April 4, 2017
Does God give good gifts when we ask? Can we trust His response to our prayers? If we give ourselves fully to Him in prayer, will He test us with things we don’t want and take away things that we do?
Jesus answered these implied questions by asking His own, “If a son asks any father among you for bread, or fish, or eggs, will he give a rock for bread, a serpent for fish, or a scorpion for an egg?”
I’m sure His hearers must’ve responded with laughter at the ridiculous imagery of His rhetorical questions. “Certainly not!” They no doubt replied.
Jesus taught us to ask, seek, and knock in prayer expecting the Father to answer. We need not worry whether such persistence might cause the Father to give us hurtful or undesirable gifts. For if a sinful, mortal father knows how to give good, certainly the righteous God will give not only good gifts, but even the “Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
Never doubt the Father’s love and care for you. You can depend on Him to meet your needs when you ask. More than that, He knows your deepest need, namely, the Holy Spirit. For God has sent His Son to reconcile us to Himself, so that we might be adopted into His family by the Spirit of adoption, that we might truly be called children of God.
April 3, 2017
The one whose word and deed is marked by wisdom and diligence will be “satisfied with good” and receive appropriate “recompense.” Yet, when has the world seen such a one who has both? In truth, the Lord Jesus is the only One who has demonstrated both word and deed in perfect balance and beauty.
As regards word, even the temple guards sent to arrest Jesus reported, “Never has anyone spoken like this man!” (John 7:46).
And as regards deed, the multitude who witnessed Jesus causing the deaf to hear and the mute to speak, were astonished and said, “He has done all things well!” (Mark 7:37).
Those who would be truly “satisfied,” and receive a desirable “recompense,” will trust in Christ’s word and work, rather than their own. As the apostle Paul wrote, “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Col. 3:17).
April 2, 2017
When Jesus sent out the Seventy to preach, he gave them instructions concerning whom they should look for as they entered a new town. He called this person, a “son of peace.” Today, missionaries refer to this as the “Person of Peace Principle.”
Pastor and seminary professor, Dr. Tom Wolf, has described this principle. He says that the missionary entering a new country or town should prayerfully look for a person identified by three “R”s. These three “R”s are:
– Receptivity (A person who is receptive to the gospel).
– Reputation (A person well-known in the community).
– Referral (A person who is ready to refer you to others).
When a person of peace is found, stay with them. Focus your ministry on them. God will use them to reach their community with the gospel.
April 1, 2017
Desire and thirst both seek satisfaction. The psalmist was once envious of the boasting and prosperity of the wicked, and didn’t understand why God allowed it. Yet, he brought his concern to the Lord and received fresh understanding. In the place of his envy for what others had, the Lord gave him a new thirst, a new desire for God Himself. He lifted his eyes to heaven and saw the rich portion that was his, namely, the Lord.
All things on earth will fade. Our bodies will fail. Why thirst for things that do not satisfy? Why be envious of things that will not last? Instead, let your desire be for the Lord. Put your trust in the Lord Jesus, who said from the cross, “I thirst” (John 19:28), so that we might find our deepest desire satisfied in Him.
March 31, 2017
The month of Abib was the month that the Lord had delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt. It was therefore to be counted as the first month of the Hebrew year. Since the religious celebrations given by Moses were linked to certain times of the year, it became the role of the priests to certify the beginning of each new month based on the lunar cycle. The word “month” and “moon” are cognates in both the Hebrew and English language, and since the lunar cycle is 29.5 days, announcing the start of a new month was both science and art.
The word “Abib” means “fresh heads of grain,” or “green ears,” referring to the time of the year when crops of grain begin to come to a head. Today’s Jewish calendar no longer uses the name “Abib,” using the name “Nisan” in its place, which has been in use since the time when the Jews were released from Babylonian captivity (see Esther 3:7). The month of Abib corresponds to our months of March/April. Since the Jewish calendar is based on the lunar cycle and our calendar is based on the solar cycle, the date for Passover varies each year, and with it, the date for Easter does as well.
Passover was to be always celebrated in the month of Abib to remind Israel how the Lord had “passed-over” the homes whose doors were covered with the blood of the Passover lamb. This foreshadowed Jesus, the Lamb of God, who was given for the sins of the world.
So, the timing of the celebration for Jewish Passover and Christian Easter are linked. And their dates continue to move around in our modern calendar. This explains the 35-day span where Easter can occur (March 22 – April 25, inclusive).
It was in the month of Abib, meaning “new heads of grain,” that Jesus fulfilled His saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain” (John 12:23-24).
March 30, 2017
Do you have a retirement plan?
The psalmist asked that the Lord not forget him when he became old and weak. He knew that the Lord had cared for him since birth, but he wanted to be sure that the Lord wouldn’t forget him in his final days.
As we age, we die by degree. Our sight needs correction and our hearing fades. Our joints lose flexibility and our hair grays. Each day seems to hold a new decrease and decline. Yet, we may still increase in the Lord! The time of old age can be a time of spiritual advance. While the body fails, the spirit may soar on eagle’s wings in the strength of our God.
March 29, 2017
Farming in Egypt involved the use of irrigation. The river Nile was the source of water for the region and the fields were “watered by foot,” meaning they were watered by the effort of those who either carried the water or dug the irrigation ditches.
But the Promised Land was not like the land of Egypt. It was not a huge plain watered from a river, but a land of hills and valleys, fed by the rains of heaven. It was a land that the Lord Himself would water and care for; therefore, the people would need to focus on obeying and worshiping Him in order for their fields to prosper.
The Lord wanted to raise up a people that would learn to completely depend on Him. He sought a people that would Him to supply all their needs. They were not to trust a land, or a river, nor their own ingenuity for irrigation, but the Lord.
The Lord still seeks those who will fully trust Him.
March 28, 2017
This psalm of David found its fulfillment in Christ’s suffering on the cross. Reading the four gospels together, it appears that Jesus was offered at least two drinks and perhaps three.
The first drink offered, according to Matthew and Mark, was wine mixed with gall or myrrh. This was offered as He arrived on Golgotha to be crucified. According to tradition, a narcotic drink was offered to those condemned to death in order to decrease their sensitivity to the excruciating pain. Jesus refused this drink, choosing to suffer with complete consciousness.
The second drink was offered by the Roman soldiers in mockery when the crowd thought He was calling for Elijah (Luke 23:36). He did not drink it.
The third drink was requested by Jesus. He said simply, “I thirst” (John 19:28). And the soldiers used a branch of hyssop to lift a sponge full of sour wine or wine vinegar to His lips.
Jesus, Son of David, Son of God, endured the thirst and drank the vinegar of which David prophesied centuries before. Then, He cried out, “It is finished,” and gave up His spirit (John 19:30).
March 27, 2017
Moses told the Israelites that the Lord would deliver seven nations greater and mightier than they over to them when they entered the Promised Land. He would do this because He had chosen them to be His “special treasure” in all the earth. Yet, Moses quickly corrected any misconception this might imply, lest they think God saw something inherently special in them. He didn’t. In fact, they were the “least of all peoples.” They weren’t special because of who they were. They were special because of who God is. They were special because He had “set His love” on them. God’s love made them special.
Not many of us were special or wise or noble before we were called. But the Lord has chosen the “weak things of the world,” that He might get the glory (1 Cor. 1:26-31). Therefore, let us glory in the Lord!
March 26, 2017
After Moses reminded the people of the “words,” which were the Ten Commandments and other instructions from the Lord, he commanded them to teach their children what he had taught them. They were to be diligent in teaching them, both formally and informally, as a way of life. They were to weave this teaching into every facet of their day together with their kids.
This is still the job of parenting. The responsibility for educating our children belongs not to the school, nor the church, but to us. We may include the school and church in our efforts, but the primary role belongs to fathers and mothers.
Are you teaching your children and grandchildren the “words” of God as a part of your everyday life?