A good man cannot forgive your sin. A miracle-worker cannot remove your guilt and shame. A powerful teacher cannot redeem your life from eternal death. Only Jesus can. – Clint Decker
According to Barna, 92% of Americans believe in the historical existence of Jesus. And on a global perspective, all major world religions have something to say about Him. The Bible, in Christianity, gives Jesus’ own Words, where He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) The Quran, in Islam, says, “The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, is the Messenger of God.” (4:171). Rabbi Shraga Simmons says that, according to Judaism, “Jews do not accept Jesus as the Messiah.” (Image by Unsplash)
World religions, historians and billions of people agree in the historical existence of Jesus. Agreement gathers around what He did calling Him a good man, miracle-worker or powerful teacher. However, when we move from what Jesus did to who He was – there division arises.
The main point of tension is over the claim of His deity. His own statements speak for themselves on the subject. In one of His most straight forward assertions, Jesus said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9), or put in other words, “When you see me, you see God.”
Did Jesus’ claim lead to His crucifixion? His fiercest opponents will agree He was murdered, but why it happened is where the tension is. Those who conspired to put Him to death give us some insight. Once when they were talking with Jesus, they picked up stones to kill Him. Jesus challenged their reasoning, to which they responded, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” (John 10:31-33) Though Jesus escaped from their presence, His opponents actually helped people to know who He truly was.
What are the facts? Jesus was crucified because He openly stated the truth of His deity for all to see and hear. However, what His opponents did not realize, is that His crucifixion would be the ultimate test of His claim. If He was truly God, how could He die and never live again? How could He allow Himself to be tortured to death, then put in a tomb to rot away?
Through a providential turn of events, the very thing Jesus’ enemies used to destroy and be rid of Him, became the greatest proof of His deity. On Friday afternoon, while Jesus’ bloodied and bruised body hung on the cross, the historical account states, “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.” (Matthew 27:50) Just like any other human being, Jesus died and then was put into a tomb. His enemies were right. His claims proved false. Friday night and Saturday was a dark time for His followers. But then on Sunday morning as two women went to see Jesus’ grave, they encountered an angel that was sitting on Jesus’ tombstone, which had just been rolled away. The angel said, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen.” (Matthew 28:5-6)
Jesus rose from the dead and nearly 2,000 years later He still lives. His resurrection validated all His claims that pointed to the truth, that He was God in human form.
What if an atheist who agrees in the existence of the historical Jesus, also believed He was God? What if a Muslim who accepts that Jesus is God’s messenger, also believed He was God? What if a Jew believed He was truly the Messiah? Jesus’ resurrection changes everything.
But what about you? A good man cannot forgive your sin. A miracle-worker cannot remove your guilt and shame. A powerful teacher cannot redeem your life from eternal death. Only Jesus can.
Do not just believe these facts about Jesus, but turn from trusting in yourself to fully trusting in the living Jesus with all your being.
A prayer for you – Lord God, open the eyes of people to the truth of who Jesus is. Bring skeptics to ask you their questions. Help them to understand and lead them to trust in your only Son. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
There are over 350,000 children in foster care, from infants to teenagers. Tens of thousands are on waiting lists in state after state hoping to be adopted. – Clint Decker
His mother gave birth to him while she was in prison. Consequently, as a newborn he was immediately placed with the state. Literally from birth, Davion Navar Henry Only was constantly in foster care. As the years went by, being shuffled from home to home and family to family, Davion had a dream. He dreamed of being adopted before he aged out of the system at 18. Time was getting short, so he shared his dream with his case worker and asked if she could find a church where he could make his desperate appeal. In sharing his story with the congregation he pleaded, “I’ll take anyone. Old or young, dad or mom, black, white, purple. I don’t care.” Then he politely stated, “And I would be really appreciative.” (Image by Unsplash)
Davion’s words quickly spread beyond the church and touched the hearts of millions. Soon Davion was adopted and achieved his dream.
Across the United States there are over 350,000 children in foster care, from infants to teenagers, just like Davion was. Tens of thousands are on waiting lists in state after state hoping to be adopted. They all have their own story in how they ended up in foster care. Some were abused, neglected or abandoned by their parents. Whatever the reason is, when children are taken from their homes and parents with law enforcement or state officials and end up in foster care, it is a traumatic, life-changing experience.
History’s first recorded adoption took place due to the death of a parent. In ancient times lived a godly man named Abraham. He had a brother, Haran, who died early in life. Upon Haran’s passing, he left behind an only son named Lot. Without hesitation Abraham his uncle and his wife, willingly took him in and looked after him throughout his life.
Abraham was simply doing what the Lord his God would want him to do. For the Bible says, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit [or care for] orphans.” (James 1:27)
Why does God concern Himself with children like this? Because He created each of them and is the architect of the family. He created children to be raised in loving and godly homes. However, when tragedy strikes from the death of parents, or dads and moms make selfish and immoral decisions that endanger their children, boys and girls can end up without their parents. It is not supposed to operate this way, and it is no fault of their own. The children are a victim of circumstances beyond their control. Therefore, God’s heart is filled with compassion towards those who are suddenly without a family. As a result, He urges His followers to be His hands and feet to them. The Scriptures say of God that He is the “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows…” (Psalm 68:5)
Adoption is at the heart of God’s glorious gospel. His good news to the all the world is that He is the Creator of all and a Father to those who come to Him in faith and obedience. And in that sense, everyone who turns from their sinful ways and places their full trust in Christ, God adopts as His son or daughter and becomes their Father. And through His gospel when we become His child, we also become part of His family, the church, for it is the family of God.
Today, prayerfully consider becoming a foster parent or adopting a child. For others, perhaps you have lost your parents due to death or have gone through a difficult childhood. Right now, place your faith in Jesus, God’s only Son, who died and rose again for you. Become a child of God, be adopted into His family this day.
A prayer for you – Lord God, place a divine calling upon some to open their homes to foster children or to adopt a needy child. And if some feel like they have been abandoned, lift their eyes toward you and bring them to receive you by faith that you might become their adoptive heavenly Father. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
The world must have men and women of understanding who will courageously confront deceptive lies. – Clint Decker
The Great Fire of Rome took place in 64 A.D. during the time of Roman Emperor Nero. Following the horrific fire, Nero falsely charged Christians for the fire, then gave orders for their arrest and execution. The public supported the baseless charge and barbaric murders of thousands of Christians. (Image by unsplash)
During the 1930’s, when Adolph Hitler had taken the helm of Germany, he began a smear campaign against the Jewish people. Unjust laws were passed against them, Jewish books burned and boycotts were organized. Eventually it evolved into the genocide of millions of Jews with the public’s support.
Sun Tzu is known as a successful Chinese military strategist around 5 B.C. Some believed he wrote, “The Art of War,” where he stated, “All warfare is based on deception.”
Both Nero and Hitler used this tactic in their war on Christians and Jews. Who did they deceive? Their own citizens. In the Bible, King David spoke of being a victim of this kind of warfare, “For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues. They encircle me with words of hate, and attack me without cause.” (Psalm 109:3-4)
Merriam-Webster defines deception as “the act of causing someone to accept as true or valid what is false or invalid.” In the simplest terms, deception is lying. And who embodies this more than anyone? The Devil. Jesus said about him, “…there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44) You can be sure, where there is deception, there is the Devil. For he has been doing this type of work since the beginning of time.
After God created Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, He laid down moral boundaries for them. Soon the Devil came gently and persuasively, taking the truth God spoke to them and twisted it to get Adam and Eve to doubt God and reject Him; which they did. Afterwards Eve accurately stated what the Devil did to her, “The serpent deceived me.” (Genesis 3:13) And what was the effect? Incredible evil! It caused separation from God, death and destruction not only upon Adam and Eve, but all humanity following them until this very day.
Note where responsibility fell. If you read the story, you will find that though the Devil was doing the deceiving, both Adam and Eve were held responsible for their actions. Why? Because the deception involved violating God’s moral law, and despite being presented a package of lies, in the end, they made a conscious choice to disobey God.
Nero and Hitler engaged in massive scale government deception schemes, strategizing to lead astray their entire nation to bring death and destruction upon particular groups of people. There were those who actively participated, doing what they knew was wrong while others sat by quietly, and allowed the tragedies to move forward without objection.
At the beginning of the gruesome actions of the Roman and German governments, the citizens could not see into the future. This is why we need wisdom and discernment now, more than ever.
Today, due to the advancement of technology, deceptive messaging is all around us like never before. This is where the world must have men and women of understanding who will courageously confront deceptive lies through boldly speaking God’s truth. This is what Jesus, our Lord and Savior did. This also was the work of the Old Testament prophets and New Testament apostles. Confronting deception can lead to the salvation of souls and to the saving of human lives and entire nations from death and destruction. However, the cost is great. The prophets and apostles were persecuted, Jesus was crucified, and those who stood against Nero or Hitler, like Germany’s Dietrich Bonhoeffer, were killed.
Be the one our world needs. By the power of God, stand for what is wise, right and good no matter the cost.
A prayer for you – Lord God, raise up wise men and women that can understand the times in which we live. Raise up people of courage that are willing to risk it all while doing the godly work of standing for truth. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
