One of the greatest paradoxes of faith is spoken of by Jesus in the three Gospel accounts from today's reading: in order to gain your life you have to lose it. Losing your life means something different to every person, but it ultimately comes down to surrendering oneself to the Lordship of Christ. It's a daily decision to say, "not my will, but ... [Continue Reading]
The crowds disappear (John 6)
As Jesus discussed the realities of following Him, the crowds got a whole lot smaller. The fact is, following Jesus isn't easy. Living the way He taught people to live isn't easy. Last week I was listening to a sermon that was forwarded to me via email, and the speaker commented that one of the biggest disservices done to faith in America is ... [Continue Reading]
Oops!
I just realized that I accidentally skipped over the reading for March 22nd. So today I made a post on that reading, and I corrected the dates of the other readings so as to reduce the confusion. You can visit the post for the March 22nd reading by clicking here. Sorry about the mix-up! All posts should have the correct dates attached to them ... [Continue Reading]
For whom did Jesus come? (Matthew 15; Mark 7)
In both Matthew 15 and Mark 7 readers are confronted by a very unusual story: a foreign woman begs Jesus to cast a demon out of her daughter. It seems like Jesus would honor the request as He did for countless others, but He instead speaks harsh words to her about not taking the children's bread and feeding it to the dogs. If you've read many of ... [Continue Reading]
Keep your eyes on Jesus (Matthew 14; Mark 6; Luke 9:1-17)
One night as the disciples were traveling on water, they saw what appeared to be a ghost in the distance. In reality it was Jesus walking across the water. Peter, being the one who constantly leapt before he looked, asked Jesus if he could walk on water too. Can you imagine making such a request? But Peter did, and Jesus invited him out. ... [Continue Reading]
The Reality of Following Christ (Matthew 9-10)
When Jesus sent out the disciples to do ministry among the people, He warned them of the costs of following Him. In short, He let them know that doing His will was not a popular activity and that those who opted to do so would face persecution. I wonder how many people in our American churches suffer from persecution. It seems that those who are true ... [Continue Reading]
The difference between knowledge and surrender (Matthew 8:14-34; Mark 4-5)
It is easy, sometimes, to confuse knowledge of Christ with surrender to Christ. Some people know about Jesus, but they haven't surrendered their lives to Him. A case in point is the situation of the demon-possessed man in the country of the Gerasenes. When Jesus approaches the man, the demon speaks out: "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son ... [Continue Reading]
What are you willing to sacrifice? (Matthew 13; Luke 8)
Jesus tells a story in Matthew 13 about a man who finds a buried treasure in a field. He quickly goes and sells all he owns so he can purchase the field. The man does not see his sacrifice as a burden, but he sees it as joy. Jesus tells the listeners that the kingdom of heaven is like that treasure. Which one of us wouldn't sell all of his ... [Continue Reading]
Quite the dinner guest (Matthew 12:22-50; Luke 11)
Can you imagine how you would respond if you invited a traveling preacher into your home for dinner, and while you were sitting at the table the guy started calling you a hypocrite and telling you that your fake front wasn't fooling him? My guess is you probably wouldn't be very happy about that, and I don't think the Pharisee who invited Jesus over was ... [Continue Reading]
Show me the evidence (Matthew 11)
Have you ever found someone who, when he or she hears about Christ, wants to see the evidence to support that God is real? Even in my own life, I have wondered why miracles don't happen to the same capacity that they did when Jesus walked the earth. Wouldn't God want us to see physical evidence of His existence so that people would believe? The ... [Continue Reading]
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