We can be tricked by out-of-towners. People have been deceived by snake oil salesmen in earlier days. Shysters abound in our world including in religious circles. A miracle worker can have plants in his/her healing service and “heal” them at the appointed time. A stranger can be “healed” in your presence, but what do you have to go on? All you have is the stranger’s word and the miracle worker’s claim. They don’t have any history there. Now, don’t jump to conclusions. People are healed in the world today, but beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Once, Jesus encountered a man that was lame. He’d become pretty hopeless about being healed, so when Jesus asked if he wanted to be healed, he just started whining. This lame man was not a stranger. He’d been lame for 38 years, and lame people in Jesus’ day didn’t do much traveling. The guy was known. People knew his story. Was it an accident that left his legs twisted? Did he fall off a roof and break his spinal cord? Did he suffer from an illness that left him lame or paralyzed? Whatever it was, he was the guy with a story which his neighbors knew. That’s why when they saw him one day walking, or maybe running, jumping, or dancing, they knew something miraculous had happened. Come to find out Jesus did it. This guy was not a plant. He was a real guy with a real story who experienced a real healing by the real Son of God. Just another sign that Jesus is who He claimed to be.
A.W. Tozer once said, “The average person in the world today, without faith and without God and without hope, is engaged in a desperate personal search throughout his lifetime. He does not really know where he has been. He does not really know what he is doing here and now. He does not know where he is going. The sad commentary is that he is doing it all on borrowed time and borrowed money and borrowed strength—and he already knows that in the end he will surely die.”[1] Are you seeing the signs that He’s left along the way? I pray that you’ll fall on your knees and cry, “Jesus, You are Lord. I place my trust in You.” That could be for the first time like the lame man, or it could be a renewed trust in Christ as you’ve been bombarded with doubt and discouragement. Say it out loud: Jesus, I place my trust in You.
This week you’ll read…
Proverbs 8-15: “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people” (Proverbs 14 CSB).
Ezekiel 12-20: “The word of the Lord came to me: ‘Son of man, you are living among a rebellious house. They have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious house’” (Ezekiel 12 CSB).
John 5-9: “Jesus replied, ‘Truly I tell you, the Son is not able to do anything on His own, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son likewise does these things” (John 5 CSB).
- November 8:
- November 9:
- November 10:
- November 11:
- November 12:
- November 13:
- November 14:
CSB are daily readings linked to The Christian Standard Bible on BibleGateway.com.
MSG are daily readings linked to The Message Bible on BibleGateway.com.
NLT are daily readings linked to The New Living Translation on
BibleGateway.com.
[1] Morgan, R. J. (2000). Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations, and Quotes (electronic ed.) (213). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Thoughts on Life and Jesus 