2023-12-22
Good Morning Dear Ones,
If you need to review some of the supernatural things that happened as a result of Christ’s crucifixion, you can find these stories in the following: Christ’s arrest and trial LK 23: 1-25, Christ’s crucifixion LK 23: 26-43, Christ’s death LK 23: 44-49, Christ’s burial LK 23: 50-56, His rising LK 24: 1-14, on the road to Emmaus LK 24: 15-35, Christ’s appearance to the disciples LK 24: 36-49, His Ascension LK 24: 50-53.
The mission I’m commanded to write about is the lessons we learn from having faith in the supernatural things that humans can’t do, and which don’t comply with the laws of earthly matter. Learning Who God is involves understanding that these supernatural abilities belong to Him alone, no matter which personality of the Trinity is being discussed. Because we humans have basically sinful natures and are God’s creation, He is the dominant Person in any relationship we establish with Him. God has no evil in Him [1JN 1: 5]. Our sinfulness came in two ways: from the original sin [GN 3: 1-7] and any sin we, ourselves, commit. However, the situation we have is not hopeless. 1 JN 1: 7, “But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.” Surprisingly, the faith we have in our Lord Jesus Christ and in the teaching of the Bible is given to us supernaturally by the Holy Spirit.
He is helped on our part by taking the time to study the Scriptures. Even the Bible itself is a supernatural book, in that the more one studies, the hungrier for its content one gets. No other book has that quality. I’m not alone in having spent 50 years studying it and each time learning something new. The teaching of all books is never as consistent as that in the Bible. One more supernatural feature comes from 2 TIM 3: 16-17, “All Scripture is God- breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Think about what “God-breathed” actually means. To better understand the answer, I read EZK 37: 1-14, The Valley of the Dry Bones. God alone has the supernatural ability to breathe life into what is inanimate. In this case it was Israel. No other people or place has endured the anti-Semitism of persecution over mankind’s history that the Jews have for the last 3000 years. Hamas’ recent unprovoked attack and hostage-taking in Israel is just the most recent example. Our faith is being tested, but that’s a supernatural way that God is teaching us how important faith to our lives really is. We tend to learn the most when we must work our way through our trials and recognize our need to depend on the Lord.
How do the Scriptures help us to respond to our personal or corporate trials? There are so many ways! God has promised never to abandon us. PS 9: 9-10, “The Lord is a Refuge for the oppressed, a Stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know Your name trust in You, for You Lord have never forsaken those who seek You.” I can’t tell you what that has meant to me in my own experience. He always has our best eternal interests in mind. How do I know this? JER 29: 11-13, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you, not to bring disaster, plans to give you hope and a future. Then, you will call on Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find me when you seek Me with all your heart.” What comfort that has brought me over the years! Looking back with perfect hindsight, I can attest to the truth of these assertions. So can you!
PRAYER: O Most Holy Lord, You deserve our acknowledgement of Who You are in our lives, and all the good things You do for us. We know You never abandon us and we are desperately in need of Your wisdom, Your accessibility to us, Your need to hear from us through prayer and confession of our sins, and Your sacrifice of Your Son’s physical life on the cross for us. We want a real relationship with You, one that is comprised of our efforts to expunge evil from our lives, to see Your perspective on them and the others around us, and our reverential awe of Your superiority in all ways [1 THESS 5: 16-18]. Having made these acknowledgements, we come to You to beseech You to not ever to lose patience with us and to always be willing to guide us to righteous living. We treasure the gifts of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control. They and all Your teaching matter to us. Help us to learn what it means to yield to Your leadership in our lives—in our homes, churches, cities and rural areas, nation, and in the world. We welcome Your teaching and want it to enrich our lives in Jesus Christ. We pray for people in other belief systems who also want to live righteously. We trust You will come against evil leaders of other nations and for their malevolence to be for naught. As with the Dry Bones of Israel, we know You will breathe life into those good people who are killed due to evil they didn’t commit. Whether their martyrdom was due to disease, war, famine, crime, or whatever, we believe You know exactly who they are. We are so grateful for all the blessings You bring into our lives and for the promise of eternal life given to us by Christ’s atoning sacrifice. We are thankful, pledge our loyalty, and offer You richly deserved praise, in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: As I’m writing this devotion, the Holy Spirit is feeding me ideas He wants in the next one. That is an example of His supernatural power. There are more lessons that come to us from faith in God’s greater and supernatural abilities. While these lessons may be obvious to some, most of us need to walk around thinking about how they apply in our lives. Each of us is different and while we share some experiences, others are individual. My greatest individual lessons so far have to do with learning patience and humility. When one realizes that in sending Christ as a mendicant rabbi, appearing as an ordinary person, God has humbled Himself. As a person who wants to be Christlike in my life, I needed that lesson badly. If God can do that, He created me to do that in my own way too. How about you? As for patience, that has been a long, hard lesson for me. I’m still working at both these things and hope you will work on your own weaknesses. Remember Paul’s comments in 2 COR 12: 7b-9? If not, then read this passage and see what I mean. In the meanwhile, praise and thanks to our Lord!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn, JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2023. All Rights Reserved.
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