The Centurion at the Foot of the Cross

by Max Lucado

The day began as had a hundred others—dreadfully. It was bad enough to be in Judea, but it was hell to spend hot afternoons on a rocky hill supervising the death of pickpockets and rabble-rousers. Half the crowd taunted, half cried. The soldiers griped. The priests bossed. It was a thankless job in a strange land. He was ready for the day to be over before it began.

He was curious at the attention given to the flatfooted peasant. He smiled as he read the sign that would go on the cross. The condemned looked like anything but a king. His face was lumpy and bruised. His back arched slightly and his eyes faced downward. “Some harmless hick,” mused the centurion. “What could he have done?”

Then Jesus raised his head. He wasn’t angry. He wasn’t uneasy. His eyes were strangely calm as they stared from behind the bloody mask. He looked at those who knew him—moving deliberately from face to face as if he had a word for each.

Who Touched Me? The Unclean Woman Healed by Jesus

Dr. Julie Barrier

Did you see the way I was walking? That’s the way I used to walk all the time. I used to be so weak. Not now. Not anymore. I’m Miriam. No, not THAT Miriam, Moses’ sister. She’s been dead about 1,000 years, I think. Anyway, I’m the one they used to call “unclean,” “dirty,” untouchable. You heard about me, didn’t you? Well, now you can call me Miriam the Healed Woman. I’m HEALED! You can touch me now. Go on, touch me!

This is my story: I married Simeon, and we were happy at first. I expected to have at least 3 children, but I never did conceive even one. I was so disappointed, and Simeon wasn’t happy about it at all. Men want sons. AND daughters. People here in Capernaum looked at me either with pity or suspicion, because we Jews believe that if a woman doesn’t conceive, she’s been cursed by God. I didn’t understand why God would curse me, so I kept hoping for a baby. It never happened. Then after one monthly cycle, the flow just kept on going. It wouldn’t stop.

How Did Jesus’ Actions Support His Claims of Divinity?

Matthew 14:22–33

Jesus’ words, although impressive, were sometimes ignored or dismissed; however, the miracles he performed were difficult to discount or dispute. Among Jesus’ many extraordinary powers was his authority over the natural world.

Matthew 14:22–33 records the miraculous event of Jesus walking on the windy surface of a stormy lake to reach his disciples. In addition, with Jesus’ urging, Peter was miraculously empowered to also walk on the water. When Jesus and Peter climbed into the boat, the wind immediately became still, which caused the disciples aboard the boat to exclaim, “Truly you are the Son of God” (Matthew 14:33). 

Fulfilled Prophecies at the Birth of Christ

by Tim Chaffey, AiG–U.S

Another Reason to Rejoice this Season

Then the shepherds returned, glorifying God and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them. (Luke 2:20)

Millions of Christians around the world choose to celebrate the birth of Jesus during this time of year—some on December 24 or 25 and others around January 7—while some choose not to celebrate at all. Whenever a Christian decides to celebrate, or if he elects not to celebrate His birth, we can all rejoice in the fact that, by putting on humanity, the Son of God became one of us to deal with our sin by dying in our place before conquering death when He rose from the dead.

History in Advance

Did Jesus Claim to be the Only Way to Heaven?

Charles Stanley

One of the best ways to understand someone is to find out what he thinks about himself. Jesus said many, many things about who He was — He said that He is the Son of God (Matthew 16:16-17), that He and the Father are one (John 10:30), and that the Father is the One who sent Him (John 5:37). 

He also announced that He did not come to be served, but to serve and that He came to give His life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28). He came as a substitute payment in behalf of humanity. He agreed with His accusers when they called Him "King of the Jews." 

His "I am" statements from the book of John reveal that He claimed to be the Good Shepherd who loves the sheep (10:11), the Bread of Life who can prevent hunger (6:48), and the True Vine who abides in us as we abide in Him (15:1).

Jesus also said He was the Door to Heaven (John 10:9), and in John 14:6, He expanded on that thought: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." 

If Jesus Couldn’t Sin, Why Was He Tested?

J. Vernon McGee

It was impossible for Jesus to sin. In Luke 1:35, Mary was told “that holy thing” that will be conceived by the Holy Spirit is the Son of God. He was “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners” (Hebrews 7:26). 


It is rank heresy to say that Jesus Christ could sin or that He had any sin in Him. He was in all points like we are, except for one: He was not contaminated with sin.

Jesus was not tempted to see if He would fall. He was tempted to show that He could not fall: "The prince of this world comes, and has nothing in me" (John 14:30). 


After He had lived a life down here for thirty-three years, Satan came with this temptation, a temptation that appealed to man's total personality—the physical side, the mental side, and the spiritual side of man.

The Lord Jesus could not fall, and the testing was given to demonstrate that He could not fall. If He could have fallen, then any moment your salvation and mine is in doubt. 

The Way Home

Here are the key elements by which we become reconciled to the Father. Each is vitally important. Any, if absent, could keep our new relationship from being complete.

Our condition: First, we must understand that we are separated from God. The chasm dividing us is both wide and deep. We inherited a fatal defect at birth. As a result, we have lived our lives independently from him. The Bible emphasizes this stark reality: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). If we can’t come to grips with the fact that sin separates us from God, we’ll never come home spiritually, for there is no need for a savior.

God’s remedy: Second, we need to be very clear in understanding who Jesus is and what he has done for us, in order that we might confidently place our faith in him. He bridged the chasm separating us from God. In the apostle John’s words: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Jesus was not just a good man, a great teacher, an inspired prophet. He came to earth as the Son of God. He was born to a virgin. He led a sinless life. He died. He was buried. He rose again on the third day. He ascended into heaven where he became both Lord and Christ.

Jesus’ death and resurrection on our behalf satisfied God’s requirement – complete provision for our sin. This Jesus, and he alone, is qualified to be the remedy for my sin and yours.

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Our response – to repent and believe.

Personal repentance is vital in the transformation process. Repentance literally means “a change of mind.” It is to say to the Father, “I want to turn toward you and away from the life I’ve lived independently from you. I am sorry for who I’ve been and what I have done and I want to permanently change. I receive your forgiveness for my sins.”

Many at this point experience a remarkable “washing” from a lifetime’s accumulation of all that can degrade a person’s soul and spirit. Whether or not we sense God’s forgiveness, if we repent, we can be very certain that we’re forgiven. Our confidence is based on God’s promise to us, not how we feel.

We come into a personal relationship with the Lord when we make life’s greatest decision – the turning point referred to earlier. It is to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the One who died for our sins, who was buried and was raised from the dead – and to receive him as our Savior and Lord. When we believe in this way, we become God’s children. This is emphatically promised in John’s gospel: “To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).

Would you like to receive Jesus Christ as your savior? If you would, you can pray a prayer like this:

“Jesus, I need you. I repent for the life I’ve lived apart from you. Thank you for dying on the cross to take the penalty for my sins. I believe you are God’s Son and I now receive you as my Lord and Savior. I commit my life to follow you.”

Did you pray this prayer?

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gotquestions http://www.lifesgreatestquestion.com/way_home.html

What Do You Tell Yourself?

by Pastor Colin S. Smith 

 “Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.” Galatians 4:8(NIV)

Notice the past tense—this is what you were. Many Christians live their lives in fear, as though they are still slaves. Are you more aware of what God still needs to do in your life, or of what God has already done?

What does Paul mean when he tells Christians they were slaves? A slave has no freedom. He does what he’s commanded to do. The tragedy of the slave’s position is his work never moves him to a better place. It cannot bring him freedom. That was your position.

You had not fulfilled the demands of the law, and you were unable to fulfill them. So, you owed God a debt you could not pay. That put you in the position of a slave, and you couldn’t change your position by your work—no matter how hard you tried.

The Gospel sets you free

“You are no longer a slave, but a son;” Galatians 4:7. This is in the present tense: This is what you are! The good news of the Gospel is that God has acted to win your freedom. This remarkable change has already happened in your life, if you are a Christian believer. You were a slave: You are a son!

God has embraced you in Christ, who died to redeem you. He has made you a new creation in Christ by the Spirit who lives within you (2 Corinthians 5;17). Grasping the Gospel means believing that these things are true for me in Christ.

Many people who believe they’re Christians are constantly telling themselves that they’re slaves: “I have this sin I can’t get over. It’s the way I was made.” When you think or talk like that, you’re saying you’re a slave, and you’re denying the Gospel. You’re not living by faith in the Son of God, who loved you and gave Himself for you.

Where victory over sin begins…

There’s only one way to live the Christian life and that is by believing the Gospel, by believing that what God promises in Christ is true for me. When you do that you will be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2). You will know the truth and the truth will set you free (John 8:31-32).

If you’re a Christian don’t say, “I have this sin that I can’t get over.” Say instead, “This is a sin I have fallen into many times, but those past failures are forgiven, and today I stand before God, not as sin’s slave, but as a child of God in whom His Spirit now lives. So, I can endure this trial, I can stand against this temptation, and by the grace of God I will prevail.” That’s what it means to live this life in the body by faith in the Son of God.


This LifeKey is based on the message “The Gospel Sets You Free,” by Pastor Colin S. Smith on December 3, 2006, from the series “Grasping the Gospel.”


gotquestions  http://www.lightsource.com/ministry/unlocking-the-bible/articles/what-do-you-tell-yourself-13254.html

The Temple: Not One Stone Will Be Left

Dr. Ray Pritchard

Stones from the destruction of the temple in 70 AD.

“They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you”(Luke 19:44).

Jesus loved Jerusalem.
When he uttered these words, he was weeping. 

No doubt his hearers didn’t take him seriously when he said that the great temple in Jerusalem, Herod’s Temple, would someday be torn down. On that bright and warm day in early April, it must have seem quite impossible that anyone could or would destroy the temple. 

Who would do such a thing?

The answer would come in 70 AD when the Roman army captured Jerusalem and destroyed the temple. The Romans evidently took their work seriously because when they were done, there was no temple. It was gone, destroyed, burned down, all the way to the massive foundation stones.

One day it was there.
A few days later it was gone.
Just as Jesus had predicted.

It happened because Israel “did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.” Another term for this is the “Day of Visitation,” a moment in history when God comes in blessing and power. When Jesus came, God was “visiting” his people. He showed himself in word and in deed to be mighty Son of God from heaven, the long-awaited Messiah. But his own people would not listen to him. 

They could have known.
They should have known.

There is a message for us for those with ears to hear.

If we do not respond to God’s call, we will one day face his judgment.
If we brush aside his blessings, we will answer for it eventually.
If we think we have forever to say yes to Jesus, we will one day be rudely surprised.

The jumbled pile of rocks sends a message to those who read these words.

Don’t let this happen to you.

Let us be warned, O Lord, so that we will not miss the day of God’s coming to us. Give us eager hearts to respond when you call. Amen.

You can reach the author at ray@keepbelieving.com. Click here to sign up for the free email sermon.

About Dr. Ray Pritchard

Dr. Ray Pritchard is the president of Keep Believing Ministries, in Internet-based ministry serving Christians in 225 countries. He is the author of 27 books, including Stealth Attack, Fire and Rain, Credo, The Healing Power of Forgiveness, An Anchor for the Soul and Why Did This Happen to Me? Ray and Marlene, his wife of 37 years, have three sons-Josh, Mark and Nick, two daughters-in-law--Leah and Vanessa, and two grandsons--Knox and Eli. His hobbies include biking, surfing the Internet, and anything related to the Civil War.

Golgotha: Were You There?

Dr. Ray Pritchard

“They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull)" (Mark 15:22).

It’s Friday morning, 9 A.M. Killing time in Jerusalem.

Outside the Damascus Gate is a road and on the other side of the road is a flat area near the spot where the prophet Jeremiah is buried. Up above you can see a rocky outcropping that, if studied at a certain angle, looks like a skull. Eroded into the limestone are two sockets for the eyes, a place for the nose and maybe a place for the mouth.

Skull Hill, they called it. Golgotha.

Consider these three words from Mark 15:25, “They crucified him.” The word “they” speaks of the people who crucified our Lord. The “they” included the Romans, the Jews, and it includes you and me. We all had our share in the death of Jesus.

The word “crucified” speaks of the painful death he suffered. Crucifixion was the ultimate punishment in that day. It represented the final judgment of the world on Jesus: “This man deserves to die.” Though he had done no wrong, They crucified him anyway.

The word “him” speaks of the person who died that day. This was no ordinary man. As the centurion cried out when Jesus died, “Surely, this was the Son of God!”

I heard a story recently about a man who visited Golgotha and the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem. Overwhelmed, he began to weep. “Have you ever been here before?” someone asked. “Oh, yes,” he replied. “I was here 2000 years ago.”

The song Were You There? asks a question we ought to ponder today:

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Where you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Lord Jesus, we tremble to think of what you endured for our salvation. May we never be ashamed of Jesus or what he did for us so long ago. Amen.

  

You can reach the author at ray@keepbelieving.com. Click here to sign up for the free email sermon.

About Dr. Ray Pritchard

Dr. Ray Pritchard is the president of Keep Believing Ministries, in Internet-based ministry serving Christians in 225 countries. He is the author of 27 books, including Stealth Attack, Fire and Rain, Credo, The Healing Power of Forgiveness, An Anchor for the Soul and Why Did This Happen to Me? Ray and Marlene, his wife of 37 years, have three sons-Josh, Mark and Nick, two daughters-in-law--Leah and Vanessa, and two grandsons--Knox and Eli. His hobbies include biking, surfing the Internet, and anything related to the Civil War.