It Is Well

Reading for today: Matthew 8:23-27

Jesus Calms the Storm by Laura James

One of the most difficult times for my family was the recent death of my mother-in-law, Cheryl. She died just a few years ago of a progressive cancer called multiple myeloma. The time between a proper diagnosis of her disease and her final breath was about 56 days.

Raging winds, crashing waves, and a swamped boat. Cheryl’s struggle with cancer was a massive storm for our family.

When you or your loved ones are in the middle of a powerful storm, that storm will begin to make you feel as though God is no longer in control, even if you are a seasoned Christian.

In our reading for today, the disciples knew firsthand, as seasoned fishermen, the destructive power of a great storm. Their fear tells us how bad the storm they faced really was.

Yet, even more powerful than the storm, was the voice of Jesus as he stood and rebuked the wind and the waves. The moment he spoke, the storm disappeared and was replaced by a “great calm” (v.26).

While it may not always seem as though God is in control, always remember and be comforted that the winds and the waves must obey Him.

Although God did not stop the storm inside Cheryl’s body, God calls me to trust in His sovereignty and in His timing. He calls me to faith and He reminds me that I have nothing to fear because He is in control.

Dear God, the storm I face right now is ___________________. Please speak truth into my life. If it is Your will, please rebuke this storm. If it is not Your will, give me the faith to trust in Your sovereignty and take away my fear. In Your name, I pray. Amen.

During that agonizing and confusing time of Cheryl’s death, our church music team in St. Louis performed a song one Sunday morning entitled “It Is Well” (Bethel Music). One particular line of the song is: “So let it go my soul and trust in Him. The waves and wind still know His name.” God used this song to speak His comfort into my soul. Click on the link below to use this song as a prayer.

Bethel Music “It Is Well”

This week we will read one more account of Jesus literally calming a storm. We will also read through a few comforting Psalms.

Day 2 – Mark 6:45-51

Day 3 – Psalm 46

Day 4 – Psalm 89:8-9

Day 5 – Psalm 62

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I am light.

Reading for today: Matthew 5:13-16

Light is a universal symbol for hope, goodness, and knowledge. Shedding light on a situation, seeing the light, the light dawning, you are the light of my life. In each of these idiomatic phrases, light represents something beneficial.

While light brings clarity and positivity to life, it also sustains life. This week my preschool students are running a science experiment on light. They will be testing light as it pertains to the life of a plant.

We will have two trays, each with a similar pot of flowers. One flower will receive everything it needs to grow: soil, water, and sunlight. The other flower will be given some of what it needs, but will be hidden from the sunlight.

While not all the preschoolers will be able to predict what will happen to the plants, I am sure you know the importance of light in the life of those flowers.

In a similar way, God is light and in Him we not only have life, but we also have the ability and the calling to shine that same good, healthy, life-giving light to others.

Dear God, Let my light shine before others that they may see and give glory to You. Amen.

This week let’s read a bit more on the importance of God’s light.

Day 2 – John 8:12; 12:46

Day 3 – 2 Corinthians 4:4-6

Day 4 – 1 John 1:5-9

Day 5 – Psalm 119:105

 

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I am salt.

Reading for today: Matthew 5:13-16

I love to be in the kitchen, cooking, baking, and eating. There are many ingredients in my kitchen that I consider staple, but the most useful is salt. Salt flavors and it preserves.

We have a phrase in our family. “Salt makes everything taste the way it’s supposed to.” Just a quarter teaspoon of salt completely enhances everything from scrambled eggs to chocolate chip cookies to roasted vegetables.

Not only is salt important for taste, but it also acts as a preservative. In our verses for today, Jesus tells his followers, “You are the salt of the earth.” Typically when we think of ourselves as salt, we either think in terms of seasoning or preserving.

However, there is another quality of salt to consider. Salt makes you thirsty. Movie theater popcorn, stadium brats, and pretzels – all are salty foods whose main purpose is to make the consumer thirsty.

Are we useful like salt? Do we season the earth? Do we preserve what’s right in a decaying world? And do we drive others to search for something to quench their thirst?

Dear God, Make me salt and light in this world. Help me to use my life to point others to You for Your glory. Amen.

Reading for this week

Day 2 – Colossians 4:5-6

Day 3 – 2 Corinthians 2:14-17

Day 4 – John 4:13-15

Day 5 – Isaiah 55:1; Psalm 42:1-2

 

 

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Something for Nothing: Lent Series – Week 6

For the last 6 weeks, we have been studying how God works miracles out of nothing. This week is Passion Week. We will finish our study as we remember what it meant for Jesus to take on our nothingness.

Reading for today: Matthew 28:1-10

Jesus felt the effects of our nothingness when his disciples deserted him. He experienced our nothingness when he stood silent before his accusers. He suffered from our nothingness, as he was condemned to die.

The culminating result of our nothingness occurred when Jesus cried out to the Father from the cross and heard… nothing. In that horrible moment, Jesus gave up his Spirit and died. He became nothing.

Yet three days later, as the Sunday morning sun broke through the darkness, look inside the tomb and you will see nothing.

But this sort of nothing is the good kind. It’s an empty slate. It’s our records wiped clean. It’s us having nothing to fear, because Jesus has risen. He has conquered sin and death and hell. And in place of our nothingness, he has filled us with himself.

In him, we have everything. Jesus made himself nothing so that he could give us everything.

Dear Jesus, You took on my nothingness; you created in me something new. Thank you for your never-ending mercy and love for me. Amen.

Happy Easter! Praise God for his Son, Jesus, who became nothing so that we could have everything.

Day 2 – Philippians 2:5-11; 2 Corinthians 8:9

Day 3 – Jeremiah 32:17, 27

Day 4 – Psalm 130

Day 5 – Romans 8:31-39

 

 

 

 

 

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Something for Nothing: Lent Series – Week 4

Reading for this week: Matthew 14:13-21

Jesus and his disciples had retreated quietly to a “desolate place.” A massive crowd of people (5,000 men plus women and children) followed them. Instead of finding another quiet place, Jesus had compassion on the people and spent the rest of the day healing them.

At the end of the day the disciples saw that the people were hungry. They said to Jesus, “This is a desolate place, and the day is over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves”  (Matthew 14:15). But Jesus responded, “You give them something to eat” (v. 16).

What? We have nothing. Only five loaves of bread and two fish.

But Jesus took the loaves and the fish and asked the disciples to have the people sit down. He lifted his eyes towards heaven, gave thanks, and distributed the food among the people. And distributed. And distributed. And distributed. Until everyone had eaten to their full. Then he had the disciples gather the leftovers, twelve extra basketfuls.

Jesus could have taken the disciples advice and sent the people away, exhausted and tired and hungry. Although it was late and they were away from any villages, they could have probably found something to eat, for themselves.

But Jesus had bigger plans. He wanted to show them how God can provide for his people out of nothing. He wanted them to see first hand what God can do when you obediently give him what you have.

 Dear God, You are the source of everything we need. Thank you. Give us your resources so that we may feed not only ourselves, but others as well. Amen.

The feeding of the 5,000 is one of my favorite Bible stories, because God takes our practically nothing and multiplies it into more than enough. This week, let’s spend time studying this story.

Day 2 – Mark 6:32-44

Day 3 – Luke 9:10-17

Day 4 – John 6:1-13

Day 5 – John 6:22-35

 

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Steps to contentment: Step 4 – Center

Welcome to week 4 in our study on contentment. Contentment in the biblical sense is peace with God and satisfaction in the circumstances where God has placed you.

Read Genesis 2:8-9, 15-17; 3:1-24 and Matthew 26:36-42

There were two gardens. In the first garden, everything was perfect. God had planted the garden. The plants were lush and filled with fruit. In the center of the garden grew the tree of life. A couple lived there. They trusted God and were content and satisfied, having everything they needed.

The second garden, on the other hand, was dark and dangerous. Although familiar, it was not a happy place that night. In the center of this garden a distressed man lay praying fervently for help to the God he, too, trusted. This isn’t what I want to do. This doesn’t feel good to me. I am not happy about this. Please, please take it away, Lord. He had found himself in that garden because he had come to restore the tree of life that had been lost to the couple in the first garden.

You see, they had stepped out of the master Gardner’s will. And as a horrible consequence, their rebellion brought sin, death, and sadness into a once perfect garden. Ever since that fateful day, we have been chasing down the peace and contentment that was lost.

But God did not abandon that first couple or us. He promised a Savior. One who would become for us the new tree of life.

In the midst of this unhappy, imperfect garden, a sorrowful Jesus taught us one of the most important steps in our path toward contentment. He finished his earnest prayer by saying, Not my will, but Yours be done. Jesus stood in that dark, scary garden and centered himself on God’s will. He completely trusted God. Even though it meant taking on all the sin, all the death, and all the sadness of this world.

Contentment has never really been about our happiness, our comfortableness, or our desires being fulfilled. Contentment is simply about being in the center of God’s will.

The only time we should feel discontent, is when we are in a situation that is pulling us away from God’s will. And in those dark moments, cry out to God, like Jesus did in the garden. And then remember that Jesus is for us the new tree of life at the very center of God’s garden. Center your garden on Him.

Step 4 in the pursuit of contentment: Center your garden on God’s will.

Dear Lord, Let Your will be done always and bring me into the center of Your will. Make me content. Amen.

This week, let’s read about what it looks like to center yourself on God’s will.

Day 2 – 1 John 2:16-17; Matthew 6:10

Day 3 – Proverbs 3:5-6; James 1:5

Day 4 – John 10:7-11; Hebrews 13:20-21

Day 5 –  1 Timothy 2:4-6; Proverbs 13:12; Revelation 22:14

Next week we will conclude our study on contentment by talking about the harvest!

 

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Face the Sunshine

I thought I would share this post from four years ago as encouragement for this week.

 

Originally posted on 5/23/2012 my blog, http://801seminaryplace.wordpress.com

The last few international women’s Bible studies that I led were about understanding what Christians mean by faith or belief. The last two stories we studied were about the healing of a demon possessed boy and the resurrection of Lazarus. Both stories illustrate not only the amazing power of Jesus, but also the two-sided coin of Christian belief.

In the account of the demon possessed boy (Mark 9:14-29), Jesus had just been away on a mountain. While waiting for his return, a man had approached Jesus’ disciples for help in healing his boy who was possessed by an evil spirit.  The disciples were unable to heal the small boy and because of it, they and the Jewish scribes had gotten into a heated argument.

It is at that point, Jesus returns and asks what they are arguing about. The father explains his son’s dire situation and then asks Jesus, “If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus responds, “If I can! All things are possible for one who believes.” To which the father immediately cries, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

Likewise, in the story of Lazarus (John 11:17-45), Mary and Martha (Lazarus’ sisters) call for Jesus to help their dying brother. Jesus tarries and when he finally arrives, Lazarus is already dead and buried, and the funeral procedures are well underway. Both women come to Jesus privately and express their confidence in Jesus’ ability mixed with their disappointment in his delay. Martha says, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Later a distraught Mary also says, “Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died.” Jesus promises Martha, “Your brother will rise again.” Yet when Jesus asks them to move the stone of Lazarus’ tomb away, Martha questions him saying, “Lord, by now there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” In other words, “You are too late to do anything.”

In Matthew 28:17, the disciples are watching Jesus prepare to ascend into heaven and it says, “And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some of them doubted.” The Greek word for “doubted” in this verse is distazo which means to waver between two points of view, to be uncertain at a crossroads, to vacillate.

To be uncertain at the crossroads. To waver between two points of view. Belief and unbelief occupying the same space. British writer, Adrian Plass wrote in his book Why I Follow Jesus, “Perhaps belief and unbelief are two sides of the same coin. You can turn the coin over, but you can’t make the side you’re not looking at go away” (2000, p. 7).

But that’s where Jesus comes in. Our worthiness for the gift of faith, or healing, or a miracle is not dependent on the excellence of our belief or the absence of our unbelief. No, our worthiness is completely dependent on Jesus’ merit.

To the father of the demon possessed boy, Jesus did not walk away affronted by the man’s lack of confidence. Instead, he turned to the boy, cast out the evil spirit, “took him by the hand and lifted him up.” To Mary and Martha, Jesus did not take offense to their limited and shifting belief in his power. Instead he wept with them and then performed one of his greatest miracles – he brought Lazarus back to life. To the doubting disciples standing on the mountain, Jesus did not withhold his blessing from them. Instead he gave them the ultimate job of making disciples of all nations, promising them, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

So what do we do about the other side of the coin? What do we do about our uncertainty at the crossroads? How do we manage distazo?

We look to Christ. We cry out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” as the father did. We fall at his feet and pour out our hearts, as Mary did. We allow the stone to be rolled back, as Martha did. We accept Christ’s authority and his promises, as the disciples did. We persistently face the Son so that we cannot see the shadows.  It is in “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith…” (Hebrews 12:2a) that we see where our strength of faith truly comes.

 “Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow.” ~ Helen Keller

 

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My Comfort Zone

Reading for today: Matthew 28:1-20

I was nine-years-old. I was looking forward to unlimited pancakes and wearing my brand-new Easter dress. But nothing can spoil an Easter Sunday pancake stack like the chicken pox.

Completely uncomfortable, I spent the morning quarantined in the church office. The only person who saw my new dress was the poor, immune soul who quickly dropped off an anticlimactic, styrofoam plate of cold pancakes.

I could faintly hear happy voices declaring, “He is risen! He is risen indeed!” Then the hymn, Christ the Lord is Risen Today, lifted up out of the old electric organ. Just a hallway down from the celebration though, little third-grade me felt only boredom, disappointment, and little red irritations.

Easter is supposed to be the great victory, the great celebration of new life through Christ’s death and resurrection. Easter is the culminating event of the church year. It’s bigger than Christmas. He is risen! …But so what?

It’s hard to feel celebratory when you have the chicken pox. It’s hard to feel festive when you’re sick. Or when your mother has cancer. Or when your spouse has hurt you, again. Or when your coworker has died. Or when you deal with chronic pain. Or when you realize your child has special needs. Or when you live in the fear of terrorism. Or when you’re hungry, persecuted, imprisoned, lonely, in need of help, anxious, lost, broken, or dwelling in deep darkness.

He is risen! So what? What does this mean for us right now?

First of all, Jesus’ death and resurrection was a part of God’s plan. God’s plan to save us from sin and every uncomfortable thing mentioned above. Likewise, Jesus coming again one day to establish the new heaven and the new earth is also a part of that redemptive plan.

But, more to the question – so what? This tough, in-between time is also part of the plan. Not because God wants us to suffer a bit longer, but because he is in the business of creating and redeeming. He is creating the new heavens and the new earth, creating clean hearts. He is creating new life within us and is redeeming creation, his creation, back to himself. No one knows when this in-between time will be over. But we’ve been promised it will end and we will have comfort in the meantime.

Comfort in the original Latin means, “with strength.” God’s comfort does not mean we will always be comfortable. Free from pain or anxiety or constraint. Instead, God’s comfort is his strength freely given to help us deal with everything uncomfortable in this world.

You see, we were not created for this broken, uncomfortable world and we desperately need God’s strength to endure it. So when we cry out “He is risen!” it is because we know the same strength that brought Jesus back to life is the very strength that gives us comfort as we wait for his return. He is risen! And he is coming again! Allelujah!

Dear God, Thank you for your comfort and your strength. I need your comfort as I struggle with _________________________. Please help me to bring comfort and strength to others in my life. Amen.

God has promised his comfort. Ask for it.

Day 2 – Isaiah 40:1-5; 27-31

Day 3 – Psalm 23

Day 4 – 2 Corinthians 1:3-10

Day 5 – 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17; John 16:32-33

*Special thanks to Pastor Pat Simmons. Your sermon this past Sunday morning wrote this devotional.

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The Power to Save: A six-week study on the powers of Jesus: Week 2

We are continuing to study the powers of Jesus. Powers, that when combined, make Jesus mighty to save. Last week, we looked at Jesus’ power over disease and affliction. This week we will study Jesus’ power over evil.

Temptation of Jesus in the Desert by Daniel Bonnell

Reading for this week: Matthew 4:1-11

“…With power and authority he commands the unclean spirits” ~Luke 4:36b

I am afraid that we think that Jesus and evil, or Jesus and Satan are equal opposites.

Just a few centuries after Jesus was on earth, an eastern philosophical concept was born: yin-yang. Quite beautiful and logical, yin-yang is the dualistic understanding that in order to have wholeness or balance in life, you need both “light”(white) and “dark” (black). And within light there is a bit of darkness, within darkness there is a bit of light. Each leading into each other, and interdependent.

Examples of yin-yang are night (yin) and day (yang), female (yin) and male (yang). You can see how the world can easily be classified under a yin-yang lense.

While I have oversimplified this philosophy, my point is that we have wrongly placed Jesus and Satan into the yin-yang circle. And in so doing, we have bought into two dangerous concepts.

Temptation of Christ by Jason Hawn

One, we see Satan as Jesus’ perfect compliment – his perfect match. The angel on one shoulder, the devil on the other. Who will win? We aren’t sure, for we believe they are equally matched.

And two, we believe that neither Jesus nor Satan are absolutes. In other words, Jesus and Satan are interdependent upon each other. And we may even go so far as to think that Jesus is good, but not absolutely good. And that Satan is evil, but not absolutely evil.

Never forget that while our world seems to fit nicely into the yin-yang framework, Jesus is not of this world. He is absolute. He is perfect. He is God. And while Satan and his evil spirits are adversaries of Jesus for a designated time, they are not His equals.

Be confident in this: Jesus has full power over the devil and all his works and all his ways (Hebrews 2:14-18; 1 John 3:8; Colossians 1:13-14). And we can rest under his promised protection.

Dear Jesus, You have full power over evil. Protect us from evil in your name. Give us the power to trust you, to fill our hearts with your saving faith, and give us the courage to lead other hearts to you. Amen.

“The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.” ~Psalm 121:7

(artist unknown)

On Day 2, you will read a complicated teaching. Simply stated, Jesus claims that if your heart is not filled with God’s spirit, then it is open to be filled with other spirits. Those other spirits may be obviously evil, Satan-worshipping and the like. Or those spirits may be subtly evil, to the point of even seeming good. But Jesus reminds us that goodness and truth come from God alone. Any truth, any spirit not of God, is against God.

This week, as you read these accounts, continue to ask yourself the following questions: Why is this story included in the Bible? What can I learn about Jesus from this story?

Day 2 – Luke 11:14-28

Day 3 – Matthew 8:28-34

Day 4 – Mark 5:1-20; 6:53-56

Day 5 – Mark 6:7-13; Luke 10:1; 10:17-20; Mark 9:14-29

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Top 3 Favorite Bible Stories: #3 Jesus Walks on the Water

Reading for today: Matthew 14:22-33

Jesus said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. ~Matthew 14:29

I had a hard time choosing my third favorite Bible story. In the final hours, I chose Jesus walking on the water. Ask me again in five weeks, and it will probably be a completely different Bible story, but for today I chose this one.

I love this story because it clearly represents the calm control of Jesus in the midst of chaos.

At the start of the story, Jesus had just miraculously fed 5,000 people with a small boy’s lunch (another favorite story). He then sent his disciples (experienced fishermen) in a boat to travel to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. He stayed behind to dismiss the crowds and have some quiet prayer time.

As the disciples crossed, however, sudden winds and waves drastically slow them down. The story tells that Jesus went to the disciples by “walking on the sea.”

It was by then the middle of the night. The disciples were worn-out, they were windblown, and their muscles ached from rowing. Upon seeing Jesus, the disciples were terrified. It was dark and Jesus looked like a phantom on the waters. But Jesus called to them, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” Peter impulsively responded, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” Jesus replied, “Come.”

And as simple as that, Peter stepped out of the boat and walked on the water. But then, Peter saw the wind, became afraid, and started to sink. He cried out, “Lord save me.” Jesus immediately grabbed him by the hand, pulled him up out of the water, and asked Peter why he had doubted.

“Save Me – The Hand of God” by artist, Yongsung Kim

There are two things that are constant as Peter stepped out of the boat – the wind and Jesus. Both were there. And when Peter stepped out in faith, neither disappeared. As Peter walked towards Jesus, the fierce wind was still blowing at his wet clothes, still attacking his tired muscles, but he walked on the water towards Jesus! But then – for a moment – Peter changed his focus from one constant to the other. He saw the wind. He was afraid and he sank. Nothing had changed, but Peter’s focal point. And when it did, he sank.

The story would be pointless if it ended here. If Peter had drowned right there in front of his friends, in the sea that was his source of employment for so many years, next to a man he trusted with his life, that would probably be the worst story ever written. But that is not how it ended. Instead, Peter cried out to Jesus, “Save me!” And Jesus immediately took hold of him.

There are times in life where you will feel tired, windblown, or you may even be sinking. That is a given. Steady your focal point on Jesus. Know that you can confidently cry out, “Lord, save me!” and immediately he will pull you up and together you can walk through those waters.

 Dear Jesus, Save me. Save me from ___________. Walk with me. I need you. Help me to focus on you. Amen.

Jesus is our rescuer. Gain confidence in this truth as you continue your reading.

Day 2: Hebrews 12:1-2

Day 3: Psalm 139:9-10

Day 4: Psalm 107:28-31

Day 5: Romans 10:13; 2 Corinthians 1:10

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