The supper of the Lamb

      In chapter 14 of the book of Luke we find the parable of the Great Supper that Jesus gave at the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on the Sabbath. Jesus knew that their motives for inviting Him were wrong but He went anyway and shocked them not only with his healing of a man who had dropsy but also gave them a class on humility and how to entertain at home. But the longest discourse He gave that day was on what would happen when the Kingdom of God has come and who would be sitting at the table when it comes. Doctor Luke records it this way:

    “Then He said to him,  “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come for all things are now ready.’ But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him. ‘I have bought a piece of ground and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ And another said, ‘ I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ (Luke 14:16-20)

    Life is full of busyness, things that have to be done. Things that we want to do for one reason or another that take our time and we often have to make decisions on what is most important. These men decided that the normal day-to-day activities that they had on their schedule were more important than the invitation to the great supper.

     Jesus continued: “So the servant came and reported these things to the master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant,  ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and blind.’ And the servant said, ‘Master it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’ Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and byways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. ‘For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’” (Luke 14:21-24)

    Jesus told this parable to inform the Pharisees that He had come to them, and the Jewish nation, to give them the Good News of the Gospel but that they had rejected Him and now the message of salvation would be taken to the Gentiles. This coming week, at your church, Jesus has prepared another banquet for you and me. We all have busy lives and things that need to be done. But, think of it this way; the King of the Universe has prepared a feast for you and me at His table. Let us come with excitement and joy in our hearts to see and hear what He has prepared for us! Let’s not miss a single Sunday in our church home where His word is taught faithfully and let us come with joy in our hearts and great expectation of what He will do in our midst. 

Pray:

1.     That I will be faithful to attend each church service that the Lord has prepared for us at His table.

2.     That I will come with faith in Him to provide the words I need to hear, and the desire to be obedient to His voice as He lovingly speaks to my heart.

3.     That I will invite others, if I have not already done so, and even pick them up and bring them if they need my help.

4.     That God will be glorified in all that is done in His precious and Holy name this week and that we will never forget what God has done in our hearts and lives.

     

   

    

Elijah's prayer

  

    In the book of First Kings, chapter 18 we read the awe inspiring story of Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah. I know you have heard the story of how Elijah, that great man of God, went to the evil king Ahab of Israel and challenged all those prophets to a duel of prayers. They all assembled at Mt. Carmel along with all the people of Israel to witness the prayer challenge. “And Elijah came to all the people and said, ‘How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.’ But the people answered not a word. Then Elijah said to the people, ‘I alone am left a prophet of the LORD; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men.”

   Then he proceeds to tell the people that they both he, and the Baal prophets, will cut up a bull and prepare wood to burn it, but not set it on fire. Then they are to call upon the name of their god and Elijah will call upon his God to set it on fire. The god who answers will be the real god. So the prophets of Baal called upon their god from morning until noon. Elijah began to mock their prayers around noon and the pagan prophets danced and shouted all the more, cutting themselves with knives to get Baal’s attention.

  Then Elijah called all the people to him and took 12 stones, one each for the tribes of Israel, and built an altar, put wood on it and laid the pieces of the cut up bull on it. He then had them pour water on the wood three times so that the water overflowed the trench around the altar.

    “And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, ‘LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. Hear me, O LORD, hear me that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that You have turned their hearts back to you again.’ Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now all of the people saw it and fell on their faces; and they said, ‘The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!’” (1 Kings 18:36-39)

    Then at Elijah’s command, the people rounded up the false prophets of Baal and Asherah and executed them all. Then Elijah went up on top of Mt. Carmel to pray that the drought, which had plagued Israel for more than three years, would to come to an end. He bowed his head between his knees and sent his servant to look to see if there were any clouds seven times. On the seventh time a cloud appeared on the horizon and soon it was pouring down rain in Israel.

  Elijah was a great prophet, but what about you and me? James tells us in his book that, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months, And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.” (James 5:16b-17)

Pray:

1.     Lord help me to have the faith of Elijah and pray with the fervency and faith that he possessed as he took on the 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah.

2.     Lord, thank you that you use people just like me to cry out to you with great expectancy and joy to accomplish Your purposes.

3.     Lord, forgive me of my many sins and shortcomings that block my path to You when they go unconfessed. Help me to confess and forgive regularly.

Hudson Taylor's prayer

    

     In 1866 Hudson Taylor and his wife and four children, along with fourteen other missionaries set sail from England to China as the first missionaries of the China Inland Mission that the Lord had directed Mr. Taylor to birth. It involved a four-month trip by sailing ship and then the start of a completely new work of God in Inland China. The party had spent much time in prayer, as had many other faithful prayer warriors, to not only provide for their needs in China, but for safety in travel, and conversion of the ships crew. Mr. Taylor’s biographer stated, “Much prayer had been made beforehand, not only for safety by the way but for a crew to whom God would bless His Word.”

    As they traveled the missionaries held classes in Chinese in the morning and afternoon even though, at times, everyone present was seasick. In the closed quarters of the ship, character was tested and the crew could see clearly whether these missionaries were godly men and women or not. There were mistakes, but always followed by repentance and asking of forgiveness of the others. Doing all they could to minister to the needs of the crew they prayed and waited. “Then the sailors themselves asked for meetings and by the time they had reached China the majority of the crew had been converted!”

   Then Satan, seeing that he could not wreck the usefulness of the group, attacked with the weather. For fifteen days they were battered by typhoons until the ship was almost a total wreck. But even as the ship was taking water daily they finally arrived at Shanghai and not a soul was lost of the crew or the passengers!  (Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret, by Dr. & Mrs. Howard Taylor. pp. 127 -129)

  How wonderful to be completely in the hands of the Lord and trusting Him to provide for all your needs. But you may be saying, “How can God be interested in my needs? I am not doing great and dangerous things for Him.” He is the same God that took care of Mr. & Mrs. Hudson Taylor, the same God that healed the sick and raised the dead when Jesus walked on the earth. He cares for you because you are His adopted son or daughter and you belong to Him. Tell Him your needs and problems today. He wants you to crawl up into His lap and tell Him all the details. He loves you with a love that cannot be broken!

Pray:

1.     Lord, remind me today of all the times You have answered my prayers in the past and that I can have confidence that You will answer my prayers today.

2.     Lord, fill me with Your Holy Spirit today that I may be used by You to answer the prayers of others around me who need encouragement and prayer.

3.     Lord, help me to see clearly how much I need you in my life and that I cannot survive without time with You in prayer and in the reading of Your Word.

      4.    That I will be revived by Your Holy Spirit  completely today! Open the eyes of my heart and the ears of my soul to be receptive and obedient to You and your commands.

He is Risen!

  

   “Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them. ‘They have taken away the Lord out of the Tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.’ Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. So they both ran together and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he, stooping down and looking in saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and he went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths, lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed.” (John 20:1-8)

   Mary Magdalene was then standing outside the tomb after the two disciples went away and she saw two angels sitting where the body of Jesus had been placed. They asked her why she was weeping and she responded that “they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” (John 20:13b) Then she turned around and saw Jesus but she did not know it was Him.

    “Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?’ She supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, ‘Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary’ She turned to Him and said to Him, ‘Rabboni!’ (which is to say, Teacher.)” (John 20:15-16)

   By these words, and many others found in the New Testament, we can know for sure that Jesus arose from the dead on that Easter morning over 2000 years ago! He had died a horrible dearth on a cross for our sins on a Friday and arose from the dead, just as He had predicted, on that glorious Sunday morning!

    We have four accurate accounts of the resurrection in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Matthew and John were eye witnesses and Luke and Mark interviewed others who had been eye witnesses to this glorious fact of history. If perhaps you have seen the recent movie, The Case for Christ, or read the book by Lee Strobel, you will find great encouragement in the facts uncovered by this man. He was at first a skeptic, who set out to disprove the truths about Jesus and the resurrection, but became gloriously saved as he learned the real facts on his spiritual and historical fact finding journey.

    We can truly rejoice today as we remember what our Lord demonstrated for us by his death and resurrection as we celebrate that fact that He has paid the price for our sin, has triumphed over the grave and demonstrated that He is the one who sits on the right hand of God and intercedes for us day and night and will call us home when we die or take us with Him when He returns to the earth.

   “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you into Myself; that where I am you may be also. (John 14:3)

    Jesus has had over 2000 years preparing a place for us. Are you going to spend eternity with Him or are you going to be cast into the lake of fire? He desires that you be with Him and He is waiting for you with open arms if you have not already surrendered your life to His lordship. If you have you can rejoice now and for eternity. If you have not, do not delay, come to Him today!

   We can rejoice today over the good news of Jesus Christ who has risen from the dead! He is risen indeed! He has conquered Satan and death and has been set up as our Great High Priest in heaven! He is coming again, and maybe, in the not too distant future! Come Lord Jesus come!

PRAY:

1.     That I will take time today to thank the Lord Jesus for dying on that cruel cross and rising from the dead that we might all have the opportunity to be saved to live victorious lives now and eternal lives with Him forever!

2.     That I will never forget the price that has been paid for my salvation and that we have all been bought and paid for with a great cost.

3.     That I will allow the Holy Spirit, who lives within me, to control my life so that I can testify to others of what Jesus has done for me.

1.     That I will love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, and strength and I will love all the people God has put in my life, even those that are hard to love.

Good Friday

  

“And He bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called  in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus was in the center. Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZERETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” (John19:17)

   Today is a day we call Good Friday. It is good because this is the day that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ took upon himself the sins of the world, and died on an old rugged cross for you and me! Perhaps you have seen a movie or dramatization of the crucifixion and have a small taste of what pain and suffering is involved in this horrible method of execution.

   “They say that it was the Persians who first invented death by crucifixion, but it was the Romans who elevated it to a sophisticated art of torture and death. The victim will either be tied or nailed to the cross and take as many as three days to die, depending on whether the soldiers leave him alone or do something to hurry the death along. Normally, they are content to let the death take its course and make the suffering last as long as possible. Although the victim is usually nailed to the cross, the most common cause of death is from suffocation, not loss of blood. The hanging position on the cross makes breathing difficult and the victim will push up with his legs to get air and then relax again. Eventually, he will be too weak to lift himself up, or his lungs will fill with blood and he will drown. If the soldiers want to speed up the process, they will simply break the legs so that the victim cannot raise himself anymore, or they will pierce his side to help him bleed to death. Then the body will be left to rot and be eaten by the vultures and other scavengers. It is an ugly sight, and not the way anyone would chose to die.” ("The Chief Centurion", p55)

     The prophet Isaiah, 800 years before, had written to us what Jesus would do and why!

     “Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgression, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned everyone to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:4-6)

    Jesus has paid the price for your sins and mine. He has taken the punishment we deserve for all our sins, past, present, and future. If you believe that Jesus is the Son of God and have confessed Him as you Lord and Savior you are already saved and will spend eternity with Him in heaven.  (Romans 10:9-13) If you have not had a time in you life when you did that they why not today? He loves you so much that He went to that cross for you! He wants you to spend eternity with Him in Heaven and He wants to guide you through the trials and joys of life today.

PRAY:

1.     Lord, thank you for dying on that horrible cross for me! Thank you for adopting me as your son or daughter with full rights as you heir and filling me with your Holy Spirit.

2.     Lord, help me to remember that you died for everyone else that I come in contact with today and help me to be a witness to them of this great gift you have for all mankind.

3.     Lord, fill me with your spirit and guide my steps by being obedient to your Word and looking for ways to minister to the needs of others around me.

4.     Lord, please continue to move in the hearts of the people who have heard the gospel message but have not responded to your wonderful free gift.

Blessed is He

     Today is Palm Sunday, a day that we reflect upon all that happened that glorious day and the other exciting things that happened the week preceding Jesus’ death on the cross on Good Friday (the Jewish Passover), and resurrection from the dead on Easter Sunday.

  Let us look at and reflect on a few Scriptures from those days leading up to the crucifixition.

   “Then six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.” (John 12:1-3)

   Judas complained about the waste of the oil and said it should have been sold and given to the poor, not that he cared about the poor, but because he was the keeper of the money and stole from their moneybox.

     “But Jesus said, ‘Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.’” (John 12:7-8)

   “The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: ‘Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD! The King of Israel!’ Then Jesus when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written; ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, Sitting on a donkey’s colt.’” (John 12”13-15) (Verse 15 quotes Zechariah 9:9)

   Later that day Jesus spoke to some Greeks that Phillip and Andrew had brought to Jesus.

   “But Jesus answered them, saying, ‘The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him my father will honor.” (John 12:23-26)   

Jesus Predicts His Death on the Cross:

      “’Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to his hour. Father glorify Your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.’ Therefore, the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to Him.’ Jesus answered and said, ‘This voice did not come because of me but for your sake. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to myself.’ This He said, signifying by what death He would die.” (John 12:27-33)

   “Then Jesus said to them, ‘A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest the darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may be sons of light. “ (John 12:35-36a)

Do you believe in the light that Jesus gave us in the Scriptures? Walk in it!

Pray:

1.     For many people today to see, for the first time, that Jesus is who He claimed to be, the Messiah, the Son of God and that God will convict them of sin and bring them into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

2.     For the indwelling Holy Sprit to fill you and show you who you can minister to today.

3.     For the desire to spend time every day this week in the Scriptures and in prayer as we remember the price Jesus has paid so that we might be His faithful followers.

4.     For the leaders of our nation, churches, and businesses that they might be lead by the Spirit of God in all their decisions.