Tag: discouragement

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Luke Devotionals

But we were hoping…

Luke

But we were hoping that he was the one who was about to redeem Israel. (Luke 24:21)

Recently, my pastor gave a message on hope. 

And he asked, “Are we hoping for something? Are we hoping for the end of Corona? Are we hoping life can return to normal?

“Or are we putting our hope in Someone? Are we putting our hope in Jesus?”

How often is Jesus standing in our midst, and yet our hearts are still troubled, with doubts rising in our hearts?

Would Jesus say to us, “How foolish you are and slow to believe”?

Lord, you are the one who has conquered death. So I choose to put my hope in you. 

I don’t know how long Corona will last. I don’t know when things when will return to normal. But I choose to put my eyes on you. You are my hope.

And because of that, like the disciples, I rejoice. In your name I pray. Amen.

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1 Kings Devotionals

Though we may not see

1 Kings

I’ve read this story dozens, if not hundreds of times. Today I saw something new.

Here is Elijah, fresh off an incredible victory in which God answered his prayer with literal fire, and people are proclaiming, “The Lord, he is God!”

But now we see him on the run from Jezebel, afraid and discouraged.

He goes to Mount Horeb (also known as Sinai), where Moses had met with God hundreds of years before.

How does God greet him?

“What are you doing here?”

Simply put, “You’re not supposed to be here. Why are you here?”

Elijah then complains that despite all his work, he is the only one left in Israel who is faithful to God.

God then passes by three times, but as he does, his presence is not found in spectacular displays.

Elijah’s eyes are captured by the strong wind, the earthquake, and the fire because they naturally draw one’s eyes.

But God was not in any of them. In focusing on those things, he missed seeing God.

Instead, God was in place where Elijah least expected: in the silence.

Most translations say, “a still small voice.”

But the word can also be translated, “a thin silence.”

The NASB puts it, “a sound of a gentle blowing” and the CEV puts it, “a gentle breeze.”

It makes me think of Jesus’ words concerning the Holy Spirit and his work.

The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going.

So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. (John 3:8)

God then tells Elijah to get back to work. And he leaves him with these words of encouragement.

But I will leave seven thousand in Israel—every knee that has not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him. (1 Kings 19:18)

Seven thousand are not a lot of people when you consider the millions living in Israel at that time. But I’m not sure that number was meant to be literal.  Seven is a number symbolizing completeness in the Bible.

And so what God was probably saying was, “I have my people here in Israel. And all that are mine will come to me.” (John 6:37)

Here in Japan, Christians pray for revival. And in so praying, many want to see a mighty work which is loud and visible. I would like to see that.

But when we don’t see it, people get discouraged. Many have dropped out of ministry because of it.

But God tells us, “My presence and my work is not always in the loud and visible. Many times, I’m working quietly where you can’t see. Your work is not in vain.

“Even in Japan, I have my people. I know those who are mine.”  (2 Timothy 2:19).

“So get back to work. I will save my people.” 

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John John 14

What’s waiting for us

John

As I said in my last blog, the disciples were both stunned and troubled by what Jesus had just told them.

First, he told them he was leaving and they could not follow, and then he told them that they would all abandon him.

If that weren’t enough, he told them that Peter, who seemed the strongest of them all, was going to deny Jesus three times.

Jesus must have read their hearts, for he immediately tried to comfort them saying,

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. (John 14:1)

In other words, “Don’t worry. I know these things sound awful. I know you can’t imagine these things happening. But God is still in control. Trust him. Trust me.”

He then gave them a glimpse of the future and why he had to go. He said,

In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.

I am going there to prepare a place for you.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. (John 14:2-3)

Here we see three promises Jesus gives us.

First, he’s preparing a place for us. If we have put our trust in him as our Savior, he is preparing a place for us in heaven.

I don’t know if it’s a “mansion” as translated in the King James Version, or if it’s a deluxe condo. But whatever Jesus is preparing for us, I know it’s going to be glorious. Jesus would make nothing less.

I love the sentiment of Keith Green who wrote in one of his songs,

In six days You created everything,
But You’ve been working on Heaven [for] two thousand years.

Jesus then promises that he will come back again.

The disciples were freaking out that he was leaving them. But Jesus reassured them, it would not be for forever. That he would come back. First, by sending his Spirit to dwell in them, but also, someday, by coming back literally in physical form.

And when he does, Jesus promises that he will take us to be where he is.

The apostle Paul writes about it this way,

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

And so we will be with the Lord forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)

Think about this, though. Jesus made these promises to a bunch of people who he knew would be unfaithful to him and would abandon him within hours.

How could he promise them these things? Because he wasn’t finished with them yet. And there was no way that he would ever give up on them.

And neither will Jesus ever give up on you. Whatever struggles you may go through, however badly you may fail him, he is preparing a place for you.

So don’t get discouraged. Keep getting up, and pressing on.

As an old song once put it,

So why should I worry?
Why should I fret?
‘Cause I’ve got a Mansion Builder
Who ain’t through with me yet.

– 2nd Chapter of Acts