The Good Amongst the Bad

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. And Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other. (Luke 23:10-12)

Even in this, seemingly the darkest of times, Jesus is able to make two enemies friends. Granted, the two people in question are a tyrant and a corrupt official, and that he brought friendship between them by being mocked and beaten… But even so, it’s still quite incredible. Not only that, but Jesus hasn’t stopped doing incredible things, even two thousand years later.

There are times in the Christian’s life where things are simply going bad. There are times when, as happened with Peter in the previous chapter of Luke, the Devil “sifts” us. But even in these times, Jesus always makes some good come out of it. As Paul puts it when writing to the Corinthians:

For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. (2 Corinthians 1:8-10)

Paul’s faith was strengthened by the affliction that he and whoever he was with experienced. Likewise, when trials of any kind come to us, we can know for a fact that some good will come out of it.-In Jesus’ case, two friends were made, and the whole Earth was saved. Now, nothing so dramatic as that will ever happen again, however, Jesus can and will give us the strength to stand firm during the time of trial.

The point being this: when trials come, let’s ask Christ to give us the strength to stand up under them.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

From Guilt to God

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus, and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” (Matthew 14:1-2)

We see here a guilty man; Herod. We see his guilt in that, once he hears of the “fame of Jesus”, his mind automatically makes the completely logical and reasonable conclusion (bit of sarcasm there) that John the Baptist (who he had earlier executed) has risen from the dead and is now performing miracles. Someone who wasn’t plagued by guilt, may have wanted to see Jesus, maybe even fear Him. However, Herod’s guilt over the murder of John, caused him to end up at a next to impossible idea.

Guilt isn’t only Herod’s to endure, though. Guilt also can play a role in the life of any other unbeliever, and sometimes Christians too have guilt, even if that guilt is unfounded. Having guilt is inescapable, in fact, but guilt itself isn’t. God, as in all temptations, makes a way out. Take this example:

Then he showed me Joshua^(A) the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan^[a](B) standing at his right side to accuse him. ² The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you,^(C) Satan! The Lord, who has chosen^(D) Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick^(E) snatched from the fire?”^(F)

³ Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. ⁴ The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.”

Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin,^(G)and I will put fine garments^(H) on you.” (Zechariah 3:1-4)

Those verses could be stated rather like this: the chosen people of God stand under Satan’s accusation. We, in spite of our best efforts to be our own “high priest”, and offer sacrifices to God, are still filthy and dirty with sin. Yet, then, the one whose standing between us and God comes and removes our filth, and give us clean robes of righteousness!

This is how we can now stand; clean and forgiven. Yes, we will still be accused by Satan, and His accusations always have a grain of truth in them. But if we ask Christ to come and remove our sin and guilt from us, He will. Not only will He do that, but He’ll give us His righteousness. (We can see from Herod that guilt and sin are connected, which is why the “filthy robes” of sin which Joshua wore, also signify guilt). — Guilt is simply a tool which God uses to turn us to Christ. We shouldn’t see a “professional” over it, we should see the professional and great physician, Jesus Christ, and receive the free prescription of grace which He gives us. So, let’s turn from our guilt, to God.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland