The Last Word

Daily Reading

John 11-12

Daily Thought

Home was heaven, but Jesus let go and entered a world of sin and hurt, suffering and injustice, and most of all, death. His friend Lazarus lay dead in a tomb and the sisters suffered and the crowds cried and “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). Nevertheless, when Martha asked of her brother’s death, Jesus had the answer, “Your brother will rise again. I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. Do you believe this?” (John 11:23, 25-26). 

She did believe, but her brother was dead right now, and Jesus did something special. Jesus would show her and her sister and the weeping crowd around them the glory of God. Jesus commanded, “Take away the stone!” (John 11:39). Martha, always the practical one, warned, ““Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days” (John 11:39). That’s just how it is, death stinks. It is foul. Death is the last enemy, but not the last word. 

“Lazarus, come out!” Jesus called in a loud voice. “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” ~John 11:43, 44

In a short time, Jesus would himself be lying in a tomb, but if you were there on this day at the tomb of Lazarus, you know death is not the last word.

“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” ~John 11:25

Do you believe this?

Daily Prayer

Father, I do not live in despair in this world of sin and death because I have the certainty of heaven, of home, of eternity in Your presence. I live holding the hope of heaven because Your Son beat death and I believe! And that changes everything.

God, I live in a land foreign to my citizenship in Your Kingdom where I will live forever. I serve the King of kings and my hope, when my life here ends, is to hear from You, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” May I live in a manner that delights You and those words sum up my life.

Amen

Daily Question

Why should someone believe Jesus rose from the dead?

Life and Death

Daily Reading

2Samuel 19-21

Daily Thought

Absalom, the son of King David, led a rebellion against his father and was killed in the battle, and David mourned the loss of his son, wailing “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!” (2Samuel 18:33; 19:4). Who can fault a father his grief, but this lingers too long and too loud, and at last his commander Joab rebuked his king, “You have made it clear today that commanders and servants are nothing to you, for today I know that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, then you would be pleased” (2Samuel 19:6). Absalom, David’s son, had been, after all, David’s enemy.

Death is grievous, and should be, but there is a particularly awful agony in the loss of a son you never really had, whose death was as pointless as his life. King David, the father, is mourning not just the death, but the life of his rebellious, disobedient son, and in doing so, he scorns the faithful people who had well-served their king in battle.

But not all the sons of David died such. There is another, actually, the great, great, great, etc., grandson of David, but the Hebrews kept it simple, “Jesus Christ, the son of David” (Matthew 1:1). What a contrast to Absalom, for Jesus showed us how to die because he showed us how to live, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Absalom lived for the moment, for himself, and Jesus lived for eternity and therefore served others, and therein lies the difference in their deaths, and ours, as well. To a life lived for today, death closes the door, but to a life lived for Jesus, death opens into eternity.

Daily Prayer

God, Your salvation is amazing. I, a sinner, was not looking to be saved, but rather, I was self-seeking, longing to be self-satisfied. I could not, however, find satisfaction, contentment, peace, love, purpose in my pursuits. I needed a Savior.

Your Son left His place by Your side and became like me to show me who You are. He  sought me, saved me, and showed me true love, how to serve and sacrifice. He laid down His life to give me mine. No greater love.

Thank You

Daily Question

How do you hope to be remembered by others?

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?

Bee Stings

Daily Reading

Isaiah 23-27

Daily Thought

“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). Jesus prays what Isaiah prophesied, “In that day a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain at Jerusalem” (Isaiah 27:13). The kingdoms of this world present power and pleasure, but deliver destruction and death. Isaiah declares a day to come when we will return to the mountain of God, where the Lord “will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces” (Isaiah 25:8). Isaiah is speaking of Jesus.

This world offers us pleasure today. We can hold it now, which is the power of temptation. It is in our grasp, but comes with a sting, the terror of sin and promise of death. At six years old, I was scared to death of bees, and a bee flew into the car. Dad rolled the car windows down, offering escape, but this bee was intent on terrorizing me. Finally, Dad reached over and caught the bee in his hand and held it. I did not see it sting, but I know it stung because he opened his hand and showed me the bee. Dead. Dad plucked the stinger out of his palm, and I was brave again. 

“’O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” ~1Corinthians 15:55-57

God offers us joy forever in a day to come. It comes with a cross, the triumph of sacrifice and the promise of life. We can be sure of it, which is the power of trust. That is the choice we must make, between today and tomorrow, between temptation and trust.

Daily Prayer

My Savior God, You warned me. You told me that sin leads to death, and yet I like to sin. And so, I deserve death because I choose a life of sin over a life of obedience. In astonishing love, however, You took the death I deserved, even while I continued to sin. No wonder I learn love only because You first loved me.

It’s an amazing grace You offer me. Through faith, I receive the righteousness of Your Son. I do not need to obey to earn Your love because You freely give it to me. So, now, I obey, not because I need to, but because I want to. You have changed my desires, God, and now I want nothing more than to follow You.

Amen

Daily Question

Often we sin even though we know at the time it will do us harm. Why do we do that?

The Last Word

Daily Reading

John 11-12

Daily Thought

Home was heaven, but Jesus let go and entered a world of sin and hurt, suffering and injustice, and most of all, death. His friend Lazarus lay dead in a tomb and the sisters suffered and the crowds cried and Jesus wept. Nevertheless, when Martha asked of her brother’s death, Jesus had the answer, “Your brother will rise again. I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. Do you believe this?” (John 11:23, 25-26). 

She did believe, but her brother was dead right now, and Jesus did something special. Jesus would show her and her sister and the weeping crowd around them the glory of God. Jesus commanded, “Take away the stone!” (John 11:39). Martha, always the practical one, warned, ““Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days” (John 11:39). That’s just how it is, death stinks. It is foul. Death is the last enemy, but not the last word. “Lazarus, come out!” Jesus called in a loud voice. “Take off the grave clothes and let him go” (John 11:44).

In a short time, Jesus would himself be lying in a tomb, but if you were there on this day at the tomb of Lazarus, you know death is not the last word.

“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” ~John 11:25

Do you believe this?

Daily Prayer

Father, I do not live in despair in this world of sin and death because I have the certainty of heaven, of home, of eternity in Your presence. I live holding the hope of heaven because Your Son beat death and I believe! And that changes everything.

God, I live in a land foreign to my citizenship in Your Kingdom where I will live forever. I serve the King of kings and my hope, when my life here ends, is to hear from You, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” May I live in a manner that delights You and may those words sum up my life.

Amen

Bee Stings

Daily Reading

Isaiah 23-27

Daily Thought

“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). Jesus prays what Isaiah prophesied, “In that day a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain at Jerusalem” (Isaiah 27:13). The kingdoms of this world illude power and pleasure, but deliver destruction and death. Isaiah declares a day to come when we will return to the mountain of God, where the Lord “will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces” (Isaiah 25:8). Isaiah is speaking of Jesus.

This world offers us pleasure today. We can hold it now, which is the power of temptation. It is in our grasp, but comes with a sting, the terror of sin and promise of death. At six years old, I was scared to death of bees, and a bee flew into the car. Dad rolled the car windows down, offering escape, but this bee was intent on terrorizing me. Finally, Dad reached over and caught the bee in his hand and held it. I did not see it sting, but I know it stung because he opened his hand and showed me the bee. Dead. Dad plucked the stinger out of his palm, and I was brave again. “’O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1Corinthians 15:55-57).

God offers us joy forever in a day to come. It comes with a cross, the triumph of sacrifice and the promise of life. We can be sure of it, which is the power of trust. That is the choice we must make, between today and tomorrow, between temptation and trust.

Daily Prayer

My Savior God, You warned me. You told me that sin leads to death, and yet I like to sin. And so, I deserve death because I choose a life of sin over a life of obedience. In astonishing love, however, You took the death I deserved, even while I continued to sin. No wonder I learn love only because You first loved me.

It’s an amazing grace You offer me. Through faith, I receive the righteousness of Your Son. I do not need to obey to earn Your love because You freely give it to me. So, now, I obey, not because I need to, but because I want to. You have changed my desires, God, and now I want nothing more than to follow You.

Amen

The Door

Daily Reading

2Samuel 19-21

Daily Thought

David mourns the loss of his son, crying aloud, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!” (2Samuel 18:33; 19:4). Who can fault a father his grief, but it lingers too long and too loud, and Joab are pointedly true, “You have made it clear today that commanders and servants are nothing to you, for today I know that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, then you would be pleased” (2Samuel 19:6).

Death is grievous, and should be. It is the last enemy (1Corinthians 15:26). But there is a particularly awful agony in the loss of a son you never really had, whose death was as pointless as his life. King David the father mourns the life and death of his rebellious, disobedient son, and in doing so, pours scorn on the faithful people who had well-served their king.

What a contrast to the death of another son of David, “who humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death–even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:8). God the Father celebrates the life and death of his righteous, obedient Son, who in dying provides salvation to the sinful people who crucified their King.

To a life lived for today, death closes the door, but to a life lived for Jesus, death is the door into eternity.

Daily Prayer

God, Your salvation is amazing. I, a sinner, was not looking to be saved, but rather, I was a self-seeking man, longing to be self-satisfied. I could not, however, find satisfaction, contentment, peace, love, purpose in my pursuits. I needed a Savior.

Your Son left His place by Your side and became like me to show me who You are. He  sought me, saved me, and showed me true love. He laid down His life to give me mine. No greater love.

Thank You