Author: Kerry

The weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.
1 Corinthians 1:25

Surprise

One of the big stories coming out of this year’s Winter Olympics is the story of Ester Ledecka. Ester is a champion snowboarder. When it comes to skiing, however, she is not very experienced. So, when she decided also to compete as a downhill skier (on borrowed skis, no less), no one gave her a chance. After all, there were so many other skiers who knew how to attack the hill far better than she did. By the time it was her turn to ski, the TV broadcasters had already moved on to other events.

But then came the big surprise. Ester Ledecka won the Olympic gold medal. As a result, one of the enduring images from these Winter Games is a picture of Ester’s stunned face at the end of her run as she slowly realized what had just happened. Some have theorized that it was Ester’s lack of experience which gave her an edge. It’s possible that her lack of experience caused her to attack the hill in a different way. If so, then Ester’s perceived weakness as a skier, was not a weakness at all.

The image of a man dying by means of crucifixion is not an image that communicates strength. Instead, it communicates weakness, humiliation, defeat, and despair. No one would look at such an image and think it was an answer for anything.

But then comes the big surprise. The perceived weakness of Jesus on a cross is not a weakness at all. As it turns out, the Son of God on a cross is the only thing strong enough to wash clean the collective lifetimes of all of our sinful failures. It is the only thing strong enough to destroy our deepest fears and to carry our greatest hopes. It is the only thing strong enough to change your eternity and mine.

And the surprise continues. Every day the message of Christ crucified continues to create the miracle of faith in Jesus as Savior. Every day it continues to bond us closer to him and his promises. Every day it continues to season our hearts with courage, strength, persistence, and endurance. And every day it continues to season our hearts with the boldness of joy.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, season my heart in the message of the cross. Let the life-changing surprise of your gospel continue to refresh my relationship with you. Amen.

After [Jesus] was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
John 2:22

Puzzle Pieces

Puzzles can be fun. They can also be frustrating. If anything, they require patience and persistence. Not only do all the pieces have to be identified, they also must be put together correctly.

For many people Jesus’ life appeared to be a puzzle. They tried to put the pieces together. Unfortunately, they didn’t do it correctly. In the end they came up with the wrong picture.

For the disciples of Jesus, the pieces eventually all came together, but it took the final piece of the resurrection to do it. Then they knew, and believed everything Jesus said was true.

It is also important for us that all the pieces of Jesus’ life come together in the right way. But in our sinful weakness, we become impatience and fail to understand Jesus. An unanswered prayer may lead us to doubt Jesus’ wisdom. A disaster may make us question his goodness. Just about any difficulty or illness may cause us to wonder about his love.

The problem isn’t with Jesus, or with his wisdom, goodness, and love. It rests with us. We fail to understand how all the pieces fit together.

We need to rely on what Jesus has said. From the Scriptures we realize how he faithfully completed all he said he would do. From the Scriptures we can understand not one word or gracious promise has ever failed. From the Scriptures we can clearly see what he has done for our rescue. He has fulfilled every righteous requirement on our behalf. He has suffered the shameful treatment and mockery we deserved. He has even sacrificed his life as our substitute to give us eternal life. When we take the time to consider all he has done for us, all the pieces come together. The life of Jesus is not a puzzle with missing pieces. It is a beautiful picture of him as our Savior, made complete by his faithful Word.

Prayer:
O gracious Lord, open my eyes to see all you have done for me. Increase my faith to trust that you will always keep your Word. Give me joy in knowing that you hold me in your loving hands. Amen.

As [Jesus] went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam”(this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. … Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.” Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.” Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
John 9:1-7,35-38

A Miracle

“Why doesn’t Jesus ever do stuff like this for me?”

Do you ever find yourself asking that question after reading a Bible story like this one? There he was—a man who had been blind since birth—and just like that, Jesus restores his sight! His greatest problem fixed in a flash. What a miracle!

But don’t you have similar problems in your life? You may not be physically blind, but what about your other health problems? What about your emotional problems? Your financial problems? Your relationship problems? Jesus certainly has the power to fix those problems too, doesn’t he? You wonder, “Why doesn’t Jesus ever do stuff like this for me?”

When you find yourself asking that question, consider this: Was this man’s physical blindness really his greatest problem? Jesus makes it clear that it was not. Even after restoring his physical sight, Jesus seeks out this no longer blind man once again in order to fix a far greater problem—a problem that every single human being is born with—spiritual blindness. This man could not see Jesus as his Savior from sin.

So, what did Jesus do for him? Jesus opened his eyes again. Only this time Jesus did not grant physical sight; he granted spiritual sight. Jesus caused this man to see what he could not see before—that Jesus, “the light of the world,” was his Savior. “Lord, I believe,” was the man’s simple confession of faith. Through it, he now possessed all the blessings that come through faith in Christ: the forgiveness of sins, the comfort of salvation, and the certain hope of eternal life. What a miracle!

Why doesn’t Jesus ever do stuff like this for you? Dear friend, he has! For you, too, were born in the same helpless condition—spiritually blind, stuck in the darkness of unbelief, and unable to see Jesus as your Savior. But then Jesus performed a miracle in your life. Through the waters of your baptism and the message of his Word, Jesus opened up your eyes. He brought you out of the darkness of unbelief, granting you spiritual sight. You, too, are now able to confess, “Lord, I believe.” You, too, now see Jesus, “the Light of the world,” as your Savior from sin. What a miracle. A miracle that Jesus has done for you!

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, you are the light of the world. Thank you for overcoming the darkness of unbelief in my heart, that I may see you as my Savior from sin. Amen.

This devotion was selected from the Daily Devotion archive.

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
Ephesians 5:8-14

Let the SON Shine

The apostle Paul is speaking to Christians when he says, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.” A regular part of the Christian life is studying God’s Word where Jesus flips on the light switch for us to see what it means to be his followers—children of light. When the SON shines on us, he leads us to regularly evaluate how we are doing in our role as children of light. So how are you doing? In your relationships with others, are you loving, submitting, obeying, and forgiving as God wants you to? Have you been giving your full effort at work even when the boss is not watching you? Have you been fair and encouraging to your employees? Are you allowing hobbies, sports, entertainment, work, or some other activity in your life to be a bigger priority than worship of Jesus and study of his Word? Are you limiting your exposure and that of your family to the darkness of sin that penetrates minds and hearts through television, music, video games, and the internet? Are you trying to be aware of the words that come out of your mouth so that God’s name is honored? Are you striving to speak to others in ways that encourage and build up instead of tear down? Do you give the impression that you are content with how the Lord has blessed you in your life or do you give the impression that you feel shortchanged by God and others? Are you generous with your time, abilities, and financial blessings in support of church and charitable work, or do greed and materialism have a strong grip on you and your family?

Additionally, part of letting the SON shine in your life is to “have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” Being a follower of Jesus doesn’t just mean you evaluate only your own life. It means God called you to gently and with respect expose sinful attitudes and lifestyles embraced by others. Do you speak the truth in love when others you know have wrong ideas and actions concerning marriage, sexuality, beginning of life and end of life issues, and other matters that God speaks clearly about in Scripture? Do you seek to expose their sin and unbelief so they might repent and can enjoy the light of Jesus’ forgiveness? Or does your silence actually serve to confirm them in their spiritual slumber and their trek toward eternal death in hell. Or maybe even in the privacy of your home and circle of family and friends, do you laugh and joke about the sinful lives of others?

After honest evaluation, wouldn’t each of us have to admit that we are more children of twilight as we try to live in both the world of darkness and the world of light at the same time? Yet Jesus didn’t call us to be twilight children, he called us to be children of light. The SON, Jesus Christ, shines on us and calls us to repent of the times we try to continue to live in the sinful “glory days” of darkness. Jesus leads us to sorrow over our sins so that we find true appreciation in these words: “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” Because of your faith connection to Jesus Christ the “Light of the World” God has forgiven your attempts to be more a twilight child of God instead of a full child of light. He has forgiven all the times you have failed to lovingly, gently, and respectfully expose the sin of others calling them to repentance and faith in Jesus. When God looks at you through Jesus he doesn’t see any darkness, he just sees the light of his SON’s perfection covering you. God is pleased with you in every way because “you are light in the Lord” by faith in Jesus. Let that good news daily impact your life so that you grow and mature in your ability to live as the child of light God called you to be and considers you to be in Christ Jesus.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank you for connecting me by faith to my Savior Jesus, the Light of the World. Help me grow and mature as a child of light to glorify you and let my light shine before others. Amen.

This devotion was selected from the Daily Devotion archive.

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.
Isaiah 61:1

After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God.
Luke 8:1

The Prophet who Speaks Good News

An author wrote: “Nothing travels faster than the speed of light with the possible exception of bad news, which obeys its own special rules.”

The author was right. Bad news does travel fast. Bad news does obey its own special rules. It goes from person to person, house to house, and website to website. Brings people down. Brings fear, dread, and gloom. Bad news is easily obtained, quickly spread, greedily consumed, and obsessively believed.

The Bible identifies the source of all the bad news. All have sinned and have turned away from God. Sin deserves death and brings wrath. Death reigns in this sinful world. It’s all true and there’s nothing we can do to change any of it.

But the Sovereign Lord did change it. The Sovereign LORD designated a messenger, a prophet, a herald of good news, a Messiah of hope.

This Messiah spoke through Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.”

Good news! Riches from heaven for the poor in spirit! Healing for the brokenhearted! Freedom and forgiveness for captive sinners! Hopeless mortals released from darkness and death! Life and light has come!

And then this divine Messiah spoke through his own human lips: “God’s kingdom has come! I am the Light of the World. I am the Bread of Life! I am the Good Shepherd! I am the Resurrection and the Life! I am the Way and the Truth and the Life!”

Jesus came not only to announce the good news, but to BE the good news. He LIVED the good news. He died to accomplish the good news. He rose to life again to seal the good news. He speaks the good news in his powerful saving Word: sin is forgiven and death is conquered in him, the Christ!

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, all around I hear and read bad news. Let your good news of forgiveness fill my heart, that I may have the sure hope of salvation. Let this good news drive out fear and dread and gloom. Let your good news fill my mouth, that those around me may be lifted up. Amen.

The devotions in March on Thursday and Friday focus on the office of Jesus Christ: Prophet, Priest, and King.

When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”
Genesis 28:16-17

The Stairway to Heaven

His name was Jacob, and he was on the run. He had fled his home and the angry threats of his brother, whom he had cheated. He was headed to the family home of his mother. He was all alone. He was anxious about his present circumstances and was uncertain about his future. He was a fearful fugitive. But he had to stop for rest. With a stone for a pillow he drifted off to sleep.

Jacob had a dream in which he saw a stairway that was resting on earth and reaching to heaven. Angels were going up and down on the stairway, and the LORD was at the top. He spoke to Jacob, repeating some important promises that were made to Jacob’s father and grandfather. “I will be with you. I will watch over you. I will bring you and your family back to this place. I will bless all people through you!” The experience startled him and opened his eyes to some important realities: The LORD is real. The LORD is here. The LORD has shown me the gate to heaven.

God and heaven, his presence and promises, often seem very distant and dream-like. But he wants us to know him the way Jacob knew him—as the LORD who is near, who makes beautiful promises, and who shows us the way to heaven. But how? God never promised to speak to us in dreams and visions. But he has spoken to us clearly in his Word, the Bible. There he shows us the real and only stairway to heaven, Jesus.

Our sinfulness would keep us separated from God. But Jesus is the one who makes a way for sinners through the forgiveness of sins. He is the stairway God has provided on which to reach him and his heavenly home. And while we walk the journey of faith in this world, he promises to be with us every step of the way. When we feel alone, he reminds us of his presence. When we feel anxious, he reminds us that he watches over us. When we feel uncertain of the future, he reminds us that it is known to him and in his control.

Prayer:
Lord God, how awesome are your promises to us in Jesus Christ, your Son. Help us to look always to him as the true stairway to heaven. Help us to find in him your certain promises for our life in this world. In his name we pray. Amen.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
Romans 5:1-2

What is this world coming to?

“What is this world coming to?” A 19-year-old man goes on a killing spree at a high school in Parkland, Florida. He stepped into that school fully armed and opened fire, determined to take as many lives as he possibly could. It was dreadful enough to simply listen to the reports on the news—17 dead! It’s hard to imagine what it was like for survivors to experience such a tragedy or for parents to lose children to such madness. If only it was the first time something like this had happened and the last…

Look at the headlines. It seems like everything’s in turmoil. If it’s not a school shooting, it’s other kinds of felonies. If it’s not hurricanes, it’s earthquakes. There’s rising tension among nations, unrest in big cities and crime in small towns. There’s trouble at work, at school, in our homes, and in our lives. And even if your life is trouble-free right now, brace yourself because there’s more trouble in the future.

What we need is peace—the kind that no amount of trouble could ever disturb. Comfort and hope—that’s what we crave. If the turmoil and trouble of this world has worn you out, please read these next words very carefully: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

We could study that verse every day of our lives and still not fully grasp the enormous truths packed into these words. The blood of Christ has washed away our sin. We have been justified. Through faith in Jesus, we have peace with God—now and forever.

We yearn for a little bit of certainty in this uncertain world of ours. We crave something that can lift us out of all the sadness and fear to show us—even in the darkest moments of life—that we are safe and that there is hope which will never disappoint. In Christ Jesus, that’s exactly what we have. By faith in Jesus we have peace with God!

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, open my heart to more fully comprehend all the treasures that I have in your Son, Christ Jesus, my Savior. Though surrounded by the turmoil of life in a sin-broken world, fill my heart with the peace that you alone can provide. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

[Jesus] then began to teach [his disciples] that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. …Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
Mark 8:31,34

Christ’s Clear Words of Commitment

It comforts me to know I can count on Jesus’ words. He is the trustworthy teacher who spoke plainly to his disciples of his impending great anguish. He does not mask his words in euphemisms. He tells them clearly what they needed to know. “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected…”

Jesus’ words stand in sharp contrast to the broken commitments and vows, voiced by those around us. People speak words that are hollow and empty with dishonesty. Such words lead to disappointment and heartache. We hear the promises of those close to us that eventually prove to be unreliable. Moreover, I myself am pained by my own well-intended words that remain unfulfilled.

When Jesus speaks, he speaks the truth plainly. His words are spoken out of love for me. He wants me to know with undeniable certainty the depth of his love. Jesus speaks of death—his death!—that would win complete forgiveness for every sin.

Jesus not only speaks clearly but acts boldly to do exactly what he said he would do. “The Son of Man…must be killed.” He would humbly set aside his glory and unwaveringly walk to the cross where he would be crucified and die for me. Since Jesus speaks to me with sincerity, I sincerely confess my sin to him and trust his word of full pardon.

Christ also utters words of a conqueror! “After three days (I must) rise again.” Even as Jesus prepared to journey on the dark road to the cross of Calvary, his lips delivered a message of light and life. Jesus declared the Easter joy that would follow, after the gloom of suffering and death.

Since Jesus speaks the truth plainly, I can also trust him when he lovingly calls me to follow him. He does not promise that following him will make my life comfortable and carefree. Rather, he tells me plainly that there will be a cross to carry as His selfless love inspires me to deny my own sinful, selfish ways. For Jesus, I struggle with a Spirit-inspired determination against any adversity that may threaten my relationship with him. With every cross I bear, I know that Jesus and his word will be my strength. Then one day I will enjoy the eternal victory his death and resurrection won for me. I know this is true, for he has clearly told me so!

Prayer:
Dearest Jesus, you are the way and the truth and the life. Thank you for your words which inspire me to deny myself and to gladly follow you. Amen.

Jesus came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
John 4:5-14

Spiritual Water

Was Jesus really that desperate for water? Yes, he was tired. Yes, he was thirsty. But was he really tired enough to ask a Samaritan for a drink? The Jews considered Samaritans their religious inferiors. The Samaritans were idolaters! Jews hated them, and they hated Jews! Was he really thirsty enough to ask a woman for a drink? It was against Rabbinic law to speak to any woman in public, not to mention a habitual adulterer like this woman was (see John 4:16-18)! Couldn’t Jesus have drawn his own water to drink? Or couldn’t he at least have found someone of better character to ask? Was Jesus really that desperate for water?

The simplest answer is that Jesus wasn’t really that desperate for water. But that answer completely misses Jesus’ reason for asking the question. Jesus did not approach this sinful Samaritan woman on this day because he was desperate for physical water. He approached her because he knew that she was desperate for spiritual water…and he was the only one who could give it to her: “Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.”

Of course, the “water” Jesus offered this woman was himself—his life-giving words and his life-saving work as the world’s Savior from sin. And, as the world’s Savior from sin, that also meant Jesus was her Savior from sin. And so, Jesus was not going to let anything—not race, not gender, not a sin-filled past, not a sin-filled present—get in his way of giving her exactly what she needed. He gave her himself, a “spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Dear friends, you are no different than this sinful Samaritan woman. Just like her, your sins have left you with a desperate need for a Savior. And, just like her, Jesus knows it. That’s why Jesus offers you, too, the life-giving water of himself. He offers it to you every day in his Word. For in his Word you, too, can hear his life-giving words. In his Word you, too, can take in his life-saving work as the world’s Savior—as your Savior—from sin. In his Word you, too, have access to a “spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Never miss an opportunity to drink him in!

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, you are the living water that gives life to thirsty souls. Increase our faith in you, that we may never go thirsty again. Amen.

This devotion was selected from the Daily Devotion archive.