November 9, 2012

Praying That the Hour Might Pass Him By (11/9)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Matthew 26; Mark 14.

Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane before His betrayal. Some have interpreted His prayer to mean that Jesus was praying that He might be able to avoid the cross. Notice what Jesus said as it was recorded by Matthew:

“And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will’” (Matthew 26:39).

Some read of this desire for “this cup” to pass from Him and conclude that Jesus, in a moment of weakness, desired to escape the cross. In other words, though Jesus came to this world to save sinners, when the time was near for Him to offer the sacrifice, in an act of human weakness He wanted to abandon the mission. Can this possibly be true of our Lord?

Mark, in his gospel, offers us an inspired commentary explaining what Jesus’ words meant:
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November 3, 2012

“For This Purpose I Came to This Hour” (11/3)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Mark 11; John 12.

“And Jesus answered them, saying, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit’” (John 12:23-24).

The time for Jesus to be glorified was approaching. But how was He going to be glorified? Many of the Jews were looking for their Messiah to defeat the Romans and rule over a physical kingdom from Jerusalem. But this was not the divine plan. Instead, as Jesus indicated here, it would involve death.

“‘Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, “Father, save Me from this hour”? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.’ Then a voice came out of heaven: ‘I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again’” (John 12:27-28).

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October 21, 2012

The Son of Man Will Be Killed (10/21)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Matthew 17; Mark 9; Luke 9:28-62.

Even though His disciples did not completely understand what He meant, Jesus told them beforehand what was going to happen to Him.

“For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, ‘The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later’” (Mark 9:31).

Jesus was going to be killed. He knew this would happen. Peter would later say that this was part of the “predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23). This was the reason why Jesus came to the earth in the first place – to die on the cross.
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September 14, 2012

Praise for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego (9/14)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Daniel 1-3.

Daniel’s three friends – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego – were thrown into a fiery furnace for their refusal to bow down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had erected. After they were miraculously delivered, Nebuchadnezzar offered some praise to these three men.

“Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, ‘Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who put their trust in Him, violating the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any god except their own God’” (Daniel 3:28).

Nebuchadnezzar mentioned four things that these men did that we must be willing to do also if we wish to please God today.
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July 20, 2012

Loyalty Rather Than Sacrifice (7/20)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Hosea 1-7.

“What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud and like the dew which goes away early. Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth; and the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth. For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:4-6).

As the wise man said, “Many a man proclaims his own loyalty, but who can find a trustworthy man?” (Proverbs 20:6). It is one thing to claim to be loyal to the Lord. It is quite another to actually be loyal.
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May 1, 2012

They Risked Their Lives for the King (5/1)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from 2 Samuel 5:1-10; 1 Chronicles 11-12.

1 Chronicles 11 tells us of David’s mighty men. Three of these men were remembered for risking their lives to provide aid and comfort to the king.

“Now three of the thirty chief men went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam, while the army of the Philistines was camping in the valley of Rephaim. David was then in the stronghold, while the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem.

“David had a craving and said, ‘Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!’ So the three broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water from the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David; nevertheless David would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord; and he said, ‘Be it far from me before my God that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of these men who went at the risk of their lives? For at the risk of their lives they brought it.’ Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did” (1 Chronicles 11:15-19).

Their success in this mission was amazing, and their devotion to David was commendable. Yet David refused to drink the water they had brought and even spilled it out on the ground. This was not meant as an insult to these men, but rather it showed David’s concern for the lives of these men and his reverence for God.
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April 18, 2012

"Willingly I Will Sacrifice to You" (4/18)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Psalm 17, 35, 54, 63.

“Willingly I will sacrifice to You; I will give thanks to Your name, O Lord, for it is good” (Psalm 54:6).

While God commands men to obey Him, He wants us to do so willingly, not under compulsion. In this psalm, David expressed his willing desire to offer sacrifices to the Lord.

Sacrifice is not something that many people want to do. Yet David did it willingly. Why? He briefly listed three reasons:
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