (Isaiah 64:6), like filthy rags. You do not wear filthy rags to God’s party, thus, the dress code, the need for our wedding garment. 

But there is good news! The clothing is free, bought by the groom and offered to you, “he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10). Accept the invitation, put on the clothes, and celebrate!

Daily Prayer

Holy God, remove from my heart all that stains who I am. Clean me from the inside-out. Dying for my sins, Your Son made me new again, then clothed me in his righteousness. I wear these clothes with pride, not because they make make me look good (which they do), but because they show off Your glory.

May I wear boldly your clothes of righteousness every day so that people see Your salvation.

Amen

Daily Question

Would you feel comfortable seated next to Jesus at a banquet? Why or why not?

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Let Go and Hold On

Daily Reading

Matthew 15-17

Daily Thought

The disciples travelled closely behind Jesus after he challenged them to “follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:22; see also 8:22; 9:9). It was time now to clarify why Jesus was worth following. Jesus asked the twelve men who have watched him heal the sick, feed the hungry, raise the dead, challenge those in power, and speak with the authority of heaven, “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:13). That question demands an answer from every person who has ever lived, and those who believe will respond as Peter did, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16).

Peter gave the correct answer, but he failed to grasp the full meaning of why Jesus came to our world and called his disciples to follow. “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised” (Matthew 16:21)  Jesus is God, but Jesus said he was going to die, and Peter rebuked him, “This shall never happen to you” (Matthew 16:22). God does not die, thought Peter, but if the man you just called God says he is going to die, you do not tell God, “No,” but Peter did.

Peter did not yet understand that death is how you are saved. A lifeguard knows the most difficult people to save are those trying to save themselves. They need to let go, let themselves be saved. “Whoever would save his life will lose it,” Jesus warns. On the cross, Jesus would show Peter how to live, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” (Luke 23:46). When we give up ourselves and place our lives in the hands of the Savior, we can only then be carried to the safety of the shore. 

“But whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” ~Matthew 16:25

Peter rightly recognizing Jesus is God, must now lose himself and place his life in the hands of his Savior. Do that completely, and you are ready for anything that follows.

Daily Prayer

Eternal God, no beginning, no end, you are all in all. I chase things that I want, things that get used up or rust or fall apart, things that cannot and do not last, and will not save me. 

Change my heart, Jesus, to seek what matters, to love what lasts, to love You, to love Your Word, and to love all the people You have created, which is all people. My most difficult, but greatest ambition is to release my hold on everything else, and hold tightly to the one who matters most, Jesus.

Amen

Daily Question

Do you and God typically agree on how things should be done?

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Scandalous

Daily Reading

Matthew 1-4

Daily Thought

Matthew begins with what is important to a Jew, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1). The Hebrew people are not as concerned with what you do as where you come from; specifically who was your father and your father’s father. They are notably patriarchal. It was a bit of a surprise, then, to find four moms in the family tree: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and the unnamed (though everyone knows it was Bathsheba) wife of Uriah (Matthew 1:3, 6); all the more scandalous because they were mostly women of scandal and non-Jews.

Most shocking is the fifth woman, a virgin “found to be with child from the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:20). Joseph will be the husband of Mary, but not the father of Jesus, and his role is secondary in the story, the B-side of the hit single. Conductor Leonard Bernstein opined, “second fiddle” is the most difficult instrument to play, “Every one wants to be first violinist, but to find someone who can play the second fiddle with enthusiasm – that’s a problem. And if we have no second fiddle, we have no harmony.” Joseph played a faithful harmony, “when Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus” (Matthew 1:24). We do not know a great deal of Joseph, but what we do know is Joseph played his part well, he obeyed when God spoke.

The scandals, the women, the second fiddles, and the Gentiles in the genealogy set the stage for a Savior who came to save not merely the privileged, but the outcasts, not the well, “but those who are sick; not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:12-13). This is good news because Jesus came to save the lost, like me.

Daily Prayer

My Lord and Savior, You came not as expected, not in majesty, but humility. I’m so glad you choose the company of sinners over saints. Otherwise, I would never have met You. Thank You for meeting me where I am. You loved me that much. Teach me faith and obedience, to follow Your commands for they are good, to live in harmony with Your Spirit.

May I be an ambassador of Your good news, an example of what You do in the life of one who is saved. May I love as You love, almost scandalously, going to unexpected places and bringing good news to the sick, the outcasts, the marginalized, to the sinners like me.

Amen

Daily Question

Do you think you can sin too much to be saved by God?

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I’m Sure

Daily Reading

1John 1-5

Daily Thought

Theologians call it eternal security, and the idea is, once saved, always saved–you cannot lose your salvation because God will never let you go. Growing up, that’s what I was taught, so I began college secure that I could do anything without jeopardizing my eternity. And so I did anything. One day, however, I came across 2Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?–unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” What was the test? I didn’t know; I only knew I failed it. I discovered there is a difference between being secure in my faith, which is God’s business, and being sure of my faith, which is mine; and I was no longer sure.

Fortunately, I found a test. It was in the first letter written by the apostle John, and it came in three parts. A question for my head, do I trust Jesus is the Son of God, my Savior? “This is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1John 5:11-12). A question for my feet, do I follow God’s ways? “By this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,” (1John 2:3-4). And a question for my heart, do I love? “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1John 4:7-8). 

I trust, I follow, I love, and I’m sure.

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. ~1John 5:13

Daily Prayer

God, Your Son came to this world and endured the shame of the cross for my sake. May I endure its shame, as well. I would gladly boast of Your sacrifice, no matter the cost, because Your shame is the power of my salvation. You took my sin and bore its penalty by dying on the cross. The cross of a criminal. The cross I deserved.

This is Your glory, the glory of love so strong that You suffered the cross for me, a sinner. I will lift up Your Name, no matter the consequences, because it is Your Name, and Your Name alone, by which I am saved.

What a wonderful cross. What a wonderful Savior.

Amen