Category: hope

Holding Fast to Hope

Old Testament: Job 17 & 18

Poetry: Psalm 39

New Testament: John 19

The world is filled with a great deal of uncertainty and challenges, much like a battlefield.  At many times, life is so filled with ambushes and snares that we should abide by the military mantra, “expect the unexpected.”  Consequently, if we live our lives dodging bullets and treating everyone like they are the enemy, we may survive but we aren’t following orders.  You can desert God’s plan and work on one of your own but the glory of God cannot be yours without taking his marching orders.  Whatever unforeseen opposition comes our way, we shouldn’t change our battle plan.  We have to expect the expected, meaning what we hope for does not change by any circumstance that is thrown our way.  Our hope only grows closer in these circumstances, and our faith brings clarity in tumultuous times.

“Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways, and those with clean hands will grow stronger.” – Job 17.9

In the midst of Job’s trials and sufferings, Job speaks that the righteous are true to their pledge.  The same hope exists in times of peace and times of war.   However, when we are battle-tested and endure, our faith is made stronger, much like tree roots that dig deeper into the soil during a storm. There will be waves of doubt and despair that will combat our hope, but when we are firmly planted in the ground with a source of Living Water, there is nothing that can make us shakeable, to lose the fruit of the Spirit that we bear.

“But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you.” – Psalm 39:7

Conversely, in the fog of war, there is confusion.  The next step can seem unclear. In the midst of doing ministry, fighting off sin, or disciplining your children, we must look to the Lord. His solutions are not based in our fleeting circumstances.  His answers are not temporary solutions to momentarily cover our wounds. His resolution will be based in eternity.  Our hope is in the one whose hands hold the world. We are secure in seeking Him because He is unchanging.  He clears the fog and leads us by our faith and not our sight.

“When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” – John 19:30

We must always bear in mind that Jesus Christ completes this hope.  He believed, he hoped that His death on the cross would not only lead to resurrection for himself, but resurrection for us all who put our faith in Him.  He fulfilled the hope of so many who were looking for a Messiah in the Old Testament, and he completes the hope of us all who desperately need a Savior.  What a great hope is this that while we still struggle with our sins, Christ has already died for us as an offering, so we can be in His kingdom.  The cross defeats addiction.  The cross defeats abuse.  The cross defeats poverty.  The cross defeats shame.  The cross defeats sin.  The cross defeats every power in this age, including the enemy of death.  It is in the power of the cross that we have a hope, so we can march on with our banner held high proclaiming the hope that we have and instilling fear in our enemies.

-Aaron Winner

Reflection Questions

  1. Where do you put your hope? How would you describe it to an unbelieving neighbor?
  2. What can someone who feels they are in a hopeless situation learn from Job, David and Jesus?
  3. What do you learn about God from today’s passages?
sgl23bibleplanDownload

Light. Will. Come.

Old Testament: Job Intro – found below

Poetry: Psalm 30

New Testament: John 10

Sometimes things are just hard. Life is not going our way. We’re feeling burdened, overwhelmed, or just plain sad. When we are stuck in the middle of these times, it can bring relief just to see the possibility of a light at the end of our dark tunnel. We don’t even have to see the light yet. Just knowing that it’s coming can lighten our load and bring a deep breath of hope.

I was talking with a friend recently who is feeling a lot of stress at work. My friend is doing her own job as well as another person’s job. When we talked, she told me that her company had posted the other person’s job and should be hiring to fill it soon. Even though her workload hadn’t changed, in that moment she felt a subtle lifting of her burden. The relief wasn’t there yet, but just knowing that it was coming gave her hope, and a boost to continue on until the relief actually showed up and she could go back to just doing her own job.

Weeping may last for the night, but joy comes with the morning. Psalm 30:5b

Have you ever experienced insomnia? How about being up all night with a sick child (or sick self)? We’ve all been in those situations where we wish with every fiber of our being that morning would just arrive. And it does. Every single time.

Although some nights may be long and dark, joy will come again. The darkness may even get worse but God will meet you in your darkness and the light will come.

Life is not free of struggle or pain– not even for the most faithful servant of God. But in our pain and confusion, God is always with us, working for our good.

Isaiah 43:2 reminds us of that: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”

It would be nice, wouldn’t it, if God promised that he’d take away all of our burdens? Snap his fingers and make everything sunshine and rainbows. The reasons why he doesn’t are probably many and accurate.

What he does promise us, though, is that not only will he be with us in the dark times (and as someone who is still afraid of the dark, that is no small gift) but he promises us that light will come. Let me say that again for those who need to let that sink in…

Light. Will. Come.

But even more than THAT, God doesn’t simply promise to give us peace at the end of the long, dark night. He offers dancing. Dancing!

You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent. LORD my God, I will praise you forever. Psalm 30:11

Thanks, God. Thanks for being so kind to a dummy like me who, even though I know the morning always comes, still doubts…still fears in the darkness. And yes, thank you for asking, you may have this dance.

-Susan Landry

Reflection Questions

  1. Read Psalm 30 looking for how God is described and what He is doing/has done. Now re-read it and find how the Psalmist is responding. What image of God do you have after reading Psalm 30? What is your response?
  2. What is the darkest night/hardest struggle you have encountered so far? Are you still in it right now or have you already experienced some light/joy/and perhaps even dancing? How did you see God during the dark mourning – and also in the light morning?
  3. Who do you know who is stuck in a dark night right now and could benefit from hearing that the light is coming? How can you use God’s promises, His Word, and perhaps even this devotion to be an encouragement to this person? What/who can you also be praying for?
  4. After reading the Job Introduction below, how does it apply to today’s devotion?

Job Introduction

The Book of Job is about a righteous man named Job who remained faithful to God despite God allowing Satan to take everything from him except his life.  We don’t know who wrote this book, or even exactly when it took place.  Given Job’s age (he lived 140 years after the events recorded in the book), it’s likely Job lived around the time of Abraham, or possibly earlier.

In the first two chapters, we get a glimpse of one reason bad things happen to godly people – Job seemed to be a pawn in a cosmic battle to test Job’s integrity.  

Job had 3 “friends” who came to comfort him, but they were really more torment.  They consistently accused Job of hidden sins – otherwise, God wouldn’t be punishing him they said.  But Job consistently maintained his innocence.

Despite Job’s intense suffering, he maintained his belief in the resurrection, as is recorded in Job 19:25-27, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.  And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him, with my own eyes – I, and not another.  How my heart yearns within me!”  (This is one of my favorite passages in the Bible.)

In the end, God Himself confronted Job, and eventually blessed Job with twice as many possessions at the end of his life as he had before his downfall – including 10 more children.

This is a good example to show us that we don’t need to understand why bad things are happening, we must just remain faithful, no matter what.  Job also shows us that we can be honest with God when we are suffering and when we don’t understand why things are happening.

Finally, no matter what happens to you, may you, with Job, be able to say, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.  And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him, with my own eyes – I, and not another.  How my heart yearns within me!”

-Steve Mattison

sgl23bibleplanDownload

I Knew You Were Trouble When You Walked In

Old Testament: Esther 1 & 2

Poetry: Psalm 26

New Testament: John 6

I wanted to focus on Esther chapters 1-2 today, since that section makes us think about some important and difficult things. If you’re not an adult, you will be soon, and reading the bible as an adult means you notice things that your younger, more innocent self didn’t notice. And once you notice things, you can’t un-notice them. Instead, you will have to think about them and try to sort them out. You could call them the “seriously-why-is-this-in-the-bible” moments, and the bible offers so many of them. I’ve found that you really get the value out of them if you awkwardly lean into them rather than ignore them. So let’s get uncomfortable for a few minutes.

The context is that King Ahasuerus is on the hunt for a new queen after removing Queen Vashti from her position for not obeying his command. He orders that beautiful young virgins be gathered up (by force) from his entire kingdom, and he would pick his favorite to be queen. This is basically an ancient version of “The Bachelor,” but the women had no say in whether they would participate or not. After going through a year-long intense beauty regimen (like a spa day, but for a year), each woman would have her turn to spend the night with the king. The morning after, she would be moved to a harem of concubines, to be called upon whenever the king wanted.

It is more than clear that when the women have their night with the king, his expectation is a sexual encounter. Given that the women have no say in this, they are essentially prisoners, and that makes the king, well, a serial rapist. Like so many kings we have heard about, this king is a tyrant and is abusive of his power. He is accountable to nobody, does what he wants, and treats people like things for his own gain. In this case, being a candidate for queen is not a privilege, it is a terrifying situation. Each of the women now belong to the king forever whether they like it or not. Not cooperating would probably mean death for them.

It is sometimes difficult to know what to do with an unpleasant passage such as this. It’s not the kind of thing that causes you to feel inspired or connected to God, but we’re able to learn something from it.

Beware of power. The king is a great example of how having power can corrupt you. When there are no checks or balances, and your word is the law of the land, you can have whatever you desire, even if your desires turn dark. Unfortunately, the church is not immune to this danger. There is something that tends to happen when a church becomes a mega-church and the pastor attains celebrity status. Narcissism takes over, and some pastors or leaders commit terrible abuses of people. We need to put systems of accountability in place to help prevent this. Also, we need to lean on the example of leadership that Jesus gave us. It was never about using power for his own advantage, but about serving people (see Philippians 2:5-8).

Do not take advantage of people. At one point in time it may have been culturally acceptable to own people as property. That time is long gone. There is a reason why the practice of slavery is illegal in every country of the world. Treating anyone like they are property or like they are worth less than you violates their status as the image of God. It is easy to love things and use people. Do the opposite. Love people and use things.

Real-life ethics are hard. The right path through our circumstances is not always clear. Esther faces some tricky ethical dilemmas in this story. Should she cooperate with the king, or should she risk harm or death and resist him? What would be more right? Should she tell the king about the plot to assassinate him? After all, allowing him to be assassinated could be a quick solution to some of her problems, but on the other hand, it could invite equal or worse troubles. Esther opts for the long game, telling the king of the assassination plot, which shows her loyalty and gains the king’s trust. Having the king’s trust proves to be crucial later on in the story.

There is hope. Esther is not in a great situation, but (spoiler alert) we know from the rest of her story that God is able to use her in powerful ways to bring about something good. This doesn’t mean that God causes the bad circumstances we find ourselves in, but he is always working to make the best of them. Partner with God in that mission.

-Jay Laurent

Hi, I’m Jay. I’m a nerd by trade and passion. I enjoy consuming, playing, and creating music whenever I can. I’m a big fan of books and coffee, especially together. My wife, Lauren, and I live in Illinois, and love to play board games, watch shows or movies, or go on a good hike together.

Reflection Questions:

1. What power do you have? What can you do to put checks on it so that you won’t abuse it?

2. What troubles are you going through? How might God be working in your life through (or despite) them? Who is God shaping you to be on the other side of them?

sgl23bibleplanDownload

A Man Attested by God

THEME WEEK: Death and The Kingdom – Acts 2
Old Testament: 1 Kings 15 & 16
Poetry: Psalm 123

Yesterday, we read about the resurrection of Lazarus. John actually structures the first part of his book (chapters 1-12) around seven signs that Jesus is the Messiah, with the power of raising Lazarus as the seventh. Peter points out that Jesus was attested to the people of Israel by God through those mighty works and wonders and signs. (Acts 2:22) However, while most commentaries talk about the seven signs, I would contend that the resurrection of Jesus himself is the eighth sign of his Messiahship. Acts 2:24 “God raised [Jesus] up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.”

What an amazing verse! Not that Christ could struggle against and eventually overcome death, but that it was not possible for death to hold him. 

What an amazing savior! Christ had every right as the Son of God to rule as king and call upon legions of angels to defend him, but instead he chose to willingly submit himself to the plan of God. 

What an amazing God! God gave us a salvation through the death of Christ that we could never earn, and gave us a hope through the resurrection of Christ that is greater than any we could ever imagine!

Luke wrote Acts based on the eyewitness testimony of those who not only followed Jesus when he was alive, but saw him when he had been raised. God raised up Christ, and all these fishermen and tax collectors and sinners in Acts 2 experience in and participate in the miracle of new life through the Holy Spirit now. Because Christ has been raised to life and is at the right hand of God, we are able to praise him with the Holy Spirit speaking through us, extolling the greatness of our God and his Christ.  

If you want this new life that begins now to continue forever, you need to follow the commands of Peter in Acts 2:38 : “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” “The Spirit marks us as God’s own. We can now be sure that someday we will receive all that God has promised. That will happen after God sets all his people completely free. All these things will bring praise to his glory.” (Ephesians 1:14, NIrV)

What an amazing gift! The Spirit given to us through baptism is the teacher, guide, helper, and empower-er of the people of God so that we can do God’s will in the world. 

What an amazing promise! The Spirit guarantees that we will one day be raised from the dead, like Christ!

What an amazing Spirit, the power of God!

What an amazing Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord!

What an amazing God, The Father of Jesus, YHWH alone!

Amen!

-Jake Ballard

Reflection Questions

  1. Do we too often forget how amazing God’s plan and his words are? What do you find amazing in Acts 2?
  2. What does it mean to you that Jesus is the Messiah? What does it mean to you that death could not hold him?
  3. What is your hope?
sgl23bibleplanDownload

Promise Keeper

Old Testament Reading: Numbers 34-36

Psalms Reading: Psalm 75

New Testament Reading: 2 Corinthians 12

Looking here at the last three chapters of the book of Numbers, it can often be easy to gloss over it, and miss the bigger picture of what is happening. It is easy to look at this as just some boring passages about land being divided between the tribes of Israel. But when we look at the Pentateuch (first five books of the Bible) we are supposed to look at it all together as a whole. Really we are supposed to look at the whole Bible that way, as one continuous story that leads to Jesus, and the work that God did through him on the cross.

When we look at the Pentateuch we see that the land of Canaan is referred to as the Promised Land. The reason for that is because way back in Genesis, God promised Abraham that this land would belong to his descendants: “The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” (Genesis 17:8) And so as we look at the end of Numbers what we are seeing is the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham. This passage even goes so far as to show that God is providing a place in the land of Canaan for those who are guilty of accidental murder, and for a family of sisters, whose dad had died without any male heirs.

Nowadays we look at that last chapter and say, “Well of course those ladies should inherit their father’s land,” but in those days that was unheard of. In the days of the Israelite conquest of Canaan, the only people who could legally inherit land from their fathers were men. But God had promised to Abraham that all of his descendants would be part of that inheritance. And God keeps His promises.

I think that is a big takeaway for us out of this passage. We can be sure that God keeps His promises no matter what. In II Corinthians (which we will also finish tomorrow) Paul wrote “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God.” (1:20) Just like it was surely difficult for God’s people when they were trapped in slavery for a few hundred years to hold on to the promise of freedom and a land of their own. And like it was most likely hard for the Israelites who were exiled in Babylon for seventy years to hold onto the promise of being returned to their home in Israel. In the same way it may have been difficult for Simeon to hold onto the promise that his eyes would see the Messiah before he died. In the same way, it is difficult for us today to hold onto the promises that God may have given us. But just like in all these stories and so many others in the Bible, God fulfilled all of His promises.

When we read passages like this, we shouldn’t just gloss over them, but instead celebrate with the people that God’s promises were fulfilled in their lives. And we should also remember that just as He fulfilled his promises for them, He will do the same for us. So if you are struggling with fear and doubt about whether something God promised you will happen and take place, take heart because God will never ever ever break a single promise that He makes.

-Jonny Smith

Reflection Questions

  1. What promises of God have already been fulfilled, both in Scripture and in your own life?
  2. What promises of God are you still expecting to be fulfilled? How sure are you that they will indeed happen? What should we do while waiting for them?
  3. Using what you have read in His Scriptures, how would you describe God?
sgl23bibleplanDownload

My Mouth is Filled with Your Praise

Old Testament Reading: Numbers 24 & 25

*Psalms Reading: Psalm 71

New Testament Reading: 2 Corinthians 8

As I began reading Psalm 71 I immediately took to heart the first sentence, “In you, LORD, I have taken refuge.” How many times do we have troubles and look to things other then God? We look to our friends, our families, sometimes video games, sugar, so many things when our first response should be to look to God. Our writer goes on to ask God to be his rock of refuge, to which I can always go. We can go to Him anytime day or night. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night because something is bothering me. While I know my husband would not get upset if I woke him, it is not something I want to do. But guess what, God is there! He is always with us.

The Psalm goes on to ask about not casting him away when he is old, not forsaking him when his strength is gone. He asks God for help. He says he will always have hope and he will praise God more and more. He will tell of his saving acts all day long. He will praise Him with the harp, the lyre, his lips and his tongue. The writer of this Psalm really knew that God is AMAZING!

All of this made me think of a few things. First, as I said earlier, God is aways with us. I have a great support system and God has put wonderful people in my life to help me navigate the craziness of this world but do I put God aside and try everything else first and then go to Him? I know I do sometimes, then I realize I should have gone to Him first. Many times when I go to him first, he puts the right help in front of me to navigate my problem and sometimes he tells me I just need to wait on it.

Second, when he is talking about his enemies, I think of the enemies that are trying to take us away from God. They will stop at nothing to tear us from the love of God. Verse 4 says “Deliver me, my God from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of those who are evil and cruel.”  We need to stand firm in our faith, seek God, spend time in His word, and be careful that we don’t get pulled away. It is so easy to walk away, to spend time away from God. We need to be purposeful in our walk with Him so we are not tempted to walk away.

Lastly, he is praising God. We need to praise God for all he has given us. My husband says he is part of the joyful noise club. I am too, I don’t have a beautiful voice but the Bible doesn’t say we have to have a beautiful voice, it says to make a joyful noise. It also doesn’t say we need to be Bible scholars to speak his word or tell others of the great things He does. Verse 17 says, “I declare your marvelous deeds.”  Go out and declare His marvelous deeds in your life.

-Jeani Ransom

Questions for reflection:

  1. How do you take refuge in God? Do you seek others first or God first?
  2. How can you show your praise to Him today?
  3. What marvelous deeds has He done for you? Who can you share them with?
sgl23bibleplanDownload

A Guiding Presence

Old Testament Reading: Exodus 38, 39 & 40
Psalms Reading: Psalm 45
New Testament Reading: Romans 15

Last year, my kids and I studied history from Creation through Greek civilization in our homeschool, covering the entire Old Testament alongside simultaneously-occurring secular world history. This study included details about the Mosaic Tabernacle, God’s temporary dwelling place in the wilderness before His people reached their Promised Land. As a visual and kinesthetic learner, I love to bring our lessons to life in a tangible way, so you can imagine how excited I was to discover that a traveling life-size interactive Tabernacle replica would be near our stomping grounds last summer! 

The sun scorched down over the Tabernacle when we arrived, which I humored was very fitting since the real Tabernacle was built while the Israelites wandered in the desert. (However, keeping four young children calm in the heat was a bit of a challenge, and I had to make a pilgrimage from the Holy of Holies to the nearest well – I mean, my van – to get water to satisfy my parched children… but I digress). While we had already learned a lot about the Tabernacle before, it was fascinating to see it all with our own eyes and learn all about the symbolism of the Tabernacle to the Messiah and the coming Kingdom. 

In Exodus chapter 40, we see that the Tabernacle, after several chapters of minute details describing its construction, was finally erected, “and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle… throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out… for the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was upon it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.” (Exodus 40:34-38, ESV). 

The Tabernacle provided a way for God to live among His people again and guide them through the desert. I do wish that God’s direction was as clear to me as his presence in a cloud pillar leading me through this confusing life (wouldn’t that be nice?), but there is no longer a need for a Tabernacle like in those days, because Jesus is now our mediator and our Shepherd, and the Bible is our map and GPS. Because of Jesus, we have a direct line to God anytime, anywhere through prayer. Our ultimate hope is that someday, we will live together in the Kingdom with God, where there will not even need to be a sun because God will provide all the light we need! 

Our Psalm reading ties into this well. Check out verse 6: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of righteousness; you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.” God is on the throne! Hallelujah! 

And I’ll leave you with this from our Romans passage (verse 13), as you journey through this life relying on God’s direction: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Our hope is through Jesus in God the Father, who is preparing a Kingdom for us that will be permanent (not temporary like the Tabernacle), a place where we can one day dwell with Him. Go in that hope! 

-Rachel Cain

Reflection:

  1. Do some research about the symbolism of the Tabernacle to Jesus and the Kingdom. What speaks to your heart? 
  2. How is your prayer life, your connection with God? What could make it better? (Consider downloading a prayer app that pops up your prayer requests onto your phone throughout the day if, like me, having an uninterrupted prayer time is challenging). 
  3. What do you learn about God in our Bible reading today?
sgl23bibleplanDownload

When You are in Distress

Old Testament Reading: Genesis 35 & 36

Psalms Reading: Psalm 20

New Testament Reading: Matthew 19

In life we come to places where we are in distress, we feel hopeless, and we feel like our circumstances couldn’t be darker. But God is full of hope and knows his plans for us if we trust him.

We begin in Genesis, Jacob has fled from his home from his brother Esau, and after he left Laban now Jacob is being told by God to return to Bethel, the place where he had stopped after running from his brother and having a dream.

Before they get there Jacob tells his family in Genesis 35:2

“So, Jacob said to his household and all who were with him, get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. We must get up and go to Bethel. I will build an alter there to the God who has answered me in my day of distress. He has been there with me everywhere I have gone.”

Jacob is telling his family how God has blessed him and that they are not going back to that place of foreign gods. Just as we are not going back to our places of distress and false gods.

Psalm 20:1

“May the Lord answer you in a day of trouble; may the name of Jacob’s God protect you.”

God provides answers in all our times of distress. In our times of trouble, when we don’t understand why things are happening, he knows why things are happening. He provides us comfort in our struggles; we need to lean on him. God will provide.

It is after this that God tells Jacob to be fruitful and multiply, and he reminds Jacob of the promise he had made to Abraham and Isaac concerning the land.

This means something to us too when times get difficult. We will experience the blessings of God at times, but when questionable circumstances come our way, we need to remember how we obtained those blessings. Forgetting about God in times of need would be a sure sign that we are getting on the wrong path.

Matthew 19 also contains a lot of information. Jesus had to deal with the pharisees trying to trip him up constantly, but what stands out to me is Matthew 19:21-22.

“If you want to be perfect,” Jesus said to him, “go sell your belongings and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this, he went away grieving, because he had many possessions.”

This man was faithful to God and had a lot of possessions, but he did not connect his possessions with God’s blessings.  The same goes with us, too often we forget that when times are good and we are feeling high in life, that our blessings come from God!

We can’t forget that in our good and bad times that no matter what, we are to devote ourselves to God. Trust in him and he will bring you through everything that you experience.

-Hannah Eldred

Reflection Questions

  1. What are your usual responses when you feel you are in a time of distress? Are they helpful responses?
  2. What can we learn from our Bible passages today regarding how to turn to God?
  3. What can we learn from our Bible passages today regarding who God is and what He does?
sgl23bibleplanDownload

Tough Times Ahead

Luke 21

Wednesday, December 28, 2022

            Most people are a bit apprehensive about living in the end times.  In Luke 21, Jesus described many things that are going to happen, and quite frankly, most of them don’t give us the warm fuzzies.  There will be a lot of death and suffering, but Jesus gives us some good advice on how to approach those days.

            I don’t want to freak you out but there will be wars, disturbances, earthquakes, plagues, famines, terrors, great signs from heaven, persecution of Christians, family and friend betrayals, some will be put to death, you will be hated by all, roaring of the sea, men fainting from fear, and the powers of heaven will be shaken.  It is safe to say that these will be scary times for Christians, and for non-Christians as well.  Therefore, you might think the word to describe the end times is “hopeless”, but quite the opposite is true according to Jesus.

            In verse 9, he tells us not to be terrified.  He tells us in verse 28 to straighten up and lift up our heads when these things begin to take place because our redemption is drawing near.  He continues in verse 31 saying that when we see these things happening, we will know the kingdom of God is near.  These are actually going to be pretty exciting times for Christians because we know the start of the kingdom is right around the corner.

            Jesus also gives us some advice on how to handle the end times.  In verse 34, he tells us to be on guard so our hearts will not be weighted down with the worries of life, and to be on guard so it does not surprise us like a trap.  He instructs us to stay alert in verse 36, and to keep praying that you will have the strength to escape all these things.

            However, the most surprising and interesting part of this chapter to me was verses 13 to 15.  “It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony.  So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves; for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.”  I surely wasn’t expecting that guidance.  We’re not supposed to be preparing beforehand to defend ourselves because we could potentially have a chance to give our testimony to those who we would be defending ourselves from.  We could help someone be saved at this last hour by talking to them, with the words and wisdom given to us by Jesus, rather than fighting against them.

            If you are alive during the end times, it will be difficult to watch what will be happening all around you.  Nevertheless, you need to remember that we already know who wins in the end, and it is not the bad guys.  Some that are weak will lose faith, but those who understand what is happening will be glad that the kingdom is near.

-Rick McClain

Time to ponder:

Do you worry about what is going on in the world today?  If so, do you not believe that God is in control and those who put their trust in Him will live happily ever after?  Ask God for a big dose of peace that only comes from Him during these difficult times.

How can you prepare today for the end times?  How should we not prepare (verse 13)?

Why is it important to study what is going to happen in the future?  What could happen to you during the end times if you are not aware of what is happening?

2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

Victory!

Luke 4

Sunday, December 11, 2022


Temptation is a struggle that humanity has been at war with since the beginning of time. Temptation changed our world from a perfect paradise with no sin and no pain to a broken world full of flawed people. It was a result of the first human succumbing to the pressure of temptation that there hasn’t since been a single human capable of fully breaking free from the grasp of sin – constantly giving in to temptation, and consistently turning away from God and rejecting His love.


Until Jesus.


When Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil in Genesis 3, they failed massively, and their failure brought misery upon the entire earth (not to say that anyone else, if put in the same situation, wouldn’t have eventually made the same choice and given in to temptation). When Christ was tempted, on the other hand, he triumphed. His victory over temptation was a victory over Satan, bringing hope to all humanity for a day when we can be free from the bondage of sin. For a day when the world is not only set back to the state it was in at the beginning of time, but a state unfathomably better. Under Adam we were slaves to sin, but through Christ we have been set free.


As broken humans living in a broken world, we are just as susceptible as Adam to the call of evil, and temptation lurks all around us. But just as we have the failure and weakness of Man within us, we also have the hope and grace of God through Christ who sets us free. We have the power to overcome, and to stand firm in our identity as a child of God as Jesus did in the wilderness.

-Isabella Osborn

Reflection Questions

  1. What 3 things did the devil use to tempt Jesus in Luke 4? How did Jesus respond to each temptation?
  2. What are your 3 biggest temptations? How can you use the same power Jesus used to overcome these temptations? Think specifically.
  3. Do you more often see yourself as a child of Adam (and all humanity), or a child of God?
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload