6/18: Expect to Receive and Be Surprised

Acts 3:1-16 relates the story of the healing of a lame man. Every day, this man’s friends or relatives carried him to the Beautiful Gate of the temple where he sat to ask alms of those entering and exiting. I suspect many people probably ignored him much like we do when we pass homeless people on corners with their hands out and holding signs reading, “Homeless, please help. God bless you.”

On the particular day of this Bible passage though, Peter and John didn’t pass by this man. The scripture says that the man “seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms” (verse 3). When Peter told the man to look at him and John, “ he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them” (verse 5).  Now that man was no doubt expecting the next sound he heard to be the plink of a coin in his little tin cup. Instead, he heard Peter say, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk” (verse 6). The story further relates that “he (Peter) took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God” (verses 7-8, NKJ).

Besides being excited about what God can do, we can be excited about three other things we learn from this story. To receive from God, we need to:

• Show up – The lame man was at the temple every day. Jesus let us know that the temple was a house of prayer (see Luke 19:45-46). Do we show up for prayer every day?
• Look up – The lame man looked at Peter and he expected to receive something from him. Do we honestly expect God to do something when we have a need?
• Get up – The lame man was open to having his need met in a different way than he expected. Instead of lifting his cup to Peter and John, he lifted his hand. Are we willing to put our hands into God’s hand and allow Him to take us where He wants us to go? Will we allow God to move us from our handicaps into His strength?

Develop the attitude of the lame man. Show up every day and enter God’s presence in prayer. Look up expectantly to receive from Him. And then get up walking in His ways, leaping through His open doors, and praising God for His power.

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©2013 Sharon Norris Elliott. Feel free to forward this devotion in its entirety, including this copyright line. Leave comments, ask questions, read past devotions, or subscribe to receive these devotions daily in your e-mail at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. Also, periodically check in at www.LifeThatMatters.net to see what’s going on in the ministry.

And pick up a copy of Sharon’s new book, Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame, available at Christian bookstores, online, from New Hope Publishers, from the Life That Matters Ministries’ website, and now also available on Kindle!

 

6/17: A Little Goes a Long Way

John chapter 6 tells one of my favorite Bible stories, that of Jesus feeding the multitude. The reason I love this story, though, isn’t so much because of seeing the miracle; it’s because of what we learn from the little boy who found himself in the middle of the problem.

The incident as related in the book of John happened early in Jesus’ ministry, but Jesus was already a local celebrity who drew crowds everywhere He went. The disciples were still getting used to who Jesus was and what He could do. The citizens of the region were also enamored by Him because He could heal all kinds of diseases, and deliver their loved ones from demon possession.

I can just imagine that the little boy in this story had heard Jesus was in town and had begged his mother to let him go see and hear the famous Teacher. Once getting her permission, before running out the door, his mother probably told him, “Here, take some food with you. If the Teacher stops to talk, you might not get home in time for lunch.” I picture that she then quickly wrapped the “five barley loaves and two small fish” in a large napkin, tied it with a piece of string, and sent him bounding eagerly on his way.

I can just see him catching up with the crowd, snaking his way around the grown-ups, and making it all the way to the front where he could see the Master and His disciples. In fact, he was close enough to hear a private discussion. He saw Jesus lift up His eyes “and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, ‘Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?’ (verse 5)

“Philip answered Him, ‘Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little’” (verse 7).

Again, I imagine that upon hearing of the need for food, he pulled the robe sleeve of the disciple closest to him who just happened to be Andrew, and offered him his lunch. Andrew probably smiled, took the lad’s offering, maybe even patted him on the head, and turned to the group saying (a bit sarcastically it seems), “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?” (verse 9)

What happened next was a surprise to everyone. “Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.’ Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those [5,000+] who had eaten” (verses 11-13).

How that little boy’s eyes must have widened and sparkled. I bet Jesus even winked at him. What do we learn? Little things and short minutes become epic events and aha moments when simply entrusted to Jesus.

Let’s offer our little bit to Jesus today and watch His touch turn our offering into nourishment for a multitude.

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©2013 Sharon Norris Elliott. Feel free to forward this devotion in its entirety, including this copyright line. Leave comments, ask questions, read past devotions, or subscribe to receive these devotions daily in your e-mail at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. Also, periodically check in at www.LifeThatMatters.net to see what’s going on in the ministry.

And pick up a copy of Sharon’s new book, Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame, available at Christian bookstores, online, from New Hope Publishers, from the Life That Matters Ministries’ website, and now also available on Kindle!

 

6/16: Mentality Based on Reality

 

My father, Rev. Dr. Vincent Norris, had Alzheimer’s disease. It was extremely difficult to wrap our minds around the fact that this brilliant man, who had earned a bachelor’s degree from Morgan State University (then Morgan College) in Maryland, a master’s degree from New York University, and a doctorate from California Graduate School of Theology, no longer knew who we were as his family.

Still those final years of my daddy’s life were not all discouraging; in fact, they were precious. You see, my daddy knew one person He never did forget, and that was his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Daddy had dedicated his entire life to God and although Alzheimer’s took his remembrance of earthly relationships, it couldn’t touch the abiding relationship he had with His Lord. Alzheimer’s, like all other diseases, can only attack us in the physical realm; it can’t touch the spiritual. That explains why Daddy could conduct Bible studies with imaginary people and be right on theologically with the Word of God. That also explains why he continued to walk around with his Bible and continued to enjoy going to church.

God is real. The same God who commanded light to shine out of darkness is the God who shines in our hearts, yes, in these earthly vessels of ours (2 Corinthians 4:6-7). The same God who raised Jesus from the dead will also raise us up (2 Corinthians 4:14). Looking at those facts, Paul concludes, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.             For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NKJ).

Wrap your mentality around reality. Snap out of your depression and low self-image. God thinks so much of you that He has selected you as a roommate; He’s literally moved into your heart. Now, even though the outward, physical body may get sick, old, and even ravished by disease, the inward man – where God lives – is being constantly revitalized. (Remember, nothing could stay dead in the presence of Jesus).

Let us allow the outward expression of our disposition to reflect not the temporal effects of our physical bodies or surroundings, but the eternal, inward reality of our position with Christ in God.

Happy Father’s Day!

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©2013 Sharon Norris Elliott. Feel free to forward this devotion in its entirety, including this copyright line. Leave comments, ask questions, read past devotions, or subscribe to receive these devotions daily in your e-mail at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. Also, periodically check in at www.LifeThatMatters.net to see what’s going on in the ministry.

And pick up a copy of Sharon’s new book, Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame, available at Christian bookstores, online, from New Hope Publishers, from the Life That Matters Ministries’ website, and now also available on Kindle!

 

6/14: Take a Walk

Genesis 5:24 tells us that “Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him” (NKJ). What a testimony! Is it possible to get to the place where we too are known by the tagline “Walked with God”?

The Psalmist touched on how we can make this possible. Psalm 73:23-24 says, “Nevertheless I am continually with You; You hold me by my right hand. You will guide me with Your counsel, And afterward receive me to glory” (NKJ).

The word “continually” comes from the Hebrew word “tamiyd” which in turn comes from a root meaning “to stretch.” Think of the picture of a little child walking with her father and having to stretch her strides to keep up with his. She never gives up or stops, so in order not to lag too far behind, she stretches her strides to continually or persistently keep up with his.

The picture broadens even more when we realize that the father is holding the child’s hand as they walk together. The Hebrew word for “hold” is “achaz” which means “grasp, seize, and take possession.” In other words, the father has taken hold of the child’s hand on purpose; he has reached for her, not the other way around.

The final part of the picture is found in the word “guide.” That Hebrew word is “nachah” which means “to lead and bring.” The father not only is holding the child’s hand on purpose, he’s holding it with a purpose in mind—to take her someplace specific.

When we walk with God, our determination must be to continually keep up with His steps. However, when it seems rough, we can have no fear of being able to keep up, because He is holding our hand. Let’s not pull away. Be assured that He is guiding us to the exact places where He wants us to be. And when our walk on earth is over, like Enoch, we will just keep walking as He receives us to glory.

So take a walk, a continual walk with God. Come to think of it, I want that to be my legacy. After my name and the dates of my life, on my tombstone write “She walked with God.”

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©2013 Sharon Norris Elliott. Feel free to forward this devotion in its entirety, including this copyright line. Leave comments, ask questions, read past devotions, or subscribe to receive these devotions daily in your e-mail at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. Also, periodically check in at www.LifeThatMatters.net to see what’s going on in the ministry.

And pick up a copy of Sharon’s new book, Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame, available at Christian bookstores, online, from New Hope Publishers, from the Life That Matters Ministries’ website, and now also available on Kindle!

 

6/13: Seeing Like Mary Saw

John chapter 20 tells us the glorious story of the Resurrection of our Savior. What a morning that must have been for His followers. However, the day started off with confusion on the part of Mary Magdalene. Still clutched by deep grief, she “went to the tomb early, while it was still dark.” To her utter dismay, she “saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb” and ran to tell the disciples that the body of Jesus was gone. Then she returned to the tomb and “as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb” only to see “two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.” After a bit of conversation with the angels, “she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus” until He spoke her name. Then her grief and confusion transformed into the joy in which she was able to live out the rest of her life.

We too can find ourselves in times of grief and confusion. When those times come our way, we can identify with Mary.

First, Mary saw lack. She had watched Jesus die and had been consumed by grief ever since. There was a hole in her heart that refused to be filled. This is what happens to us when we lose a precious loved one. We can also feel this way when we lose a dream. God does not fault us for this feeling of loss, in fact, the Bible is clear that “it rains on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).

Second, though, Mary did not stop looking when she recognized her lack. As she kept looking at where she thought Jesus would be, she saw light. The two angels that were sitting where Jesus’ body used to be were dressed in white. The parallel passage in Matthew chapter 28 tells us that the angels’ clothes were “as lightening” – that’s pretty bright. Even when we are experiencing lack, like Mary, if we just keep looking for Jesus, we will begin to see light, which represents the hope we didn’t expect.

Finally, Mary saw the Lord. The confusion of the morning, His Resurrected state, and the total unexpectedness of the situation caused Mary to not even recognize her Savior. Jesus did not look like she expected Him to look (she expected Him to be dead). Jesus was where she expected Him to be (she expected Him to be inside the tomb). But then He spoke her name. Can’t you just visualize how Mary exhaled in sheer amazement at that moment? It’s Jesus, and He’s alive! Her message and her life were never the same again. Jesus lives to change our perspective and move us to higher heights.

When lack grips us, we must keep searching for light, and soon enough, we too will see and hear the Lord. When we see like Mary saw, our message and our lives will never be the same again either.

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©2013 Sharon Norris Elliott. Feel free to forward this devotion in its entirety, including this copyright line. Leave comments, ask questions, read past devotions, or subscribe to receive these devotions daily in your e-mail at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. Also, periodically check in at www.LifeThatMatters.net to see what’s going on in the ministry.

And pick up a copy of Sharon’s new book, Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame, available at Christian bookstores, online, from New Hope Publishers, from the Life That Matters Ministries’ website, and now also available on Kindle!

 

6/12: Come Out of the Closet

I once heard a pastor introduce his sermon by making a confession. He stunned the congregation by saying he was coming out of the closet; he was hopelessly in love with a man. Without any further hesitation, he even told us who that man was. The man with whom the pastor had an intimate relationship was Jesus Christ. Of course, having heard this pastor preach before, and having watched his exemplary life, we in the congregation that day knew that the preacher’s relationship with Jesus had never been a secret.

The story was different for two important Biblical characters we find together in John 19:38-39. “After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus. And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds” (NKJ).

Joseph of Arimathea is the first man of interest to us today. According to About.com/Christianity, Joseph was “a prominent member of the Sanhedrin, the court which condemned Jesus to death. Joseph risked his reputation and his life by standing up for Jesus, but his faith far outweighed his fear.” But why would this man suddenly stick his neck out and provide his own personal tomb for the Man his group had condemned? Mike Ford of Forerunner states some additional interesting ideas:

• The Jewish Talmud records that Joseph was the great-uncle of Jesus, a younger brother of Mary’s father! In The Traditions of Glastonbury, E. Raymond Capt cites evidence that Joseph was an international merchant involved in the tin trade in the British Isles… Such a position would… explain how Joseph was able to so easily gain an audience with Pilate. He was a prominent man in both the Roman and Jewish worlds. There is [also] strong circumstantial evidence that Joseph was a Roman citizen.
• Joseph awaited the Kingdom and thought Jesus was the Messiah, yet he kept his beliefs to himself. He was a “secret” disciple for “fear of the Jews.” Was this fear for his life, for his family or for his position? Maybe all three. This was a tough spot for Joseph of Arimathea! All his life he had worked to attain the level of success that he enjoys. When he reaches middle age, he has a great nephew come along who just may be the Messiah. He watches Jesus grow up, maybe even helps the process. (Joseph of Arimathea by Mike Ford of
Forerunner, May 2001, © 2001 Church of the Great God, http://www.cgg.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/ Library.sr/ CT/artb/k/24/Joseph-of-Arimathea.htm)

The second secret saint was Nicodemus, another member of the Sanhedrin and a Pharisee. After the Council had obviously been talking amongst themselves about Jesus, we are first introduced to Nicodemus when he approaches Jesus by night in John chapter three. He starts by saying, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God” (John 3:2 NKJ). Jesus then engages Nicodemus in the famous conversation about the necessity of being born again. (Quite interestingly too, is the fact that it is in this conversation that Jesus states the most well-known words of all of Scripture, John 3:16, “For God so loved the world…”) For some reason, by chapter 19, like Joseph, Nicodemus no longer saw the need to hide his devotion to Jesus.

It’s not stated outright why Joseph and Nicodemus mustered up the courage to openly display their devotion to Jesus by taking care of His body after the crucifixion. One answer seems obvious to me though. These two men had watched Jesus’ ministry and realized that “no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with Him” (John 3:2 NKJ, spoken by Nicodemus). They were convinced by Jesus’ words that He was who He said He was. And they watched Him do what no other could do. Joseph and Nicodemus were also, no doubt, eyewitnesses to the resurrected Lord, and were probably counted among the 120 in the upper room on the Day of Pentecost, there to welcome the arrival of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:1-4).

Jesus has not changed. His words and actions are just as convincing today as they always have been. Do not be ashamed of your faith in God any longer. Like Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, and even the pastor whose sermon I heard, come out of the closet as a lover of the Savior.

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©2013 Sharon Norris Elliott. Feel free to forward this devotion in its entirety, including this copyright line. Leave comments, ask questions, read past devotions, or subscribe to receive these devotions daily in your e-mail at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. Also, periodically check in at www.LifeThatMatters.net to see what’s going on in the ministry.

And pick up a copy of Sharon’s new book, Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame, available at Christian bookstores, online, from New Hope Publishers, from the Life That Matters Ministries’ website, and now also available on Kindle!

6/11: What Would You Say?

 

After the Garden of Gethsemane arrest that ultimately led to Jesus’ crucifixion, He was being interviewed by the high priest. John 18 reports that “the high priest then asked Jesus about His disciples and His doctrine (vs. 19, NKJ). As always, Jesus showed amazing calm and answered, “I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where the Jews always meet, and in secret I have said nothing” (vs. 20, NKJ). One would think that would have been enough of an answer, but Jesus went on and added an interesting comment. He told the high priest, “Why do you ask Me? Ask those who have heard Me what I said to them. Indeed they know what I said” (vs. 21 NKJ).

The high priest didn’t believe that Jesus was God, the Savior for whom the Jews had been waiting. Jesus was willing to put His reputation into the hands of His disciples. He knew what He had taught them, so He trusted that if the high priest asked, His disciples would have been able to expound His doctrine to anyone, even to the main religious leader of the Jewish faith.

Nothing has changed. Just as the high priest didn’t believe who Jesus was, many people today don’t believe the right things about Jesus either. Jesus expects us first to be able to be identified as His disciples, and then to be able to explain His doctrine to anyone who asks. Can Jesus trust you? What would you say?

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©2013 Sharon Norris Elliott. Feel free to forward this devotion in its entirety, including this copyright line. Leave comments, ask questions, read past devotions, or subscribe to receive these devotions daily in your e-mail at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. Also, periodically check in at www.LifeThatMatters.net to see what’s going on in the ministry.

And pick up a copy of Sharon’s new book, Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame, available at Christian bookstores, online, from New Hope Publishers, from the Life That Matters Ministries’ website, and now also available on Kindle!