Category Archives: Devotions from the Gospels

Are You Out of Your Mind?

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When His family heard it, they went out to seize Him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.” Mark 3:21 ESV1

Read Mark 3:20-21, 31-35 & 6:1-6; Matthew 12:46-50 & 13:53-58 & Luke 8:18-21

Close your eyes and imagine yourself walking along the dusty streets of an ancient village called Nazareth.

“Picture Nazareth with a population of around 400 in the first century. The roads [are] unpaved and public buildings [are] few. The houses [are] all one story, made of mud and stones and topped with thatched roofs. The windows of the small dwellings [are] usually high ‘allowing for light and ventilation but keeping passersby from peering in on [occupants] asleep on … straw mat[s] …

[Watch as women] … grind [their] flour, cook, and eat [with their families] in … courtyard[s].’ [See as] neighbors [come] together in … adjoining courtyards … ‘Everyone [is using] limestone or chalk cups, mugs, bowls, and storage vessels.’ … [They are consuming mostly] bread [which makes] … up about 70 percent of their daily calories…

Welcome to life in the first century. They [live] en masse, [eat] with the neighbors, and [travel] in caravans. While no home is perfect, there was one in Nazareth that [houses] a boy who [is] … [This Boy’s name is,] Jesus. [He is] exceptional. Yes, utterly perfect and morally flawless.”2

But so many in Nazareth are unaware of just how special Jesus is.

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Rules, Rules, Rules

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He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27 ESV1

Read Matthew 12:1-8, Mark 2:23-28 & Luke 6:1-5

During the raising of our children, my husband and I were blessed with some excellent parenting resources. From one of those sources, we gleaned the valuable advice: Rules without relationship equals rebellion. That truth, paired with other wisdom and the help of God Almighty, allowed us to develop a home with high standards bathed in grace and love to which our children responded beautifully. It is too bad the Pharisees of old weren’t able to discover such life-giving truths from the resources available to them, the Law and the Prophets. Instead, they exhausted themselves making up new rules, trying to enforce those requirements, and attempting to punish anyone who broke those man-made laws.

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Rest Comes Through Revelation

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In that same hour, He rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was Your gracious will.” Luke 10:21 ESV1

Read Matthew 11:25-30 & Luke 10:21-24

As I sit down to write today, I am full of emotion and surrounded by uncertainty. My husband’s job of thirty years is in jeopardy. My oldest daughter and her family may soon have no place to live. My youngest daughter was rejected for the internship toward which she has worked for two years. And there is so much unpredictability concerning my son’s application to graduate school that my heart is racing.

I have no idea what the next week will bring, let alone the next month or year. Yet, I have worship music blaring, and tears of gratitude are running down my cheeks. Why? Because we have been through uncertain times before, and God has never left or forsaken us (see Hebrews 13:5-6). Instead, through each problematic time, He has revealed Himself in a more significant measure to us. The process hasn’t always been easy, but each new revelation has given us what we needed to continue in this life in accordance with His plan for us.

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Greater Than

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“Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.” Matthew 11:11 ESV1

Read Matthew 11:11-19 & Luke 7:28-35, 16:15-17

Why did Jesus declare, “’Truly, I say to you, … there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he’” (Matthew 11:11)? Similarly, what did Jesus mean when He said, “’Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in Me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father’” (John 14:12)? And why did Jesus comfort His disciples by saying, “’I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you’” (John 16:7)? It is because something magnificent happened when Jesus completed His mission on Earth and went back to His Father in Heaven. It is something even better than hanging out with Jesus on Earth. In fact, it is something that is grander than humans could have imagined.

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When Doubt Creeps In

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Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the One who is to come, or shall we look for another?” Matthew 11:2-3 ESV1

Read Luke 1:13-17, 39-45; Matthew 11:2-11; Mark 1:4-8 & John 1:6-7, 23-34

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, John knew Jesus was the Messiah from his very beginning. The angel Gabriel told John’s father, Zachariah, that John “would be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb” (Luke 1:15b). Shortly after Mary became pregnant with Jesus, she went to visit her relative, Elizabeth, Zachariah’s wife, who was pregnant with John. “And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, [John] leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women and blessed is the Fruit of your womb! And why is it granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy’” (Luke 1:39-44). When John first “met” Jesus, he knew Jesus was special.

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Taking Up Our Crosses

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“If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.” Mark 8:34 ESV1

Read Matthew 10:34-39, Mark 8:34-38 & Luke 14:25-33

Maybe it is because we have become accustomed to adorning ourselves with cross jewelry. Maybe it is because we find it fashionable to decorate our homes with cross accents. Maybe it is all of the gracious blessings we receive because of our association with Christ, but in this day and age, we have lost the horror of the Cross. Even when we speak of bearing a cross, we only mean that we are enduring some unpleasant circumstances. But when the first-century followers of Christ heard Jesus say they must take up their crosses to be His disciples, they would have been both confused and dismayed. Continue reading →

He Provides

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“For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” Matthew 10:20 ESV1

Read Matthew 10:5-33, 40-42; Mark 6:7-12; & Luke 9:1-6, 10:1-12

If you are a Believer, you already know that God has plans for you, “plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11b). You believe you “are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that [you] would walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). And you are confident that “if you don’t grow weary of doing good, … in due season [you] will reap, if [you] do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).

At times, I am confident you are pretty excited about the call God has on your life. Other times, you are probably entirely overwhelmed. You are not alone in feeling overcome by the weight of the divine appointment on your life. You are not the only one who has ever considered quitting. When Jonah felt God was asking too much, he tried to run from the responsibility (see Jonah 1:1-3). When David got weary, he allowed himself to get temporarily distracted from his call (see 2 Samuel 11:1-9, 16-17 & 26-27). When Moses was insecure about his abilities, he pleaded with God to send someone else to do his job (see Genesis 3:10 & 4:1, 10-13). At times, even Jesus got overwhelmed with His God-given assignment. When that happened, what did Jesus do?

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Evangelism and Discipleship

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“Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.” John 4:36 ESV[1]

Read John 4:35-38 & Matthew 9:35-38

Several years ago, in a class I took, I heard an illustration equating evangelism and discipleship to the two wings of an airplane. The premise was, just as an aircraft must have two equal wings to fly, ministries must include both outreach activities and Biblical training sessions for those ministries to be balanced and effective. I related to that illustration and often referred to it as my team and we planned activities or evaluated the effectiveness of our ministry. But as time has passed, I have begun to see problems with this illustration.

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Who’s Your God?

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As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” Luke 9:57ESV1

Read Matthew 8:19-22 & Luke 9:57-62

Sometimes I think Jesus could have been a little nicer. After all, God is the epitome of love, and His sending of Jesus to Earth to save us is evidence of the outpouring of His love (see 1 John 4:7-10, John 3:16 & Titus 3:4-6). Over and over, the Psalmist testified to the unceasing nature of God’s love. “How precious is Your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of Your wings” (Psalm 36:7). And it is the kindness of God which brings us to the point of repentance (see Romans 2:4). Yet, sometimes, when one claimed his devotion to Jesus and His purposes, Jesus seemingly extinguished that one’s enthusiasm by saying something less than encouraging.

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Ultimate Healing

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“Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen. Remember how He told you, while He was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” Luke 24:5b-7 ESV1

Read Matthew 27:1-28:10, Mark 15:20b-16:7; Luke 23:1-24:12 & John 19:1-20:18

“Ultimate” is defined as “1. last; furthest or farthest; ending a process or series … 2. maximum; decisive; conclusive … [and] 3. highest; not subsidiary.”2 The next healing we will consider is the ultimate healing Jesus ever consummated. It is chronologically the last healing He completed during His earthly ministry, but it is also the supreme healing. It is the panacea, the catholicon, the cure-all. Let’s dig in and discover why this healing is so matchless and so far above any of the other amazing healings Jesus ever brought about.

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