No Doubt
A beautiful day with sunshine all around, Father – a much-needed gift. Central Ohio in winter does not get many of those, so when we get them, I will surely give credit where credit is due!
Luke 24:13-34 (<<click here to read the passage)
At some time, we’ve all probably used the phrase “no doubt”.
Macmillandictionary.com defines it as follows:
1) used for emphasizing that something seems certain or very likely
No doubt she’ll tell me everything when she’s ready.
2) used for showing that you accept something is probably true, but this does not change your opinion
No doubt she’s very nice, but I just don’t like her.
I find it interesting that the second definition contains both certainty and doubt – how is that even possible? But we do it all the time! Truth can be staring us right in the face, yet many times we will have nothing of it! “I believe what I believe, and no one is going to change my mind!”
Everything the two Emmaus bound followers of Jesus shared with the risen Lord Jesus Himself was full of that conflicting mindset set, no doubt! There was an abundance of certainty – He was a prophet, powerful miracles, a mighty teacher.
But there was ample doubt, as well. We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel. (emphasis mine) Even when the women who went to the tomb, flat out were told that Jesus had risen – there was doubt. When they passed the info along to those in hiding, it was labeled as amazing, yet some ran to the tomb to find out for themselves and all they really determined was, “Yep, his body was gone…”
Jesus’ words to them (though they were kept from recognizing Who it was that spoke to them) are a clear message to us, too.
“O foolish men, and slow of heart to trust and believe in everything that the prophets have spoken!” v25 AMP
We know with certainty who Jesus is but living it out is something else altogether.
We know with certainty that Jesus himself said he was coming back but living our lives in such a way that we truly believe He could return at any moment is something else altogether.
We are most assuredly fools…but just as Jesus didn’t give up on the disheartened travelers, He doesn’t give up on us either. His patience goes farther than we can begin to comprehend much less emulate. That’s why it’s often referred to as longsuffering. Love fills it all from the beginning and it never ends.
Lord Jesus, help us to cast aside our personal doubt and embrace the certainty of it all. Amen.
Jan 21st, 2021, Thurs, 1:07 pm
Too Good to Be True?
As I sit here to begin our time together, Father, I am once again listening to Christmas music! I know it is almost a month past, but everything was so out of the norm this year, that its warmth and nostalgia accompany the comfort You afford quite well!
Luke 24:1-12 (<<click here to read the passage)
Some things in life take a while to come about. Karen and I tied the knot in June of 1986 whereupon she moved out to St. Louis where I was serving as a Minister of Music. I was there one more year. We then moved to Marietta, Ohio, where I served a church for one year total. After that, we moved to Columbus, Ohio where I began working at a Christian bookstore.
So, we had two addresses in St. Louis, country-raised Karen was really uncomfortable with people living on top of her. (We started off in an old three-story apartment complex.) We then had one in Marietta and one in Columbus. All along we had been scrimping and saving to be able to afford a home of our own. So, in the late summer of 1989, we were finally able to move into our fifth address in five years of marriage! It was a long time coming and it seemed too good to be true, but we became homeowners and still live in the same house, 30+ years later!
Peter had been a part of Jesus’ life for over three years. They had traveled extensively. He had listened and seen so many things. He had come to love Jesus as many of Jesus’ followers had but…Peter wasn’t just any follower.
Now maybe on occasion, Peter felt he was unique…just like everybody else – but Jesus knew who Peter was. And in spite of who Peter was, Jesus loved him, too. He knew not only the Peter that everybody else saw and knew but He also knew the Peter deep down inside that maybe even Peter struggled to understand. And most important of all, Jesus knew who Peter could be.
Up to this point in Peter’s story, there had been quite a few more downs than there had been ups. He had been the first to vocalize who Jesus was, the promised Messiah. But oft than not he was quite adept at inserting his foot into his mouth.
But at this moment in Peter’s life, everything seemed to have fallen through his hands. Jesus was gone. He and the other disciples were in hiding with fears that they would be next. Then seemingly out of nowhere Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and several other women came and told the apostles of their experience with the two men…clothed in dazzling robes.
But the story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn’t believe it. It was just too good to be true…wasn’t it?
However, Peter jumped up and ran to the tomb to look. Stooping, he peered in and saw the empty linen wrappings; then he went home again, wondering what had happened.
I may have seemed too good to be true, but true it was and within a few hours they would believe, as well!
Lord Jesus, doubt is all about us and though it may seem too good to be true, You are alive! May we cast aside that doubt sooner rather than later.
Seek the Lord while He may be found;
Call on Him [for salvation] while He is near.
Let the wicked leave (behind) his way
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
And let him return to the Lord,
And He will have compassion (mercy) on him,
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon. Isaiah 55:6-7 AMP
Jan 20th, 2021, Wed, 4:31 pm
It’s OK to Lament
Sorrowing Old Man (At Eternity’s Gate) by Vincent van Gogh
Father, I humbly lay prostrate before You. You, and You alone, are God of all and God over all, myself included. Even if humanity will not admit it, that is the way it has been, the way it is, and the way it will always be. May we allow ourselves to acquiesce – to concede – to Your sovereignty over all of creation. May we allow You to set us straight when we are off-kilter. We know You love us, no matter where we find ourselves, or where we have allowed ourselves to be. Envelope us in Your arms that we may have no doubt that Your love knows no bounds. Direct our steps each day, from beginning to end, for each of them gives us the opportunity to start afresh.
Lamentations 3:22-24 is a passage of great encouragement.
The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
…..His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness;
…..is mercies begin afresh each morning.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;
…..therefore, I will hope in him!” NLT
In this crazy world, I would encourage you to cling to God. He can bring you security like no other can. We know not what the morrow may bring, but we know He will be there, regardless. Our hope should rest in Him alone…but no this it’s OK to lament. He’s a big God, He can handle it.
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Some time back I came across BibleProject (<<click this link for their website), a nonprofit ed-tech organization and animation studio that produces 100% free Bible videos, podcasts, blogs, classes, and educational Bible resources to help make the biblical story accessible to everyone, everywhere.
I would encourage you to watch this short video on the Book of Lamentations they have put together.
Jan 19th, 2021, Tues, 6:55 pm
Glorious Prism of Color
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
….Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him! Psalm 34:1-3 NLT
Luke 24:1-12 (<<click here to read the passage)
Reading through today’s Bible study notes, a humorous meme popped into my head. I looked up keywords thinking a story might be behind the meme. Well, I don’t know if this story started it all, but I have to say I was surprised, to say the least, at what I found!
I found the “story” on the website of MeatEater, Inc. (<<click on the link to check it out), an outdoor lifestyle company that appeals to hunters and non-hunters alike on topics of hunting, fishing, recipes, and conservation. The morbid article I skimmed through was entitled WHEN HUNTERS FIND DEAD PEOPLE…uh, yeah… It basically talked about how hunters regularly find bodies, many times helping to solve mysteries of missing persons, some who died for fairly innocent reasons and others who had fallen victim to nefarious ne’er-do-wells. The following quote is from the article.
Police say hunters are more likely to spot things most people overlook in the woods. “Good hunters have the game eye,” said Kyle Rustick, a policeman in Antigo, Wisconsin. “They won’t see a ketchup bottle in front of them inside the fridge, but they can pick out a buck’s antler tip at 200 yards and identify anything out of place in the woods.”
In other words, we see what we want to see. In today’s passage Luke the women who had journeyed to the tomb where Jesus and been laid were surprised by “two men…clothed in dazzling robes” (recollections found in other Gospels referred to them as angels). These “men” asked,
“Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? v5
The rest of the Bible study note is what caught my eye!
Often we run into people who are looking for God among the dead. They study the Bible as a mere historical document and go to church as if going to a memorial service. But Jesus is not among the dead he lives! He reigns in the hearts of Christians, and he is the head of his church. Do you look for Jesus among the living? Do you expect him to be active in the world and in the church? Look for signs of his power—they are all around you.
As we live our everyday lives, can we answer those last two questions in the affirmative? We plod through life, day after day, and for many of us our goal is just to get to the end of the day in one piece – and oft times that is challenging enough. How many of us see the world in grayscale, when in reality life is to be lived in a prism of color? In the last half of John 10:10, Jesus makes this glorious statement,
I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows]. AMP
We may expect Jesus to be active in our world but, and here’s what it really boils down to, do you look for Him in your life? Do you look for His activity in your home? At school? At work? In the grocery store? At the post office? Everywhere!
Or are we so blinded by the blandness of life that we have come to expect to find only grayscale visions? Jesus extends to us so much more if we will but see. Let the glorious prism of color fill our lives!
Jan 18th, 2021, Mon, 8:36 pm
Just Pennies
I will praise the Lord at all times.
….I will constantly speak his praises.
I will boast only in the Lord;
….let all who are helpless take heart.
Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness;
….let us exalt his name together. Psalm 34:1-3 NLT
Luke 23:55-56 (<<click here to read the passage)
Do you still pick up pennies if you find one in a parking lot or on the sidewalk? I do! Yeah, by itself it’s not worth a whole lot but add it to ninety-nine other pennies and you have a dollar! I have one of those jars that adds coins up as you put them in. Admittedly I’ve put in nickels, dimes, and quarters along with pennies but at the moment I need just 561 more pennies and I’ll have $100!
There are many examples in Scripture that speak of how small things and small people (at least in their own eyes) make great impacts in God’s Kingdom. These two verses in Luke 23 speak of just such an instance.
The characters in this passage were of little significance to the world around them but they chose to do what they could. To many, what they did was of little consequence but over 2,000 years later we know what they did because what is done for Christ is eternal, not just temporary. And Luke inspired by the Holy Spirit, included their acts in his writings so that we can remember.
My Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation has this to say about them.
These women could not do “great” things for Jesus—they were not permitted to stand up before the Jewish high council or the Roman governor and testify on his behalf-but they did what they could. They stayed at the cross when most of the disciples had fled, and they got ready to anoint their Lord’s body. Because of their devotion, they were the first to know about the Resurrection.
There are people in our world who have made great, eternal impacts on the Kingdom. We all know of John Wesley, Fanny Crosby, Dwight L. Moody, Billy Graham, and a myriad of others who did just that! But we can all name people in our own lives who influenced us. And probably none of them are remembered by anyone for swaying multitudes.
For whatever reason, I don’t remember a lot of things from my youth. But some things do stick out in my mind. These names won’t mean a thing to any of you, but they mean something to me.
- Miss Fleshman – my first-grade teacher in Quick, WV
- Bob Paris – a mattress factory owner and leader in my church in Archdale, NC
- Zelma Woodruff – I mowed her grass. She was a leader in my church in Mason, OH
- Ernie Carr – a faithful, loving man who loved and served his pastor and family in Parsons, WV
- Tom Lasley – the first pastor I had the privilege to serve under – Brandon, OH
In the world’s eyes, these people may be just pennies. They may be small, or after all these years later, nonexistent but that is not the case in God’s eyes. Each and everyone one of them is (not just was!) a cherished child of His!
As believers, we may feel we can’t do much for Jesus. But we are called to take advantage of the opportunities given us, doing what we can do and not worrying about what we cannot do. God will bless our efforts for Him, big or small.
Jan 17th, 2021, Sun, 7:58 pm