miracles, marvels, wonder, and worship

…so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.

Matthew 15:31

Wonder and worship should go together. In the ministry of Jesus, people marveled at the miracles, and it led them to praise the God Who gave so much in Jesus to the world. A heart of wonder, of amazement, of perplexed perceptions of the power of God underlies true worship.

As I read the gospels I too am filled with wonder and amazement at Jesus with His healing touch, His powerful word, His stirring teaching, His authoritative command and call, and His marvelous miracles. And it leads my soul to worship even now.

Jesus,

You are a powerful Savior. You are the Healer of my heart. You are the Savior of my soul. You made a miracle out of my mess more times than I can count. I am in wonder and I praise my God Who is my salvation… my strength… and my song.

Amen

change greater than conformity

…it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.

Matthew 15:11

By fulfilling the Law, Jesus did something new. He moved the emphasis in character beyond petty human legalistic interpretations and endless lists of “do’s and don’t”. The things that really mattered were not outward compliance. Instead, inner change resulting in true righteousness would mark the citizens of Jesus’ kingdom.

Vain religion thrives on conformity and rigid rule-keeping. It was what made the ticked-off Pharisees so mad that Jesus did not follow their non-biblical traditions and requirements for hand-washings. And in their hearts, because what was in them was not from God, hatred blossomed into a murderous rage — proof that Jesus was right about the importance of the correct holy truth producing truly righteous words and deeds.

Lord,

help me to trust the change that salvation in Christ brings as Your Word and Spirit change me from the inside, so that Your works come out.

Amen

infused with eternal significance

Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.

John 6:27

A life lived only for the stuff of this world, only for the experiences of this brief spin on planet earth is a life poorly lived. It misses the real reason for life. Christians invest ourselves with a view towards eternity. Food for our day to day will be consumed or perish. But Jesus feeds us better… a life that carries us into eternity.

And so in all we do, Christians must labor toward the eternal. Not that we dismiss any earthly experience. Rather, we see how God infuses those moments that we live right now with eternal significance for His glory and our good. We rejoice in the gospel when we eat, drink, interact, work, learn, and play for God’s glory. We find Jesus giving us eternal bread in the provision of our daily bread found in our labor and our career. 

Yes, Lord, all my days call me to work for the food that will never perish. Fill up my moments with abundant life yielding eternal life in You, Jesus!

Amen

“It is I; do not be afraid.”

But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”

John 6:20

When the rough seas are making life difficult, Jesus is still right there. Like the disciples struggling to row their boat across the lake, we may be alarmed to see Jesus out there with us walking on the water we are fighting against. We are so dull and our faith is so small. It never enters our mind that God is with us as we try to make it on our own. But there He is! Don’t be afraid.

Rough seas will not deter the One Who spoke them into being. Strong winds are no match for the Giver of the breath of life. Tough rowing is not an issue for the One Who immediately brings boats to their destination. We may have our problems facing life’s circumstances. Jesus, however, does not. Don’t be afraid.

And so we must always trust. We ask our Lord for daily bread and daily forgiveness. We need Him in the rough winds and high waves. He is right there. Jesus says, “It is I; be not afraid.”

close… but wrong

When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”

John 6:14

You can be close to getting things right about the identity of Jesus, and still be totally wrong.The crowd of five thousand that were fed by Jesus were right about the true miracle they experienced being a sign. They were right that Jesus was in one sense fulfilling the role of a promised prophet like Moses spoken of in Deuteronomy. But they were totally off on the scope of His mission.

Jesus withdrew from this joyous crowd because they were over-enthusiastic about Him in all the wrong ways, because they wanted by force to make Him King (John 6:15). They wanted food, miracles here and now and an earthly set of solutions. This was nearsighted and wrong. None of this was ultimately the focus of the Savior’s mission.

Jesus will not be limited by our petty human concerns… no matter how obsessed we are with Him addressing them. He is much more than a meal ticket. He is not just a healer at our beck and call. He is bigger than our petty politics. Jesus is not just a king… He is Lord over all other Kings that rule, even those desires that rule our hearts that can twist our understanding of Him. He will not stand to be limited in our thinking to just an earthly rule. And so we must trust Him when He does not address our earthly concerns as we would want. Why? Because His purposes are perfect!

more than we need

And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over.

Matthew 14:20

Jesus provides more than enough. He blesses beyond our need. He gives us beyond our wildest imaginations. One lesson from the feeding of the five thousand is that God gives so much more than physical provision. It is a picture of His extravagant love. When God cares for us it is overflowing, abundant, real, and rewarding. Nobody left hungry and much more was left over than when it all began.

The size of our need can never be more than God can manage. Twelve disciples were overwhelmed with the task of feeding five thousand people. They suggested to Jesus they just give up on that idea. The meager five loaves and two fish they found would have barely fed the twelve themselves. Yet Jesus took what they meagerly offered and blessed it. Large crowd? Meager resources? No problem with God’s power and love!

Jesus will bless what we offer Him, even in our confusion, even in our helplessness, even with our meager abilities. Why not give it to Him to use? Be amazed at what God will do with our little to do much!

Fear not.

Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Matthew 10:31

Jesus said these words to His disciples amidst a warning that they would face stiff opposition to their preaching of the gospel. Yet God was taking care of them. He takes care of even the smallest of His creatures… there when even a sparrow falls to the ground. God will certainly keep His children right where He wants them. There is no need to fear when we are loved by God, led by His Spirit, and sent by Jesus!

An unknown outcome headed your way? Fear not. A difficult decision weighing on you? Fear not. Hurt by a loved one? Fear not. Worried about the state of our world? Fear not. Battling with the worst experience you’ve ever imagined? Fear not.

Fear not, I am with thee

O be not dismayed

For I am thy God,

I will still give thee aid

I’ll strengthen thee, help thee,

and cause thee to stand

Upheld by my righteous

omnipotent hand

unbelief to Jesus’ face

And he marveled because of their unbelief.

Mark 6:6a

Where Jesus was when this simple statement was recorded is significant. He was in Nazareth, His hometown. He was among the people who knew Him and knew His family well. “And they took offense at Him” (Mark 6:3).

They saw what Jesus did, the miracles and the undeniable mighty works. They heard Him speak with immense wisdom and authority. And yet, they could not get past the simple humanity of Jesus to take in by faith the implications of His power and authority. They were not in awe of Jesus. They were offended that God would become a man they knew. They did not worship, they wondered, but then wandered away.

Jesus will not be diminished by our unbelief. You cannot JUST accept His humanity and reject His divinity. He doesn’t just “get us”, He saves us, rules over us, demands faith to believe in Him in a greater way than just a mere human who is one of us! Belief in Jesus is faith in the God-Man. It is faith that the Creator of the universe came to earth, fully God, fully human, our only salvation! Anything less is a total rejection. And it leaves Jesus shaking His head.

proclaim a merciful Deliverer

And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”

Mark 5:19

One man, healed by Jesus, in his right mind, freed from the control of a thousand hate-filled demons wanted simply to follow his new Savior. Freed, he longed to follow. He had the heart of a grateful disciple. But Jesus knew that this transformed man had a deeper purpose than to sit at his Rabbi’s feet. He  was destined to go throughout the Decapolis… sent by Jesus with a simple solo, but powerful message: Jesus was his merciful deliverer.

Many times I wish to dig into “deeper things” I want to learn and theologize and treasure what I can know about Jesus. That isn’t bad. But then life experiences are used to focus me. Jesus makes it clear to only learn without declaring how He has saved and kept me is really an incomplete longing on my part. Both are important. And so I realize that Christians must accept that the story of what the Lord has done (good circumstances and difficulties alike) and what the Lord is doing are the mercies we should gladly accept and proclaim.

Believers in Jesus should never complain about their life circumstances. We should accept them, embrace them as precious story where grace will be known. We love our personal gospel stories. We proclaim the mercy of our wonderful God in a unique place when we do.

great storm… great calm

And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

Mark 4:39

The winds blow

stronger than we’ve ever known

Our boat shakes

carried by the waves wind blown

Our hearts fear

terrified of what may await us

And turning to Jesus

we ask Him to save us

Jesus is calm

before the storm that blows

He has no fear

in the strength that He shows

“Peace, be still!”

the voice of Jesus demands

perfect calm descends

as nature obeys The Creator’s commands

“Where is your faith?”

we hear our Savior say

“I rule it all.”

so we marvel, and astonished, we too obey.

paying attention

And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.”

Mark 4:24

Jesus gives a promise to those who listen well to His teaching. For those who believe and apply themselves by faith to what Jesus says, God will in turn bring blessing, understanding, and more than they can receive. The investment reaps benefits beyond measure. Jesus rewards those who hear, believe, apply themselves to, and obey His Word.

Paying attention is an important part of Christian growth and maturity. It does indeed take pronounced effort. We don’t get to just slide into the kingdom of our Lord. It’s an active climb, yet the energy we expend never outdoes the gracious blessing of our God. He rewards sincere seekers. He blesses the faithful followers. He delights in diligent disciples.

Lord Jesus,

Help me today to pay attention, to apply my heart to Your Word. Help me actively seek to live by Your ways. I know I am blessed and may You be lifted up in praise as more is added as I pay attention!

Amen

more than we can know

“Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.”

Matthew 13:51

Jesus taught about a vast kingdom that He was bringing to earth… the kingdom of heaven. It is built by the preaching of the gospel. He is the King. And it brings in both the good (righteous) and the bad (unrighteous) to a final reckoning. It would be the most valuable possession of all who seek it… a precious pearl… a treasure in a field. It would yield treasures both new and old. It will end in a final judgment in which all the unrighteous… the weeds and the bad fish… will suffer in fire.

Jesus asked His disciples if they “got it”, and I chuckle at their impetuous answer when they claim they understood ALL Jesus taught! I can smugly do the same some days. Yet the experience of the kingdom of heaven is vast, multi-faceted, and well beyond our limited human senses. Thankfully, Jesus knows we mean well when we say we understand Him. And He just keeps giving grace and glimpses of His glory as His kingdom unfolds before us!

only one sign is given

But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.”

Matthew 12:39

Those who rejected Jesus’ teaching and His miracles dared to ask Him for a “sign”. They wanted something else than what was right in front of them. They wanted a miracle on demand. They wanted to control the experiment before they would believe. And Jesus would not have it.

This same group had in their statements before this request for a sign implied that Jesus cast out demons by Satan’s authority, not God’s. They damned themselves with blasphemy against God’s Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:22-32). So basically they were pre-disposed to interprt any “sign” the same way. This was a biased test Jesus would never pass because of their unbelief.

The only sign needed is the gospel… prefigured as Jesus taught in the story of Jonah who was “buried” in a fish for three days. Jesus would be crucified by this same band of deniers, buried in a tomb for 3 days, and rise triumphant over sin and death. It’s all the sign any of us should ever need and we dare not every ask for another… no matter how personal… no matter our experience… no matter our pain. The gospel proves God is for us. There is no need for a sign from God! It’s already here in Jesus.

Jesus gives rest.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Matthew 11:28

Jesus wants people to find their soul’s rest in Him. And this is not just an invitation at the end of our days. Jesus spoke these words to the closest of His followers in contrast to stern words of judgment He had to speak to those who hated Him. For those who love Jesus, there is tender care. To love Jesus is to be loved by Him. He calls us to lay down our difficulties and find rest with Him.

Life has its daily toils and threats that weary us. Life has its unanticipated heavy burdens that weigh us down and weaken us. Jesus is our calming rest in the day to day labor. Jesus is our burden lifter and strength in those unbearable situations. And in Him we find all the peace our souls always crave!

Today, Lord Jesus, I lay these burdens down. I am weary. You give me strength. The load is so heavy. You take it off and Your light yoke ties me to Your loving control right now! Lead me, heal me, encourage me, lift me, give me rest.

Amen

trusting the gospel makes sense

Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.

Luke 7:35

This last half of Luke 7 is a post-script to the ministry of John the Baptist, and like everything John did, it leads to Jesus! It was initiated by John toward Jesus when he sent two of his disciples to affirm Jesus’ ministry as Messiah. It isn’t that John doubted. Rather, he was sending his disciples to investigate Jesus on their own. They got to see the actions in Jesus’ answer. Jesus gives them an emphatic “Yes”, reiterating His own sense of Messianic ministry previously claimed in Luke 4:16-21.

Jesus then uses this question from them to affirm John’s role in all that God was doing in the gospel. Luke’s own commentary in Luke 7:29-30 show us that the repentant people that submitted to John’s baptism also submitted to God in so doing. The religious elite who rejected John also rejected God’s plan.

The pious unbelievers said John was demonic for his asceticism. They said Jesus was a drunkard for His warmth and connection with those He came to save. But those accusations proved that the wisdom of God is right! The gospel isn’t human effort. It is a joyous celebration of grace!

unworthy yet worthy

When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.”

Luke 7:6

Jesus saw in the humble admission of a Roman centurion great faith — a faith in Him that not even His closest followers yet had. The centurion submitted  himself to the absolute authority of Jesus. He saw the relationship between Lordship and Jesus’ healing power. And for that reason he was hesitant to have Jesus, a Jewish rabbi he respected, enter his gentile home. The centurion submitted to the authority of the Law and of the Lord.

Instead, in faith, the centurion bowing in submission to all that He knew God taught and Christ displayed, choose to believe that Jesus had so much authority as God that He could just command for the sick servant to be healthy —- like a centurion commanding his troops. And that is exactly the way Jesus wanted this man to believe.

Jesus honored the centurion’s faith. His servant was made completely well. The authority of Jesus was displayed indisputably. And a man who thought Himself unworthy of grace was gifted grace beyond measure.

A circle of generous grace

…give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.

Luke 6:38

A generous life is the best life. I believe this with all my heart. When I was just interested in a life of ministry service, sometime in my late teens, I heard someone say this: “You will never regret TRULY serving someone in the name of Jesus.” And in a lifetime now of testing that statement, I am blessed far beyond what I deserve.

We ought to always be ready to give, but there are seasons when it is more intense, and those seasons inevitably bring much more back to the giver than was given. Yes, there is an occasional ungrateful jerk. And a few people have broken my heart by rejecting what was offered. But overwhelmingly just like Jesus promised, the good coming back is running over. Grace pours right back into my lap. And for that I am magnificently blessed, especially right now.

I cannot out give what God gives me in Jesus Christ! And in His kingdom, generosity with grace just pours back upon the generous!

asking better

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Matthew 7:11

Lord,

You are good. You are holy. You are just. You are wise. You are in control. All this I know because in Your Word You say so. And in my life You have shown all that You are to be all that I need. You are for me… in love. This is forever proven, without a doubt in my mind, by Jesus giving Himself for me.

I confess that I do not often pray with that truth in mind. My prayers can be selfish and limited by my own pettiness. And so I fail to ask for You to work in my life and give Your power and grace because I ask for my pride and my selfish wants. Forgive me in mercy, my Lord.

You are a good, good Father. I trust in You. You know my need, You feel my pain, You love me well. And so because You are good and I am not, I ask for Your grace to show up today in me, for me, with me, for those I and whom You love, through Jesus Christ my Lord.

Amen

simply “yes” or “no”

Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

Matthew 5:37

Words can get me

in more trouble than I know

if I let my language

drift to more than “yes” of “no”.

If someone asks me

if I’m good to go,

instead of embellishing

I should answer “yes” or “no”.

Situations can tempt me

to speak more just to show

pride’s ruling over me when

my answer’s more than “yes” or “no”.

God’s Spirit can use me

if I have the self-control

in Christlike humility

I speak simply “yes” or “no”.

Lord, please show me

as I serve You now below

the power of an answer

that is simply “yes” or “no”.

merciful me

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Matthew 5:7

The Beatitudes are full of unexpected twists and turns. We’re surprised to hear Jesus’ descriptions of His upside down kingdom. In His worldview it is a blessing to be impoverished, the comforting people are the ones who mourn, the meek control the earth, and those who are bullied win out. And what Jesus says about the merciful implies that they themselves have needed and still need the mercy of God.

Yet this is the great, joyous mystery of life in Christ. We live by the mercy of God, in the mercy of God, for the mercy of God, displaying the mercy of God to others. Blessed are the merciful BECAUSE they receive God’s mercy. Blessed are the merciful because they CONTINUE to receive mercy!

Lord Jesus,

In this world that is increasingly short on mercy and grace, help me who has received great mercy bless my world by being merciful. Your church, often influenced by the cruel selfishness of this sinful world, has a bad reputation for being unaccepting, merciless, and judgmental. May that stop with me! Help me have the reputation of the merciful so that I might continue in Your mercy, O Lord!

Amen

Lord of the Sabbath

And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

Mark 2:27-28

Jesus faced a question of His authority that may seem petty to us, but nonetheless was a direct challenge. The Pharisees saw the disciples of Jesus plucking ripe grain in a field as they passed through the countryside one Sabbath. They then accused jesus and His followers of profaning the Sabbath by working. It was a technicality, but a true factual situation.

Jesus answered them with greater authority than they could have ever imagined. First, Jesus points them to scripture… an incident in which King David (his ancestor) took the bread of the tabernacle meant only for the priests in order to feed his army. The need of David and his men as God was using them to deliver Israel was met by God even as a technicality of the Law was waived. The King gets a break.

Jesus has even more authority than David did. He proclaims Himself to be Lord of the Sabbath. He is the reason Sabbath worship exists! He is the Giver of the Law and the perfect fulfillment of it. Jesus even pronounces the verdict on the actions of His disciples: The Sabbath was made to help people, not to hurt them. By His authority Jesus shut down this challenge, and we see a greater authority in Him than we realized. He is the God we worship. He can do as He pleases.