There Is a Judge

Why, LORD, do you stand far off?
  Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?—Psalm 10:1

In March 2008, tragedy struck in the heart of Jerusalem. A terrorist broke into a local high school and massacred eight young students as they pored over their Bibles deep in study. To make the situation even more tragic, the school had been moments away from celebrating the onset of the Hebrew month Adar – the month in which Purim is observed. That holiday recounts events in the book of Esther and is one of the most joyful holidays in the Jewish year. We have a saying in Judaism: “When Adar comes, our joy increases.” But on that night, there was no joy. Only sorrow and unanswered questions.

When tragedy strikes, especially when the victims are young and innocent, we often wonder: Where was God? How could He let this happen? Even King David asked these difficult questions. Psalm 10 begins: “Why, LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” The psalm goes on to ask how God can allow evildoers to get away with their crimes. Where is the justice? More importantly, where is the Judge?

Many people asked these questions during the days following the tragic shooting in Jerusalem. As it happened, one of the victims, fifteen-year-old Segev Peniel Avihayil, had answered those questions just days earlier.

On the night of the shooting, Segev’s bereaved father went into his son’s room and found a recently penned poem sitting on the desk. It was an esoteric poem that ended with a “row of souls,” eerily reminiscent of the row of body bags at the school, all proclaiming that “there is judgment and there is a Judge.”

And that’s what we also believe.

No matter how things may seem, we know there is a God and justice will ultimately prevail – even if we don’t understand how that will happen. Psalm 10 transitions from questions and not understanding God’s ways to a prayer asking God to intervene and exact justice: Break the arm of the wicked man; call the evildoer to account for his wickedness” (v. 15). The psalm ends with David’s confidence that justice will triumph, “The LORD is King for ever and ever . . . defending the fatherless and the oppressed (vv. 16, 18). As King of the universe, God will have the final say.

David’s questioning of God’s ways certainly resonates with us today. It appears that so much evil is allowed to exist. However, we must take to heart the rest of the psalm as David prayerfully puts his faith in God’s justice. Let us do the same and pour out our heartfelt prayers before the Lord “so that mere earthly mortals will never again strike terror” (v.18).

May the Judge bring all evildoers to justice and erase all terror from the earth.

http://www.holylandmoments.org/devotionals/there-is-a-judge

Be Passionate About It (1)

“I am doing a great work.”                                                   Ne 6:3 NKJV

Nehemiah was passionate about rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls. So when his enemies tried to sidetrack and discourage him, he answered, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down.” Passion is the starting point for all achievement. There has never been anyone who achieved anything of value, who wasn’t passionate about it. It’s the energy that fuels your dream. The road to success is cluttered with detours, problems, and disappointments. And if you don’t have the right mindset, your dreams can die there. Indeed, there are days when the needle on your passion meter will be on empty. On those days you need to remember that God gave you your dream to begin with; go back to Him and ask for the strength to keep moving toward it. The Psalmist wrote, “For You will light my lamp; the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. For by You I can run against a troop, by my God I can leap over a wall” (Ps 18:28-29 NKJV). Who gives you the power to run and leap? God! But you can’t sit back, fold your arms and think that He will do it all for you. Between your dream’s inspiration and its manifestation, there’s going to be a lot of perspiration. As every new parent finds out—it’s much harder having and raising a baby than conceiving one. But if you have the passion for your dream, the price tag won’t stop you. You’ll get up every morning, draw on God’s grace and take one more step in the direction of the thing you know God put you on this earth to do.

http://www.theencouragingword.com

Coming Back Again — Part I & II

And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them–Luk 2:51

It Was Hard to Return to Nazareth after the Vision of Jerusalem

That visit to Jerusalem was one of the great hours in the life of Jesus. It must have moved Him to the depths. Often in the quiet home at Nazareth His mother had spoken to Him of the Holy City. And the Boy, clinging to her knee, had eagerly listened to all she had to tell. Now He was there, moving through the streets, feasting His eyes upon the Temple. He had reached the city of His dreams. Clearly it was a time of vision. “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business? In that moving hour there broke on Him the revelation of His unique vocation. And the beautiful thing is that after such an hour He quietly went back to Nazareth, and was subject to Mary and to Joseph. He drew the water from the well again. He did little daily errands for His mother. He weeded the garden, tended the flowers in it, lent a hand to Joseph in the shop. And all this after that great hour which had changed His outlook upon everything and moved Him to the very depths.

Coming from Vision to Duty Was Characteristic of Jesus

That faithful and radiant way of coming back again was very characteristic of the Lord. We see it later at the Transfiguration. That was a splendid and a shining hour, when heaven drew very near to earth. Such hours find a more suitable environment on mountain-tops than on the lower levels of the world. There Moses and Elias talked with Him. There was heard the awful voice of God. There His very garments became lustrous. After such an hour of heavenly converse you and I would have craved to be alone. Voices would have had a jarring sound; company would have been deemed intrusion. And again the beautiful thing about our Lord is that after such a heavenly hour as that He came right down to the epileptic boy. Instead of the voices of Moses and Elias, there was the clamor and confusion of the crowd; instead of the tranquillity of heaven–the horrid contortions of the epileptic. It was the way of Jesus, after His hours of vision, to come right back, whole-heartedly and happily, to the task and travail of the day.

And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them–Luk 2:51

Routine Should Never Be Counted as Drudgery

Now, that is big with meaning for us all, and is capable of endless application. At this season, for instance, one would think of holidays. Many of my readers have had a splendid holiday, favored by weather exquisitely fine. A strong light, says Emerson, makes everything beautiful, and multitudes have found the truth of that. And now, from the “large room” of holidays, and the healing vision of mountain and of moorland, they are back to the old drudgery again. It is never easy coming back like that, especially in the vivid years of youth. The “daily round and common task” are alien and irksome for a little. But if we are trying to follow the great Master, we can show it not only in our going forth, but by the kind of spirit in which we return. He went down and was subject to His parents. He left the hills for the epileptic boy. He did it with that unfaltering faith of His, which assured Him that His God was everywhere. And in that radiant spirit of return from the vision to the daily round, He has left us an example that we should follow His steps.

It Takes Heroism to Come Back to Lowly Tasks

The same truth holds with equal force of all the great revealing hours of life. There is often not a little heroism in coming back again to lowly tasks. When love has once come caroling down the highway it is not easy to get back to drudgery. When sorrow has come and “slit the thin-spun life,” how intolerable, often, is that housework! The hand that knocks the nail into the coffin seems to knock the bottom out of everything, and we are left sometimes, paralyzed and powerless, in a world of phantoms we cannot understand. Some men in such hours take to drink. Some who can afford it take to travel. Some lose “the rapture of the forward view” and settle down in the “luxury of woe.” But He who came to lead us heavenward, and who drank our bitter chalice to the dregs, has empowered us for a better way than that. To take up our common task again, to march to our duty over the new-filled grave, to come back to the detail of the day, knowing that this, too, is holy ground–that is the path marked out for us by Him who went down and was subject to His parents, and who left the mount for the epileptic boy.

A Christian Does Ordinary Things in Extraordinary Ways

Nor can we forget how this applies to the great hours of the spiritual life. For that life, too, has its high revealing seasons, when like the apostle we are caught up to Paradise. After such hours (and one of them is conversion) men often yearn to do great things for heaven. They want to be ministers; they want to leave the bench, and go abroad to evangelize the heathen. If that be the authentic call of God it will reveal itself as irresistible, but often the appointed path is otherwise. It is not to go forth in glorious adventure; it is to come back with the glow upon the face–to the old home, the dubious friends, the critical comrades, the familiar faces, it is to tell out there all that the Lord has done, not necessarily by the utterance of the lip, but by the demonstration of the life. A Christian does not always do extraordinary things. He does ordinary things in extraordinary ways. He makes conscience of the humblest task. He does things heartily as to the Lord. And to come back again, with that new spirit, to the dull duty and narrowing routine is the kind of conduct that gives joy in heaven.

 

http://devotionals.ochristian.com/George-H.-Morrison-Devotional-Sermons/1231.shtml

Tozer Devotional-The Four Horsemen of the Gloomy Decades

The Four Horsemen of the Gloomy Decades

Immediately following the first World War, a wave of pessimism swept over the literate world.

What the cause was I shall not go into here but, whatever it was, the intellectual mood of the ‘20s and ‘30s was thoroughly despondent. Materialism, pessimism, cynicism and skepticism were the four horsemen of those gloomy decades and they rode forth conquering and to conquer.

The scientists were materialistic, the philosophers skeptical, the novelists and biographers cynical and almost everyone pessimistic. Even the interpreters of prophecy were apprehensive, for they saw in the capture of Jerusalem by the British and the rise of the Roman Empire under Mussolini evidence of the nearness of the tribulation days, the coming of Antichrist and the collapse of civilization. About the only religionists on the Protestant side who managed to retain a little optimism were the liberals (“modernists” they were called in those days), and they were cheerful for a wrong reason. Out of the poetic passages of a Bible, in which they no longer believed, they wove delicate daisy chains, which have long since withered, and crocheted pretty religious doilies of which they are not now exactly proud and which they would willingly forget but cannot because their handiwork is still to be found among us–on the seventeen cent bargain table of the second-hand bookstores.

http://www.cmalliance.org/devotions/tozer

Fickle Followers

How quickly public opinion can change! When Jesus entered Jerusalem for the Passover feast, He was welcomed by crowds cheering to have Him made king (John 12:13). But by the end of the week, the crowds were demanding that He be crucified (19:15).

I recognize myself in those fickle crowds. I love cheering for a team that’s winning, but my interest wanes when they start losing. I love being part of a movement that is new and exciting, but when the energy moves to a new part of town, I’m ready to move on. I love following Jesus when He is doing the impossible, but I slink away when He expects me to do something difficult. It’s exciting to follow Jesus when I can do it as part of the “in” crowd. It’s easy to trust Him when He outsmarts the smart people and outmaneuvers the people in power (see Matt. 12:10; 22:15-46). But when He begins to talk about suffering and sacrifice and death, I hesitate.

I like to think that I would have followed Jesus all the way to the cross—but I have my doubts. After all, if I don’t speak up for Him in places where it’s safe, what makes me think I would do so in a crowd of His opponents?

How thankful I am that Jesus died for fickle followers so that we can become devoted followers.

For Further Thought Read these Bible verses and ponder Jesus’ love for you (Rom. 5:8; Rom. 8:37-39; Heb. 13:5-6,8; 1 John 3:1). Allow your devotion to Him to grow.
Christ deserves full-time followers.

2 Samuel 15:23 The king also himself passed over the brook Kidron.

David passed that gloomy brook when flying with his mourning company from his traitor son. The man after God‘s own heart was not exempt from trouble, nay, his life was full of it. He was both the Lord’s Anointed, and the Lord’s Afflicted. Why then should we expect to escape? At sorrow’s gates the noblest of our race have waited with ashes on their heads, wherefore then should we complain as though some strange thing had happened unto us? The KING of kings himself was not favoured with a more cheerful or royal road. He passed over the filthy ditch of Kidron, through which the filth of Jerusalem flowed. God had one Son without sin, but not a single child without the rod. It is a great joy to believe that Jesus has been tempted in all points like as we are. What is our Kidron this morning? Is it a faithless friend, a sad bereavement, a slanderous reproach, a dark foreboding? The King has passed over all these. Is it bodily pain, poverty, persecution, or contempt? Over each of these Kidrons the King has gone before us. “In all our afflictions He was afflicted.” The idea of strangeness in our trials must be banished at once and for ever, for He who is the Head of all saints, knows by experience the grief which we think so peculiar. All the citizens of Zion must be free of the Honourable Company of Mourners, of which the Prince Immanuel is Head and Captain. Notwithstanding the abasement of David, he yet returned in triumph to his city, and David’s Lord arose victorious from the grave; let us then be of good courage, for we also shall win the day. We shall yet with joy draw water out of the wells of salvation, though now for a season we have to pass by the noxious streams of sin and sorrow. Courage, soldiers of the Cross, the King himself triumphed after going over Kidron, and so shall you.

http://www.crosswalkmail.com/ShareArticle.do?perform=view&articleID=hmqmwfmmc&siteID=ivgnhzydngnycdfbkqtptyzcvkkcgmythhf&recipID=526889780

Tears for Generations

“That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud.”—Numbers 14:1

The Torah portion for this week is Shelach, from Numbers 13:1–15:41 and the Haftorah from Joshua 2:1–24.

There is a story told about the famous French Emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte. He was traveling through a Jewish town in Europe when he entered a synagogue. There he saw men, women, and children, all sitting on the floor, weeping and reading from ancient texts. The room was almost completely dark and the atmosphere was gloomy.

“What great misfortune occurred?” Napoleon wanted to know. He assumed that something terrible must have just happened to the Jews. The Jewish officer with him knew otherwise. He explained, “It is the ninth of Av on the Hebrew calendar. On this day, every year, Jews around the world gather to mourn the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.” Napoleon asked, “When did that happen?” The officer replied, “Two thousand years ago.” Napoleon was shocked and said, “Any people that still cry for their land and their Temple after two thousand years will surely merit seeing both returned to them.”

Indeed, the land of Israel has been returned to the Jewish people. But as the Temple still lies in ruins, Jews continue to mourn on the ninth of Av. In fact, it’s not just the destruction of the Temples that we mourn on that day. The ninth of Av is a black day in Jewish history, a day when many tragedies occurred, including the destruction of both Temples in Jerusalem, the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, and the beginning of World War I which led to World War II and the Holocaust. The ninth of Av is a day of sadness, and it has its roots in this week’s reading.

When the spies returned to the Israelites and gave a bad report about the land of Israel, they caused weeping among the people. Even thought they had just witnessed the awesome power of God in Egypt and had recently pledged to accept His Torah and obey His commands, the Israelites lacked faith and obedience that night. They cried because they didn’t want to go into Israel. They cried because they were afraid. But ultimately, they cried for no good reason.

It’s as if God responded “They cried for no reason, so I will give them a good reason to cry!” That night was the ninth of Av, which has become a night of tears for all generations.

Friends, let’s be careful what we cry about. If we whine and complain for no good reason, it won’t go over well with God. On the other hand, the Sages teach that when we cry for good reasons, we will be rewarded. Those who weep over the Temple will get to see it rebuilt. Those who cry for the sake of God will see God do great things for them.

http://www.holylandmoments.org/devotionals/tears-for-generations

Yahuwah Warns Men of His Coming Judgments By: Ellen White

Just before us is a time of trouble such as never was, and those who are weaving the principles of truth into their practical life will soon understand what the wrath of the dragon means. Every soul who loves Yahuwah will be tested in regard to his sacred law. Followers of Yahushua must stand on the elevated and holy ground which advanced truth has given them. The light shining forth from the Scriptures for these last days, will qualify those who walk in it, to stand before magistrates and rulers, and will enable them to lift up the true standard of religion by their intelligent knowledge of the word of Yahuwah. The word of Yahuwah has been neglected, but it is high time to wake to the necessity of diligent and prayerful study of the Scriptures. Yahuwah would have us study the history of his dealing with men and nations in the past, that we may learn to respect and obey his messages, that we may take heed to his warnings and counsels.

Yahuwah tested the world when he sent, through Noah, a message to the antediluvians. He sent warning after warning that the world would be destroyed by the waters of the flood; but the wise men of the age despised the message, and showed contempt for Yahuwah’s messenger. They had so far separated themselves from Yahuwah that they trusted to the imaginations of their own hearts, and cared not to know the will of Yahuwah. But the unbelief of great and intelligent men did not prevent the fulfillment of Yahuwah’s pronounced judgments. The judgments came as Yahuwah had declared by the word of his prophets that they would come. Only faithful Noah and his family entered into the ark, and were saved when the deluge engulfed the world. The days of Noah are pointed to as an illustration of the unbelief that will prevail at the end of the world. Says the Saviour, “But as the days of Noah where, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” (Matthew 24:38-40).

If a similar condition of things is to exist in our day, we should be intelligent concerning it, and have sanctified judgment, that we may not take a course like the course of those who perished in the flood. We should be so instructed that we will not follow a multitude to do evil. Yahuwah has sent reproofs and warnings that men might repent of their transgressions, and forsake the evil of their ways, and so escape his threatened judgments. Yahuwah has always made a refuge for those who have repented of their sins, believed in his love, and hoped in his mercy.

Heavenly messengers visited Sodom, and told Lot of the impending destruction, and he was permitted to warn his relatives and friends, and to invite them to seek the protection of Yahuwah. Lot earnestly besought them to believe his words. He knew that their destiny for life or death depended upon their decision to obey or reject the warning. But they had corrupted their ways before Yahuwah, and Lot’s message seemed to them but folly and madness. They mocked at his agonized entreaties. He tarried long with them, so loth to give them up to their own unwise decision, that the angels had to take him by force and hurry him out of the city with his wife and daughters. The angel gave the command, “Escape for thy life; look not behind thee.”(Genesis 19:17). But notwithstanding the warning, Lot’s wife, whose heart was in the city devoted to destruction, did not obey, but turned to look behind her, and was changed to a pillar of salt in the way. She did not appreciate the mercy that Yahuwah had shown her, and was left as an example of warning for future generations.

When Yahushua came to the world, his own nation rejected him. He brought from heaven the message of salvation, hope, freedom, and peace; but men would not accept his good tidings. Followers of Yahushua have condemned the Jewish nation for rejecting the Saviour; but many who profess to be followers of Yahushua are doing even worse than did the Jews, for they are rejecting greater light in despising the truth for this time.

When Jerusalem was to be destroyed, the followers of Yahushua were warned of its impending doom. Yahushua had told his disciples what they were to do when certain things should come to pass. He said, “When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.” (Luke 21:20-21). All who believed in the warning of Yahushua, escaped from the city, and not one perished when Jerusalem was overthrown. By the destruction of Jerusalem is symbolized the last great judgment of Yahuwah that is to come upon the world.

We are living in the last days, and the generation that is to witness the final destruction has not been left without warning of the hastening judgments of Yahuwah. Says the apostle, “I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. . . . And I heard another voice from heaven saying, come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and Yahuwah hath remembered her iniquities.” (Revelation 18:1-6).

Through the warning that Yahuwah has sent to the world, an opportunity is given to all to escape the general ruin that is threatened to fallen Babylon. The whole earth is to be lightened with the glory of this message, and hearts and minds will be prepared by its reception, for the coming of the King of kings.

But this gracious message will be as generally rejected by the world professing to be following Yahushua, as was the message of the Messiah by the Jewish nation. Only a few will receive the testimony of truth, for every influence that Satan can bring to bear against the reception of the truth of Yahuwah will be employed. In these last days the agency of the evil one will be hidden under a cloak of false piety, so that if it were possible even the very elect would be deceived. The word of Yahuwah declares that Satan will work “with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish.” (2 Thessalonians 2:10). His miracle-working power will be displayed to its utmost. But none who wish to know the truth need be deceived. Yahuwah has promised to give to his people the Spirit of truth, to guide them into all truth.

There are persons who claim to be guided by the Spirit, and yet they are led contrary to the commandments of Yahuwah. The spirit by which they are directed is not the Spirit of truth. For the word of Yahuwah declares, “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of Yahuwah perfected; hereby know we that we are in him.” (1 John 2:3). It is not enough to give a nominal assent to the truth. Its principles must be interwoven with our life and character. And we may well be afraid of those who make exalted professions, but who do not obey the words of Yahuwah. There is safety alone in taking the Scriptures as our guide of life and action. Says the prophet, “To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”(Isaiah 8:20). Martin Luther exclaimed, “The Bible, and the Bible alone, is the foundation of our faith.” It is the work of the people of Yahuwah to hold up the Bible as the standard of religion and the foundation of hope.

Those who have had living faith in the messages of Yahuwah for the time in which they have lived, and who have acted out their faith in obedience to his commands, have been accepted of Yahuwah, and have escaped the judgments that were to fall upon the disobedient and unbelieving. The word came to Noah, “Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me.” (Genesis 7:1). Noah obeyed and was saved. The message came to Lot, “Up, get you out of this place; for the Master will destroy this city.”(Genesis 19:14). He placed himself under the guardianship of the heavenly messengers, and was saved. Those who obeyed the warning of Yahushua in marking the sign of the coming ruin, and in fleeing from Jerusalem, were not involved in her destruction. The message comes in our own time, Babylon is fallen, is fallen. . . . Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” (Revelation 18:2). Those who obey this message will escape the terrible plagues that will surely be visited upon her.

The sins of the world will have reached unto heaven when the law of Yahuwah is made void; when the Sabbath of the Master is trampled in the dust, and men are compelled to accept in its stead an institution of the papacy through the strong hand of the law of the land. In exalting an institution of man above the institution ordained of Yahuwah, they show contempt for the great Lawgiver, and refuse his sign or seal. The question of most vital importance for this time is, “Who is on the Master’s side? Who will unite with the angel in giving the message of truth to the world? Who will receive the light that is to fill the whole earth with its glory?” Those who cherish the light that they have, will receive more. Increasing light will shine about the souls who yield to the softening, subduing grace of Yahushua; and those who love the light, will be saved from the delusions of Satan. He will strive with intense energy to exhibit, through his miracle-working power, signs and wonders that will seem to eclipse the work that Yahuwah will do in the earth. And all will be deceived except those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. We need light now at every step, lest we be swept away with the error of the wicked.

http://www.worldslastchance.com/updates/yahuwah-warns-men-of-his-coming-judgments.html

The Cry for Companionship

What, could ye not watch with me one hour?–Mat 26:40

The Closest Disciples Sleep Most Often

The scene was the Garden of Gethsemane, and all three disciples were asleep. It is not the first time in the Gospel story that we have found these three disciples sleeping. When the Lord was transfigured on the mountain these same disciples were asleep, and neither there nor here was it a light and evanescent drowsiness. We are told that in the former narrative, and here, the moment Jesus ceased to speak they relapsed into their heavy slumber. One would have thought that the word of Jesus to them would have stabbed them wide awake. It evidently did nothing of the kind. The last syllable was scarcely uttered, when they were sunk again in profound sleep.            

As a Man, Jesus Craved Companionship

One recognises in these words of Jesus His passionate yearning for companionship. In His hour of travail and of agony He craved the companionship of men. One might have conjectured that in such an hour the Master would have longed to be alone. Had He left His disciples in Jerusalem one could have understood that perfectly. And the very fact that He took these three disciples, and set them where they were not far away, shows how He craved for human sympathy and needed the companionship of men. Our blessed Saviour was no stoic. He leaned hard on loving hearts. He yearned for the fellowship of men as intensely as they yearned for His. And if today He is “the very same Jesus,” unchanged by death and resurrection, then He still craves, with an unaltered longing, for loving human companionship.

He Craved for Their Companionship although He Knew It Would Be Inadequate

It should be noted that He craved this fellowship when it was utterly inadequate. How little could these disciples fathom all that was transacting in the darkness! There He was bearing sin upon His spirit, as on Calvary He bore it in His body. There He was giving Himself utterly to God‘s will in the redemption of mankind. Even had the disciples been awake, how little could they have understood–yet He craved an imperfect sympathy like that. What an exquisitely human touch that is! An old and faithful family retainer may know nothing of what her master has to bear. To her his troubles may be as great a mystery as the troubles of Jesus to His three disciples. Yet the loving sympathy of that old servant, even though she does not understand, is strangely helpful to her master’s heart. Perhaps at the best all we can give to Christ is a sympathy like that of the old servant. There are depths in His being, His death, His endless life, that no human heart can ever fathom. And yet He wants our loving close companionship, just as, in the Garden of Gethsemane, He wanted that of these three sleeping men.

He Asked Them to Watch But One Hour

Another thought that meets us is how often it is in lesser things we fail. In order to fully appreciate that I ask you to put the accent on one hour. Had He asked them to watch through the livelong night with Him, that might have been a high and arduous service. But to ask their vigilance for sixty minutes surely was a very small demand, yet it was there that the disciples failed. In the last great service Peter did not fail Him, for Peter was crucified for Christ. James, too, laid down his life for Him, and John went to exile in the Isle of Patmos. Where they all failed was in the lesser thing, in the duty that was comparatively small–what, could ye not watch with Me one hour?

And perhaps it is there most often that we fail in our loving companionship with Christ. Perhaps it is there that love most often fails. In our fellowship with the Lord Jesus we may be ready and eager for the greatest sacrifice, and yet we cannot watch with Him one hour. In those infinitesimal self-denials which are possible with every passing day, in patience and appreciative sympathy within the shelter and secrecy of home, in the rendering of those little kindnesses which are more to many hearts than gold or silver, how often we fail as those disciples did. Great services reveal our possibilities; little services reveal our consecration. Jesus places the emphasis of heaven on him who is faithful in the least. Had these disciples watched for that one hour they would have rendered a service far beyond their dreams. That is true of everyone of us.

http://devotionals.ochristian.com/george-h-morrison-devotional-sermons-devotional.shtml

 

Knee-Deep In Daffodils

When the first flowers of spring bloomed in our yard, my 5-year-old son waded into a patch of daffodils. He noticed some debris from plants that had expired months before and remarked, “Mom, when I see something dead, it reminds me of Easter because Jesus died on the cross.” I replied, “When I see something alive—like the daffodils—it reminds me that Jesus came back to life!”

One reason we know Jesus rose from the grave is that, according to the gospel of Luke, He approached two travelers headed to Emmaus 3 days after His crucifixion. Jesus walked with them; He ate dinner with them; He even gave them a lesson in Old Testament prophecy (24:15-27). This encounter showed the travelers that Jesus conquered the grave—He had risen from the dead. As a result, the pair returned to Jerusalem and told the disciples, “The Lord is risen indeed!” (v.34).

If Jesus had not come back to life, our faith as Christians would be pointless, and we would still be under the penalty of our sin (1 Cor. 15:17). However, the Bible tells us that Jesus “was raised to life for our justification” (Rom. 4:25 niv). Today, we can be right with God because Jesus is alive!

I serve a risen Savior, He’s in the world today; I know that He is living, whatever men may say. I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer, And just the time I need Him He’s always near. —Alfred Ackley © Renewal 1961. The Rodeheaver Company
The empty cross and the empty tomb provide a full salvation.