WHEN YOU CAN’T JUST SIT THERE Sometimes when we experience a disappointment or a setback, we want to hide out and just be alone. It was part of the Jewish mourning custom that Martha should have stayed in her home sitting Shiva for seven days after Lazarus died. But when she got word that Jesus was on the way, she couldn’t sit still. She ran to Jesus. John 11:17-27.
When Jesus died on the cross, four things happened simultaneously: Old Testament scriptural prophecy was fulfilled, darkness covered the earth, the Temple curtain was torn and an earthquake raised the dead. But the main miracle of the cross, the unseen miracle, was Jesus took the punishment for sin in my place.
The fact that Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled these prophecies is powerful evidence that the Bible is a supernatural book and Jesus is who He claimed to be—the Son of the Living God. Why? Because the odds of one person randomly fulfilling 40 predictions about the details of their life are astronomical!
It’s sad to say that there are multitudes of misguided Christians who have fallen into the trap of seeking the sensational and calling it faith. Every time you hear about the latest Elmer Gantry who appears on the scene claiming to do miracles, there are plenty of gullible people to fill the seats and the offering bags. Don’t confuse spectacular tricks with spiritual truth. If tricks and special effects were a testimony for truth, then we should all be worshiping Penn and Teller. God is awesome, but He doesn’t need to be noisy and dramatic. There is nothing dramatic about a beautiful sunset, but it has the signature of God stamped on it.
The Bible calls the light that led the magi a star, but that’s what most people call every light in the sky except the sun and moon. There has been endless speculation trying to explain the nature of this light. Some say that it was the alignment of Jupiter and Saturn, which astronomers calculate happened around 7 B.C. Others say it was a comet, or a supernova, an exploding star. But I think the scriptural evidence refutes all of these natural explanations. They saw the star at times, and then it’s apparent they didn’t see it when they stopped in Jerusalem, and then they saw it again and were overjoyed. The language says the star moved ahead of them and then stopped over the house where Jesus was. This would preclude the possibility of it being an actual star. I believe this was simply a unique light God provided for this special occasion—and it wasn’t the first time God used a light as a guide.
An interesting thing about the list of names in Jesus’ genealogy is some of the people on the list we might think weren’t spiritually qualified. For instance: Rahab (who was once a prostitute) and Ruth (who was not Jewish, but Moabite). There are some pretty lousy kings who made the list too. Manasseh was one of the worst kings in Israel’s history. The Bible says he led Israel into sin and did more evil than any other king. The point is that God can use all kinds of people. If He can redeem the life of a former hooker, an unclean Gentile, and a lousy king, do not be surprised that He can make something special of your life, even if your past is less than perfect.
We may think greed isn’t as evil as some of the more evident sins of the flesh. But God catalogs selfish greed right beside those physical sins. Greed is actually idolatry. You would never picture yourself bowing down before a statue or some man-made god. That’s idolatry! But when you hang onto your possessions and refuse to give them up you are basically saying, “I trust my wealth more than I trust God.” People say, “well, you’ve got to save for a rainy day.” But, my friend, you can trust God during your rainy days.
Elijah was a great prophet, but then he put his prophetic mantle on Elisha and Elisha said, “I want a double portion of the Spirit that has been on you.” If you happen to count up the miracles Elijah did and Elisha did, you’ll see that under the power of God Elisha performed about twice as many miracles as Elijah did. A study of the miracle of the lepers healed and enemies blinded.
Elijah was one of the most notable characters in the Bible. Not only do we see his miraculous ministry, but also the Bible tells us in the book of Malachi that before the Messiah comes, Elijah is going to return. What a powerful character he is in the Bible! A look at Elijah’s ministry in two perspectives.
