Month: January 2019

Sometimes I think if only we could see some of the miracles Jesus performed, we could have faith like His disciples…alright, their faith was often just like ours, weak and not very effective. Jesus told them “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not yet seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29) Why do we need a sign to prove Jesus to us? God has told us of His love since the very beginning, but time and again we have failed to accept that love and respond to His call.

We seem to expect that God will show us marvelous examples of His power on a regular basis so that our faith can be strong. Well, doesn’t He? Maybe we need to redefine what constitutes a miracle. If we are honest with ourselves, everything we see is a miracle of God’s creation. We aren’t capable of making any of this happen on our own! God shows us His love through reaching out to us continually, wanting to be connected to all of us always.

Take time to be thankful for the miracles in your life, the everyday things that are God’s gift to us. We don’t need amazing, out of the ordinary happenings to know God’s love and power, we just need to accept that He is with us and be willing to do as He asks so that we can be part of His miracles.

Wise and wonderful God, you created a whole universe to show Your power and glory, yet You made us to be partners in Your continuing work. That is the most awesome miracle of all! Help us to feel the amazing love You send us every day, and to share that love with everyone.

We are not simply a random bunch of cells that became human and then banded together. We were created intentionally by God to be His people. He didn’t just put us here and say “good luck”, He has a purpose for each and every one of us!

The prophet Jeremiah writes “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11) God has something special in mind for us, a reason for our lives. That reason is what drives us to seek Him, to want to be part of His work. It is not always easy to hear God’s call and know His will for us. While He is always seeking us, we are often distracted by the ways of the world and our own selfish behavior.

How can we better know what we are made for? Jesus taught us to “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.” (Matthew 7:7). We have to accept that we are called and ask God to help us find our place in creation and our task according to our gifts.

Gracious God, we are so easily drawn astray from You and Your holy plan. Keep us in Your love and strength that we may fulfill the purpose You have for us.

“When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was.” (Matthew 2:9) Part of our Christmas story recounts Jesus being visited by travelers from the east, who had been led to worship Him by a brilliant star. We are used to seeing them as part of our Nativity sets and singing “We Three Kings” on Epiphany Sunday when we celebrate their visit. To be honest, we don’t know how long after Jesus’ birth their visit occured. We aren’t even sure how many there were. As with many bible lessons, those details aren’t the important part of the story, and we need to avoid being distracted by the questions of “when and how many”.

The essential part of this scripture is that God led these people, whoever they were, to find Jesus and recognize Him as the king that had been promised. These were rich and powerful people by all accounts, quite different than the shepherds who visited Jesus on the night He was born. They also were foreigners, Gentiles – not part of the nation of Israel and not members of the Jewish faith. Why did God invite these people?

God used the witness of these wealthy visitors from far away to teach us that Jesus was born for all – rich and poor, humble and powerful, Jew and Gentile. Yes, much of Jesus ministry focused on the poor and He taught that God was concerned about them; however this passage tells us that God was concerned about the wise and wealthy as well, that they too had a part to play in His eternal plan. The gifts they presented to Jesus also had a special significance: gold as treasure for a king; frankincense as a royal fragrance; and myrrh, a spice used to prepare a body for burial. All of these were appropriate for Jesus, our king, our savior and our sacrifice.

Heavenly Father, we don’t always understand the lessons You have given us. Help us to keep listening, studying and learning Your plan for us through Your word. May we continue to seek Your truth to share with all our brothers and sisters. Guide us to Your perfect light.