Knowing where you come from is very important. Nowadays, there are ways that you can find out about your ancestry. In some cultures, including Jesus’, genealogies are very important. Matthew begins Jesus’ genealogy with these words, “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”
Why does Matthew begin the family tree with King David and Abraham? Well, he wanted show that Israel’s hope had been fulfilled in the coming of Christ. The promise of Abraham “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3) is fulfilled in Jesus as the Saviour of the world.” As the Son of David and his direct descendant, Jesus is qualified to be Israel’s King. The birth of Jesus showed that God had fulfilled His promises to Abraham and David.
It was unusual to include women in genealogies but four are mentioned in Jesus’ genealogy. Tamar who had children with Judah, her father-in-law because he wronged her; Rahab, a Jericho prostitute who helped two Jewish spies; Ruth, a Moabite woman who made God her God because of he mother-in-law, a Jewish widow and Bathsheba, King Solomon’s mother. Bathsheba is the only one of the four women who is not mentioned by name. She is called the wife of Uriah, the Hittite. King David had committed adultery with her while Uriah was away fighting for king and country.
These four women are not type of women you would expect to find in the genealogy of the Son of God. It just goes to show that these women like all sinners can be redeemed by God and used to accomplish His will. It is clear that we are precious to God and therefore, despite our sinful nature, are valuable to Him.
Sources: Matthew 1; Zondervan Handbook to the Bible
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; He has put him to grief. If he made himself as an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days, and the good pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand – Isaiah 53:10
Whenever I watch the scenes of Jesus getting beaten, mocked and nailed to the cross, I cry. It hurts to see the suffering and humiliation He went through. Yet, it says that it pleased the Father to crush Him and make Him suffer. Why? It was the Father’s will that His Son would carry out the plan of salvation. It pleased God that His Son willingly offered Himself. Jesus explained why the plan of salvation was so important to the Father. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). God bestowed His Son as a Gift. He didn’t send Him into the world to condemn us but to save us and to give us life. “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son” (1 John 5:11).
When God gave us His Son, He gave us much more than we could even imagine or deserve. Paul said, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Can you imagine, instead of facing death for your sins, you receive the gift of life instead? Instead of facing God’s wrath, you receive His grace? This is why it pleased God to offer up His Son. When Jesus laid down His life, He provided a way for us to be reconciled to the Father. Sin had separated us from Him. We were God’s enemies yet, He showed His love for us when He sent His Son to die in our place (Romans 5:8). God wanted to reconcile with us but that could only happen through Jesus’ death. Without the shedding of blood, there could be no forgiveness or pardon from sin (Hebrews 9:22). It pleased God to send His Son, “in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:14).
God’s love for us is so profound that He went to great lengths to save us. How many of us would have made such a supreme sacrifice? Yes, the plan of salvation brought great suffering to Jesus but the reward is that those who believe in Him will not perish but will have everlasting life. Yes, it pleased God to set us free from sin and this freedom can only be found in His beloved Son. “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).
Dear heavenly Father, thank You for loving us so much that You sent Your precious Son to suffer and die in our place. He died so that we could live. He bore and died for our sins so that we could be reconciled to You. Thank You for Your grace and unfailing love and mercy. Thank You for the gift of salvation. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Just recently I watched the movie, “The Wedding” with Halle Berry. There was a scene when she went to the beach for a swim. She took off her engagement ring and put it in her blouse. When she went back, she couldn’t find it. Frantic, she felt around in the sand and when her fingers closed over, her face filled with joy and relief. The ring was precious to her.
In this parable a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. She could have easily have been happy that she still had nine coins but that one coin meant a lot to her. She went to great lengths to find it. She lit a lamp, swept the house and searched diligently for it. She searched and searched until she found it. When she found it, she was so happy that she had to tell her friends about it. She wanted them to share in her joy. She had lost and then found she valued.
It is the same with God. He doesn’t stop caring for the person who is lost. It is His will that that the lost person repents and returns to Him. When this happens, He rejoices. He welcomes the person joyfully and celebrates. It should be the same for us. We should be celebrating, not complaining when the lost is found and returns to the church. We were once lost too and God sent someone to find us, a friend perhaps as in my case, or a loved one or neighbor or co-worker and there was celebration in heaven that day when we were found. We are of great value to God. We are precious in His sight. Like the woman with the coin, He will not give up on us. He is “longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
Do you know someone who has stopped attending church? Have you reached out to that person? Ask God to help you to demonstrate love, acceptance and genuine concern for this former church member. Remember this person is valued by God.
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need – Hebrews 4:16
The power of prayer is remarkable. We have a God whom we can go to and ask for grace, mercy and help for others or ourselves and He will be more than happy to help us. Jesus was always encouraging people to pray. He told the story of the persistent widow who wearied the unjust judge until he granted her request. Jesus made it clear that if an unjust judge could grant this woman her request, how much more wouldn’t our loving Father grant ours.
When Santinu, a young boy from a poor village was diagnosed with a brain tumor, it must have seemed hopeless to his family and neighbors. However, with God nothing is hopeless or impossible. Through the prayers of Santinu’s friend, Sagan and a group of children from the Bridge of Hope Center, God demonstrated His awesome power.
Now, my God, I pray, let Your eyes be open and let Your ears be attentive to the prayermade in this place – 2 Chronicles 6:40
I watched this incredible video and saw how God moves mightily in what might seem like insurmountable situations.
My friends and I started praying together because I believe in Jesus and I believe He can heal – Sagan
I was moved by the persistent prayer of these children. They went every day to Santinu’s home to pray for him. Jesus instructed us to, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matthew 7:7). These children didn’t pray once and thought that was enough. No, they prayed daily until God answered. Their faith and trust in Him and their persistence impacted not only the sick boy’s life but the lives of others who needed healing too.
As I watched Santinu writhing in pain, I knew that God would intervene because He can’t stand to see anyone suffering. It was His will to heal Santinu. When I saw Santinu giving his testimony of how prayer had healed him, I couldn’t believe that it was the same boy. He looked completely different. He was no longer in pain. He was no longer facing death. God had blessed him with a new life, future and hope.
Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place – 2 Chronicles 7:15
It is God’s will to do so much for us. All we have to do is ask. God could have healed Santinu on His own but He chose to involve the children. The children had seen the power of prayer in the lives of their teachers and as a result they followed their example. I thought it was great how God decided to show Sagan and his prayer group that He will answer their prayers too in a mighty way. Like their teachers, they got to see the power of prayer demonstrated in their own lives and in the life of Santinu. People came to know the God who heals through children.
Have you seen the power of prayer in action? My husband has! Just the other day, he prayed to God about the pain in his leg. The very day he prayed about it, God answered. He can get in and out of the car without experiencing any pain. Yesterday morning we spoke about it. I said that God is just waiting to give us what we need. All we have to do is ask.
God uses anyone to impact the lives of others. He used Sagan and a group of children to show His love and mercy to those who didn’t know Him. He used the meek. These children acted in faith and humility, trusting in the power of the God they had learned about from their teachers at the Bridge of Hope.
This video showed me that as parents, teachers, we are to be godly examples to our children, training them up in the way they are to go so that when they are older they will not depart but will in turn teach the next generations by their example.
I will share this video with my seven year old son. I want him to see that no matter how old or how young you are, God can use you to help others and that prayer is a very powerful tool. Through prayer, God can use you to change lives, work miracles, move mountains and do the impossible. It is important for children to know that as long as their prayers are from the heart, God will hear them and respond. Encourage them to pray every day.
If you are interested in learning more about the Bridge of Hope, visit this link.
And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive – Matthew 21:22
Does God still communicate with us through dreams? Yes, He does! Nitya Balji dreamed of a shack by the sewer and when he moved into a slum in South Asia, he recognized it as the one in his dream. God had shown him the place He called him to serve in. Nitya settled into the slum and dedicated his life to working among the people living there.
What would you do if God called you to a slum? Would you go? Jesus said, “The harvest truly is great, but the labourersare few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest” (Luke 10:2).
Well, the harvest can be anywhere–your workplace, school, college or neighborhood or even overseas. In Nitya’s case, the harvest was in a slum and God sent Him out as a labourer. Let’s pray that like Nitya, we would be willing to go wherever God sends us. If Jesus could leave the splendor of Heaven to come here to do the Father’s will, we should be willing to leave comfort and convenience in order to do the same.
As you watch Nitya’s story and see the marvelous work God was able to do through him, consider what God can do through you if you will just allow Him to use you. Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are manymansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2). Nitya made a slum his new home so that the people living there will one day dwell in mansions.
Find out how you can help missionaries like Nitya reach the lost with the love of Christ here. Gospel for Asia has a Slum Ministry. Find out more about it here.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven – Matthew 5:16
Let us strive to be real-life heroes like Nitya so that those whom we reach out to can glorify God.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path – Psalm 119:105
Right now I can walk into any bookstore and buy a Bible. There are so many to choose from. There are Bibles for men, women, teens, children and couples. They are in different languages. And there are different versions. You have Study Bibles, Devotional Bibles, Life Application Bibles and even Spiritual Warfare Bibles. Then we have audio Bibles, online Bibles. The list goes on and on. Some of us have more than one Bible. Some churches give out free Bibles.
Bibles are available in most countries but not to new believers in Asia. Many of them don’t own a Bible. It’s hard for us to imagine not being able to read our Bibles everyday. It’s where we go when we want to know more about Jesus or to grow spiritually and deepen our walk with Him. We can use our Bibles for personal or group studies, witnessing and worship. Believers in Asia aren’t able to do any of these things. Can you imagine going to church and no one has a Bible, not even the pastor?
Try to imagine how different life would be for you if you didn’t have a Bible. Now think of the believers in Asia who don’t have God’s Word to guide them daily in their spiritual lives. Imagine not being able to share the Word with others.
The Bible is more than a book. It is the living Word of God. It brings hope, encouragement, light and joy to those who read it. It is the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). It protects us from the attacks of the Devil. It was the Word of God that Jesus used three times to defeat Satan in the wilderness. It reveals who God is to us. We learn about His will for our lives. We have the Gospels which tell us about Jesus and His ministry. It is from the Bible that we learn that, “…God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).
The Word of God teaches us what our responsibilities are to God, society, authorities and our neighbors (Romans 12). It gives us instructions on how to keep ourselves from conforming to the world (Philippians 4:8; Galatians 5:15). It shows us how we can follow Jesus’ example when it comes to prayer, our relationship with God and how we treat others. The Bible is our guide to right living and right thinking. God speaks to us through the Word.
We go to the Bible when we have questions and doubts. It addresses our fears and encourages us. Paul explained why the Scriptures are so important in the believer’s life. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is valuable for teaching the truth, convicting of sin, correcting faults and training in right living; thus anyone who belongs to God may be fully equipped for every good work“ (2 Timothy 3:16, 17 Complete Jewish Bible). The Bible is a must have for every believer.
Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life, Let me more of their beauty see, wonderful words of life; Words of life and beauty teach me faith and duty.
Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life, Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.
Help to bring the wonderful words of life to South Asia. Find out how here.
Paul talks about putting on Christ. How do we do that? When you put on clothes, what are you doing? You are covering yourself, right? Similarly, when you put on Christ, you are covering yourself with Him. You have clothe yourself with Him.
What happens when we put on Christ? We change. We stop doing the things that would separate us from God–things that people do in the darkness. When we put on Christ, we walk as children of light–not doing anything that is contrary to God’s will. As Paul told the Ephesians, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8).
As children of light, we are to live decent lives, as people who live in the light of day with nothing to hide or be ashamed of. Wild parties, drunkenness, sexual immorality, promiscuity, rivalry, and jealousy are no longer part of our lives. We are different people. We belong to Christ not the world. We are no longer preoccupied with satisfying ourselves. We live to please the Lord. We put the will of the Father and the needs of others before our own. When we put on Christ, people will see Him when they look at us.
Today, put on Christ and allow Him to live through you.
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth inme: and the life which I now livein the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me – Galatians 2:20
