Thursday Devotional - Jesus is Truth – With full Control (2/1/24)

Control – many of us like to think we are in control of our life or want to be in control or want more control! However, God is the One who is really in control, not only for this life, but He’s in control of life after death!

After raising Lazarus and later entering Jerusalem on a donkey to a welcoming crowd, many people sought to get closer to Jesus. Many probably hoped he was going to overthrow Roman rule with his power. However, Jesus instead talked about death and not clinging to this life.  

John 12:20-26         ²⁰ Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. ²¹ They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” ²² Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

²³ Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴ Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ²⁵ Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

The sooner we realize we aren’t in control and surrender our lives to God’s will and His control, the more peace we will have. As we follow Jesus’s example of humble surrender, it will become more and more natural to serve God rather than ourselves.

 

Where are you and I looking for honor for ourselves instead of for Jesus?

Thursday Devotional - Jesus is Truth – Deserving Unlimited Honor (1/25/24)

This week is spirit week at school and the kids have enjoyed dressing up as different characters. They’ve also enjoyed winning best costume! I don’t know if there is a written rule about a kid only winning once, but that seems how it’s been handled. One kid hasn’t won everything all week. I assume they want to spread the honor instead of giving it to just one kid.

Jesus deserves all the honor everyday! He’s always the best dressed! He’s dressed in holiness, righteousness and selflessness. Mary recognized His worthiness and value.

John 12:1-8  Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ² Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. ³ Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

⁴ But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, ⁵ “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” ⁶ He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

⁷ “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. ⁸ You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

I’ve read this passage numerous times and often thought of Mary as impulsively lavish with Jesus. However, this time, knowing that the dinner was planned ahead of time for Jesus’s honor, I wondered if Mary planned out her act of worship in advance. To me, that makes it even more significant! If she calculated the cost and still went ahead with her plan, she put aside her security, comfort, and reputation.

 

How about you and me? What sacrificial honor and worship will you and I intentionally give to Jesus today and this week?

Thursday Devotional - Jesus is Truth – With Purpose in Delay (1/18/24)

Have you ever asked God for direction or provision for something that seemed to be according to His will, but His answer didn’t appear timely?

That’s happened several times to me. I’ve thought God directed me to do something, but then things seemed to fall apart or didn’t resolve in the way or timing I expected. With the adoption of James and Sarah, God miraculously connected us with them. However, the process was delayed and quite frustrating. Various people seemed to step up or appeal for them. Looking back, we can see how God received greater glory through all the delays! He made it more and more clear He intended us to adopt and that He was in control to bring it about.

 

God’s seeming delay is always for His purposes and His glory. As with the raising of Lazarus, Jesus delayed for God’s glory and the benefit of his disciples.

John 11:1, 3-6, 14-15  Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha… ³So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick." ⁴When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it." ⁵Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days… 

¹⁴So then he told them [disciples] plainly, "Lazarus is dead, ¹⁵and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."

 

Can you think back over your past situations and see how God received greater glory and grew your faith through seeming delays? Let’s remember that as we face new situations that don’t seem to be working out in the timing we think is best.

Thursday Devotional - Jesus is Truth – The Perfect Shepherd (1/11/24)

Jesus, the Good and Perfect Shepherd, always acts with integrity and can be fully trusted. He doesn’t scatter or harm his sheep, but personally interacts and calls each one by name.

John 10:1-5 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. ² The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵ But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

Jesus leads His sheep in the right direction. He doesn’t always hold and carry each sheep and doesn’t have any of His sheep on a leash, but He is always there to protect, call and lead. As His sheep, we have the responsibility to listen and follow, even through difficult terrain. In order to do that, we must know His voice. To know His voice, we need to hear it regularly.

How do you and I plan to hear Jesus’s voice regularly in 2024?  

Where might Jesus be leading you and me in a new direction for 2024?

Jesus, the Perfect Shepherd, personally loves us, cares for us as individuals and is always there to lead us!

Alice

Thursday Devotional - Our Christmas Letter and Picture 2023 (12/21/2023)

 

With cries for peace, it’s comforting to know Jesus offers security! Our recent verse in our BSF John study was John 8:12. Jesus said “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  

We rang in the new year with my sister, Mary, and her family in Texas! Then, it was back to our busy school, work, Bible study, music and exercise activities! Not long into the new year, Joe rented a cherry picker to cut down a huge tree in our yard. Thankfully God helped him finish before several big ice-storms!

James and Alexis improved and competed in gymnastics while Sarah transitioned to an excellent new equestrian center doing jumps. Edmund played soccer for the first time and really caught on quickly (scoring most of the goals each game).

James and Sarah excitedly practiced for their first children’s opera at the Detroit Opera House! Less excitedly, they continue piano practice each morning before school, but they do enjoy lessons with aunt Jane much better than with me!

All four kids were asked to sing the National Anthem for some patriotic events in our community and rose to the challenge. They also daily practiced and weekly competed on a swim and dive team this summer. Edmund and Alexis were terrified of the big pool at first, but Sarah reminded them God is always with them! Yes, may you also experience His presence today and always! 

Merry Christmas from the Reas!

(Joe, Alice, James (11), Sarah (9), Edmund (7) and Alexis (7))

Thursday Devotional - Jesus is Truth – The Unique Provider (12/14/23)

 

Jesus often did things in unique and unexpected ways. He certainly did with the healing of the blind man! My daughter, Alexis, thought Jesus’s method was quite gross.

John 9:1-7 ¹As he went along, he [Jesus] saw a man blind from birth. ²His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" ³"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. ⁴As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." ⁶Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. ⁷"Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

Jesus wasn’t even present when the blind man received his sight! Yet, he healed the blind man for God’s glory!

 

As I was giving a lecture on this passage yesterday, numerous technology aspects didn’t work out as planned. First, we couldn’t get the projector to turn on for the PowerPoint slides to display. Second, the music was muted so we ended up singing a cappella. Third, the recording device we normally use was missing. God did eventually provide a way to get the projector to turn on with the help of someone remotely. Then, He had my husband and I brainstorm an alternative recording method that worked. It certainly wasn’t a smooth Bible study, but God gets the glory for being the unique provider once again!!!

 

How about your challenging situations? Will you look for ways God might accomplish His purposes through it? He is aware and has a plan!

Thursday Devotional - Jesus is Truth – The Light of the World (12/7/23)

What does “Jesus is the Light of the World” really mean??? We throw around the fact that Jesus is the Light of the World, especially around Christmas time. It is often on many Christmas cards. I was even thinking about putting it on mine this year, since we just studied it in context of all of John 8 this week in Bible study.

John 8:12-18      ¹² When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

¹³ The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.”

¹⁴ Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. ¹⁵ You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. ¹⁶ But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. ¹⁷ In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. ¹⁸ I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”

Jesus had previously declared that He is the bread of life (John 6), which means He is the only one that can provide true sustenance, satisfaction, contentment and joy for this life and for all eternity! In John 8, Jesus reveals He’s the Light of the World. He’s the only one who offers absolute truth about God, life, sin and eternity. He’s the only one who is God, sent by God. Only He can judge sin perfectly and provide direction for life.

What does it mean to you that Jesus is the Light of the World? How are you and I using His light? Are you and I allowing His light to illuminate sin in our lives so we can walk less in darkness and more in abundance of life?

Thursday Devotional - Jesus is Truth – The World Hates (11/30/23)

A girl at school says she hates Sarah. She also does mean and disrespectful things in Sarah’s face. Sarah usually tells her to stop and walks away if she can. However, their desks are right next to each other. On Monday, it got bad enough that Sarah just picked up her stuff and moved to an empty desk in another part of the room.  

Jesus was hated far worse. In fact, they plotted to kill him not long into His public ministry! He stayed away from them, so as not to arouse more of their anger too soon.

John 7:1-7    ¹After this, Jesus went around in Galilee, purposely staying away from Judea because the Jews there were waiting to take his life. ²But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near, ³Jesus' brothers said to him, "You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. ⁴No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world." ⁵For even his own brothers did not believe in him. ⁶Therefore Jesus told them, "The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right. ⁷The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil.

 

When people are mean and evil, they often don’t like kind and godly people around them. It highlights their own sin and shortcomings. We talked about that with Sarah. In fact, we had all studied this passage this week, so it was quite timely! Sarah is kind, but firm. She quietly walks away or does something different. She tries to handle difficult situations on her own without always going to the teacher. She doesn’t quickly tattle, but she does firmly confront wrong behavior. She also stands up for others when they are mistreated.

 

If perfect Jesus was hated, then we can expect to be hated, too. Of course, Jesus always knew exactly how to handle every difficult situation. We can pray for wisdom to know when we need to quietly walk away or firmly (yet lovingly) confront.

Thursday Devotional - Jesus is Truth – The Bread of Life (11/16/23)

The day after Jesus fed the 5000 and walked on water, the crowd came looking for Him and asked him for more signs!

John 6:30-35  ³⁰ So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? ³¹ Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

³² Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

³⁴ “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”

³⁵ Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

The crowd seemed to selfishly want more free food! It’s like they were asking “How about something daily like manna in the wilderness, but better?”! The signs Jesus had given them weren’t enough.

Jesus, full of truth, appropriately declared He is the Bread of Life from God! He gives life eternal and complete satisfaction. He far exceeds daily manna provisions! He provides daily wisdom, comfort, peace, and security!

 

I was convicted this week as I studied this that I don’t always let Jesus, the Bread of Life, fully satisfy my hunger. Sometimes I look elsewhere for satisfaction (like kids being obedient or doing well in school). Also, sometimes I ask for more, instead of claiming and using the truths He’s already given me.

 

How about you? What area of your life do you need to give to Jesus? Where are you looking to another person, possession or position for satisfaction instead of to Jesus? Those people or things may bring temporary satisfaction, but they will regularly disappoint. Jesus, the Bread of Life, gives enduring satisfaction for daily contentment and eternal glory!   

Thursday Devotional - Jesus is Truth – With Greater Answers (11/9/23)

Last Wednesday I suddenly had a severe allergic reaction. My throat closed up and I could barely talk. My tongue acted as though it had a mountain to climb each time it tried to move. I’ve never experienced anything like it. If my kids hadn’t been sick and my husband had been home, I would have probably made a trip to the ER. As I prayed for wisdom and tried various home remedies, God helped me breath better and gave me peace about not going to the ER. My mom came over and gave me something that helped the swelling. I was eventually able to safely go to sleep. It was scary and took several days before I was almost back to normal (hence why there wasn’t a Thursday devotional last week).

God was aware of everything going on and knew the best solution. I wasn’t sure what to do, but knew I could rely on Him. His answers didn’t come in the time and way I expected, but eventually brought peace and comfort.

 

The same happened for a royal official, in his time of crisis.

John 4:46-53   ⁴⁶Once more he [Jesus] visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. ⁴⁷When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. ⁴⁸"Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe." ⁴⁹The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies." ⁵⁰Jesus replied, "You may go. Your son will live." The man took Jesus at his word and departed. ⁵¹While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. ⁵²When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour." ⁵³Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he and all his household believed.

This royal official came 20 miles to find Jesus! He didn’t have a car to drive to get him there in 30 minutes, either. Jesus responded to the royal official’s request, but not in the way the man requested. Jesus healed the boy His way, in His time, which brought greater glory! Jesus told the man to go home and trust that He had healed him. The royal official went home in faith. His son was healed the moment Jesus said the words, and then the man’s whole household believed!

Like the royal official, we can tell God what we want Him to do, how we want Him to do it, and when. However, God often works much different than we expect, and with a greater purpose in mind! Jesus physically healed the boy, but more importantly Jesus spiritually healed the boy, his father and their entire household!!!  

Let’s look to Jesus for His greater spiritual purposes as He responds to our temporal needs!