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Monday Minute in the Word – “Are You the One?”

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I really needed a new purse. The unsightly frayed strap and broken zipper proved it. So, I headed to Steinmart. I love Steinmart. Two hours and a “few” dollars later I emerged. I brought home shoes, jeans, and a couple of tops, but no purse. I went shopping to replace my broken purse. I failed my task because I was distracted. I lost my focus.

Trials can cause doubt

Sometimes our earthly circumstances distract us. The temporary trials and difficulties of life cause us to lose our focus on Christ. Even John the Baptist struggled with this:

When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” 4 Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. 6 Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” Matthew 11:2-6, NIV

John had baptized Jesus and heralded His arrival. He had committed his life to obeying God no matter the cost. His obedience got him thrown in prison. Faced with severe suffering, he needed reassurance. The circumstances were not what he had expected. Did he get it wrong?

Allow Jesus to strengthen your faith

Jesus reminded John of the truth.

I am the One who’ve been waiting for. The miracles prove it. Stand firm through these trials and you will be blessed.

Perhaps your circumstances raise questions in your mind. Does God care? Is He watching? Is He still there?

Bring your questions to Jesus. Go back to what you know to be true. Search God’s Word for His promises. He loves you. He knows your pain. He will strengthen you in the midst of your trials.

What questions do you have for Jesus today?

What truths in God’s Word do you need to be reminded of?

This post linked to Faith Filled Friday at BeholdingGlory.com

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Famous Last Words – Criminal on the Cross

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My husband really enjoys this Cajun restaurant not far from our home. The first time I went with him I didn’t like what I ordered, but I thought it must have been just that dish. Since Wayne likes the place, I decided I should give it another try. In fact, I tried it a third time for good measure. Three strikes and that restaurant is out for me.

How could two people – who usually agree on most things – form such a different opinion from the same basic experience? I don’t understand it, but I really don’t understand how the two criminals that were crucified on either side of Jesus witnessed the same Savior and made such drastically different decisions.

39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Luke 23:39-43, NIV

The two criminals both saw Jesus’ response to the crowd, the soldiers, and the Jewish leaders. They both had heard of His miracles and teaching. Yet in their dying moments, one rejected Him and one recognized Him as King. With his last words, the repentant sinner accepted Jesus as his Savior. Then he opened his eyes in paradise.

Don’t wait until your last breath to give you life to Jesus. Do you know Him as Lord and Savior?

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Monday Minute in the Word – Refuge in the Storm

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One day many years ago, I made the four-hour drive with my baby daughter to visit my parents. The weather turned nasty as we entered the city. The heavy rain made visibility low, but what concerned me even more was the way the road signs whipped around in the wind. Just ahead I noticed several cars had taken shelter under a concrete overpass, so I joined them.

After a few minutes the wind died down and the rain eased. I followed the other cars back onto the road and continued to my parents’ house. When I arrived they were anxiously waiting for me on the front porch. It seems a tornado had just touched down not far from where we had been.

Later I learned that an overpass is one of the worst places to take shelter from a tornado. Thankfully, we had not been in the tornado’s direct path. An overpass may not be a place of safety in a storm, but our God is always a safe place of refuge.

Let all that I am wait quietly before God,
for my hope is in him.
6 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress where I will not be shaken.
7 My victory and honor come from God alone.
He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.
8 O my people, trust in him at all times.
Pour out your heart to him,
for God is our refuge. Psalm 62:5-8, NLT

None of us escape difficulties and trials. At one time or another each of us will face one of life’s storms. Where will you take refuge when it hits? As I contemplated the truth that God is my place of safety, I noticed four ways I can take refuge in Him:

  1. Wait quietly for God to save (vs. 5)
  2. Acknowledge that in Him I have reason to hope (vs. 5)
  3. Purposefully place my trust in Him (8)
  4. Pour out my heart to Him (8)

Are you in the midst of a violent storm right now? Where is your place of safety?

In what ways can you purposefully place your trust in God?

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Famous Last Words – Anna

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Have you ever noticed that many older Christians “retire” from serving God? Once they aren’t working or their kids are grown or they can’t get around like they used to, they step back from active involvement in ministry. They continue to attend church, but they pretty much become a Christian spectator. (Lord, I’m praying already that this won’t be me.)

Anna, the Jewish prophetess, is a great example for all of us as we get older. (I know, some of us are older than others.) We meet Anna in the temple not long after the birth of Jesus. Joseph and Mary took Jesus there to observe all the ceremonies required by Jewish law.

36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

Luke 2:36-38, NIV

Although some scholars think Anna could have been more than 100 years old, she had not retired. She constantly served God and His people at the temple. Although we don’t have a specific quote from Anna, the Bible does tell us that after she met Jesus, she “spoke about the child to all…”

Anna faithfully witnessed about Jesus Christ to all who would listen. The implication is she continued witnessing until her death. I can imagine that the last words on her lips may have been, “Jesus is the redemption of Israel!”

Will you testify about your Savior with your dying words? Who do you need to tell?

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Monday Minute in the Word – Calming the Storm, Mark 4:35-41

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On the first Tuesday in April, thunder storms and tornadoes slammed their way across northeast Texas. My daughter and I huddled in her living room, just north of Dallas, with my new grandson, anxiously watching the weather to know if we needed to take shelter. At his office in Arlington, my son-in-law and his co-workers were sent to a “safe area” while a tornado devastated that area of the metropolis.

Today, I thought again of our anxious moments when I read about Jesus and His fearful disciples. They were crossing the Sea of Galilee when a “furious squall came up.” Jesus slept soundly in the stern, but the Twelve were terrified:

 35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” Mark 4:35-41

I’ve read this passage many times and every time my first thought is: “I’d be afraid too!” But then God reminds me of the truth that Jesus tried to teach them. The waves may have been breaking over the side of the boat, but the maker of the waves was in the boat. It merely seemed that the storm had the upper hand. In fact, Jesus was so confident in His power over the storm He could sleep while it benignly blustered.

This lesson is particularly applicable to my life today. I feel like I am hanging onto the sides of the boat while the storm rages around me. Yet I continuously remind myself that Jesus commands the storm. “Even the wind and the waves obey Him!” So I tune my ears and wait to hear, “Peace, be still!”

What storm rages around you today that seems to have the upper hand?

Who is more powerful than this – and every – turbulent circumstance of life?

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