Difficulty and Miracles

That hard thing you woke up to. It’s not the end. It’s the path. A path to what? It’s the path to a miracle you may not see coming.

Whether you’re battling pain, your health, financial trouble, or something else entirely—trouble never seems far away. Life is hard. That’s truth. But we live in a world where most people seem afraid to acknowledge hard things as a normal part of this life. They are. Life is hard. Difficulties aren’t the exception they are the expectation.

Expect difficulty. Lean into it. Not because you were hoping it would find you, but because you’re not afraid of it anymore. You can’t afford to spend your life dodging difficult things. Not only will it render you weak in a way you may never understand, it will Rob you of the miracle waiting on the other side.

No one knows peace like the one in the middle of life’s raging storm. No one knows warmth like the one trapped in the frigid wasteland. No one understands the miracle like the one standing on the precipice of disaster.

Don’t give up. Don’t quit. Don’t turn back.

As hard as whatever you’re facing right now may be, as hard as what comes next might get—your miracle is waiting for you in the middle of the insanity.

There’s an amazing stretch of scripture in the Gospel of Matthew. In chapter nine Matthew recalled a moment when Jesus healed several people in short succession. Each of those people were smack dab in the middle of a crazy difficulty. It was when things were terrible that the miracle showed up. That’s when things changed for them.

We shouldn’t go looking for difficulty. But we shouldn’t spend our days dodging it either. Your difficulty is fertile ground for the miracle that’s coming. Hold on.

“Out of difficulties grow miracles.“ - Jean de la Bruyere

Living Water

  Man, there are few things more difficult than being thirsty for a prolonged period of time. Probably many of us have never really had to face true thirst. Especially dangerous life threatening thirst.  When I think I'm thirsty my first craving is for a Dr. Pepper or good old southern sweet tea. When I was a kid working in the hay field or watermelon patch with my dad there was nothing more satisfying than a tall cold glass of water.

Have you ever found yourself thirsty inside? That's thirst on an entirely different level. It's life threatening all the same. At the core of our soul. 

Maybe you didn't articulate it that way—but the acknowledgement for something more was present like an inexplicable craving or yearning. 

Do you believe in Jesus? He told us he was that kind of satisfaction. 

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’" ‭‭(John‬ ‭7:37-38‬ ‭ESV‬‬)

He made it really simple too. If you're thirsty go to him. How? Believe.

He is living water. (Check out the fourth chapter in John's Gospel for some more on that). 

He also said, that when we believe in him that same kind of living giving spirit would flow through us. We're not just receptacles. We're channels. 

Jesus himself saves, quenches, and supplies us with life inside—and desires that we might share it with all. 

That should impact is in the day to day stuff. Make us love bigger and better. Help us to speak with a kindness that is uplifting, work hard, and give selflessly. Basically, we should be refreshing to anyone and everyone we're around. 

How's that working out for you?

Thanks for reading! We're always interested in hearing from you in the comments. ~ Nate

The Apologetic Muslim

Something both wonderful and sad took place earlier this week. I was hanging out with a large crowd of students in the minutes before a midweek worship gathering at our church when I began a conversation with a wonderful young man that I will call Tahm.

We engaged in several minutes of very interesting conversation about travelling and our common interest in helping others. As the conversation continued and the service drew near this delightful guy shifted gears. It was then, with apologetic tones, he felt the need to inform me that he was a practicing Muslim—and the look he gave me that followed was one I will never forget. It said, "how will you treat me now?"

In September 2001 I was wrapping up my first collegiate tour of duty, finishing up a degree in communications, journalism, & public relations. I was surrounded on a daily basis by international students at a time in my life when, overnight, our nation turned hostile toward almost anyone of middle eastern ancestry. I remember how ugly it was. How afraid everyone was. I remember my Pakistani friend Zishon was whisked away to a safe place off campus in a storm of confusion. Zishon was a Muslim too. He didn't identify with the hateful acts of violence perpetrated by those who claimed to share his faith.

That's what I remembered this week when Tahm shared his faith with me. He was afraid of my response. It broke my heart. He wanted to know if he was in a safe place. 

Do I have strong opinions about Islam? Absolutely. Should I allow that to influence my treatment of Muslims? Absolutely not.

Many, many, many, times in life I completely blow it. I let Jesus down. I fail to respond as he may have in a given situation. But I think I got it right with Tahm. I invited him to lunch. I expressed my genuine desire to get to know him. And then I walked him to the sanctuary myself as the service started.

Jesus said that he came to "seek and save the lost." (Luke 19:10) That my friends includes anyone and everyone. But how often, I wonder, do our responses to people's lives get in the way? How we respond to the vulnerability of those who walk into our lives says more about us than any sermon we can preach, book we can write, or song we can sing.

Thanks for reading. Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

November 9 - Truly

When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:54 ESV)

For everyone who comes to belief in Christ, there is a defining moment, there is the moment that each recognizes Jesus as the unique Son of God. For many it is a change in posture. Where once they were anyagonistic toward faith, they now embrace it openly. For some it is just a moment of clarity where they see it as something they always knew they were looking for and just weren't sure where to find it.

Truly, Jesus was the Son of God. It is the same revelation that changed the face of the Middle Eastern world nearly 2000 years ago. He lived and died a poor traveling teacher and preacher. But he was, and is, the Son of God.

He died at the hands of jealous men. He was murdered unjustly to satisfy justice for all. Truly, he was the Son of God.

November 8 - The Dead Rising

The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. (Matthew 27:52, 53 ESV)

What happens after you die? That is the question of upmost importance to so many thinkers. There are a multitude of varying opinions and ideas. Some think nothing waits after the last breath is drawn. And for everyone else there many belief systems.

Christianity, like Old Testament Judaism, presents the notion of an afterlife in which you retain your identity. An eternal existence spent in either Heaven or Hell. The remarkable event of the mass revivifaction witnessed after the crucifixion points out the truth of the afterlife. All of those people, called saints, came back for a period. People saw them and knew them.

Jesus died, but what happens when the Immortal One wraps Himself in mortality and allows it to be extinguished? Well, death has no hold on the One who conceived of life itself. Jesus would rise from the dead.

November 7 - Rocky

And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. (Matthew 27:51 ESV)

Jesus died and a small yet strong earthquake took place. Why? What about the death of Jesus was so powerful that it caused creation to tremble? I don't know.

Was it a physical manifestation of a spiritual shift that took place? As the work of Christ on the cross was finished, did the the Earth itself react? Or was it something else?

Personally, it is enough for me to read the account and realize that there were physical geological manifestations of Christ's spiritual work. Jesus is the Rock. Upon him lay the hopes, prayers, and foundation for our eternal well-being.

November 6 - Beyond the Veil

And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. (Mark 15:38 ESV)

Sometimes when reading the Old Testament it can come across as extremely old and a bit weird. There are over 600 rules mentioned in just the first five books. And a lot of those rules sound very silly to us today. But there was a reason for them. Many of them God put in place as a type of protection for the Jews, but some of them fall into a category theologians call typology—meaning they reference Christ in some way as a symbolic figure.

The giant curtain that hung in the Temple was important to God's people. During the Temple days it was all that separated sinful man from the holy presence of almighty God. One man passed over to the other side once a year. Once. His job was to make a sacrifice that covered the sins of the people for the next year.

The curtain ripping at the moment of Christ's death was no accident. Jesus was God-made-flesh, sacrifice, and great High Priest. Only God could do the work to restore the relationship between himself and man. God did it. Jesus died, and where only one man was allowed annually, now all can go. Jesus brought down the curtain so that all can experience the presence of God in their lives. All can go beyond the veil.

November 5 - Prophecy: Unbroken

It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones. (Exodus 12:46 ESV) He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken. (Psalm 34:20 ESV)

Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.” (John 19:31-37 ESV)

Moses and David each prophesied that the Messiah would die without having any bones broken. Both were correct, as John's Gospel points out. Jesus died before the soldiers began breaking the accused's legs.

Not only were his bones unbroken, but his power was unbroken as well. His sovereignty went unbroken. Even as they pierced his side Jesus held all authority.

They killed Jesus. They bloodied him. But they never broke him. And no one ever will.

November 4 - Breath of God

And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. (Mark 15:37 ESV)

In the beginning God made the heavens and He made the Earth. He made all of the beautiful vistas and unbelievably epic sunsets. Then he wadded up some dirt, ever so carefully, and breathed life into it, and called it Adam.

Adam went on to disobey God and lead his family into sin. A choice which set a course for the remainder of all of humanity, and even history itself. Someone would have to account for the sinfulness of man. And we were found to be entirely incapable of the task at hand.

But God had always known the score. He knew Adam would fail to lead his family. He knew sin would enter the world. And He knew He would need to take on the form of man and become Jesus. He knew it all. He knew it before Adam breathed that first breath drawn straight from the breath of God.

God's breath put life in our lungs and limbs. It inspired us to create. To reach for the cosmos and ceases wonders by the tail. It called us on to follow Him. To love Him. And to serve Him. But when we were incapable He did not abandon us.

Our Heavenly Father did not forget His people when they failed Him. He did not forsake us when we cursed Him. Instead, He became one of us. And then, He died for us, so that with His last breath we might become like Him.

November 3 - Prophecy: Death of the Messiah

By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? (Isaiah 53:8 ESV) Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. (Luke 23:46 ESV)

Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would die. His Old Testament writings are sometimes called the fifth gospel because they are full of so much prophetic writing about Jesus. Jesus fulfilled all of Isaiah's prophecies. Jesus did die on the cross.

Some people today do not believe that Jesus actually died on the cross. They believe he was crucified, and that he just passed out or something. That's just simply not the case. Jesus died. He breathed a final breath. His spirit left his mortal body.

Jesus final breath marked a turning point in the history of humanity. His sacrifice was complete. There was still some stuff left for him to do. But the dying part was over. It had happened. It was complete. And sin was paid for.

November 2 - Prophecy: Sinless

And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. (Isaiah 53:9 ESV) For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. (1 Peter 2:21, 22 ESV)

The prophet Isaiah said that the Messiah would live his life without committing any sins. Jesus died because of sin, but not his sin for he had no sin of his own. Jesus was sinless.

We sin. Either my intent or ignorance, action or inaction, we disobey God and step into the realm of human pride and selfishness. We exotic the holy and enter the haughty. Jesus did neither.

For every bad choice, horrible decision, and disastrous consequence—Jesus suffered. He took it all upon his very capable shoulders. He carried them to the end. And he dumped it in hell with death itself. He was sinless, and so the wages of death have been paid in full by one who did not owe the bill. The Law fulfilled by the life of Christ.

November 1 - Finished!

When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (John 19:30 ESV)

When I was younger I was really bad about starting something and never finishing it. These days I try to sing a different tune, and seeing something through to completion is a great joy. I can really only speculate at the sheer amount of joy Jesus must have felt at knowing he had finished his work.

Jesus stepped across time and spice, wrapping himself in humanity, and set out on a lifelong quest to mend the broken bond between God and man. He taught. He travelled. He preached. He healed. He also hurt. He bled. And he died.

Jesus drew his last breathe knowing that the work of the Father was accomplished. Mankind would be restored to the Kingdom of Heaven for anyone who wished to be a part of it. The hard part was over. It was finished.

October 31 - Midnight at Noon

Luke 23:44-49

It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. (Luke 23:44, 45 ESV)

Supernatural events surrounded Jesus' crucifixion. It was the day that Hell leveraged all it had to do all it could, and failed. Jesus could, and would be killed, but he would not be stopped. He would not stay dead. His life would be the catalyst for the hope of humanity and his death would be the event that would change human destiny forever.

Darkness covered Jerusalem that day. The huge curtain that separated the priests from God fell into two pieces. Dead people left their tombs and wandered the area. It was a significant day.

Evil things were meant for mankind. Satan's schemes had reached their apex. Jesus would die. But the apparent victory was actually defeat.

The Father had always known the Son would need to die for humanity. He had ordained it since before the foundations of the earth. He had whispered it into the hearts of prophets for thousands of years.

The light of the world hung upon a cross, and the world went dark. Earthquakes happened. People believed. And people have never stopped believing.

October 30 - Forsaken

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46 ESV)

Have you ever felt forsaken? Perhaps you have. It's that wretched feeling you get when someone you have absolute trust in has abandoned you. But being forsaken is more than just a feeling of abandonment. It is an action. It is being walked away from. It is having someone turn their back on you in a moment of absolute need.

Jesus needed God the Father for instruction, encouragement, and support. But just in the moment when Jesus' need was greatest God was out of his reach. It sounds absolutely horrible doesn't it? If that were how the story ended it truly would be horrible.

You see, Jesus became the recipient of all human sin, for every person for all of history—past, present, and future. He accepted all of it onto himself. And then he placed himself between us and God the Father. Being a perfect man, in perfect communion with God, he was accustomed to a direct line of communication with God. However, sin interrupted that. Our sin.

As Jesus took the sin of the world, he isolated himself from the glory of God Almighty. God did not forsake Jesus out of anger, malice, or disgust. And he doesn't turn his back on you or I when we find ourselves making poor decisions. No, God forsook the sin that Christ had recieved—sin which exacted its price upon the Son of God. Jesus was momentarily forsaken, but he was not forgotten. Today, the children of God stand in a place made ready by the sacrifice of Christ. A place where Scripture declares that we are neither forsaken nor forgotten.

October 29 - Prophecy: Lots & Bones

I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. (Psalm 22:17, 18 ESV)

so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” So the soldiers did these things, (John 19:24 ESV)

One thousand years before the birth of Christ David foretold some explicit details of our savior's murder. He saw the nature of the bloody scourging which would leave him bloodied and exposed. He saw that the executioners would cast lots for the Messiah's clothing.

David was far from a perfect man or king, but he was called a "man after God's own heart." Not because of his perfection, but in-spite of his imperfections. David was a guy that had the ability to overcome his own hangups and follow God's will for his life. David wasn't perfect, but God used him to prophecy about the coming of another king—a perfect king.

David's prophecies came true. Jesus was scourged until his ribs and bones were exposed. It was horrible. He was killed on the cross, and his murderers gambled for his clothing. And while the specific details of Christ's death are gruesome and tragic, the end result is glorious, and beautiful. That God would use imperfect people to point ahead to the perfect one, sent to rescue us from our imperfection, is pretty incredible!

October 28 - You Will Be

Luke 23:43

And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43 ESV)

The Romans crucified Jesus with at least two other criminals. One of those hurled insults, but the other recognized his guilt and asked Christ for mercy. Jesus responded by declaring that the man would be in Paradise with him that very day.

When Jesus speaks it is true. The Bible itself is often referred to as the Word of God. Jesus is called at the beginning of John's Gospel the Word made flesh. Jesus words are always true. They were true when first uttered some 2,000 years ago. They are true today, and still so tomorrow.

When Jesus says "You will be," then you will be. It's a certainty. What is it you can hear him saying in your soul?

You will be....

October 27 - Divine Ignorance

Luke 23:32-38

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34a ESV)

"Ignorance is bliss" may be one of the more reckless idioms of this age. But the effects of uninformed action stretch across the destiny of man. Jesus had compassion on his murderers not because of their ignorance, but because of their actions.

Being ignorant, or devoid of knowledge pertaining to something, is not a sin. If such were the case we would all be in a lot of trouble, especially me. But when the lack of knowledge or wisdom carries over to sinful disobedience we are without excuse for our actions.

Jesus prayed a prayer for his tormentors from the cross. He clenched nail-pierced hands and raised his bloodied brow, adorned by broken thorns, to heaven—praying a declarative prayer of intercession. There upon the cross he began the work of interceding on our behalf with the Father.

The sin of man killed Christ. Committing a murder he was born for. And in his death he forgave those who killed him. Because only Jesus could excuse the inexcusable.

October 26 - Not A Kindness

John 19:28-30

A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. (John 19:29 ESV)

I remember reading the crucifixion story early in my teens and thinking that the executioners had decided to show a measure of mercy to Jesus by offering him wine. Later in life I learned better. That action was not one borne out of kindness, compassion, or mercy.

The Romans had developed a crude system of public toilets, basically just holes to sit on. The poor would capitalize on the opportunity for income by carrying sponges on sticks. They would dip them in sour wine and offer to clean the fecal waste from those using the public restroom for an extremely small fee. This is the same type of sponge which was offered to Jesus.

He came and lived blameless, sinless, and clean. The final hours of his life were marked with horrors, shame, and violence—and one final showing of apparent mercy turned out to really just be a sickening act of disrespect and contempt. No, Jesus was shown no measure of mercy or kindness by his captors.

Not only did Christ take on sin. Not only did he receive a beating, be he was horribly mutilated. He was deeply shamed. He was even force fed the equivalent of ancient toilet water. It was the culmination of all that Hell could muster. An attempt to mire the Son of God in the lowest muck of man. The kindness of Christ crucified by the cruelty of man.

October 25 - Waiting for Elijah

Matthew 27:45-50

But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” (Matthew 27:49 ESV)

Elijah was an Old Testament prophet that took part in some truly remarkable things. But he was just a man. The second Book of Kings records his story. He had a miracle-filled ministry which only ended when he was called away into heaven by a flaming chariot. Pretty intense stuff.

As Jesus called out to God from the cross he was experiencing a truly incomprehensible moment. It was the only time in the history of the cosmos that God would turn his back on someone. Jesus had taken on all sin, and God couldn't bear the sight of it. Bus as Jesus called out the people nearby misunderstood him. They thought he called for Elijah.

Why would they make such a big mistake? Was it a language issue, an issue of misinterpreted mission, or something else? I think it was something else.

All along people had misrepresented Jesus as a common prophet who did uncommon things. But he was more. He was God with us. So when he cried out they interpreted his cries with the same mistaken lens through which they had come to believe that he would be a military conqueror. He was speaking of sin and God, and they were concerned with a prophet that had lived nearly 700 years before.

The Jews weren't really waiting for the messiah. They weren't ready for Jesus. They were ready for someone that could fit into their well-defined job roles. He never came. So, even as they were crucifying their king—they were waiting on Elijah"

October 24 - Not Alone

John 19:25-27

but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. (John 19:25 ESV)

Recently a string of rather unexpected deaths have rocked several of my friends. Death is a difficult thing to deal with. Even when you have the assurance that a person was a believer it is still tough to have them suddenly out of your life. Even though it is a temporary removal.

Jesus' mother had to have been emotionally devastated by the events of Jesus' execution. She had known from before his birth that he would face the inevitable brutality, but that wouldn't have made it any easier. Thankfully there were friends around her to help her through it.

Jesus, from his cross, even appointed his youngest apostle, John, to watch over Mary. He took care of his mom. He didn't want her to face life alone. It begs a curious question that I don't really know the answer to. Where was Jesus' adopted father Joseph?

The bible doesn't really answer that question, but the point is that Jesus wanted Mary to be taken care of. Even in his final moments he was concerned for others. He didn't love his life alone, he didn't die alone, and he doesn't wish that his people would go it alone either.