Tag Archive | Eternity

Realizing the Brevity of Life

During the month of July, I have been reading through the books of Psalms and Proverbs, and this morning’s reading included Psalm 90. I’ve been using the New Living Translation to get a fresh view of these Scriptures that I’ve read hundreds of times in the around fifty years that I’ve been a Christian.

Psalm 90 is the oldest of the Psalms. It was written by Moses, in the form of a prayer, and entitled From Everlasting to Everlasting. The first verses focus on the eternal nature of our God.

“Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” Psalm‬ ‭90:1-2‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Moses starts with a reminder that no matter what circumstances we face, we have a safe dwelling place in the Lord. The New Living Translation calls it a home. In Him we have shelter and protection from danger or distress. The Creator of the earth and heavens calls us to come to Him and be secure.

The next verses are Moses prayer of lament over the brevity of life and the judgment of sins. This section ends with a reminder that our “secret sins” are not a secret to God.

“You spread out our sins before you— our secret sins—and you see them all. We live our lives beneath your wrath, ending our years with a groan.” Psalm 90:8-9 NLT

‭‭Then we come to the two verses that jumped out at me as I was reading them this morning.

“Seventy years are given to us! Some even live to eighty. But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we fly away… Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.” Psalm‬ ‭90:10, 12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

” Seventy years are given to us!” These are the words that seemed to jump off the page as I was reading this morning. And before I looked forward, the words “teach us to number our days” came to mind. I was surprised to see that this truth was only two verses ahead. Because of the brevity of life, and the fact that I turned seventy-two in February, the thought came that I am “living on borrowed time.” The time when I will “fly away” to be in the presence of the Lord could be any time.

Remembering how fragile our life on earth is a good reminder to appreciate the years and months and even the days I still have to complete the purposes of God for my life. I need to value every moment and live wisely and with purpose. Time is short, so I need to live with a sense of urgency, seeking God’s wisdom for each day’s tasks.

At age seventy-two, I’m well aware of the brevity of life. As I read these verses, 2 Corinthians 4:16 came to mind. It begins with a reminder not to lose heart when our outer self, our physical bodies, begin wasting away. In my own life, over the last year I’ve seen the cartilage in my knees waste away so that my knees are now basically bone on bone. How do we not lose heart in this situation? The key is remembering this life is not all there is.

Living with chronic illnesses such as arthritis, lupus, fibromyalgia, and an endless list of other infirmities, as many of you who read my blog do, is living with watching your bodies slowly waste away. But the good news is that’s not where the Apostle Paul ended this verse. He added the encouragement that our inner self is being renewed day by day.

If you are a Christian, one who has been forgiven and who has accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, your inner self is renewed as you spend time in God’s life-giving presence. Colossians 3:10 (ESV) says we “have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” Through prayer and reading the Bible, God’s written Word, your inner self, the part of you that was made for eternity, is being renewed daily by the Holy Spirit.

No matter how many years you have left on this earth, they are a brief moment compared to eternity. Don’t despair when you see your outer self wasting away. Instead, turn your focus on renewing your inner self and on doing the things that will count for eternity.

Are You Weary in Doing Good?

Sep19

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians‬ ‭6:9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Sometimes life is filled with emotional ups and downs. This has been such a week in my life. On Tuesday, after over six weeks of waiting, I finally got a call from the home health agency my doctor’s office uses to schedule my physical therapy assessment. Then on Wednesday, this long-awaited appointment finally happened. I was encouraged and ready to get started as I waited for the therapist to arrive.

The therapy supervisor started by going over my medical history to get a clear picture of what was going on. He did the routine exam, then we started talking about what to expect as a result of therapy. I totally agreed with what he shared – I’ve had many sessions of physical therapy over the years, so I already knew this would not make major changes in my condition. The goal was to gain some strength in my leg muscles and help in setting up a daily exercise plan that would be safe to continue on my own. Yet by the time he left, I was feeling discouraged, thinking “what’s the use of going through the pain of doing PT when it’s not really going to make much difference anyhow.”

The temptation to grow weary and give up in the midst of my recent health challenges has been one of my biggest struggles. It’s also a struggle Joni Eareckson Tada has experienced and wrote about in her devotional book Holiness in Hidden Places, which I grabbed off my bookshelf this morning to encourage myself in the Lord.

“It happens whenever we find ourselves on an interminable, straight stretch in the same direction… it’s hard not to become weary. Someone once said the challenge of living is to develop a long obedience in the same direction. When it’s demanded, we can rise on occasion and be patient . . . as long as there are limits. But we bulk when patience is required over the long haul. We don’t much like endurance.”

So how do we keep going when we become weary? The key is a change of perspective. Stop focusing on what we’re walking through and turn our eyes onto the Lord and onto the fruit He is developing in our lives during this season. See your circumstances from an eternal perspective. Joni concluded her devotional on Galatians 6:9 with the following words.

”Your life is not a boring stretch of highway. It’s a straight line to heaven. And just look at the fields ripening along the way. Look at the tenacity and endurance. Look at the grains of righteousness. You’ll have quite a harvest . . . so don’t give up!”

On this Thankful Thursday, let’s turn our focus off the trials and onto the fruit that is growing in our lives as a result of them. As I shared on Tuesday, we are to “count it all joy” and to “let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James‬ ‭1:2-4‬) Let’s look at the daily struggles of life with an eternal perspective, remembering that “our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:17).

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Receiving the Word with Eagerness – and Caution

Jul17

“Now these Jews (from Berea) were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” Acts 17:11 ESV

As I work my way this week through Acts 17, I had an interesting study this morning in verses 10-15. This short section on Paul and Silas’ ministry in Berea included a helpful reminder of the attitude which pleases God whenever we hear a “new” teaching that is supposedly based on Scripture.

We live in a world where so much of what we hear on the radio, watch on Christian television, and hear or see on the internet raises questions in our minds. When that happens, we need to be like the Bereans, who “examined the Scriptures daily” to discern if what they were hearing was truth or error.

This isn’t talking about a casual reading but rather a curious and diligent search by looking at the Bible verse in it’s original context, maybe checking out some cross references and the meaning of some key words, done with sensitivity to the leading of the Holy Spirit. And this wasn’t something the Bereans did occasionally. It was a daily practice.

Charles Spurgeon compared this to making “a strict, close, diligent, curious search, such as men make when they are seeking gold.” Psalm 119:72 compares God’s Word to gold and silver, and yet so often we approach it casually, based on how it makes us feel.

The following quote from Our Daily Bread, written by Dave Branon, especially caught my interest since I’ve faced a similar situation many times.

“‘A deadly jungle spider has migrated to the US and is killing people.’ This was the story sent to me and to others on my friend’s email list. The story sounded plausible—lots of scientific names and real-life situations. But when I checked it out on reliable websites, I found it was not true—it was an Internet hoax. Its truth could only be verified by consulting a trusted source.

“A group of first-century believers living in Macedonia understood the importance of confirming what they were hearing. The folks in Berea “received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so’ (Acts 17:11). They were listening to Paul, and wanted to make sure what he was saying lined up with the teachings of the Old Testament. Perhaps he was telling them that there was evidence in the Old Testament that the Messiah would suffer and die for sin. They needed to verify that with the source.”

Like the Bereans, when we hear teaching that raises questions in our minds, we need to verify what we’re hearing, in much the same way as I’ve learned to verify “news” I see online to make sure it’s accurate and not “fake news.” We need to search the Scriptures for ourselves, check out reliable Bible study resources to gain a better understanding of what was actually being said, and allow the Holy Spirit to give us discernment between truth and error.

Facing the Unknown With a Known God

Jul9

Youth With A Mission, better known as YWAM (pronounced “WHY-wham”), is an interdenominational Christian missionary organization founded by Loren Cunningham and his wife Darlene in 1960.

While on a beach in Hawaii, looking out at the waves, Loren Cunningham saw a vision of a different kind of waves – waves of young people taking the gospel message to the ends of the earth. YWAM was founded as a result of that vision. Fifty-nine years after it began, YWAM continues as an effective tool for fulfilling the vision He gave Loren and the Great Commission of Acts 1:8 upon which it was based and of Jesus’ command in Matthew 28:19 to “go and make disciples of all nations.”

YWAM has had a special place in our lives. Some close friends of ours, Billy and Lyn Littlefield, went through the YWAM discipleship training program in the 1970s, and their training became the catalyst for a discipleship training program my husband Mitch and I were a part of in the early years of our marriage. A few years later, Mitch’s sister Shirley also spent time with YWAM.

I think the thing that has stuck with me more than anything else from these early years of our marriage and our indirect involvement with YWAM is the stated purpose of this Christian organization: To know God and to make Him known. I can’t think of a better description of the effective Christian life!

To Know God

John 17:3 says, “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” The Christian life begins with a personal relationship with God. Through faith in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, we receive forgiveness for our sins and come to know God and His Son Jesus Christ. J. I. Packer, author of the book Knowing God, said:

“There’s a difference between knowing God and knowing about God. When you truly know God, you have energy to serve Him, boldness to share Him, and contentment in Him.”

Knowing God begins when we become a part of His family through faith in Jesus Christ. But it is also a growing process as we come to know Him more fully through His written Word. As we read and study the Bible, we learn what He is like – a faithful God, loving us with a steadfast love, showing us mercy by not giving us what we deserve and grace by giving us what we don’t deserve. His names, attributes, promises and the total of Scripture progressively reveal the fullness of Who God is. This kind of knowing is a lifelong process.

To Make Him Know

Once we know God through a personal relationship with Him, Jesus has commissioned us to go into all the world and share that knowledge with others. Starting with our “Jerusalem” – the neighborhood, town or city where we live and moving out from there, we begin sharing the Gospel of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. As disciples, our call is two-fold, to grow personally in our knowledge of God and to be disciple-makers, introducing others to the good news that has changed our lives.

When An Unknown Future Looms Ahead

At no time in our lives is truly knowing God more important than when we face an unknown future. When things feel totally out of our control, knowing God gives us confidence that our circumstances aren’t out of God’s control. God has not promised to shield us from trouble. He has promised to be with us, whatever we must walk through.

Peter Marshall, pastor and chaplain of the United States Senate from 1947 to 1949, said: “God will not permit any troubles to come upon us, unless He has a specific plan by which great blessing can come out of the difficulty.”

Corrie ten Boom, survivor of Ravensbruck German concentration camp and Christian speaker and author of The Hiding Place, a memoir telling the story of her family’s hiding Jews from the Nazis, said: “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”

As I write this Teach Me Tuesday post, I’m preparing for an MRI on my left knee that has been swollen and extremely painful since the end of May. As I await this test, scheduled for today, I don’t know what lies ahead. So I’m choosing to focus on what I do know.

I do know God has promised to go before me and be with me, no matter what lies ahead, and He always keeps His promises. “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” Deuteronomy‬ ‭31:8‬ ‭
I do know God promises to work all things together for the good of those who are called according to His purposes, and I am one of the called. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Romans‬ ‭8:28‬ ‭
I do know that God uses the circumstances He allows to touch my life for His purposes, specifically, to conform me to the image of His Son. “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” Romans‬ ‭8:29‬
I do know God is good and I believe I will see God’s goodness while I’m still on this earth. “I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!” Psalms‬ ‭27:13‬ ‭
I do know God is faithful. He never promises and then fails to deliver. “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” Hebrews‬ ‭10:23‬ ‭
I do know God is love. God’s love is so great that He gave His only Son to bring us into fellowship with Him. With His love, He embraces each of us personally. “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 1 John‬ ‭4:9-10‬
I do know when this life is over I have an inheritance awaiting me in heaven. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,” 1 Peter‬ ‭1:3-4‬

As Corrie ten Boom said, if we know God we have no reason to fear the future. If we understand His love for us, we can know the difficulties we’re currently walking through will produce blessing, both in this life and in eternity when we go to be in His presence forever.

Entering the Trail to True Freedom

Jul4

Today is a special day in the United States of America, the birthday of our nation and the day we focus on the liberty and freedom God has blessed us with as a nation. But there is an even more essential freedom than political freedom.

As I was reading today in Breaking Free, by Beth Moore, I was reminded that the key to true freedom is knowing Jesus Christ personally. As Beth says, “Christ is the only entrance to the freedom trail.”

John 8: 36 expresses the truth so clearly: “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

One of the most beautiful elements of salvation is its simplicity. Christ has already done all the work on the cross. Your response includes four elements:

Recognize that you are a sinner and that there is nothing you can do to save yourself.
Acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and only He can save you.
Believe that His death on the Cross paid the penalty for your sin, that He died on your behalf
Surrender your life to Him and ask Him to be your Savior and Lord.

If you do not know Christ personally, there is no better time to make that decision than today. If you already know Christ, is your relationship distant, close and personal, or somewhere in the middle? Knowing Christ begins with an initial decision, but growing in our knowledge of Him is an on-going process. My prayer for this day our nation turns it’s focus on freedom is that each of you will experience the freedom that comes from personally knowing Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and growing daily in your knowledge of Him.

True Love Bible Reading Challenge: Week Three Summary

Feb21

Day 15: 1 Peter 1:3-8

After walking with Jesus for over forty-five years, I can honestly say my life has been very much like what is described in this passage. “For a little while” in light of eternity (though it definitely doesn’t feel like “a little while” when we’re in the midst of such a time), I “have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials” (verse 6). These trials have proved my faith, refined it by fire (verse 7). But verse 8 is equally true. I can also honestly say each time I have come through a difficult season, as my knowledge of my Lord has grown, my love for Him has also grown.

Day 16: Ephesians 3:14-21

These words of the apostle Paul, originally his petition for the Ephesian church, make a beautiful prayer for us to pray for our loved ones – and even for ourselves. Lord, fill me will power through Your Spirit in my inner being. Help me to be rooted and grounded in Your love. And give me the power to grasp the vastness of Your love, Jesus, to know how wide and long, high and deep this love You have for me really is. Help me to know this unknowable love more each day.

Day 17: Galatians 5:1-6

How do freedom in Christ, faith and love fit together in the Christian life? Jesus Christ made a way for us to walk in freedom, but that requires that we not allow ourselves to come back under a list of laws we must keep in order to be justified, declared righteous. Freedom is the result of placing our faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross, in that alone with nothing added. The early Galatian believers were saying Jesus’ sacrifice plus circumcision was enough, but Paul’s message in this passage was faith is enough. And in verse 6 he added an observable evidence that we are truly walking in faith: love. Love is the expression of our faith, love for God and love for others.

Day 18: Galatians 5:22-26

Sometimes we read familiar Scriptures half-heartedly, thinking we already know those verses. But this morning as I read this well known passage, my eyes were opened to a new truth. The fruit of the Spirit doesn’t automatically grow in our lives because we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior. Spiritual fruit grows in those who have chosen to crucify the flesh with its passions and desires, those who have put off the things that belong to the flesh and are seeking to keep in step with the Spirit. It’s growth requires our cooperation.

Day 19: 1 Peter 4:1-8

Suffering is a part of life on this earth. As believers in Christ, we are not exempted from difficulty, but we are called to live differently in the midst of it. Instead of living to fulfill our own desires, we are called to live for the will of God, recognizing we will stand before Jesus’ throne and give account to Him for how we have lives. We are to be alert and of sober mind, devoting ourselves to prayer. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, our sins have been covered, and in response we are called to love those around us deeply, following Jesus example and covering their sins.

Day 20: 1 Peter 3:8-12

At some time in our lives, all of us will receive evil or insult from another person. When this happens, we are faced with a choice. Will we repay evil with evil, insult with insult, or will we repay evil with blessing? Peter encourages us in these verses to turn from evil and do good, even to those who have hurt us.

Day 21: Ephesians 4:10-16

God doesn’t want His children to stay immature and childish – yes, child-like in our faith, but not childish and easily swayed by the lies of the enemy. He has placed us in the body of Christ with other believers, so that we may be built up and grow to maturity. This happens as we learn the truth through the study of God’s Word, apply it in our own lives, and share it with others. But there is an important key in these verses about how we are to share truth with others. Well known Bible teacher and author Warren W. Wiersbe said, “Truth without love is brutality, and love without truth is hypocrisy.” Lord, teach us to share truth balanced with love with one another.

Jesus, King Over All the Earth

Dec23

During Advent and the Christmas season, we celebrate Jesus’ birth as Immanuel, God with us. He came as a baby, grew to be a man, and walked among men spreading the good news of the kingdom of God.

During Lent and Easter, we reflect on the price Jesus paid for our sins through His suffering and death for our sins. And we rejoice that He is no longer in the grave. He was resurrected and is alive.

We have no official holiday to celebrate the next event in Jesus’ life – it is still in the future. But as the prophets foretold the events we celebrate at Christmas and Easter, this coming event, the second coming of Jesus to earth to gather His people to be a part of His eternal kingdom, has also been foretold in both the Old and New Testaments.

One prophetic Scripture that speaks of both Jesus’ coming as an infant and of His second coming to reign as King is Isaiah 9:6-7.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” Isaiah‬ ‭9:6-7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus Himself spoke of His return to earth.

“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” Luke‬ ‭21:25-27‬ ‭NIV‬

And the apostle Paul spoke of this still future event.

“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” ‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭4:16-17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus’ first coming was to make a way for our salvation, and that work was accomplished on the cross. Jesus’ body was laid in a borrowed tomb, but that tomb is now empty because Jesus is alive, ascended back to heaven, and now stands at the right hand of the throne of God. The signs of His second coming now sound like things we see on our daily news reports. His second coming is near.

This time, when Jesus returns to heaven, He will be crowned as King of kings and Lord of Lords. And we will be at His side as His bride, if we are now a living stone in His true Church.

I’m so grateful for this promise of Jesus’ return for His people. I have set my hope on the future coming of the Lord Jesus, and it strengthens me for the trials of life on this earth corrupted by sin.

“Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming.” 1 Peter‬ ‭1:13‬ ‭NIV

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Jesus, the Bridegroom

Dec21

The name Bridegroom is used often in the Bible as a metaphor for God, specifically for Jesus Christ. The Church is likened to a Bride with Christ as her Bridegroom, painting a clear picture of the special relationship we are privileged to have with Him. We are bound together by a covenant of grace that cannot be broken.

In our current culture, marriage is not known for permanency. But this was not God’s original plan. God’s guidelines for marriage were explicit. Marriage was meant to be ‘til death do us part’, as the traditional Protestant marriage vow states.

“’Haven’t you read… that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” Matthew‬ ‭19:4-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

With this understanding in mind, the bride-groom imagery of the Bible is a wonderful picture of the security of the children of God in their relationship with Him through faith in Jesus Christ. Once we have made a true commitment of our lives to Jesus, we can have assurance that we belong to Him. Yes, we still sin, we’re far from perfect. But we never again need to fear we are lost eternally.

Whether or not you are now happily married, if you have trusted Jesus as your Savior and Lord you will be a part of the Bride of Christ at the Wedding of the Lamb. In his gospel, John said, “The bride belongs to the bridegroom” (John‬ ‭3:29a‬ ‭NIV). If you belong to the Lamb, Jesus Christ, you will be a part of the Bride of Christ.

At the culmination of human history, Christ will come for His Bride, the Church.

“For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.” Revelation 19:7

The Bride, made up of all those who have believed in Jesus Christ as their Messiah through the ages, has made herself ready. Dressed in Christ’s own righteousness, she has grown in purity.

“But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.” 1 John‬ ‭3:2b-3‬ ‭NIV‬

Now, she has seen her Bridegroom face-to-face, and she is pure as He is pure. She is ready for her heavenly wedding. It’s time for the Wedding of the Lamb!

As I reflect on this name of Jesus Christ, I look forward to this day in the future. As part of the true Church, I know I will be included in the Bride. If you know Him as your personal Lord and Savior, you can have the same confidence.

I Am the Resurrection and the Life

Dec8

During the Christmas season, our focus is usually on the manger not the cross, but it’s important that we not lose sight of why Jesus came. Today’s name of Jesus reminds us of the fact that He died in our place to pay the penalty for our sins. But He is no longer on the cross – or even in the tomb. He is alive!

Let’s take a look at the setting where Jesus spoke these words about Himself. In Matthew, Mark and Luke, we learn of the special relationship Jesus had with Mary and Martha. Jesus loved Mary and Martha and had stayed in their home in the village of Bethany. The passage in John 11 that includes this name of Jesus tells us Lazarus was also a friend of Jesus and His disciples.

“So the sisters sent word to Jesus, ‘Lord, the one you love is sick.’… ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep’” John‬ ‭11:3, 11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

But in spite of receiving word from Mary and Martha about Lazarus’ illness, Jesus did not immediately go to him. Since Jesus always did what He knew to be the will of the Father, this was apparently by God’s leading. Jesus’ words to the disciples in John 11:14-15 explain at least one purpose behind the delay.

“So then he told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.‘”

‭Verse 17 tells us what happened during the purposeful delay.

“On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.”

When Martha hears Jesus has arrived, she greets Him with some solemn words (verses 21-22).

“’Lord,’ Martha said to Jesus, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.’”

This is the setting in which these well known words were spoken.

“Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’Martha answered, ‘I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?‘”John‬ ‭11:23-26‬ ‭NIV‬‬

When Jesus spoke to Martha that day, He was telling her that a miracle was about to take place. Her beloved brother would be raised from the dead. But the meaning of these words goes beyond that. In essence, Jesus was saying, “The whole power to restore, impart and maintain life resides in Me.”

Today, I am grateful that Jesus died for my sins. But I’m also grateful that He is my Resurrected Lord. If you don’t know Him as your sin-bearer and Living Lord, don’t let Christmas pass without coming to Him for salvation. Confess you are a sinner, believe in His finished work on the cross, receive His forgiveness, and surrender your life to Him as Lord. Your eternity depends on this decision, and Christmas is the perfect time to make it.

Jesus: The Bread of Life

Dec4

Today, we usually think of bread as an add-on to a meal, but in Jesus’ time bread was an essential of life. In fact, bread was the one thing necessary to sustain life.

When Jesus said “I am the bread of life,” I wonder how many of those listening to Him had been there the day before when Jesus had miraculously fed the 5,000 with only five barley loaves and two fish? The text seems to indicate that those who experienced this miracle are the same ones who are listening to Jesus’ words the next day. But Jesus saw beneath the surface, into their hearts, and He recognized they were seeking Him not because they wanted what He came to give but because they ate their fill of the loaves. Their eyes were on the miracle, not the miracle worker.

In John 6:27, Jesus says, “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.” This spiritual food was what Jesus had in mind when He said, “I am the bread of life.” This is the bread that satisfies, that leads to life eternal.

Jesus, You are the true bread of life, the bread that sustains us no matter what we face in this life. Thank You for giving Your flesh as the bread that gives us life.