Remember and trust Day 39 2x2

Please read Psalm 22:1-5

In 1932, Gladys Aylward left her native England and went to China to serve as a missionary. Within 4 years she was given Chinese citizenship for her work with orphans and the local prisons. When the Japanese invaded Yangcheng, where she served, with only one assistant helping her, Gladys took more than one hundred orphans over mountains to a safer area. In the book "The Hidden Price of Greatness" her adventure is narrated - "During Glady’s harrowing journey out of war-torn Yangcheng ... she grappled with despair as never before. After passing a sleepless night, she faced the morning with no hope of reaching safety. A 13-year-old girl in the group reminded her of their much-loved story of Moses and the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. "But I am not Moses," Gladys cried in desperation. "Of course you aren’t," the girl said, "but Jehovah is still God." When Gladys and the orphans made it through, they proved once again that no matter how inadequate we feel, God is still God, and we can trust in him.” I wish I had the faith of the 13-year-old orphan all the time.

In the lesson for today, King David is the psalmist. At the beginning of the psalm, David is grieving. He writes that God is not hearing his prayer. Then he remembers how his forefathers trusted God and how God delivered them. Again and again, David remembers and finds comfort in the stories of his ancestors.  

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, just like David and the orphan, find comfort in the great stories of the saints in the Bible and in your own lifetime. And whenever you need deliverance, trust God and approach and ask Him in faith and He will deliver you from your trials and troubles.

Heavenly Father, help my unbelief during my temptations, trials, and troubles. Amen.

I didn’t pay and can’t repay! Day 38

Please read Psalm 116: 5-14, 116:17

Some time ago, I read the true story of two brothers competing- coming to Christmas and birthday ‘gift-giving’. Each would try to outdo the other in giving expensive gifts and they also made the ‘gift-receiving’ difficult by putting gifts in puzzle boxes, mazes, on rooftops or high treetops, buried underground etc. One of them actually sent his brother an expensive ring secured in a metal sphere in the middle of a large, square concrete block. Naturally, the breaking of the concrete block took some effort.

Most don’t go crazy like the brothers, but people do try to outdo or ‘out-gift’ others. Eight months from now, most of us will be busy planning and buying gifts for friends, family, and coworkers. We give a gift and the other person reciprocates, and vice versa. At times, we are surprised by a dorea. What is a dorea? Dorea is a Greek word and it means free gift or a gift without payment.

The word dorea used 19 times in the New Testament. Jesus uses it twice (Matthew 10:8; John 4:10) talking about gifts from God. We all know that salvation is a gift from God and know we are justified and receive righteousness as a gift (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3:24; Romans 5:17). In the book of Acts, Peter warns Simon the magician that God’s gift cannot be purchased (Acts 8:20).  The truth is all eternal gifts provided by God cannot be purchased.

What do you do when you get an earthly dorea or unexpected gift? You can reciprocate. Coming to Gods’ gifts how can we reciprocate? Or how can we repay God for what he has done and is doing for us? The psalmist in Psalm 116:5-7 writes how God - in His grace, mercy, and righteousness - gifts him. Later in verse Psalm 116:12 he asks how he can reciprocate? The answer is provided in Psalm 116:13,116:17.   First, the psalmist writes, “I will lift up the cup of salvation”. A cup of salvation is a gift from God.  So the psalmist says he will “call on the name of the Lord”, i.e. thank and acknowledge God and His gift of salvation.  In verse 17, he reiterates the same thought.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, so far how have you responded to God’s dorea? Ponder the question and continue in a life of thanksgiving and a life of proclaiming God and His dorea.  

Heavenly Father, many times I do not acknowledge your marvelous gifts to me, especially Your Son and His Gospel, and Your Holy Spirit. Please forgive me for the sake of Jesus. Amen.

What was Jesus' Tomb Like - From Logos

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https://www.logos.com/encounter-easter?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=promo-easter2017&utm_content=easter_emptytomb2-encounter+(1)&spMailingID=351496&spUserID=MjMyNjQ1NDk4S0&spJobID=280105156&spReportId=MjgwMTA1MTU2S0

Jesus’ suffering on THAT DAY for you. DAY 37 2x2

Every Good Friday, there are church services all over the world. On that day, the church I serve has a 7:30 pm service and I also preach at an Indian Christian organization that meets from 12 noon to 3 pm. During the latter service, seven different pastors preach 7 sermons on the Jesus’ seven last words.  Many immigrant churches and some American churches do the same.

Why those three hours - from noon to 3? In Luke 23:44-46, Jesus is on the cross from the sixth hour until his death at the ninth hour.  The Jewish Day, Yom (as in Yom Kippur), begins at sunset (around 6 pm our time) followed by the sunrise (around 6 am our time). That is why in Genesis 1 it is described, “there was evening and there was morning, the first day (Yom)”(Genesis 1:3-5). Some say Yom is a representation of life itself. You and I begin our lives in darkness, in the womb, and then we come out into the light and live our lives and then we and go into darkness, i.e. death, before going to the True Light (Revelation 22:5).  

The Jewish daytime hours begin at dawn (6 am) and end at sundown (6 pm). According to Luke, Jesus is on the cross from the sixth hour (noon time) until his death at the ninth hour (3 pm). Churches use the three-hour window based on the hours of darkness (Luke 23:44). The problem with that is many people think that Jesus suffered on the cross for only three hours. A reading of the Gospel of Mark clears this – Jesus was crucified (Mark 15:25) at the third hour (9 am). So the truth is Jesus suffered 6 hours on the cross. And don’t forget his punishment and suffering that began earlier that night.  

Also, when Mel Gibson’s movie “ The passion of Christ” was released, people have informed me that they truly understood Jesus’ suffering. Their thinking/observation is based on the 45 minutes or so suffering shown in the movie. But the truth is Jesus suffered for hours since it is estimated Jesus was arrested between midnight and 1 pm.

Why am I writing all of this? We can estimate the number of hours that Jesus suffered, but you and I can only fathom(that too not fully) His suffering in the hands of human beings – the beating, the slapping, the whipping, the spitting – that’s all we can visualize. And then there is the crucifixion- under the Romans crucifixion is often a long, horrible, drawn-out process. All of this we can only picture and somewhat comprehend. In addition, there is another aspect of Jesus’ suffering, in my opinion, that you and I can never truly comprehend or understand. Why do I make this statement? You and I, as human beings, can only understand Jesus’ suffering in the hands of humans. What about the suffering in the hands of God? I believe you and I cannot understand Isaiah 53:4-6, i.e. what truly happened on the cross.

 Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, even if you and I were to read Isaiah 53:4-6 a dozen times, we can never understand Jesus “smitten by God”, “crushed for our iniquities”,  “upon him was the chastisement”, or ‘our iniquity laid on Jesus”. Nevertheless, let us be glad and be thankful that Jesus took on our punishment.  

Dear God, while my finite mind cannot grasp what Jesus went through for me, I am grateful for everything that He did for me. Help me to better understand and appreciate in your mercy and grace. Amen. 

God Fights …… for YOU! Day 36 (Video Song)

Please read Joshua 10:1-11, 10:42

You know the story - God uses His might and His servant Moses to deliver the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt and settles them in the Promised Land. The Israelites, in their foolishness, groan for help from slavery (Exodus 2:23), thinking that is sufficient. Our omniscient God knows better. Freedom from slavery will not fix the Israelites’ problem because they would still be neighbors of the hostile Pharaoh and the Egyptians. After the tenth plague, the Israelites leave because the Pharaoh does not want them in his country (Exodus 12:29-32).

Remember - the Israelites are asking only for freedom from slavery. They do not ask for a new land. But God does more - he takes them to the new land, the land promised to Abraham. On their way to the Promised Land, God is with them all the way. He blesses His people many ways – saves them Pharaoh’s armies (Exodus 14:23-25), feeds them manna (Exodus 16:14-15), provides sweet waters (Exodus 15:25) and does many other great deeds. Everything God does is great, but there is one type of God’s deed that astounds me. He fights for the Israelites! Ponder, God, fighting for His people!! We learn about it (Exodus 14:14; Deuteronomy 1:30-31) and Moses sings about it (Exodus 15:3,15:6).

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, do you fret over your spiritual battles? The God of the Israelites is fighting for you. He puts a hedge of protection against you (Job 1:10). However, sometimes we leave God and His protection to be on our own, suffer, and then wonder why God leaves us. Even after we leave, God comes for us (Matthew 18:10-14) and fights our battles. God’s fight for you through Jesus makes the crooked paths straight (Isaiah 45:2) for your salvation and reconciliation (Colossians 1:19-20) with himself.

 Please remember this – God fights and YOU are the victor! (Deuteronomy 20:4)

Heavenly Father, you are an awesome and mighty God, but I forget that all the time. I also forget that apart from Jesus, I can do nothing (John 15:5). Please forgive me for those sins of mine and help me to abide in you (John 15:4) and be silent (Exodus 14:14). Whenever I cringe and fear the enemy, please comfort me with your Word and your Spirit. In Jesus name. Amen.

Heard this recently - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXTi5TAGN1c