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 Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2007 8:01 am
Wednesday June 20th
I’m So Afraid
And when He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. Matthew 8:23
Job loss, a cancer diagnosis, unpaid bills, disturbing newspaper headlines—all prompt fear to enter our lives. Not knowing what to do or how to cope, we say with the disciples, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing” (Matthew 8:25).
When a ferocious storm’s waves threatened to sink their boat, the disciples feared for their lives. Waking the sleeping Jesus, they cried for help. Jesus first chided them for their lack of faith and then quieted the tempestuous winds with a word. The disciples had forgotten that Jesus was in the boat with them all along. Though unseen in His nook in the boat’s rear, He was there with them to save. With Him in their midst, they were always safe, even as the storm raged.
And so are we. Buffeted with anxiety over the storms we face, we easily forget His presence. But He is with us. We may not see Him or hear His voice, but He is always there. “I am with you always,” He says (Matthew 28:20), promising that whether He stills our storms or allows them to shriek around us, He is ever beside us, never leaving or forsaking us, enduring all with us, and still saving us.
Jesus, whether our boat is tempest-tossed or sailing through calm waters, help us remember that we belong to You, and that in Your boat we are always safe. Amen.
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Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2007 3:52 pm
Evil Schmevil
We’d expect God to hate evil, so it should come as no surprise to find it on the list of seven things He hates. The New International Version phrases it as “a heart that devises wicked schemes.”
Osama Bin Laden viewed his September 11, 2002 plan as a religious justification, but God saw it for what it was—100 percent evil. To plot and scheme evil of any kind angers the King of Kings!
Let’s take a closer look. Evil is defined as “something that brings sorrow, distress, calamity. The act of suffering. Not good morally. Arising from bad character or conduct.”
Ready for another quiz? Mark the following statements as true — if they’re characteristic of evil—or false if not.
1. Jayme and Nick are both running for student body president. You’ve been friends with Nick since kindergarten, and you know he’d be a great leader. You want Nick to win the election so badly, you devise a scheme that will cause students to question Jayme’s character.
2. Terry really hurt your feelings when your dating relationship ended. You can’t stop thinking about it. You talk your best friend into helping you get even. You’ll show Terry!
Evil, anger and deceit almost always go together. It’s impossible to plot an evil scheme that God is proud of. He hates all kinds of evil. After speaking at a youth retreat, a high school girl approached me and said, “I’m a Christian, but I love Satan.”
When I asked her to explain, she said, “I think it’s a sin to hate anyone and anything, therefore I refuse to hate Satan. I have hope that someday he’ll change his mind, accept Jesus as his Savior and spend eternity in heaven.”
We can’t love God and evil both. We must love one and hate the other. God is extremely bold about hating evil, and He wants us to hate evil as well. Satan is the embodiment of all that’s evil. And if we claim we have feelings for evil other than hate, we haven’t totally surrendered to Jesus Christ. Evil hung Christ on the Cross. Love caused Him to stay there, but evil was responsible for His torture. Evil separates families, dissolves friendships and can cause us to spend forever in an eternal environment of evil—hell itself. The cure for evil? Forgiveness from Jesus Christ.
Know It!
We were all born with evil hearts, but God wants to transform our hearts and replace the evil nature with His Holy Spirit. The evidence of our evil nature plays itself out in bitterness, jealousy, anger, wrong motives, plotting to harm others. But the evidence of being filled with God’s Holy Spirit reflects joy, peace, self-discipline and love.
Read It!
Romans 6:6-8; Romans 6:11-14; Romans 12:1-2; Galatians 5:19-21; Galatians 5:22-23.
Pray It!
Be honest with God and tell him that you sometimes struggle with the temptation to do evil. Ask Him to help you remember that temptation itself isn’t a sin, but that acting on temptation is. Ask God to transform your heart to be more like His.
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Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2007 4:15 am
Thursday June 21st
I Can’t
Get up, take up your bed, and walk. John 5:8
During my husband’s medical tests, our prayer begged for absence of malignancy. Yet the diagnosis was prostate cancer. Since all our hopes had aimed in the other direction, we felt immobilized by the result.
The man lying near the pool of Bethesda was also unable to move. His hope was fixed on entering the nearby waters. “I must go to the pool,” he told himself, “but I can’t.” However, Jesus did not need the pool’s water to provide the cure the man desired. At the Lord’s word, the man who couldn’t move was moving, not toward the pool but away from it.
God mobilized us too. Rather than giving him no cancer, God gave Don a cure. The process strengthened our walk with God and gave us new service opportunities.
Sometimes our desires center on a Bethesda pool we can never reach. But God is not confined by what we think or believe. His answers surpass our own. He transforms the immobility of our despair into the freedom of hope in Him. Through Christ, who died and rose again, God makes our faith alive in Christ just as surely as Jesus’ miracle sent the Bethesda invalid walking. For him and for us, Jesus’ gifts are better than anything we can imagine.
Lord, turn us from our Bethesda pool to You, so that we can hear the salvation You give us in Your name. Amen
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Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2007 12:35 pm
Be Careful Little Hands
You may remember singing a little song as a child in Sunday school or Vacation Bible School that went something like this:
“Be careful little hands what you do. Be careful little hands what you do.” There were a few more lines to the song, but each verse used a different word. “Be careful little feet where you go.”
“Be careful little mouth what you say.”
“Be careful little eyes what you see.”
We have a huge responsibility to refrain from evil. The good news is God doesn’t expect us to do that alone. He wants to fill our lives with His Spirit and enable our hands, feet, eyes, ears, mouth to glorify Him.
The next item on God’s hate list is “an eagerness to do wrong” (from The Living Bible) or “feet that are quick to rush into evil” (New International Version). So God not only hates evil . . . He also hates an eagerness or excitement about doing evil. Understand the connection? We don’t commit acts of evil dragging our feet. When we do evil, it’s because we’ve decided to act in an evil way.
Let’s take a closer peek at evil. Without God, you are capable of any evil (Judges 19:1-21:25). It’s wrong to return evil with evil (Genesis 34:30-31). All of the occult is rooted in evil (Leviticus 20:6). Holiness separates us from evil (Leviticus 11:44-45). People usually slip into a evil lifestyle gradually (Numbers 33:55-56).
God doesn’t want us to become curious about evil practices (Deuteronomy 12:30-31). We’re never alone in our battle against evil (Psalm 12:1), and we can’t get away with evil forever (Psalm 21:11). Evil acts begin with evil desires (Psalm 141:4), and planning evil is just as bad as doing evil (Proverbs 24: cool .
A small amount of evil can affect many (Matthew 16:12). The church won’t shelter you from evil (Luke 4:33), and there are powerful evil forces at work against us (Ephesians 6:12).
Know It!
Destroy evil in your life (Numbers 33:50-53). There is no evil too great for repentance (1 Kings 21:29), but you must admit your evil potential (2 Kings 8:12-13). For guidance on how to pray to God about evil, see 1 Chronicles 4:10.
Read It!
All the Scriptures cited above.
Pray It!
Tell God that you don’t want to be associated with evil. Ask His help in teaching you to flee from evil. Seek His empowerment to walk away from temptation and to deepen your trust in Him.
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Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 4:18 am
Friday June 22nd
Me and My Big Mouth
And immediately he recovered his sight and followed Him, glorifying God. Luke 18:43
“Me and my big mouth,” we mumble when something we’ve said creates trouble. But sometimes causing a bit of trouble is the right thing to do.
Bartimaeus had a really big mouth. He shouted out his plea to Jesus. When the crowd tried to hush him, his shouts just grew louder, because he believed Jesus was the Son of David, the Messiah God promised. Bartimaeus believed that Christ would answer his prayer. That belief, which others could not shake, is not disgraced. Jesus restored the beggar’s sight.
Jesus’ kindness to Bartimaeus reveals the love and compassion that brought Him to seek and save us. He hears our pleas and prayers. He gives us faith that trusts His Word and depends on His promises of mercy.
By both his pleas and praises, Bartimaeus used his big mouth to extol Christ. By the mercy of God, we, too, have been released from the blindness of our sin to see Jesus for who He is. He is the God who comes to us in compassion to save. Together with Bartimaeus and those who followed Jesus into Jerusalem, our voices shout out praise and thanksgiving to God along the way.
“Amazing grace—how sweet the sound—That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found, Was blind but now I see!” (LSB 744:1). Amen.
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Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 10:16 am
A False Witness
Isn’t it interesting how the seven things that God hates all intertwine with each other? The next item on the list is “bearing false witness.” This is connected with lying. And lying is connected with evil, which is connected with an eagerness to do evil. Murder is evil, and so is a haughty, prideful spirit.
Could one reason for God’s hatred of these seven things be that once we’ve adapted one of them to our lifestyle, it’s only a matter of time before we embrace the others? Can one even exist for an extended amount of time without the others?
Ted Bundy, the noted serial killer of hundreds of women, admitted before his death sentence was carried out, that he had become addicted to pornography as a teen. Sex crimes and porn go hand in hand. Statistics show that men who commit sex crimes have also been exposed to porn.
Could it also be said that someone who’s a habitual liar will eventually be led to other evil habits? It’s interesting how every item on God’s hate list genuinely connects and intertwines with the others.
It’s against the law to give a false testimony in court. It’s called perjury. One can go to jail for committing this crime. Is it any wonder that God hates it? A false witness is a lie. And again . . . lies — hiding the truth — have a foundation of evil.
God’s Word gives us several warnings about falsehood. We’re told not to give a false testimony (Exodus 20:16), not to spread false reports (Exodus 23:1) and to have nothing to do with a false charge (Exodus 23:7).
We’re instructed not to give a false testimony again in Deuteronomy 5:20, and we’re told that a false witness is full of lies in Proverbs 12:17.
On June 19, we were told to hate evil. The proof of that is found in Proverbs 13:5. We see that a false witness is deceitful in Proverbs 14:25, we’re assured that a false witness won’t go unpunished in Proverbs 19:5 and 19:9.
Matthew 7:15 commands us to watch out for false prophets, and Matthew 15:19 advises us to be on guard against theft, false testimony and slander.
We see grave consequences in 1 Timothy 1:3 and 6:3 for those who teach false doctrines.
Know It!
God hates lies, and obviously He hates a false witness or testimony. Will you make time to evaluate your testimony? Is it genuine? Do you truly reflect the character of God? Or are your actions, conversations and lifestyle a false witness of the King of Kings?
Read It!
All the Scriptures cited above.
Pray It!
Tell Jesus that you don’t want to be a false witness, a false Christian or be taken in by false prophets. Ask for His wisdom and discernment to know Truth and to live your life by it.
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Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2007 4:56 am
Saturday June 23rd
I Have So Little
The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18
“Me? I don’t know how. I’ve never done this before,” we often say to ourselves when a call for volunteers is issued. Then we look at our talents and sadly conclude, “I have so little to give.”
Surrounded by over five thousand hungry people, the disciples on the Galilean hillside had similar thoughts. Eight months’ wages wouldn’t be enough to feed this crowd a paltry snack. Among so many, what were five small rolls and two little fish?
But God’s foolishness is greater than human wisdom. What we believe is insufficient, Jesus turns into plenty. What we believe is not enough, He multiplies in ways beyond our comprehension. What we believe is impotent, He employs to perform miracles.
Jesus’ miraculous feeding of the five thousand proclaims that what matters is not what we see, but what we hear. Christ’s death on the cross looks helpless and hopeless, but by it Christ broke the power of sin and death. By it Christ shackled hell and the devil. Though the cross appears to have power over Christ, Christ has power over it. God’s hands are at work, miraculously forging the salvation of the world.
Lord Jesus, we have but little to bring to You, so give to us from Your great mercy. Amen.
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Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2007 10:53 am
Wanna Fight About It?
The last item on God’s hate list (Proverbs 6:16-19) is to cause dissention . . . to sow discord among brothers. In other words, God hates it when we pick a fight. Perhaps you know someone who loves to argue. This guy argues simply to argue. It’s as though he’s energized by causing conflict. Some folks thrive on conflict so much, that if there’s not a conflict, they’ll create one!
Well, God hates that. He despises it when we purposefully stir things up just to get an argument going. And people who thrive on that usually insecure. Talking loudly, quarreling with those around them and enjoying the heat of an argument makes them feel powerful.
Now God’s not talking about debate. Nor is He against being a lawyer or arguing a court case. This last item on His hate list is entirely distinctly about the act of Christians stirring up trouble with other Christians in the church.
“United we stand; divided we fall.” It’s really true. The Body of Christ has to be united to grow and thrive. The entire purpose of the Body is to glorify God and bring others to Him. If we’re divided, we can’t do that. As soon as we start arguing, quarreling and causing dissension among the believers, the church is in danger of splitting or completely falling apart.
So does that mean we have to agree with everyone in our church? No. But we need to understand the difference in disagreeing and in being united. We can disagree and still be as one. Someone, however, who thrives on looking for something he know will stir everyone up, is someone who’s sowing discord. And God hates that.
Let’s imagine your church has voted on building an addition to its already-existing complex. There are 25 of you on the building committee that will decide issues such as size of addition, color of carpet, expenses, etc. Imagine that 20 people on the committee feel strongly that the carpet should be forest green. You and four others really want beige, but the five of you decide to vote for green simply because you understand the importance of being united.
That doesn’t mean you agree with the color choice. It’s not your pick, but you’ll go along with it, because you’re determined not to be a stumbling block to the process as a whole. That’s spiritual maturity.
But if you were to leave the meeting and talk others in the church into being on your side, you’d be sowing discord. That’s spiritual immaturity.
Know It!
God calls us to be peacemakers. Yes, there’s a time to speak out in boldness—but those times usually need to be reserved for speaking against immorality, injustice or evil. When taste or personal opinion is at play, it’s best to quietly make your thoughts known, but to remain unified when others don’t agree.
Read It!
Psalm 34:14; Proverbs 12:20; Romans 12:18; James 3:17.
Pray It!
Ask God to help you develop a lifestyle of peacemaking and not an argumentative spirit.
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Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2007 4:47 am
Sunday June 24th
What Shall This Child Be?
Behold, I send My messenger and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple. Malachi 3:1
The birth of a child is a time for awe and wonder. Awed by this tiny gift of God, we wonder what this child will grow up to be. The friends and relatives who rejoiced at the birth of John the Baptist and for his circumcision were filled with awe and wonder too, not just because of the newborn, but also because, for the first time in over nine months, his father’s tongue was loosed. He spoke anew, blessing God. And they all wondered, “What then will this child be?” (Luke 1:66).
The prophetic words the Holy Spirit put in John’s father’s mouth gave the answer. Even before John was conceived, God had called John to be His prophet, who would prepare the way for Jesus, the Christ of God.
John would call God’s people to repent, to confess their sins and their need for a Savior. John also would proclaim the salvation of God given through the forgiveness of sin. He would point to God’s salvation in the flesh, saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).
We, too, rejoice at the birth of John, for he is the herald of the salvation God has sent to us in Christ.
Thank You, Jesus, for sending John to prepare the way for You in Judea and in our hearts. Amen.
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Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2007 11:11 am
Checkin’ Out . . . Forever
Sure hope Ashley’s in her dorm room, Jamie thought. I need a good chat with my cousin right now! She flipped on the computer and logged on.
Jamie17: Hey, Ash! I need to talk.
20ash: What’s up, Cuz?
Jamie17: Ashley, it’s terrible. This kid at my school— Troy—he committed suicide. He shot himself.
20ash: Oh, Jamie! I’m so sorry.
Jamie17: The whole school’s in shock.
20ash: Did you know him?
Jamie17: Yeah. I didn’t know him real well, but I knew him well enough to say hi to him in the hall. We had math together.
20ash: Does anyone have any idea why he did it?
Jamie17: Well . . . not exactly. But he did leave a note.
20ash: Do you know what it said?
Jamie17: I don’t know the all the details . . . something about he just couldn’t go on, and he was sorry.
20ash: Wow. That’s hard to accept.
Jamie17: Ashley, I think he was a Christian. I know what church he went to, and I saw him lead the team in prayer once before a football game.
20ash: Hmmm. That’s interesting.
Jamie17: So . . . if he really was a Christian . . . do you think he went to heaven?
20ash: Wow. That’s a tough question, Ash. And it’s one thousands of others have asked over the years.
Jamie17: So what’s the answer? Can you go heaven if you commit suicide?
20ash: We discussed this just last week in Bible class. My professor had some interesting things to say.
Jamie17: Well, fill me in!
20ash: First of all, we’ve gotta remember that God hates murder, and He’s extremely clear when He says, “Thou shalt not kill.”
Jamie17: Yeah, but maybe that’s talking about killing someone else.
20ash: Second, we need to remember that when someone takes his life, means he’s usurping God’s role. It’s as if he’s saying, “God, I don’t trust You to know best for my life. I’m going to take Your place and determine when I’ll quit living.” Jamie, none of us have the right to make that decision.
Know It!
God understands confusion and irrational thinking. If you ever struggle with desperate thoughts that concern suicide, talk to your heavenly Father, and talk with a trusted adult. DON’T push those thoughts inside. Let your parents, your youth pastor or a counselor help you deal with them!
Read It!
Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17; Proverbs 28:17; 1 Timothy 1:9; Revelation 21:8; Revelation 22:15.
Pray It!
Ask God to help you see the non-Christians in your life as confused and searching people. Think about it: You have what they need! So seek His help in sharing Christ with them. Ask for the right words and the right timing.
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Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 4:25 am
Monday June 25
My Hope Will Not Be Put to Shame
I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings and shall not be put to shame. Psalm 119:46
We often think of shame as the emotion we feel when we have done something embarrassing, hurtful, or wrong. But shame has another meaning. Shame also is the condition of disgrace or ignominy, so that we incur reproach or rue our own folly.
When the Bible speaks of being put to shame, it has the second meaning in mind. Being put to shame is the humiliation of having trusted someone or something that never deserved our trust. The rebuke and disgrace fall on us, because God has warned us not to trust them.
In Christ, God shows Himself to be trustworthy and certain. He has done everything for us and our salvation. Christ’s promise is sure: “Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame” (Romans 10:11).
This promise emboldened the princes who confessed the grace of God in Christ at Augsburg. Though they risked degradation, prison, and death, Christ’s promise made them certain that—though they might endure these hardships—they would not be put to shame. Their hope in Christ would not be in vain. That is also our confession: Christ will not fail us.
“Stay with us, Lord, and keep us true; Preserve our faith our whole life through—Your Word alone our heart’s defense, The Church’s glorious confidence” (LSB 585:6, text © 1982 CPH). Amen.
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Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 11:21 am
Suicide . . . Not an Option!
Jamie17: Yeah, I realize that someone who commits suicide is basically playing God in his life. But if someone’s desperate enough to take his life, he’s not thinking straight, right?
20ash: Right.
Jamie17: I mean, those are not rational thoughts.
20ash: That’s true. And I believe God understands an imbalanced mind. But again, taking a life — whether it’s your own or someone else’s — is sin.
Jamie17: Yeah, I agree with that. Murder is sin. But still . . . what about the question? Can a Christian who commits suicide go to heaven?
20ash: Look at it this way, Jamie: We can be grateful God understands an imbalanced mind and irrational thinking. You and I can’t imagine what would be so bad that we’d wanna end our life because of it.
Jamie17: No kidding!
20ash: But at the same time, when someone takes his life, He’s sinning. God punishes sin in hell . . . unless we repent.
Jamie17: But someone who commits suicide wouldn’t have time to repent.
20ash: Right.
Jamie17: So the answer is . . . ?
20ash: I know this isn’t what you wanna hear . . . but I don’t know the answer. I do know this, however. It’s too big of a risk to take. To assume the role of God is sin. I’m glad I don’t have to judge.
Jamie17: Me, too.
20ash: God knows each heart. He understands the hurt, the depth of the pain, and the irrational thinking. But at the same time, He expects Christians to follow His commands.
Jamie17: Yeah, I see both sides.
20ash: The issue really isn’t that we need to know if Troy went to heaven. That’s between him and God. Our priority is to make sure our own lives are in order and that we don’t take such a huge risk ourselves.
Jamie17: Yeah, that makes sense, Ashley. Thanks for listening.
20ash: I’m really sorry, Jamie. But it makes you think twice about how valuable life is, doesn’t it?
Jamie17: Sure does! And it makes me wanna evaluate my spiritual life—just to make sure everything’s in order.
20ash: You’re the best, Cuz! I think that’s exactly what Jesus would want you to do right now.
Jamie17: Hey, hurry up and finish summer school and come home. I miss you!
20ash: I’ll be home in July. Love you!
Know It!
When we take the place of God’s authority in our lives, we’re sinning. Make time to evaluate your own relationship with Christ. Where do you stand? Is everything in order? Is He truly Lord?
Read It!
Proverbs 7:1-4; Proverbs 28:14; Jeremiah 9:4-6; Jeremiah 10:6-7; John 11:26-27.
Pray It!
Ask God to keep you from getting wrapped up in issues that you don’t need to be involved in. Seek more faith to simply trust in Him and to keep your spiritual life in order. Tell Him that you don’t ever want to take His place in your heart.
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Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 4:16 am
Tuesday June 26
It’s the Wrong Time to Ask
Ask, and it will be given to you. Matthew 7:7
There’s a right time and a wrong time to ask others for their help. We avoid phoning them at the dinner hour, pouncing on them when they are just home from work, or interrupting when they are deep in concentration. In such situations, we tell ourselves, “Wait; it’s the wrong time to ask.”
Two thousand years ago in the Holy Land, the Sabbath was the wrong time to ask. Because God ordained the Sabbath as a day of rest, many prohibitions guarded against working on the Sabbath. So when the man with the shriveled hand found himself near Jesus, he did not ask Jesus to work a cure, even though he surely had heard about Jesus’ previous healing miracles. It was the wrong time to ask. But Jesus showed that the Sabbath is a day for saving life, doing good, and showing mercy and compassion. Jesus healed the man, so the man’s hand was made whole and strong.
Jesus always has time to listen, and He hears even our unspoken needs. Jesus always has time for each of us, even though we may complain that we’ve no time for Him. With Jesus there’s never a wrong time to ask. With Jesus, it’s always the right time to ask, the right time to share our heart’s desire, and the right time to pray.
Thank You, Jesus, for always having time for us. Make us eager to spend time with You. Amen.
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Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 11:33 am
Between Us
Dear Diary:
Yeah, I know. I haven’t written in here since May 2. But it’s like I said in my first entry on January 18 . . . I’m not really a diary-writing person. So just be glad I’m even writing in here at all!
Okay, it’s about this Christianity stuff. I’m a good person! I’ve gone to church all my life. My parents go to church. I got a Bible in Vacation Bible School the summer after my second-grade year.
But this Sunday, Pastor Steve said something I can’t forget. He goes, “God has no grandchildren.”
Now I like Pastor Steve. I think he’s a great youth pastor. He’s always shown up at my B-ball games, and I know he cares about us. But I think he’s missed the boat this time around.
What’s he talking about? “God has no grandchildren???” I can’t stop thinking about that. And that’s why I’m so ticked off right now. I want that phrase outta my head. “God has no grandchildren.”
Hey, God loves everybody. We’re all one big happy family, right? That’s what I’ve always believed. And since I go to church, read my Bible every now and then and do stuff with the youth group, I figure I’m part of the “family.”
“God has no grandchildren.”
“God has no grandchildren.”
“God has no grandchildren.”
Sigh. I’m really tired.
Till next time, Diary. (And you know that could be a while, right?)
* * *
No one makes it into heaven on his parent’s relationship with Christ. Each and every Christian has to have his very own, intimate, personal, growing relationship with Jesus. The fact that “God has no grandchildren” means you aren’t a Christian simply because your friends and family are. God only has children — not extended family or relatives.
If you’ve never asked Christ to forgive your sins and come into your heart, you’re not a Christian. You may be a good person doing good things, and you may even read your Bible on a regular basis. But Christianity is all about having an actual relationship with the living King of Kings.
Know It!
You can be a part of God’s family right now! Eternal life with Jesus is a gift — and it’s free for the asking.
Read It!
Romans 3:22-26: Revelation 3:20
Pray It!
Admit to Jesus that you’re a sinner. Tell Him you’re sorry for trying to run your own life, and ask Him to forgive your sins. Pledge that of this very day, your life will no longer be your own. Commit that your life is in His hands to be done with as He wills.
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Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 6:29 am
Wednesday June 27
I Don’t Know What Possessed Me
And he . . . began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. Mark 5:20
“I don’t know what possessed me,” we admit after a saying a hurtful word or doing a destructive deed. Yet behind our statement is a truth, for what—or rather who—possesses us influences our actions. Thus, what we say and do reflects who or what possesses us.
The words and deeds of the man in Mark 5 reflected his demon-possession. Though his body was alive, he lived among the dead; his home was a tomb. The demons within him made his existence a living hell on earth—a frightening picture of life without God.
Then Jesus entered the man’s life. Though the demons had been stronger than any human remedy, they were not stronger than God’s. Jesus broke the chains of the man’s demon-possession with a single command, and the man’s life dramatically changed. He became possessed by the desire to tell others about Jesus.
Through His death and resurrection, Jesus frees us from our bondage to sin, the darkness of the tomb, and the chains of personal demons. Possessed by His love, we become daily witnesses, our actions reflecting who lives within us and our words declaring how much Jesus has done for us.
May all that we say and do, dear Jesus, proclaim how much You have done for us, so that others may marvel at Your great goodness. Amen.
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