Entries tagged as ‘cross’
Romans 8:22-27
I pleaded with the Lord three times . . . . And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you.” 2 Corinthians 12:8-9
The Lord in His wisdom does not grant every prayer. Even Paul did not receive everything he sought at the throne of grace. His “thorn” was not removed; he was just given grace to bear it. Of one thing we can be certain: If our goal is to glorify God, He will give us what we ask, or what we would have asked if we could see as He sees.
Oftentimes I have come to thank the Lord for not granting some request of mine, for in the light of future developments I could see God’s wisdom in denying me the thing for which I had so ferently pleaded.
There are other times we may request things that God will not give us because they are completely contrary to His plan for us. Yet we ask anyway, like the little boy who was overheard saying his nightly prayers: “Please God, make Boulder the capital of Colorado.” When he had said, “Amen,” his mother asked, “Why did you ask for that?” “Because,” he explained, “that’s what I put down on my exam paper today.”
We must always remember that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, nor are His ways our ways (Isaiah 55:8). When He says no to us, He has a very good reason for not granting our request. —hgb
Not ours to know the reason why unanswered is our prayer, but ours to wait for God’s own grace to lift the cross we bear. —anon
Your request denied? God’s grace supplied!
Categories: Devotionals
Tagged: prayer, cross, Romans 8, wisdom, request, 2 Corinthians 12, thoughts, plead, unanswered prayer, unanswered, grant, isaiah 55, bear, supplied, denied
Luke 23:26-56
When they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him. Luke 23:33
We call it “Good Friday,” but no one standing there that day would have called that Friday “good.” The best man that history ever knew was nailed to a Roman cross and murdered. For His enemies it was a victory of sorts; for the Soldiers it was simply another day’s work; for His followers it was the death of their brightest hopes and greatest dreams. But no one would have called that Friday “good.”
That is true of many “bad Fridays” if you consider them apart from Resurrection Sunday. They make life seem futile—without purpose and meaning. But God’s most striking victories rise out of the graves of apparent defeats.
In his book Idols for Destruction, Herbert Schlossberg wrote, “We are not the lords of history and do not control its outcome, but we have assurance that there is a Lord of history and He controls its outcome. We need a theological interpretation of disaster, one that recognizes that God acts in such events as captivities, defeats, and crucifixions. The Bible can be interpreted as a string of God’s triumphs disguised as disasters.”
Face each day with trust in Jesus Christ. God’s greatest victories often come disguised as defeats. —hwr
The purposes of God are right, although we may not see just how He works all things for good and transforms tragedy. —sper
God’s most striking victories rise out of the graves of apparent defeats.
Categories: Devotionals
Tagged: act, best man, calvary, captivities, control, cross, crucified, crucifixion, death, defeat, destruction, disguise, dreams, grave, history, interpretation, luke 23, meaning, murder, outcome, purpose, rise, Roman, soldier, striking, string, theological, tragedy, triumph, victory
1 Corinthians 13
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. John 13:34
Tracy Morrow, who goes by the name of Ice-T, delights in his role as a controversial rap singer whose lyrics are blasphemous and obscene. Yet, inspired by a truce between two violent ganags in Los Angeles, the Crips and the Bloods, he wrote a surprisingly sentimental song, “Gotta Lotta Love.”
Orphaned when young, and brought up by relatives who considered him a burden, Ice-T never experienced loving care. “I frst found the word love in a gang,” he told an interviewer. “I learned how to love in a gang, not in a family atmosphere.”
No matter how little or how warped the love we may have known in childhood, it is never too late for any of us to learn how to love. In God’s sovereignty we may catch a glimpse of love through some individual or a support group (even a gang!). But to learn the full meaning and reality of true love, we need to look at Calvary’s cross. “By this we know love, because [Jesus] laid down His life for us” (1 John 3:16). The death of Jesus, in all of its sacrificial unselfishness, discloses the heights and depths of love.
We will know better how to show love when we think of how much Christ loves us, and when we trust Him as our Savior and Lord. —vcg
Unfailing is Christ’s matchless love, so kind, so pure, so true; and those who come to know that love show love in all they do. —djd
We learn the true meaning of love when we look at how much Christ loved us.
Categories: Devotionals
Tagged: 1 Corinthians 13, atmosphere, blamphemous, calvary, calvarys cross, controversial, cross, depths of love, family, family atmosphere, full meaning, glimpse of love, heights and depths, heights of love, how to love, inspired, John 13, know love, learn how to love, learned, love, new commandment, sacrificial, show love, support group, truce, unselfish, warped, warped love
Billy Graham calls us to turn to God by faith, for He is our only hope:
If you’re going through a serious temptation now or a trial now, God knows how to deliver you, if you’ll turn to Him and pray by faith and believe! You see, Jesus Christ loved us so much that He went to the cross and died for us. He took all the hell and all the judgment on Him at the cross. And the Scripture says, “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever”—that includes you, whosoever—”believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
When you come to God through faith in Jesus Christ, you will be saved. If you would like to begin a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, call at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, toll free, at 877-2GRAHAM. Or click billygraham.org
Categories: Devotionals
Tagged: cross, faith, Jesus Christ, judgment, pray by faith, scripture says, temptation, trial, turn to God
1 Corinthians 1:26-31
The apostle Paul had impeccable credentials, education, background, and a position of authority. But when he encountered Christ on the road to Damascus, he discovered their absolute worthlessness. He learned that the only thing of eternal value on earth was that his Savior died on the cross for his sins. Paul understood this so well that he counted as loss all he had once seen as advantageous. (Philippians 3:8) Now his only boast was in the cross of Christ. (Galatians 6:14)
Paul attached importance, not to his own resume, but to a “criminal” on a cross and the blood He spilled there. Though this seemed foolish to many people, the apostle knew that the cross was where God kept His long-awaited promise: to provide a Savior. It was there that His Son stooped low and took on all the sins of the world: past, present, and future. The cross marked the place and moment that God’s judgment was accomplished and His mercy was poured out. At the cross, God’s redemptive plan was unfolded, sin’s power was broken, and forgiveness of sins was secured. By means of bloodshed and death, new life was secured for all who receive Christ as Savior.
Today the cross stands as a mirror to reflect our unworthiness but also to reveal the magnitude of God’s love. It serves as a magnet to draw people to the Lord (John 12:32) and a model of the sacrificial life. (John 15:13) A place of death has become a beacon of hope because it is there -through Jesus Christ- that we find salvation. (Acts 4:12)
Do people often attach their self-importance to their own accomplishments? And if so what could be wrong with that?
Categories: Devotionals
Tagged: advantage, background, beacon, beacon of hope, credentials, cross, Damascus, discovered, education, encountered Christ, eternal value, future, magnet, mirror, model, past, position of authority, present, reflect, resume, road to Damascus, Savior, the cross, why we believe, worthlessness
I have done a good deal of thinking and writing about Pharisees (probably because I understand them so well) and one comment that Jesus made about them stands out to me: “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20)
Such a statement would have come as a shock to the general Jewish populace who considered the Pharisees as perched atop the religious hierarchy. It certainly would have come as a shock to the Pharisees themselves, who took pride in looking down from there. These people spent all their time being righteous. They were scrupulous about this, and in so doing, they set the bar for everyone else. They were the righteous professionals. To disqualify them and everyone under them, as Jesus did, put righteousness out of everyone’s reach.
Which, of course, was the whole idea. This was not a statement to make people try harder to be holy. It was a statement to persuade people to give up trying. If Jesus was rejecting the best that the best could do, then who could possibly stand a chance of being good enough to get into heaven? No one. And isn’t that the point Jesus was trying to make? Only sinners get saved; only the lost can be found. The Pharisees were too good for heaven, too good for grace, too good for the gift of salvation.
True righteousness is something that can only come from Christ, and it comes through the admission of our own unrighteousness and a total dependence upon God to make us clean. What He wants is way beyond us and we cannot begin any real growth without realizing this. Our goodness comes through faith in what Christ has done for us on the cross in forgiving our sins and in giving us His Spirit. It is that Spirit that begins to work on our insides, changing us from the inside out, and the good that comes from this is so clearly outside our ability to manufacture it as to leave us as surprised as anyone.
I’ve often heard the objection to becoming a Christian on the grounds of Christianity being a crutch. I always laugh when I hear that because if that’s all faith is, I wouldn’t be a Christian either. Did Jesus endure a brutal death on a cross just so he could hand us a crutch to help us along? I don’t think so. We weren’t just stumbling along without Jesus; we were dead. Christianity isn’t a crutch; it’s an iron lung. It’s a cure for cancer. It’s a heart transplant.
Have you ever heard someone derisively refer to faith as “just a crutch”? How did you (or how can you) respond to such an accusation?
Categories: Devotionals
Tagged: accusation, brutal death, comment, cross, crutch, dependence, general, iron, Jesus, kingdom of heaven, manufacture, Matthew 5, objection, Pharisees, professional, religious hierarchy, shock, stand, statement, stumble, think, transplant, write
“Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 3:18
“Grow in grace”, not in only one type of grace, but in all forms of gracious response. Grow first in faith, which is the root of all grace. Let your faith increase in fullness, consistency, and simplicity. This will enable you to grasp God’s promises even more firmly than before.
Grow in love. Ask God to extend your love to make it more intense, more practical, and influencing your every thought, word, and deed.
Grow also in humility. Seek lowly places and realize your own smallness so that God will be magnified. As you grow downward in humility, seek to grow upward towards God, approaching Him closer in prayer and seeking ever more intimate fellowship with Jesus.
I pray that God the Holy Spirit enable you to “grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour.” Anyone who doesn’t seek to grow in knowledge of Jesus has passed up their blessing, because to know Him deeply is the blessing of eternally fulfilled life. If you know the love of Jesus, you will long for greater outpourings of His love. If you do not desire to know Him better, then you don’t love Him at all, for love always cries, “Nearer, nearer.” Whoever has sipped this wine will thirst for more, for although Christ does satisfy, it is such a wonderful satisfaction, that the a person’s thirst will be whetted.
Absence from Christ is hell, but the presence of Jesus is heaven. Don’t rest merely being content without seeking a closer relationship with Jesus. Seek to know more of Him in His divine nature, in His human relationship, and in His finished work of the cross: His death, resurrection, ascension, and glorious intercession on our behalf.
Grow in grace. Increase in love to Jesus, and you will appreciate even more His love to you. Knowing His love, and His love outworking in every aspect of your daily life, are the best tests of growth in grace.
In this new year, how do you plan and expect to grow in grace?
Categories: Devotionals
Tagged: absence, bless, blessing, cries, cross, daily life, fellowship, grace, growth, human relationship, humility, influence, intimate, Jesus, knowledge, magnified, outpouring, practical, resurrection, simplicity, test
You are probably able to move around freely, going and coming as you like. There are others, however who can’t. Franklin Graham speaks to all who are in prison, literal or virtual:
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself spent time in prison. He was arrested. He was falsely accused. He was put in prison. He was beaten. He was whipped. Mock trial. And then He was sent to the cross to be executed. And the reason Jesus Christ went to the cross was for you. And for each and every one of us here. Jesus Christ came out of heaven down to this earth. You see, Jesus Christ wasn’t just a man. Jesus Christ was God Almighty in human form. God Himself came to this earth on a rescue mission. And that rescue mission was to save you and me from our sins.
To be saved from your sins, turn to Jesus Christ by faith. To begin a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, call at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, toll free, at 877-2GRAHAM. Or click billygraham.org.
Categories: Devotionals
Tagged: beaten, cross, execute, falsely accused, free, human form, Jesus Christ, mock trial, personal relationship, prison, rescue mission, save, saved, sins, virtual, whipped
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24)
What does it mean to deny myself?
The primary thing that springs to mind is the idea of doing without things desired – a picture of a monk leading a strict and harsh life, far from luxury.
Although the concept of doing without is found in the dictionary under “deny”, the first definition under “deny” is “to declare untrue”. Of course the dictionary was referring to denying a statement, but I began to wonder if it might apply to denying oneself.
If I declared myself as being untrue, I would point to someone or something outside myself as the ultimate source of truth – it could not be found in me.
If I declared myself as being untrue, I wouldn’t trust my feelings or my interpretation of the facts.
If I declared myself as being untrue, I would admit that I am not right, that my ways are not right, that I indeed have a sinful nature that desires what is contrary to what God desires.
Is that not what Jesus is asking us to do? We must acknowledge Him as the only true one. God’s ways are always right.
We are called to choose His way rather than our own, to surrender our will to Him and to follow Him where ever He leads.
What does the idea of “declaring yourself untrue” mean to you and your approach to God?
Categories: Devotionals
Tagged: cross, deny self, facts, follow me, God desires, interpretation, Jesus, one true God, sinful nature
MORE THAN A CRUTCH
February 12, 2009 · Leave a Comment
I have done a good deal of thinking and writing about Pharisees (probably because I understand them so well) and one comment that Jesus made about them stands out to me: “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20)
Such a statement would have come as a shock to the general Jewish populace who considered the Pharisees as perched atop the religious hierarchy. It certainly would have come as a shock to the Pharisees themselves, who took pride in looking down from there. These people spent all their time being righteous. They were scrupulous about this, and in so doing, they set the bar for everyone else. They were the righteous professionals. To disqualify them and everyone under them, as Jesus did, put righteousness out of everyone’s reach.
Which, of course, was the whole idea. This was not a statement to make people try harder to be holy. It was a statement to persuade people to give up trying. If Jesus was rejecting the best that the best could do, then who could possibly stand a chance of being good enough to get into heaven? No one. And isn’t that the point Jesus was trying to make? Only sinners get saved; only the lost can be found. The Pharisees were too good for heaven, too good for grace, too good for the gift of salvation.
True righteousness is something that can only come from Christ, and it comes through the admission of our own unrighteousness and a total dependence upon God to make us clean. What He wants is way beyond us and we cannot begin any real growth without realizing this. Our goodness comes through faith in what Christ has done for us on the cross in forgiving our sins and in giving us His Spirit. It is that Spirit that begins to work on our insides, changing us from the inside out, and the good that comes from this is so clearly outside our ability to manufacture it as to leave us as surprised as anyone.
I’ve often heard the objection to becoming a Christian on the grounds of Christianity being a crutch. I always laugh when I hear that because if that’s all faith is, I wouldn’t be a Christian either. Did Jesus endure a brutal death on a cross just so he could hand us a crutch to help us along? I don’t think so. We weren’t just stumbling along without Jesus; we were dead. Christianity isn’t a crutch; it’s an iron lung. It’s a cure for cancer. It’s a heart transplant.
Have you ever heard someone derisively refer to faith as “just a crutch”? How did you (or how can you) respond to such an accusation?
Categories: Devotionals
Tagged: accusation, brutal death, comment, cross, crutch, dependence, general, iron, Jesus, kingdom of heaven, manufacture, Matthew 5, objection, Pharisees, professional, religious hierarchy, shock, stand, statement, stumble, think, transplant, write