"A man was lying there who had been sick for 38 years. When Jesus saw the man and knew he had been sick for such a long time, Jesus asked him, 'Do you want to be well?'"
TO PONDER
38 years. That’s a long time. I’ve experienced debilitating illness for a long time, though not that long. I just know that there is so much more to this story. Jesus would have remained caring and concerned and aware of this man’s journey. He would see to it that he was eased into his new state of wellness; that he was supported by friends; that his mind was not overwhelmed. Whatever need he had would be met. Mine were, and if you look back, so are yours.
We know this because Jesus loves each one of us and is forever faithful. If you haven’t faced this kind of long-term trial, know that when you do, our gentle, loving, faithful Saviour will do the same for you. He is about wholeness of body, mind and spirit. How different from doctors and waiting rooms and endless medications. Sometimes we don’t notice what God is doing for us and sometimes I doubt that we truly do want to get better—because it opens a totally new way of living.
Hold onto your faith and confidence in Jesus because He comes to impart wholeness.
The man in this story didn’t doubt Jesus. He didn’t ask, “What can you possibly do for me?” In faith, he believed and was healed. Further on in verse 15, the man starts sharing his story of healing. When we share our stories, we encourage one another and we shine the light back onto Jesus.
Why not ask your friends if they’ve had an experience of healing with God? Give them permission to share their story. You will hear some wonderfully encouraging things. Maybe God is challenging you to share your stories too.
PRAYER: Lord, I love You. Thank You for the times and all the ways You have healed me. I want to be more aware of Your presence in my life. Help me to find opportunities this week to talk about You with others so that we may encourage one another in our faith journeys. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Jill von Stanke (pastor Mat's Mum), LifeWay Online.
Remember the former things, those of long ago;
I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.
I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’
TO PONDER
I'd be surprised if you haven't heard the expression, 'the only two certainties in life are taxes and death'. As I reflect on this saying, it is my view that it is fairly accurate. I work in reinsurance (a risk management industry – we insure insurers) and I sometimes explain to people that don't understand the concept of reinsurance, that we are sophisticated bookmakers (i.e., we price risk).
I have some friends that are involved in horse racing and if a horse has odds to win of $1.01, they would explain that this is as good as you might get to a certainty to win. If $1 is outlaid on the horse to win, the total return back is $1.01! This for me is still far from certainty.
So what then is certainty? Probably not even the death and taxes expression as whilst we all pay tax (either directly or indirectly) some of us may not die but be here for Christ's second coming.
Certainty is todays reading from Isaiah and in fact our scripture for every day of this past week. What more certainty do we need? Our God is the same God, yesterday, today, tomorrow and forever. That's certainty! (Hebrews 13:8 "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever".)
The God that loves you, me and the whole world so much that He sent His son down to earth to die for us on the cross and to defeat death and Satan with His Easter Sunday resurrection. Not anything, in this world or into the future will ever change this. THIS IS CERTAINTY.
Be challenged today, tomorrow and every day to show your certainty in all that you do in God's name. How (and for whom?) can you do this today?
PRAYER: God of Certainty. You are in control of all things. Thank you that you have gone before me to carve out my final destination with You for eternity. Continue to walk with me and help me to live boldly in this certainty every day. Amen
Today's devotion written by Shane Burdack, LifeWay Epping.
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
So we say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”
TO PONDER
As I read our scripture for today the First, Ninth and Tenth Commandments immediately 'jump out at me'. To have a love of money or other material possessions will certainly mean that we are failing in any endeavour to keep the First Commandment as in Luther's Small Catechism we are told that we should "honour, love and trust God more than anything else". Equally, if we covet our neighbours house or we desire someone else's husband, wife or are envious of someone else's assets or possessions then we are in breach of the Ninth and Tenth Commandments.
When our focus is not in the right place or our priorities are in the incorrect order, then our sinful nature as descendants of Adam will bring us into temptation and direct conflict with God's Commandments.
Our scripture tells us to be content with what we have. We should not pursue earthly material possessions when as children of God we have certainty through our risen Lord of the promise to come of eternal life in paradise. The text further underpins this certainty and should be the foundation of our contentment. "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you". We can confidently proclaim our contentment through our trust in God to meet all our needs and security. We can indeed say (and live) in confidence knowing the Lord is walking by our side to assist us and that nothing can impact His love for us.
How often do you revisit Luther's Small Catechism or other biblical tools / references to help you underpin the certainty you have in your risen Lord? Do that today.
PRAYER: Heavenly King. Through your never-ending love for me, You have done everything needed for me to be content now, here on earth and in my Heavenly home that awaits me. Help me to be a living witness of the certainty that I have through your resurrection. Amen
Today's devotion written by Shane Burdack, LifeWay Epping
The Lord will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life;
the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
TO PONDER
Verse 8 of today's Psalm reminds me vividly of weekly church services as a young boy with my family in the NSW country town of Albury. "The Lord will watch over your coming and going, both now and forevermore" was part of our regular Sunday blessing as worship concluded. A reminder to us as we left worship of God's protection, a blessing that expressed the certainty we have in God's care.
This verse emphasises God's constant and eternal vigilance over all believers, from our daily activities here on earth to our final eternal destiny in Heaven with our Father.
As a disciple of Jesus at LifeWay Lutheran church, I can fully understand why verse 7 and 8 of this Psalm has been selected as a focus for devotion during our current sermon series 'show me your identity' with particular focus for this week on 'showing your certainty'.
You cannot get any more certainty than knowing that our Lord will keep you from all harm, He will watch over your life and continue to watch over your coming and going both now and forever more.
What can you do today (an expression of love, a discussion, showing support or assistance to a neighbour) to display your Christian identity and share the news of our risen Lord?
PRAYER: Dear Lord, todays scripture verses provide me with certainty in your love for me and exactly what this means for me as your child, now and for eternity. Please send me and place me into settings where you can assist me to confidently share this certainty with others. Amen
Today's devotion written by Shane Burdack, LifeWay Epping
All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away
TO PONDER
As I contemplated the verse above and then did some further reading, I was interested to learn that some of the well-known theologians generally had the view that there is a simple meaning of the word 'come / coming' in the context of our scripture for today. Not simplistic in terms of the rewards and promises we have in coming to Christ, nor that believing in Christ is a simple exercise but how simple and natural the action of 'coming' really is. As Spurgeon stated, coming is a simple action that involves either one coming away from something or coming to something. To have faith in God then, means we have 'come to Him'.
John's scripture is clear that coming to Jesus begins with the work of the Father. As we walk our journey (as sent out by Christ to make disciples of all nations), we too can be confident that the Father (Holy Spirit) will indeed work within us to bring others to know Him.
Today's verse then reinforces for us that Jesus will receive all that come to Him. He will never drive us away. What comfort and certainty this provides us to continue our Christian journey of bringing the good news of the Easter story to all.
Can you identify someone in your life right now that needs to learn about the 'bread of life' in Jesus Christ? Keep talking with them, encouraging them and let the Father (Holy Spirit) work within you.
PRAYER: Our Father in Heaven, sorry when I do not display my Christian identity daily for everyone to see. Walk with me and work within me through your Holy Spirit to bring others to know you so I can share the certainty you provide me and all my Christian brothers and sisters. Amen
Today's devotion written by Shane Burdack, LifeWay Epping
Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
TO PONDER
Have you ever stopped and simply taken the time to ponder the wonderous works of our Heavenly Father. There are no instances of works half done or incomplete. They are all followed through to total and perfect completion. Starting from creation, He worked for six days to fully complete His work and make sure all was in order and perfect before He rested on the Sabbath (and Satan later intervened). No half-healing of the lame so they needed assistance via a crutch to hobble away. They got up and walked away. The same for leppers, the blind, mute, deaf, and demon possessed. Easter didn't conclude with Jesus' passionate death on the cross to free us of our sins but culminated in His resurrection to complete the work and overcome death and the devil forever!
This is our identity as children of God. We can be certain of what awaits us, and we can also have the utmost confidence that God will continue to walk with us on our every step through to the completion of our journey here on earth. Whether our journey concludes as we are called from this world to our eternal home in Heaven, or whether we are still present here on earth upon the second coming of our Lord when we will then, receive the promise of eternal life with Him and ALL believers in paradise.
Can you recall a time(s) where you didn't fully complete your work or give the Holy Spirit the opportunity to work within you to fully sow the seed of Christ for someone to hear? How might you change this?
PRAYER: Lord God. You have indeed fully completed the work and done all that is required for me to partake in the wondrous promise of eternal life that awaits me. Help me to allow You to continue to work through me via the Holy Spirit to fully complete the work of bringing others to you. Amen
Today's devotion written by Shane Burdack, LifeWy Epping
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord
TO PONDER
Todays scripture is a very comforting one for us. How would you try and sum it up in one sentence?
I'd say - "nothing at all, neither in this world or the world to come, can separate us from the love of God."
What certainty this provides us.
In many ways, this is a very cosy and insulating scripture. Like a foetus in its mother's womb, totally loved and protected against just about everything. Did you know that psychologically, this is why a human being will often curl up in a foetal position during a time of fear or uncertainty? This position provides the psychological perception of ultimate love and protection.
But just like a developing baby in its mother's womb, there is no purpose or anything gained from the baby remaining there indefinitely. It is born into the world to live life. Just like God sent His son to be born into our sinful world, be crucified, and raised to life on Easter Sunday so we can also have real life with Him forever. So as Jesus' disciples, we too also need to be bold in our Christian faith and step out with the certainty we have been given to live life and show the world our identity and assist in the mission work here on earth to grow God's Kingdom.
How might you be able to step out today with certainty and show your identity in our risen Christ to someone?
PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father. I know that I belong to you and that your love for me and all believers will not be separated by anything. As your child, help me to bring this good-news to others as I step out into the world daily, into the mission-field that awaits me. Amen
Today's devotion written by Shane Burdack, LifeWay Epping.
y sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.
TO PONDER
Sheep are often described as stupid animals. They don't think or weigh up the situation but blindly follow the sheep that is next to them. Hence a sheep farmer will always tell you the importance of a good sheep dog to keep the flock together as they splinter off in different directions blindly following the sheep next to them!
We Christian's are often like sheep splintering off and straying from the right path, bowing to cultural, community and peer pressures by following the worldly sinful norm!
A shepherd's livelihood in biblical days was centred on protecting and caring for his sheep.
Our Heavenly Saviour and Shepherd Jesus Christ took our protection and care to the ultimate point of dying for us on the cross to pay the price of our sins and through His Easter Sunday resurrection, provide us with the promise of eternal life with Him in Heaven having defeated sin once and for all.
As Christian's, we belong to His flock and have absolute certainty of His promise if we listen to Him and follow Him. He will give us eternal life meaning we will never perish. No one will snatch us from our Shepherds caring hand!
With this certainty, we can live bold Christian lives for all the world to see.
What reservations do you have in living out a bold Christian life? Why? (Remember, Christ has done everything for you and provides absolute certainty).
PRAYER: Our loving Shepherd. Your sacrificial actions of love for me means I am one of your very own flock. Fill me with your Holy Spirit so I am bold with my Christianity and stirred to show the world my identity through You. Amen
Today's devotion written by Shane Burdack, LifeWay Epping.
This is how we know what love is; Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
TO PONDER
The Message Bible puts it this way, ‘this is how we come to understand and experience love; Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, not just be out for ourselves.” These verses are explaining and showing what love to the point of death might look like, not just the extreme moments of sacrifice, but in the give and take of the everyday loving life. We are blessed with possessions, which are gifts from God, and we are asked to share these with our fellow brothers and sisters when we see that they are in need or are suffering from lack of everyday provisions. Some of our possessions may have become, for various reasons, quite precious but still need to be cheerfully sacrificed to help another in need.
By faith we are linked into Christ and linked believer to believer by love, these connections keep us aware of what is needed and help us to willingly give what is required. We serve Christ as we serve one another and fulfill his command to love one another.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, you have shown us, by your death and resurrection the ultimate sacrifice, may we also be willing to make sacrifices for our fellow believers, when we see them suffering and in need. Help us make and keep strong connections between one another that we can reflect your love for us by our actions. Amen
Today's devotion written by Maureen Macpherson, LifeWay Newcastle