Author: kezha1

Just as yesterday when Jesus told the demon possessed man that he needed to go home rather than follow Him, today we’ll look at a few more examples. In Mark 2 we see Jesus teaching, when men lower a paralytic through the roof. Jesus heals the man and then says to him, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” (Mark 2:11) Now we don’t know how long this man had been disabled…but long enough for his loyal friends to make the desperate & last ditch attempt to insure his healing. But why did Jesus specifically tell him to go home, and oh by the way, take your mat with you? That mat not only represented the man’s testimony, but it was a undeniable reminder of who he was before Jesus spoke healing into him. And no family, friend, or neighbor could refute it. Later in Acts 9: 34-35 we see the Apostle Peter in a similar situation. In his travels Peter came upon Aeneas, a paralytic bedridden for eight years and said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and take care of your mat. Immediately Aeneas got up. All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.” Again this healed man went home dragging his testimony behind him…and all the people in the area were amazed at this dramatic transformation of someone they had known for years…and placed their trust in Jesus.

Jesus could of allowed this man to follow Him, but Jesus also knew the greatest impact of his healing & testimony would be among the people who knew him the best. That’s because this man had been exiled due to his violent & self-destructive behaviors…left to live among the tombs as a mentally ill outcast. So you can only imagine how shocked & amazed the townspeople were when they saw him in his right mind and listened to his testimony of what this man called Jesus had done for him. There was no denying that this was the very creepy man living in the cemetery…and now here he stood, publicly proclaiming he had been totally healed by Jesus. Many of us often dream of a national or international ministry…when God instead is telling us to “Go home and tell.”  Sure, that man might of won a few souls if he had accompanied Jesus…but just think of the impression & influence he made on his friends, family, and neighbors who knew him before he met Jesus that day.

On this first day of 2024… I pray that December had closed for you with gladness and thanksgiving in Jesus your Lord and Savior, and that January had opened with joy & hope in His unfailing love, mercy, and grace for the new year. As the Scripture above tells us, God’s loving kindness to His people is a unbreakable covenant promise…year in and year out. So no matter if it’s a brand new year…one thing is true and will never change…God is the same today, tomorrow, and always.

An overwhelmed Job in the midst of his physical suffering & spiritual desolation lamented in Job 3:25-26, ” What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me. I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest but only turmoil.” Job had realized that trouble was a very real part of life & living in a very broken world amongst very broken people. Jesus even assured His disciples that trouble would follow them when He said, “In this world you will have trouble…” (John 16:33) So as we move into the new year, one thing that can be guaranteed is that we will have trouble, suffering, pain, and tribulation in some fashion….there’s no way around it. But also know that the Lord is there to protect, comfort, and save us from those troubles. Psalm 34 is full of reminders that when we cry out, God will deliver us out of all our troubles…and that is what we can take into the new year.

Elsewhere in Psalms we read, “For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.” (Psalm 36:9) Our source of life & truth is in God and God alone. And just like physical thirst, we have Spiritual thirst…but the choice is ours where we go looking for water & refreshment to quench this thirst. The water of the world will leave us dry & thirsty…always searching for more, but the spring of water of life is lifegiving. (Revelations 21:6) And it’s with joy we can draw water from this well of Salvation. (Isaiah 12:3) John called Jesus, “the true light coming into the world”, and it’s with this light of truth we then need to discern just where we’ve been drawing water from.

As this year comes to an end, my question to you today is – Are you looking ahead to 2024 with hope? Now as a Believer, hope is the assurance of something not yet fully experienced and quite different from the uncertain and wishful thinking of the world. This confident hope in Jesus will never disappoint, but as it says here, it’s guaranteed by the love of God that the Holy Spirit pours into our hearts. Thus, we can go into 2024 equipped with faith, trust, and courage to face any obstacle that comes our way.

The shepherds stood in wonder at His birth. For what the angels had proclaimed to them was true. The Messiah had been born & they had been the first to witness His arrival. Soon they spread The Good News to everyone, and all who heard it were amazed.

The soldiers stood in wonder at His death. These Gentile Roman soldiers may not have known Old Testament Jewish prophecy – but in wonderment they made an appropriate confession of Jesus’ identity when they proclaimed in Matthew 27:54, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

The witnesses stood in wonder at His resurrection. In Luke 24:50-53, Jesus’ followers stand in utter amazement as He ascended in Shekinah glory – a moment of remarkable splendor as God’s radiant glory was manifested for them to see.

Someday the entire world will stand in wonder at His return. Across Scriptures we see it – Isaiah 45:23, Romans 14:11, and Philippians 2:10 all allude to the Second Coming of Christ when all mankind will stand before the Judgment Seat in total submission. ” Jesus the Name above every Name – so that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”

The source of all of Jesus’ teachings came directly from His Father…He made this very plain from the start of His Ministry here on earth. Also plain from the start was His absolute resolve to obey His Father’s Will and not His own. We see this in the garden when He prayed, “Yet not as I will, but as You Will.” (Matthew 26:39) Everyday we’re making the same kind of conscious decisions of following our own will or God’s…but we’ll soon discover that if we earnestly seek to do God’s Will over ours, His plan & purpose for our life will blossom & grow into something beautiful indeed.

Mercy…Jesus spoke of it in Matthew 5:7, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” In I Peter 1:3, the idea of mercy is taken a little farther, “In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” Mercy is connected to God’s covenant and the basis of our trust in Him to Salvation. And by showing mercy in this present unredeemed world, we are promised we will receive it in the life to come. But understand this, God’s mercy isn’t a reward we somehow earn, but rather, as we recognize the true height & depth of His mercy towards us, we in turn out of our profound gratefulness, desire to show the same compassion to others. We receive mercy in order to show it to others… plain & simple.

To have unwavering trust in the promises of God…to have a steadfast belief in all His Words, no matter what, we need to know what they are. For how can we rely on something we haven’t read for ourselves? The answer is simple, you need to be in His Word on a regular basis in order to build a firm foundation upon His very great & precious promises. (II Peter 1:4) For only there you will find peace, security, & comfort against any storm that comes into your life.  May the Lord bless you with a very amazing Christmas, today & and for the year to come.