Life Restoration

SCRIPTURE - John 2:20 Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"
OBSERVATION - How impressed we are with the wrong thing! "Bigger is better." "The longer a project takes to complete and the more money is put into it the more valuable it is." This is our common way of thinking. The Jews here thought that Jesus was talking about the temple. He was talking about something far greater. The temple had been built by Solomon originally, restored by Zerubbabel and others returning from captivity, and had been undergoing a massive forty-six year reconstruction project by King Herod.
Buildings can be destroyed and rebuilt. Lives can't. At least not until Jesus came onto the scene.
Jesus can do more in a short period of time than we can ever imagine.
While I am thinking about brick and mortar, Jesus is thinking about life.
APPLICATION - Personal restoration is what Jesus is all about. There is no job of personal restoration that is too difficult for Him. Among His specialties:

• Turning a sinner into a saint. He turns us from death towards life and gives us His righteousness.
• Breaking the bonds of addiction. Many have been set free from all types of addictions. Many more still need to be set free.
• Restoring broken families. I have witnessed first-hand His ability to bring love and joy back to a destroyed marriage or family relationship.

I can trust Him to restore any life situation. Only He can. Life restoration is His specialty.

PRAYER - Jesus, I am so glad that You didn't come to restore buildings but to restore lives. Thank you for restoring my life. When I look back to the work of restoration that You have done in me and in my family, I am amazed. I continue to need restoration. I know many others who need restoration. Do that restoration work. Amen.

Sought Out

SCRIPTURE - Isaiah 62:12 And they shall call them The Holy People, The Redeemed of the Lord; And you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.
OBSERVATION - It is not I who sought God out, but God who sought me out. I can and should seek Him (Hebrews 11:6), but it is He who does the original seeking.
APPLICATION - What a wonderful thing to be sought out by God! God gives people a need to be picked out and chosen. My need is met already in Christ. Can I then, having been satisfied, seek God instead of self-seeking? Seek others best over my own? I think we -- The Holy People, the Redeemed, the Sought Out, the City Not Forsaken -- have a unique opportunity to do just that.
"He satisfies my soul." What is the hunger and thirst of the soul if not to be sought after? God satisfies that hunger of my soul. How can I be used to satisfy others?
PRAYER - Lord, You satisfy the hunger and need of my soul.

The Day of God

SCRIPTURE - 2 Peter 3:11-12 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?

OBSERVATION - A day is coming unlike any day we have ever known. It will be the most terrible day and the most wonderful day ever. It is 'the Day of God,' according to this verse.

In the Old Testament, when the Children of Israel were delivered from Egypt and they went to Mount Sinai to meet with God, God came upon the mountain and the whole mountain shook and smoked. The people were so afraid that they asked Moses to be their representative. Moses gladly met with God.

I imagine the Day of God will be like that, only instead of shaking a mountain all the earth will be shaken. Those who love Him will have a personal audience, like Moses did. There can be nothing better. Those who don't know Him will be filled with fear. There can be nothing worse.

APPLICATION - We ought to be looking for and hastening this day. Isn't it interesting that we can actually hasten the Day of God? How? Through holy conduct and godliness. I talked with a woman the other day at church who said she felt the time was so short, and it brought tears to her eyes. Not for herself, but for those who aren't ready. I feel that same conflict. It is the same conflict that Paul felt, desiring to be present with the Lord but knowing to continue in life was profitable for others. It is the same conflict that God has, delaying the day desiring that none should perish. Holy conduct and godliness is the best way to prepare myself and to reach out to others, thus hastening the Day of God. -- Maranatha!

PRAYER - God, none of us would have any hope without you. Your word created us. Your power sustains us. Your compassion saves us. You will perfect us. Like Moses, I want to be a man who talks with you face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. I want the confidence of holy conduct and godliness. Make me more like you. Hasten the Day! Amen.

We Esteemed Him Stricken

SCRIPTURE - Isaiah 53:4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows: Yet we esteemed Him stricken by God and afflicted.

OBSERVATION - This is a prophetic word about Jesus before it even happened. Isaiah paints the picture so accurately. It is amazing.

When Jesus was being crucified, the people all around the cross thought they had this all figured out. They 'esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted.' They figured He must have been getting what He deserved. If He were really who He said He was, then surely He would not have come to this end. This must be God's affliction, God's wrath, poured out on this wicked man. I'm sure to many who were still unsure in their minds who Jesus really was, this sealed the deal for them. He must be wicked like the religious leaders said. He must be a criminal. He must be a false prophet because of this terrible evil that has come upon Him. In retrospect we now can see that this is what validated His claims of being the Messiah, not invalidated them. The very moment they were thinking the worst of Him, He was thinking the best of them. He was doing for them the greatest service, the greatest favor of all. Yes, He was afflicted, but not for His own sins. He was afflicted for those who had so little esteem for Him. He was also afflicted for me.

APPLICATION - Things are not always as they seem to me. In fact, they are probably rarely as they seem to me. Until I am willing to admit that m estimations may be way off, I will never avoid the trap that these people were stuck in. They used their natural mind, their logical thinking to determine how they would esteem Jesus in light of this circumstance and they were 180 degrees off. Can I also be off in how I esteem circustances and people? Absolutely. I may think that someone is getting what they deserve when really they are suffering for righteousness' sake. I may figure that someone is far from God when they are much closer to Him than I am. I may esteem one of my own situations as one that is unfair and oppressive but it is actually a great favor that God is doing for me -- refining me or saving me from a far worse fate.

The answer: Trust God and His Word. Who was right: Isaiah or the jeering crowd? It was Isaiah. Even though Isaiah stood hundreds of years before the event and some there stood only feet from the cross, Isaiah saw more clearly. The Bible's judgements are better than my own. I can trust its pages more than I can trust my own senses.

PRAYER - Jesus, the fact that You esteemed me greatly when I esteemed you lightly is too marvelous for me. Your high estimation of me is what I need to give me confidence throughout my day. Now, help me to esteem others and circumstances the way You esteem them. Amen.

Spiritual Diagnosis

SCRIPTURE - 2 Peter 1:9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

OBSERVATION - "These things" spoken of in this verse are: faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love. The lack of these things in a believer's life shows two things: spiritual shortsightedness and spiritual amnesia.

• Shortsighted. When I become shortsighted my vision of anthing that is a distance away fades and fades until all I can see are things that are very close to me. Spiritual shortsightedness means I first lose sight of eternity and see only the present. Then I lose sight of anyone else and can see only me and things that affect me. It's all about me. If my vision continues to draw in, ultimately it can leave me spiritually blind, unable to discern any truth.
• Amnesia. The lack of these characteristics in my life also shows a sort of spiritual amnesia, from which many Christians suffer. Remember what Jesus saved me from. Remember the forgiveness that He has extended to me. Remember that, though undeserving, He paid the price for me. Remember how I received much more than I deserved. That lingering memory will produce in me the things listed: faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love.

APPLICATION - Live everyday, today in fact, with a strong view outward: forward to eternity, outward to other people, and backward to my salvation. That outward vision and clear memory of all He has done for me will produce spiritual character and health.

PRAYER - Jesus, in this verse I have seen the symptoms of healthy spiritual vision and healthy spiritual memory. I desire to exhibit these symptoms in my life more and more. I don't want to be shortsighted or blind, spiritually. I don't want to be forgetful. Improve my outward vision. Improve my memory and the freshness of my salvation. Produce Your character in me. Amen.