This is a collection of past Thot's for the Week
Mat 17:1 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the
brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
Mat 17:2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the
sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.
Mat 17:3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking
with Jesus.
Mat 17:4 Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you
wish, I will put up three shelters--one for you, one for Moses and one for
Elijah."
Mat 17:5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a
voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well
pleased. Listen to him!"
Mat 17:6 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground,
terrified.
Mat 17:7 But Jesus came and touched them. "Get up," he said. "Don't be
afraid."
Mat 17:8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
Mat 17:9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them,
"Don't tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised
from the dead."
The Transfiguration is the climax of Christ's epiphany, His revealing to
the nations. Today that message means the Jesus shows His glory in our
midst. The relevance of the Transfiguration for our students parallels the
meaning Jesus intended for Peter, James and John. It provides encouragement
for us when we feel down. Jesus appears in His shinning glory. He is truly
the Son of God, the Lord who possesses all authority and power. When all
else fails, when it seems there is no hope, He is our hope. This means that
we can always go out in confidence, because the One who is walking with us
the all-glorious Christ.
While the ever-present talk of the Y2K bug continues, it is fairly easy for
one to get discouraged and fear what the future holds. We all have
predictions as to what may happen in the year 2000, we are all eager to see
that day come and yet have a lot of concern. What does one do? How do we
cope with such concerns? The psalmist writes in the 145 psalm "The eyes of
all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open
your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing." (Psalm 145:15-16)
As Christians we remain confident that whatever comes in the year 2000 the
Lord will be there to provide for us as He has always done. We have a God
who is faithful and remains faithful, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday,
today and forever." (Hebrews 13:8). As the children's song says, "With
Jesus in my boat I can smile at the storms." How true!
Matthew 8:23-27:
Mat 8:23 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him.
Mat 8:24 Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the
waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.
Mat 8:25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're
going to drown!"
Mat 8:26 He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he
got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
Mat 8:27 The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even
the winds and the waves obey him!
How do you stand before the all the worlds life crises, your own personal
crises? Many times we think we are strong enough to handle all that life
can throw at us. The disciples (most of them anyway) were expereinced
fishermen and sailors. Yet when a furious storm comes up suddenly, in
terror they wake Jesus up, hoping he will do something, perhaps call down
God. Here, by becoming man, the Eternal Creator was restoring harmony
between God and humanint, broken by sin. This passage from Matthew offers
us courage in all our crises, from separation, divorce, death, job loss,
uncertainty, and all dangers. We can face all these things without fear.
Why? Jesus Christ himself is "in our boat" with us. At times it is tough
he were far far away, sleeping on a cushion-but in fact he is always alert
and powerful to command dangers to cease. When Jesus silenced the storm,
the disciples too were hushed. Can you imagine their looks, mouths wide
open, eyes rubbing, the whispers back and forth, "What kind of man is
this?" The man who had been exhausted, resting on a cushion, was the
Creator and Ruler of all. The Messiah, the Son of God.
Mat 3:13-17; Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Then John consented. As soonas Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." When Jesus was about 30 years old, John the Baptizer arrived on the scene, preaching, and baptizing in the Jordan River. John eventually came about 20 miles from Nazareth & it was likely here that Jesus came to be baptized by John. God was pleased with Christ, for Christ came to be baptized to fulfill all righteousness. This was God's public seal of approval, God's annointed to carry out God's plan. Jesus now becomes the most guiltiest person. Jesus stands in our sin, and God declares He is well pleased that Jesus willingly assumed this guilt. If God is pleased with Christ in his sin, we may take comfort in the knowledge that God is pleased with us. In our baptism we die to sin and baptized in Christ's death, but just as Christ was raised we too have a new life. God is pleased with us, who through the blood of Christ stand before Him, innocent, wearing Christ's own righteousness.
Luke 2:12 "This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
The other night I sat down to watch a Christmas video with my daughter. It told a story of the importance of the message the shepherds brought. Where was one to find the Messiah. The angel said, "You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." No one would have ever thought to look at stable for the Son of God, the Christ child. But the shepherds were lead to the stable, and proclaimed this great wonder. Today, we expect the Savior to do many miraculous things. We expect the savior to remove all hardship and troubles. The message of the Christ child is that He will save His people from their sins. This is truly a great gift. Look to the stable, look in the manger. You might not expect to find such a gift as this, but it is truly a gift. Had the shepherds not told of the message of the angels, people may have missed the savior. A quotfrom the video tells of a child saying to the shepherd "You are important." The shepherd replies "It is not me that is important, but the Christ child." The fullness of the message is the Christ child, born for all people.
May you all have a blessed Christmas.
The Message
Matthew 11:2-11relates John the Baptists hope for who Jesus is. In this
season of Advent we have many expectations for Christmas and in regards to
our faith. in this age we face many causes of sorrow, we live with
disappointment, personal failures, illness and loss. The joy that Matthew
gives us is the message of Christ's words that the good news is preached to
the poor, those spiritually downtroddened. It is a present joy in a dry
desert, where the message brings to life this dry desert. James writes,
that while we wait for the return of Christ, to be patient, stand firm
because the persevernce comes in the present victory of the cross. In this
season when so many things catch our eyes and demand our time and
attention, we can take comfort that as we look to Christ, He gives us the
good news; forgiveness and life eternal. He loves us with an everlasting love.
Soon we will sing "Joy to the World, the Lord is come." Rejoice and be
patient until that day when Px's return and our great expectation is
complete. Then we will be overtaken by joy.
Isaiah 64:1 reads "Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,..."
Beginning at Isaiah 63:7ff the prophet offers up to God praise and prayers Isaiah's prayer in 64:1 is an Advent theme. Advent is a time when we prepare and wait for the coming of the Lord. In Isaiah's day, this verse comes at a time in the history of Israel's darkness. Today is there any darkness in our world. Right now we see all the lights of the season. However, behind the lights many people are in darkness, they are lonely, abused, out of work, are in broken relationships and insickness. In our world it is enough to say, 'Lord rend the heavens and come down.' The season of Advent brings hope to all. Hope in which Christ brings eternal salvation. Hope to darkness, that hope comes in the light of Christ who brings forgiveness and eternal life. He brings healing and true light to all the darkness we face. May all see the true light of Christ this Advent Season.
God's Gift
Recently I read a devotion on courage that prompted me to strengthen my faith and devotion life. A quote from that devotion reads "Courage is a gift from God that enables us to see beyond the moment into the eternal eyes of our heavenly Father." (The Minister's Little Devotion Book. Honor Books, Tulsa, Oklahoma). Many times in the church and in our own personal lives we fear a challenge or something new. How little we realize that God has always promised to be with us. His gift to us causes us to always see the Father's eyes, and assure us that all is well. Today may courage (God's gift) find you looking into His eyes, and accepting the challenge before you. "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6
AM I MY BROTHERS KEEPER?
Lately, I have wondered what our society would do if people came clean? What would our country do if the Prime Minister of Canada simply said to the country, "I made a mistake, we should not have used pepper spray on protesters at the APEC meeting last year. I apologize to those who were hurt, I am deeply troubled and ask for your forgiveness. What would the people of the United States say if their President had confessed "Yes, I did inhale, can you forgive me. Yes, I had an affair, I am affected, and my wife and family are affected by it. The country is affected by it. Please, I ask you to forgive my wrong doings. I apologize and realize the consequence of my actions." Would we have such media frenzy? Would we be spending numerous dollars on inquiries and investigations? Perhaps, people would be forgiving and we could get on with business. Even if people were not forgiving we know one who would be. What would have happened had Aaron confessed to Moses saying, "Yes, I fashioned the golden calf. I was wrong. I realize it was wrong. I should be punished." Instead Aaron said "Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!" (Exodus 32:2 ) What would have happened if Cain confessed to the murder of his brother when God asked him, "Where is your brother Abel?" Abel responded "I don't know. Am I my brother's keeper?" (Genesis 4:9) God knew full well what had happened to Abe What would have happened, had Adam said, "Yes I did eat from the tree you commanded me not to eat from. I disobeyed, and rebelled against Your word. Please, forgive me. (see Genesis 3:11ff) In each case, God was allowing for repentance. What does God want from us? David writes in Psalm 51:17 "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." What pleases God is a humble heart that comes to him when troubles crush and penitently pleads for mercy when sin has been committed. Perhaps it is time to begin looking at our selves again, only this time with a repentant heart. Maybe then, we can learn to forgive others and be forgiven and not make excuses, but have sincere hearts. God accepts us, loves us, and forgives us through Jesus Christ. It is time to `fes' be honest, and ask for forgiveness.
JUST A THOT!
No Greater Love
"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13) This past week, I got to watch a few minutes from one of my favourite Star Trek movies, "The Wrath of Khan". With the starship Enterprise disabled and hobbling through space unable to acheive warp speed, and with another ship just minutes away from explosion, the outlook did not look bright for Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise. However, in an unselfish action, Spok went into a radiation-filled room in the engineering section to correct a problem with the warp drive. Of course, just in the nick of time, he was successfuland the Enterprise zoomed to safety away from the exploding ship. In a touching scene, seconds before he died of radiation exposure, Spok explained his actions to Kirk by saying: "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one." He had given up his life so that the rest of the crew might live.This is a great parallel to what Jesus Christ has done for us. In the ultimate act of friendship, in the greatest act of love, Jesus laid down His life, He sacrificed Himself for us... so that we could be forgiven of our sins and not face the prospect of spiritual death and eternal separation from God. Oh, we deserved the sentence of spiritual death and eternal separation from God, for we have all sinned and rebelled against God. "The wages of sin is death..." says Paul in the first half of Romans 6:23. Jesus took our wages... He took on our sins, He died our death so that we could live. Jesus took on our sins, but gave us His perfection so that when God looks at us, He would see only the holiness and purity of Jesus. What great love! What great friendship! Our response is three-fold:
1. To say `Thanks' to Jesus with our lives.
2. To develop and maintain our friendship with Jesus through prayer, Bible reading, and worship.
3. To reflect Jesus' friendship to us by being a friend to others in His name. It was Jesus who said: "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." (Matthew 25:40) PRAYER: Thank You, dear friend Jesus, for loving me so much that You were willing to lay down your life for me. Fill me with daily gratitude for Your sacrificial actions, and help me to be a Christ-like friend to others in all that I do and say. In Your name I pray. Amen.
Rise and Go
These days we live in a "Rise and Go" lifestle. From drive thru and
automated banktellers, express lanes at grocery stores, even as far as a drive thru funeral chapel service in some cities. We want toget workover with during the day & go on to beter things. Does this attitude describe me as a child of God. Do I take my faith and the cleansing Christ has given me for granted.In the gospel of St. Luke the 17th chapter(V.11-19) Christ ministers to ten lepors. Nine of them have this rise and go attitude. All ten had faith in a time of fear to ask Jesus to do something. One gave thanks. You and I have experienced the loving, healing forgiveness of Christ, who has given us life and salvation. Christ allowed himself to be an outcast (outside the father's love) for us. In the water and word of Baptism God reached down and gave us robes of righteousness, because of Christ. Through this gift we rise and go, live and serve by opening our selves to His strengthening power through the means of grace, so that our relationship with Him is strengthened and not evaporating. His power makes us witness to his love. You have been touched by the love of Christ, rise and go, live and serve.
Thot
At the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, Norwegian Bjorn Dahlie proved once again he was a champion. He won a cross-country skiing event, givin him his sixth lifetime gold medal.When he crossed the finish line, Dahlie didn't rush away to a victor celebration. He waited there for another competitor, the man strugglin last in the 92-man field: Philip Boit of Kenya . Philip had first laid eyes on snow only two years before. Trained by a Finnish coach, he had accumulated enough points in competition to be invited to represent his country in the Winter Games a first for this African nation.
Philip lagged behind the victor by nearly a half-hour. Bjorn waite patiently at the finish line, and finally Philip struggled into view. The few remaining spectators began to cheer him on. As Philip crossed the finish line, Bjorn the champion took him by the shoulders. His tight squeeze conveyed his respect and admiration for this one who was determined to finish. (Copyright summer 1998 Gene Mumaru Reprinted from "Leadership").
Jesus Christ is the Victor, who completed the course long ago in his suffering, death and resurrection for our lives. He still waits at the finish line to welcome all who come after Him. You and I are called into His service, to run the race before us. The Christian life is not always pleasant or easy. God is a gracious God who keeps His promises. He has saved us through Christ.Fix your eyes on the prize ahead, that of eternal life through Christ. Look to the cross.