Tag Archives: Miracles

Devotional

A Touch of Faith

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Read Mark 5:21-43

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“And Jesus said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace'” (Luke 7:50 NLT).

In Mark 5:21-43, we encounter two powerful stories of faith and healing. The narrative begins with Jairus, a synagogue leader, who begs Jesus to heal his dying daughter. On the way to Jairus’s home, a woman who has suffered from chronic bleeding for twelve years touches Jesus’ robe, believing it will heal her. Despite the pressing crowd, Jesus feels the power go out of Him and seeks out the woman, affirming her faith. Meanwhile, Jairus’s daughter dies, but Jesus assures Jairus to believe. He then raises the girl from the dead, showcasing His authority over life and death.

The band Disciple captures the essence of this story in their song “Touch,” particularly with the lyrics: “In my weakness, You are stronger / In my need, You are here / In my sadness, You come closer / In my tears, You wipe them clear.” These words beautifully illustrate the transformative power of Jesus’ touch in our lives.

Imagine being in a crowd, desperately trying to reach someone who holds the key to your healing. You’ve been battling an illness for over a decade, enduring pain, isolation, and hopelessness. One day, you hear that a man named Jesus, known for performing miracles, is passing through your town. Hope ignites within you. You muster the courage to navigate through the throng of people. As you draw nearer, you reach out and touch the hem of His garment, believing with all your heart that this simple act will change everything. Instantly, you feel a surge of healing power course through your body. Relief and joy flood your heart as you realize you are healed.

The woman’s faith is remarkable. She believed that merely touching Jesus’ clothes would heal her. This act wasn’t just about physical healing but also spiritual restoration. According to Jewish law, her bleeding rendered her ceremonially unclean, isolating her from society and religious activities. Her touch of Jesus’ garment was a bold move, signifying her deep faith and desperation for healing.

When Jesus stops and asks, “Who touched my robe?” He isn’t ignorant of what happened. He seeks to acknowledge her faith publicly, to affirm her and restore her dignity. “Daughter, your faith has made you well,” He says, affirming her belief and her new status as a healed and whole member of society. Jesus does not only heal her physically but also restores her spiritually and socially, giving her a new identity and a renewed place in her community.

Similarly, Jairus exhibits profound faith. Despite the news of his daughter’s death, he trusts Jesus’ words, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.” Jesus’ authority over death is demonstrated when He raises Jairus’s daughter, showing that His power transcends all boundaries. Jairus’s journey with Jesus to his home, despite hearing the worst possible news, illustrates the challenge of maintaining faith amidst fear and despair. It is a testament to the power of believing in Jesus even when circumstances seem hopeless.

The common thread in both miracles is faith. The woman’s faith led to her healing, and Jairus’s faith resulted in his daughter’s resurrection. Our faith in Jesus can bring about profound changes in our lives, not because of our power, but because of His. Faith acts as a conduit for God’s power, enabling miraculous interventions and transformative experiences.

However, it is crucial to acknowledge that sometimes, despite tremendous faith, healing does not come as we hope. This can be incredibly challenging and disheartening. Miracles in the Bible serve two primary purposes: the immediate healing itself and bringing glory to God. In every miracle, the deeper objective is to reveal God’s power and presence, and to draw people closer to Him.

For those who do not receive the healing they long for, it is important to remember that their faith is not in vain. God’s glory can be revealed in many ways. Sometimes, it is through the strength and unwavering faith of those who endure hardships that God’s love and faithfulness shine the brightest. Their journey can inspire and uplift others, showing that faith in God provides peace, hope, and a sense of purpose even in the midst of trials. Beyond the physical healing of the woman and Jairus’ daughter, the miracle was that Jesus was there, present for them both in their time of need. As such, He is with us in ours too.

Additionally, we must remember that God does not cause our suffering. Instead, God is with us in our suffering, working tirelessly to bring us hope, healing, and wholeness. He walks with us through our darkest valleys, providing comfort and strength. His presence in our lives assures us that we are never alone, and His love works to transform our pain into a deeper understanding of His grace and mercy.

In our struggles, we often feel like the woman or Jairus—desperate and helpless. Yet, these stories remind us that reaching out to Jesus in faith, even in our weakest moments, can result in miraculous transformations. Disciple’s song “Touch” resonates with this truth, reminding us that in our weakness and need, Jesus’ power and presence are available to us. The song serves as an anthem of hope and a reminder of the intimate relationship we can have with Jesus, where He meets us in our deepest needs and transforms our lives through His touch.

Moreover, as followers of Christ, we are called to be His hands and feet in the world. We can be miracles in the lives of others by representing Jesus and the power of His healing presence. By offering a listening ear, a comforting word, or practical help, we can bring the love and hope of Jesus to those around us. Our actions, driven by faith and compassion, can create ripple effects of healing and restoration, showing others that God is present and working through us.

In practical terms, this passage encourages us to live out our faith boldly. When faced with challenges, we should remember to reach out to Jesus, confident that He hears us and is capable of meeting our needs. It also reminds us to support others in their faith journeys, helping them to reach out to Jesus in their times of need. Our faith can inspire and uplift others, creating a ripple effect of hope and healing.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
A touch of faith can move the hand of God.

PRAYER
Lord, help me to reach out to You in faith, believing in Your power to heal and restore. Amen.

Devotion written by Rev. Todd R. Lattig with the assistance of ChatGPT, an AI language model developed by OpenAI.

Devotional

Do You Believe in Miracles?

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Read Romans 12:9-18

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:16-17 NLT).

One of my more favorite shows as of late is a show my the name of Ted Lasso. Jason Sudekis plays the titular role, an American Football Coach who is hired by Rebecca Welton to coach her Premier Association Football Club (AFC) Richmond. Of course, this is silly because NFL Football is not at all like AFC Football. The two are totally different sports. In the U.S.A., to the chagrin of the rest of the world, we differentiate between the two by calling the former “Football” and the latter “Soccer”.

The show, which just ended it’s third and final season, is a treasure trove of positivity and theological/philosophical musings that really give this series a different feel from most others. There’s something wholesome (despite some adult content), pure, and inspirational about it. It hits us at our most human and vulnerable levels. It makes one laugh, cry, and reflect. It is a great show.

In one of the episodes, AFC Richmond has a chance to defeat a team and regain premier status after it had become relegated, meaning (for those not accustomed to U.K. Football) the team had lost its status in the premier league and was relegated to  the English Football League (EFL) Championship. Having done well throughout the season, this was their opportunity to really shine; however, none of the team members really believed they could win.

In fact, Ted had come to hear a phrase circling around the locker room as well as the offices and pub: “It’s the hope that kills you.” In other words, people seem to hold on to hope that they can defeat the odds. They hold on to hope that they can be David against their proverbial Goliaths; however, in reality, we all know that most Davids end up dead. That’s the way of the world. If one holds on to hope long enough, or so the cynics say, one will fall victim to defeat and the realization that all is hopeless.

That is a terrible way to think, but in this world it is the way things seem to work a majority of the time. Of course, that perception is really baseless because we really don’t know how things work a majority of the time; yet, we believe that all is hopeless because we cannot see the way that hope provides. In other words, it is due to our own blindness and an inability to see ways forward that we fail, not due to hope. Yes, we can fail in trying to attain things we hopefore; however, the real failure lies in not hoping at all.

That is exactly how Ted Lasso saw it. Sure, they could end up playing against their opponent and losing yet, if they played their hearts out, they could at least live with the fact that they tried. They could LIVE with that fact and try again the next time. If, however, they lost all hope they would not put in a 100% because what’s the point? Why try if you KNOW you are going to lose and all is hopeless?

It was then, in that realization, that Ted called them back to hope. He told them he didn’t like their phrase, “It’s the hope that kills you” very much because he believed it was hope that led you to salvation…to strive to be your very best…to attain things otherwise improbable. Ted told them that back where he’s from (Kansas) they also had a phrase or, more like, a question: “Do you believe in miracles?”

If you have hope in miracle, if you have hope that the improbable and even the impossible can happen because there is a Guiding Force above you, working in and through you to bring about the miracle you were created to be. Whether that is in athletics such as football or it is in mission and ministry within the church, each of us are called to be miracles. From the moment we were conceived we ARE miracles as life is never guaranteed to anyone. What’s more, since we are LVIING MIRACLES in this world, we are called to NOT ONLY believe, but live out our FAITH!

So, like Ted Lasso, I ask you this question: Do you believe in miracles? Do you believe that LIFE is a miracle and that, as such, you are a LIVING MIRACLE? If so, let me clue you into this: miracles exist to bring glory to God! That is our purpose and we can do that through whatever gifts and/or means God has given us! Let us not only believe in miracles, but BE MIRACLES in the world.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“I believe in hope. I believe in belief…Do you believe in miracles?” – Ted Lasso

PRAYER
Lord, help me to never lose my faith. Help my unbelief and give me the hope and faith that I need to move mountains in your name and for your glory. Amen.

Devotional

God’s People, part 279: Publius

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Read Acts 28:1-10

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“Fear swept through the crowd as they saw this happen. And they praised God for giving humans such authority.”  (Matthew 9:8, NLT)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

Part 279: Publius. The last devotion in this series focused on Paul’s journey on a ship that departed from Jerusalem under the command of Captain Julius. Paul, of course, was a prisoner who was being sent to Rome since he had appealed his case to the emperor. As has been mentioned, this did not mean that Nero Caesar would hear his case, but that his case would be heard the Roman court.

Julius had taken good care of Paul and showed him an exorbinent amount of trust and respect. In fact, he had so much trust that he had let Paul leave the ship to spend time with friends, which would’ve cost Julius his life had the prisoner escaped. Paul didn’t, however, proving that Julius was right to trust him.  During a major storm, Paul even comforted Julius and his crew by sharing the vision God had given him of their safety. While the ship wrecked, every last member of the crew, and all aboard, survived.

The Scripture for today picks up there. Paul, Julius and the crew find themselves safe on the island of Malta. The people on that island were incredibly kind to them while they were there. There was one incident, however, that caused the islanders to judge Paul as someone who may be under God’s curse. Paul was gathering sticks to put on the fire, when a poisonous snake popped out and bit his wrist. This was clearly a bad omen to the people of Malta and, truth be told, it should have been bad news to Paul too; however, it wasn’t. Instead, Paul shook the snake off and, hours later, was still alive and no worse for wear. The local folks changed their mind about Paul. Instead of being under God’s curse, this Paul must be God.

Following that Paul and his companions stayed at the estate of Publius, who was the chief official of the island. Publius took care of them during their stay, which lasted three days. As it turned out, Publius’ father was ill and, upon praying over and laying hands upon him, Publius’ father was healed. It was a miracle.

If the snake wasn’t enough to cause Paul to become famous on Malta, healing Publius’ father did. After hearing about that, all of the sick people of the town came to Paul to be healed and, as might be expected, they were healed. These miracles blessed the people of Malta so much that Paul and his fellow travelers were showered with honors and Julius, his crew, Paul, and his companions were given everything they needed to complete their trip.

This should challenge us. First, it was not Paul who performed the miracles; rather, it was God’s power working through Paul. How many of us open ourselves to the presence and the power of God? Second, miracles always serve a greater purpose than the miracle itself. In fact, miracles are a means to God’s end. Miracles reveal God to the people who experience them and they draw people closer into relationship with God. This is always the case in the Bible.

Finally, while we cannot be certain that Publius converted to the Christian faith (though there is a long-standing tradition that he did), it is clear that Publius was profoundly affected by the miracle as was the entire island of Malta. As Christians, we should reflect the times in which God has worked a miracle in our lives through someone else. We should reflect the times in which God worked miracles through us. We sould also pray that God may continue to use us as a vessel for His miracles. Let us be open to the Holy Spirit and be guided by God to be vessels of God’s miracles.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“I believe that miracles happen every day. Every person is a miracle. Every moment is a miracle. If only we can open our eyes, we’ll see God’s love everywhere.” – Bo Sanchez

PRAYER
Lord, what would you have me do today? Show me and I will obey. Amen.

Devotional

God’s People, part 246: Dorcas

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Read Acts 9:36-43

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.”  (Romans 12:1, NLT)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

Part 246: Dorcas. According to Luke, Tabitha (or Dorcas as she was known in Greek) was a Christian believer and someone that was kind, compassionate, and always serving others, especially the poor. She was a woman who lived by the very example of her Lord Jesus Christ and was, clearly, filled with the Holy Spirit. What a powerful witness she must have been to our Lord Jesus Christ.

So, it must come as a shock to learn that this sweet, kind, loving, compassionate and thoughtful woman found herself succumbing to a serious illness. How could a such a faithful follower of the Lord Jesus Christ die? How could God allow that to happen? Such questions lead us into a realm of theology known as theodicy: why does God allow sin, evil, pain, and suffering to happen to good people. Why do those things exist at all?

Before we progress anymore into Luke’s account, I want us to pause here. First, there is no answer that will satisfy why evil, sin, pain, and suffering exist. The search for solving the dilemma of theodicy has led people in different directions. Some form some pretty horrifying theologies to explain why God either causes or “allows bad things to happen.” Such theology has done much physical, spiritual, psychological and emotional damage to people. While some have found a safe haven in such theology as it seems to give their suffering a purpose, others have been further lost in their suffering as a result of a theology that locks them within it.

What’s more, that theology has lead people to develop and opposite and equally damning theology. “If I am forced to believe in a God who causes or allows evil to happen,” such a people say, “then I would rather just not believe in God. Thank you very much! Have a nice day.” It’s what leads people like outspoken anti-theist Dr. Richard Dawkins to proclaim, “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all of fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully”[1]

What’s important to understand is that much of this comes from a misunderstanding. Most people think that, because God is good, then only good things will ever happen to those who follow God. Yet, as can be seen in Acts, Scripture never promises that. Yes, God is good and wants the very best for us; however, we live in a broken world where people use their free will to turn away from God and follow their own selfish desires. That is sin, which in turn can lead to evil, pain, and suffering for self and for others.

If God were to simply end all sin and evil, what would be left of this world? I think we have a story in the Old Testament that points to what would exactly happen were God to do that: NOAH and the flood. Dawkins, and those like him, fail to realize that the story of Noah was written to provide an explanation as to why God is so patient with the evil and sin that we perpetuate out in the world.

Again, that may not exhaustively satisfy one’s thirst to discover an answer to Theodicy; however, it is also important to not miss the forest for the trees when it comes to stuff that is beyond our understanding. The presence of evil, sin, suffering and pain do not cancel out the possibility of God’s existence any more than they prove any sort of divine reason or purpose for them existing.

Back to Dorcas. Yes, she was a faithful servant who got ill and died. Like countless faithful people before and after her, she fell ill from a virus and died. Had people not been greedy to the point of their being impoverished people, might she had avoided getting ill? We’ll never know as we don’t know how she got ill. Beyond that, even if she hadn’t gotten ill and died then, she would have died eventually. That is a fact of life.

The truth is, unlike Dorcas, most people don’t get resurrected back to life immediately after dying. As with any miracle, her resurrection brought honor and glory to God and caused many people to believe in Dorcas’ Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This miracle, as with all miracles, was performed to glorify and bring others to Christ.

Let us remember what miracles are for and let us also learn to not only look to aggrandized signs as miracles. Miracles happen every day and they come in all shapes and sizes. Anything that brings people into a relationship with Jesus Christ is a miracle.

Dorcas, herself, was a miracle because her loving, compassionate, kind spirit brought people to Christ in life, just as much as in death. Nurses and other frontline workers are miracles as they selflessly risk their lives to save the lives of others and you better believe people are coming to know the glory of God as a result of it. So, instead of waiting around for miracles and signs, and instead of us wondering why God doesn’t do anything to eliminate sin and evil, let us be the miracles that God created us to be.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
How quickly we forget God’s great deliverances in our lives. How easily we take for granted the miracles he performed in our past.

PRAYER
Lord, help me to see the miracles in my life that have brought glory to you, and help me to be a miracle in the lives of others so that they may see your glory as well. Amen.

[1] Dawkins, Richard. The God Delusion. (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2008), 51.

Devotional

God’s People, part 245: Aeneas

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Read Acts 9:32-35

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“’Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!’ And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, ‘We’ve never seen anything like this before!’” (Mark 2:11-12, NLT)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

Part 245: Aeneas. Here again we come across a person who was named, but not much else is known about him. In the Bible there are three basic categories for people. First, there are the main characters where chapters, books, or multiple books are dedicated to describing who they were, what they taught or did, and why they are noteworthy. The second category are those who are merely mentioned by name, but not much else is said about them. The third category are those who remain nameless. There are plenty of those people, for instance, “the man born blind”, “the Samaritan woman at the well”, etc.).

With Aeneas, we have the second category.He is named; however, all that we really know about him is that hey had been a paralytic for eight years prior to being brought to Peter. With that said, that tidbit of information helps us enough to figure out what was going on in the passage. Once, we have a deeper understanding of the passage we can the see how it fits into the bigger picture.

So, let us look at the passage itself. Peter had been traveling place to place and decided, along the way, to visit the believers in Lydda. Today, that city is known by it’s Hebrew name, Lod; however, Lydda was the Greco-Roman name for it. It is located a little over 9 miles southeast of Tel Aviv. It was there, in Lydda, that Peter ran into a paralytic man who had been bedridden for eight years.

Peter told the man, upon meeting him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you! Get up and roll up your sleeping mat.” Following those words, Aeneas was instantly healed! What an amazing miracle for him and others to witness! One can imagine the kind of amazement that must have been filling those witnessing that miracle. In fact, Luke tells us that the entire city, upon seeing Aeneas walking around, turned to the Lord.

From this account we see a couple of things happening. First, we’ve seen this miracle before. This miracle parallels Jesus’ healing of the paralytic man. Instead of forgiving this man’s sins, however, Peter simply points the man to Jesus who, clearly, forgives his sins. “Jesus Christ heals you,” Peter proclaimed.

The second thing to note is this, we see the beginning of the fulfillment that the disciples would not only do what Jesus had done in the past, but they would surpass him. In this account, Peter not only did what Christ did in healing the paralytic man; however, he pointed people to Jesus and watched them believe en masse! Wow!

Finally, we see exactly the model for discipleship. We are called to follow Jesus, to learn from him, to imitate him and to allow the power of the Holy Spirit to work through us! When we do, when we genuinely put our faith in Christ to work through us, it is amazing the sorts of miracles that come about. With that said, let’s pause here. What’s the point of a miracle? That question is answered in this passage as well. Miracles lead people to recognize and turn to the Lord. They are not magic tricks, they’re not brought about by our own power or will; rather, they signal to those who witness them that God is near and real!

This should challenge us. We should not set out looking to be miracles workers, otherwise, we will fall into the trap of Simon magus. Rather, we should set out looking to be faithful in our service to Christ. Once we seek out faithfulness, we will find ourselves stepping up and out in ways we never knew possible. That alone, my friends, is miraculous! Just imagine what God can do in and through your faithfulness! Let us be challenged to be like Peter who was faithful to Christ and never saw someone as being too insignificant for his time and presence.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature.” – Augustine of Hippo

PRAYER
Lord, work through me in a way that witnesses to others your glory and your coming Kingdom. Amen.

Devotional

God’s People, part 219: Bridegroom

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Read John 2:1-12

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I AM!’” (John 8:58, NLT)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

Part 219: Bridegroom. When reading the Gospel of John, people tend to look at the miraculous signs of Jesus as mere miracles. This is partly because, in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), Jesus is shown performing many miracles such as healings, exorcisms, raising the dead, walking on water, and calming the seas. The whole of these miracles are a sign of the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy in Isaiah 61.

It is a mistake, however, to confuse the signs in the Gospel of John with ordinary miracles. In this particular Gospel, both signs, as opposed to miracles, are performed. What is the difference, one might ask? The difference is that miracles were commonplace and not exclusive to Jesus. They displayed the power of God, or the gods, through the person performing them; however, the person him/herself was no more than a mere human being. The signs of John, on the other hand, reveal God’s glory and identity in Jesus Christ. In other words, the signs point to WHO JESUS IS in relation to God: namely, God incarnate (aka God in the flesh).

John’s Gospel is a highly developed theology and it is laid out very liturgically, which is why it works so well with Good Friday tenebrae/stations of the cross services. It can be broken up into four different sections: Prologue (John 1:1-18), Book of Signs (1:19-12:50), Book of Glory (or Exaltation) (13:1-20:31), and Epilogue (chapter 21). The Gospel of John also contains a series of sevens. Seven signs (2:1-12; 4:46-54; 5:1-47; 6:1-4; 6:15-21; 9:1-41; 11:1-57), seven “I Am” statements (6:35; 8:12; 10:7, 9; 10:11, 14; 11:25; 14:6; 15:1, 5), seven “witnesses” (1:34; 1:49; 6:69; 10:30; 11:27; 20:28; 20:31), seven “word-images” of faith (1:12; 3:15-16; 4:14; 6:35-37; 7:37-38; 10:9; 10:16, 27), and seven “equalities” between Jesus and God the Father in John 5 (5:19-29).

The sign in the Scripture reading above is one of the most famous signs Jesus performed. We all know the story, Jesus was at a wedding with his family and disciples. Suddenly, the wine was gone as everyone had drank it up. Jesus’ mom approached him and “volun-told’ him to do something about the problem. Jesus didn’t really want to, but who can say no to their mother, so Jesus relented and told the servants to fill up the six empty jars of wine with water.

When I say jars, we are talking about stone vessels that could hold 20 to 30 gallons each. That’s a total of 120 to 180 gallons or nearly 1,000 bottles of wine. That’s an inordinate amount of wine for people who had already gone through the initial wine they had!

Once they had filled all vats to the brim, Jesus instructed them to take some out and give it to the master of ceremonies. Tasting that it was wine, he handed it to the bridegroom who was blown away by superior quality of the wine and exclaimed, “A host always serves the best wine first; then, when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine. But you have kept the best until now!” (John 2:10, NLT)

This was the first sign revealing God’s glory in Jesus Christ. As a result, the disciples believed in him. In fact, that is the purpose of signs, to point to ultimate reality. Signs give us direction on which way we need to go. In the context of Jesus’ signs, they point us to the realization that there is nothing greater in the world than what we find in Jesus. This was the proclamation of the bridegroom who tasted the wine and it was this sign that led Jesus’ initial disciples of truly believe in him.

The question for us is this, have we seen the signs? Have we seen the signs that point us to God in Jesus Christ? Have we tasted his wine and have we experienced the pure goodness that comes from a life in him? Let us be challenged to search for God’s signs in order that we might see Jesus Christ for who he truly is: our resurrected and ascended Lord God, the only-begotten Son, fully human and fully divine, who is of the same substance, begotten not made, coequal with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it…So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.”  The Beloved Disciple, in John 1:1-5, 14, New Living Translation

PRAYER
Lord, help me to see the signs in which you are revealing yourself to me so that I may grow in my believe and in my faithful response to you. Amen.

Devotional

God’s People, part 181: Lazarus

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Read John 11:1-44

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“Then the leading priests decided to kill Lazarus, too, for it was because of him that many of the people had deserted them and believed in Jesus.”  (John 12:10-11, NLT)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

Part 181: Lazarus. The account of Lazarus is on that is familiar to many people. Not to be confused with the poor man named Lazarus in Jesus’ parable in Luke, Lazarus is the brother of Martha and Mary. Not too much is known about him other than the fact that he and his sisters were friends and followers of Jesus. There is much speculation as to his age, as the Bible mentions that he was “living with his sisters”, indicating that Lazarus might have even been a boy living in their care.

Regardless of his age, he was someone Jesus had loved, and when he died Jesus was deeply moved to the point of weeping. In fact, the Scripture says that Jesus grew angry (or greatly disturbed) at his death. Of course, anger is a natural part of the grieving process and Jesus, being human, was grieving the loss of Lazarus. The scene is very touching, a beautiful display of Jesus’ humanity and a testament to the love he had for Lazarus, Mary, and Martha.

Lazarus’ death, and Jesus’ reaction to it, is a stark reminder of on very important fact regarding the world we live in: it is broken and evanescent. What’s more, life in this world is short, fragile and, eventually, everything in this world dies. What’s lamentable is that is not how God created the world; however, due to human sin, that is the very reality that the world fell into. If you think back to the wicked serpent’s words to Eve in the Garden of Eden, which was addressed in part 1 of this series, you will see the bigger picture.

The devil, through the serpent, told Eve that humans would not die if they disobeyed God and ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, but that humans would instead become like God. Those words were true to an extent, and the first humans did not immediately die, but became like God in having the ability to discern good from evil. With that said, they instantly became separated from God, and while they knew good from evil, they lacked in the wisdom to discern what was ULTIMATELY GOOD and ULTIMATELY EVIL.

What’s more, death immediately entered into their reality, even if they didn’t realize it at first. They were cut off from the tree of life, they had to kill animals to cover their nakedness, their oldest son killed their youngest son thus giving birth to murder. From that point on, the beautiful world that God created was never the same. As much as it was still beautiful, it was also filled with sin, evil, greed, corruption, oppression, murder and, ultimately, death for everything that lived in it.

We see this reality in what follows Lazarus being miraculously raised from the dead. Scripture says that, following his resurrection and six days prior to Jesus’ crucifixion, Lazaurs is at a supper that Martha prepared for Jesus. Many people from all over surrounded the home they were in because they wanted to see Jesus and this man whom he had raised. This, of course, disturbed the religious leaders and it says that they even considered murdering Lazarus because so many people were believing in Jesus as a result of him being raised from the dead.

While, we don’t have a ton of information on Lazarus, and it is impossible to tell what his strengths and weaknesses were as a human being, what we can do is come to an understanding of the world in which we all live. This world is so mired in sin that it would rather snuff out the presence of God than celebrate at the salvific work of God in and through others.

This should challenge us to pause and reflect on how we participate in trying to snuff out God’s work. In what ways have we allowed sin to dominate and control our lives, and in what ways have we participated in the world’s rejection of Jesus Christ. I pray that, in honest reflection, you open your heart to the ways in which you resist God so that you may respond to God’s grace and move more toward God and who God is calling you to be.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“The mystery of the Christian life is that Christ expects us to flee sin and the devil, but does not expect us to rid ourselves of either on this side of glory. Repentance is a way of life, and so is the pursuit of godliness. I wish every Christian could be reminded of these two things.” – Kevin DeYoung

PRAYER
Lord, expose my sin to me and cleanse me of it so that I might fully praise, worship and serve you. Amen.

Devotional

God’s People, part 74: Naaman

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Read 2 Kings 5:1-19

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“And many in Israel had leprosy in the time of the prophet Elisha, but the only one healed was Naaman, a Syrian.” (Luke 4:27 NLT)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

Part 74: Naaman. Having just read the Scripture above, you might be wondering why I am devoting a devotion on Naaman and, for that matter, why I included one on the widow of Zarephath. After all, it was the Hebrews that were God’s people, right? On the one hand, yes. Covenantally, God had a special relationship with the people of the tribes of Israel; however, every human being on earth was created by God. Thus, properly speaking, all people are God’s people. This truth is seen both in the Old and New Testaments, where God interacts, redeems, and saves people of other “Gentile” nations.

Naaman was the commander of the Aramaean army, under King Ben-Hadad II (aka King Hadadezer). Damascus Aram was the offical name of the kingdom, and was located in the area of what is now known as Damascus, Syria. Thus, Naaman was Aramaean or Syrian and not an Israelite at all; however, he ends up with an infectious skin disease. In that time period, such a disease was considered to be a sign that one was cursed by the gods, and so it was a shame upon Naaman and his family.

What is remarkable in this story is that Naaman, an Aramaean, turns to the Israelite prophet Elisha for help. A careful reading of the story shows just how remarkable this is. Naaman had invaded the Kingdom of Israel and took captives from it, including an Israelite girl as a maid for his wife. Naaman, the great Aramaean was, thus, an enemy of the Israelites.

What’s remarkable is that the maid that Naaman took as a captive is the one who suggested to his wife that he should go see the prophet Elisha. Talk about loving your enemy! What’s even more remarkable is that Naaman actually took her advice and sought out the prophet of his enemy. What a witness this unnamed Israelite maid was that day, speaking up out of concern for the one who enslaved her.

Of course, went to see Elisha in order that he might be healed, and he was willing to pay whatever it cost to be cured of the dreaded disease that was afflicting him. Elisha was more than willing to help him out; however, Naaman was disappointed when all that Elisha asked him to do was to bathe seven times in the Jordan river. “How could that possibly heal me”, he wondered? He was so disappointed and unimpressed, angry even, with Elisha and his request that he began to storm back to his kingdom dejected and still afflicted with leprosy.

Thankfully, Naaman had some wise officers surrounding him, and one of them reasoned with him. “If Elisha had asked you to do something difficult, you would have done it to be cured, wouldn’t you have? If so, then you should definitely obey him when he simply says, ‘Go was and be clean.’” Naaman, to his credit, listened to that officer. He went back to the Jordan River and washed in it seven times and was completely healed from the leprosy.

The story of Naaman’s healing should all cause us to pause and reflect. How many times have we sought God’s hope, healing and wholeness? How many of us have wished that God would just wave an arm over us and magically heal us of whatever is affecting us? How many of us become disappointed when God didn’t come through in the way we had hoped for? The question that follows these is this, has that caused you to lose faith and hope in God? Has it caused you to grow angry and to storm back to the barren land of hopelessness?

The challenge today is for us to reevaluate our faith. God IS WITH US, whether we open our eyes to see that. Healing is being offered to us, even if it does not come in the form we are looking for? Will we storm off, as Naaman originally did? Or will we, as Naaman eventually did, humble ourselves before God and have faith that God IS restoring us back to hope, healing and wholeness? Trust in God, place your faith in the Creator of all things and trust that whatever happens God is with you. Don’t come to God with expecations, but open to God’s presence and to all possibilities.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
Simple is often more…miraculous!

PRAYER
Lord, help me to find you in simplicity and to not overlook you because I am expecting something ore complicated. Amen.

Devotional

God’s People, part 72: Elisha

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Read 2 Kings 2:15-25

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“When the group of prophets from Jericho saw from a distance what happened, they exclaimed, “Elijah’s spirit rests upon Elisha!” And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.” (2 Kings 2:15 NLT)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

Part 72: Elisha. On Mount Horeb, while hiding away from Ahab and Jezebel for fear of his life, Elijah was instructed to appoing a successor to him. The man he was to appoint was named Elisha, son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah, who was evidently a farmer. When Elijah found him, he was plowing in a field.

For years following that calling, Elisha assisted Elijah in his work and learned from him. He was Elijah’s apprentice, as it were, and Elisha witnessed many of the great deeds of his mentor, and encountered many of the confrontations between Elijah and the wicked king and queen of Israel, Ahab and Jezebel.

When Elijah, according to Scripture, was taken up into heaven in a firey chariot, Elisha took over in Elijah’s place. Just prior to Elijah’s ascension into heaven, Elisha prayed to God to be given an double portion of Elijah’s spirit. While there is scholarly debate as to what Elijah meant by that prayer, for me it seems that Elisha was praying for even greater prophetic power than that of Elijah.

Indeed, Elisha was given great power and does many wonderful deeds. Elisha was considered to be a patriot because he lent his services to soldiers and kings. First and foremost, he was known as a wonder worker. He cleansed the infected waters of Jericho, and he multiplied oil for a widow who was being harrassed by a harsh creditor. Through petitions to God he was able to provide the birth of a son to a rich woman who had shown hospitality. He also later resurrected her son back to life after he had died.

Through God, Elisha cured the Syrian military commandar, Naaman, of his leprosy. He did these and performed many other mirculous signs. He was truly one of God’s people who, for the most part, remained faithful to God. Still, not everything that Elisha did seems to hold up to the God of love, mercy and grace.

For instance, in today’s scripture we come across the story of Elisha being mocked by a large group of children. Actually, the Hebrew word (נַעַר, pronounced na’ar) could mean children or it could mean people (young adult aged) who have no religion. Young adults who were, in essence, irreverent people. What were they mocking him over? Namely, they were making fun of the fact that he was bald. Yes, I feel his pain for sure; however, Elisha’s response to that seems hardly warranted. Indignant over their behavior, Elisha cursed them, which resulted in bears coming out of the forest and devouring each and everyone of them. Overkill much?

In that moment, Elisha let his pride and his anger take over and it caused him to do something that had horrific consequences. How many of us find ourselves cursing others out of anger? Perhaps when we are driving down the road, or when someone hurts our feelings, or when someone sins against us? How many of us curse people in those moments? When we do so, can we truly say we are behaving in a way that pleases God? Of course not! Let us learn from Elisha’s sin, repent of our own and, by the grace of God in Jesus Christ, learn to bless people (even if undeserving) rather than curse them.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“I say, if you are even angry with someone [without cause], you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.” – Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ (Matthew 5: 22 NLT)

PRAYER
Lord, allow me to find temperance when I am angry and give me the peace I need to respond to people who hurt me with blessings and not curses. Amen.