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Category: Transformation (Page 1 of 8)

Is Your Ear Pierced?

February 22, 2025 / / 0 Comments

MaryEllen Montville

“But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.” –Exodus 21:5-6.

I read not only the above verse but the entire chapter, and I remember thinking. “Thank You, Jesus, that because of You, because of grace, we are no longer under the heavy burden of the Law.” Now hear me, I know and believe every Word of God brings Life—it is Life. It was spoken and inspired for a purpose—God’s Holy Spirit enlivens it: yesterday, today, and forever. Logos turned Rhema so that it may continue accomplishing all God sent it to do. On this one Truth, I stand firm. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”  

I should not have been surprised when, while reading the prayer that accompanies my morning devotional, a prayer seemingly unrelated to Exodus 21—some of the very words I had read and foolishly thought so burdensome—”…take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl…” dropped in my spirit. On their heels, the words, “Is your ear pierced?”

Now, God does not ask us questions because He needs an answer.

So what is Jesus desiring to accomplish by questioning us? And what effect ought such questions have on our hearts? As His children, those who seek greater Oneness with Jesus, we ought to reflect on the reasons behind the more profound implications of His questions.

Being Omniscient (all-knowing), Jesus knows the answer before asking the question. Why, then, does Jesus ask rhetorical questions?

For Correction & Redemption:

“Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. For He wounds, but He also binds up; He injures, God loves us too much to leave us the way we are but His hands also heal” –Job 5:17-18.

 “To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” –Galatians 4:5.

I am not the only child of God to be asked a question; Scripture assures me of that. A well-recognized example of God asking another of His children a rhetorical question is found in the Book of Genesis. God asked Adam, the first man, “Where are you?” –Genesis 3:9.

God knew precisely where Adam was and why he and Eve hid from Him. “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.” –Genesis 3:8.

God asked Adam, “Where are you?” for Adam’s benefit, not His own.

Perhaps in asking Adam this question, God wanted Adam to confess what had just happened to him and Eve, why they were hiding, and how they knew, suddenly, that they were naked. “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” –Genesis 3:6-7.

The devil, that accuser of God’s children, will use unconfessed sin in our lives, anything we choose to hide from God, against us, accusing us before God night and day. “Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom (dominion, reign) of our God, and the authority of His Christ have come; for the accuser of our [believing] brothers and sisters has been thrown down [at last], he who accuses them and keeps bringing charges [of sinful behavior] against them before our God day and night.” –Revelation 12:10.

God wanted to restore Adam and Eve, forgiving them of their sin.

So, did God ask Adam, “Where are you?”  to bring about Adam’s confession and repentance and usher in God’s redemptive plan? Remember, God had a far-reaching end game in mind, if you will. God was looking past the garden to the Cross and beyond, to a Bridegroom and His bride. Did God desire Adam, one small part in His inscrutable plan, to follow His lead and not miss the eternal lessons repentance and forgiveness teach and the blessings each brings?

Though God foreknew our every sin in His Omniscience, we must still choose to humble ourselves before Him, seeking His forgiveness. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” –1 John 1:9.

To test us: That we might examine ourselves and know, with decided certainty, in Whom and what we believe. “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? —unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” –2 Corinthians 13:5.

Another well-recognized question Jesus asks of His children was once posed to His disciples—and through them, to each of us: “But who do you say that I am?” (Mark 8:29).

There are a plethora of reasons for Jesus to ask this question of those who profess faith in Him, who claim Him to be the One True God—Savior of the world—of their world. Our faith and salvation are nothing if not personal. Amongst the greatest of reasons—being forgiven of our sin and guilt before God, and our ability to have a loving relationship with Jesus here and in the Life to come—in asking this question, was Jesus doing something a loving Father would do: protecting his child?

When asked what the signs of His coming would be, Jesus first tells His followers not to be deceived. Jesus knew how easy it could be to be deceived—swayed, drawn away from faith in the One True and Only God, Jesus Christ—if we do not know for ourselves who He is to us—in us.  Jesus, the Good Father He is, desires His children to know experientially the place He undeniably holds in their lives. “I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.” –John 15:5.

Because of Jesus, my Lord and Savior, I can confidently answer the Holy Spirit’s question of me; “Yes, Lord, my ear is pierced!” I love my Master and choose to serve Him freely all the days of my life. “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” –Psalm 73:25-26.

Having chosen me in Himself, God, in His unfathomable love and mercy, nailed my ear to the Door that is His Son, Jesus, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” –John 10:9. God granted me the privilege of calling Him Abba, Father, Lord and Savior, Comforter, Sustainer, my only Hope.

In closing, I’ll follow my Lord’s example in asking you the very question His Holy Spirit asked me: “Is your ear pierced?”

And if not, why not? Friends, today is the day of salvation or rededication, backslider. Invite the One who died that you might live into your heart and life. Today, Jesus is asking you the most important question of your life: “But who do you say that I am?”

“He made Christ who knew no sin to [judicially] be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we would become the righteousness of God [that is, we would be made acceptable to Him and placed in a right relationship with Him by His gracious lovingkindness].” –2  Corinthians 5:21.

God of The 11th Hour?

February 8, 2025 / / 0 Comments

MaryEllen Montvile

MaryEllen Montville

“The people of Israel had lived in Egypt 430 years. At the end of 430 years, on that same day, all of the Lord’s people left Egypt. It was a night to be remembered for the Lord for having brought them out of the land of Egypt.” –Exodus 12: 40-42.

Many Christians believe they’ve experienced Jesus as God of the 11th hour. I, too, had often thought the same of Him, of Jesus showing up at what certainly felt like the last minute, or dare I say, when I thought the moment had passed me by when all hope appeared little more than a barely there dot on a gray horizon.

Perhaps that’s how the Israelites once felt.

Maybe—that’s how you’re feeling right now.

We, His children, are often guilty of seeing Jesus as the One who comes just in time.

Yet, I encourage you to allow the opening verse of today’s chapter to challenge what you may believe about God’s timing—maybe it’s time for a fresh perspective—more, for a proper Biblical perspective.

Why?

So that you might, we might rightly align our hearts and wills with God’s. Sinking it, like a weighty anchor to the sea floor, to become one with His will, His plan, total submission, and acceptance—come what may. Ceasing your striving, conscious or otherwise, to bend God’s will to meet your own. “Trust in the Lord completely, and do not rely on your own opinions. With all your heart rely on him to guide you, and he will lead you in every decision you make” –Proverbs 3:5-6.

Throughout God’s Word, we are assured of one fundamental, unchanging Truth—God is never late as we think of lateness. “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” –Ecclesiastes 3:11.

This plain Truth has existed since before time, as man understands it. We witness God exercise this Truth in His plan to deliver His chosen children, the Israelites, as He had foreordained, arranged for the Israelite’s deliverance and the utter eradication of their enemy in His appointed time. “While the Israelites were still in the land of Egypt, the Lord gave the following instructions to Moses and Aaron.” –Exodus 12:1.

This one verse challenges our finite understanding of time—God’s time, that is. It uncryptically details that while the Israelites were yet experiencing the tip of the taskmaster’s whip across their sun-scorched backs, God already had their deliverance mapped out. Did you catch that? Before one Israelite had so much as sniffed their impending freedom in the air, God had already made a way out of Egypt. The Israelite’s exodus from under Pharoh’s exacting grip was already mapped out and waiting in the wings to unfold in the form of two lowly servants—Moses and Aaron.

In God’s economy, His children were already free—their liberty a done deal.

Their shackles and hopelessness, though weighing them down still in the natural, had, in God’s Providence, already been left in the dust of an Egypt that had been bent on robbing His people of the now tattered vestiges of the “sure promise” God had made to their forefathers Abraham, Isacc, and Jacob. All of this was done before one person’s foot took its first step into freedom, already theirs. Again, concerning God’s timing, we must remember it is not our own. Still, the lot of us so long to captains of time. Thinking, foolishly, how we would do it, whatever the “it” may be, so much better, or at least far more expediently than God is!

I can hear the Apostle Paul screaming across time, “How foolish of you, you short-sighted fools! You possess no such vision!”

God alone sees the end from the beginning as a masterful, finished piece of art. While we, short-sighted mortals, see it as some willy-nilly, nonsensical drawing-board scribblings. Is it any wonder that the Lord says to us: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” –Isiah 55:8-9.

Much like his descendants, the Israelites, their Father Abraham knew something about this God who provides “a ram in the bush”—an unseen, unknown, yet preplanned way out of afflictions for His own. Unnoticed and unknown until that is, the fullness of time is revealed. But Abraham’s story is for another day.

For today, suffice it to say, if you’re feeling stuck in your own version of Egypt, God has undoubtedly heard your cries, just as He did the Israelites before you. As with them, He has a plan to deliver you. “The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I am aware of their sufferings.” –Exodus 3:7.

So If you’re bent low in despair, feeling drained, beaten down—the joy of life and all hope seemingly little more than a memory, or if the enemy—or your seared conscience, is taking the whip to your back, then like the Israelites before you, you too must cry out to your Father—your God.

Trust that Jesus hears you and that He has a good and hope-filled plan for your life that will unfold in His time. How? According to His Word. Listen: “But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless [he is forced] by a strong hand. So I will reach out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go. And I will grant this people favor and respect in the sight of the Egyptians; therefore, it shall be that when you go, you will not go empty-handed. In this way you are to plunder the Egyptians [leaving bondage with great possessions that are rightfully yours].” –Exodus 3:19-20;22.

This God who did not fail the Israelites in their seemingly forsaken wilderness will unquestionably not fail you, chosen and sealed in Christ. By His Spirit at work in you, you will emerge from your “captivity” stronger, more resilient, and better supplied than when your enemy first laid hold of you.

Just as Exodus 3:19-23 assures you of God’s faithfulness to His beloved, chosen Israel, there’s yet another promise from this same God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, made to the Israelites while they were yet in exile in Babylon and through them, ingrafted one, to you, if you are God’s child. It speaks to His yet future plans for them, good plans indeed, again, while they are, in their own eyes at least, still in bondage. “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper– Jeremiah 29: 4-7.

Here it is, beloved, the promise you must white-knuckle cling to come what may, by remembering God makes all things work together for your good and His glory—in His time. “This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” –Jeremiah 29:11.

According to Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus is the same, yesterday, today, and forever.” So here’s what that means if you have yet to ask Jesus into your life as your Lord and Savior. Today can be the day of your exodus from whatever Egypt has been holding you enslaved. Is it drugs? Alcohol? Porn? Adultery?

 Whatever your personal Egypt, Jesus is waiting to set you free if you confess your need for Him and admit that you’ve sinned and need Him as your Savior. Then, according to His Word, Jesus will save and wash you clean. “If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just [true to His own nature and promises], and will forgive our sins and cleanse us continually from all unrighteousness [our wrongdoing, everything not in conformity with His will and purpose].” –1 John 1:9.

Remain In Me.

September 28, 2024 /

MaryEllen Montville

“So you must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will remain in fellowship with the Son and with the Father.” –1 John 2:24.

In his first Epistle, John the Apostle admonishes us four times within four verses to “remain” both faithful and in fellowship with Christ Jesus, and he adds our doing this is a sure sign of our love and obedience to God and His Word. “And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him.” –1John 2:3-5.

Perhaps, as John was writing this portion of his Epistle, he was reflecting on earlier times.

Those days when he and his brothers spent drinking in every Word that fell from Jesus’ lips as they walked, talked, worked, ministered, debated with, and questioned Him so as to know and learn everything Jesus had to teach them. I pose this question because, upon reflection, the heart of John’s words in his Epistles concerning remaining connected to Christ—obeying Him, abiding in Him, could easily be interchanged with those spoken directly to him by Jesus in his Gospel. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” –John 15:5;8.

At their core, each verse points to how crucial staying connected to Christ truly is.

This cardinal precept of “remaining,” of spiritual intimacy with God, was a point Jesus emphasized the importance of repeatedly with His friends—and through them, to us. This precept of abiding is repeated throughout the Gospels—particularly in John’s.

Yet how? How do we “remain” faithful to what we’ve been taught from the beginning when nearly every day we hear of some new theory, new doctrine, some new “Word from the Lord” splashed across YouTube or social media, from the pulpit or whispered in our ear from a “well-meaning” yet albeit naïve believer. How do we “abide” in Christ when we’re being pulled this way or that by family members who demand, we choose between being with them or following after “this Jesus of yours.” When that addiction we thought was long behind us, the habit that had all but destroyed us, seems to be calling to us. A vague yet familiar siren song emanating up from our memory.

When your marriage is in crisis and, no matter of counseling, prayer, or late-night raging at the pain of disappointment and betrayal seems to heal it. How? When your wayward child is drifting further and further away, duped by a culture filling their heads with lies and confusion. When that stinging church hurt, or the betrayal of a life-long friend threatens to grow roots of bitterness in your heart. When the boss says that you must work on Sunday or participate in some office practice, that goes against your faith and principles, or it’s your job.

Thankfully, as believers, the answer to these questions isn’t complicated.

The process of our overcoming may be muddy and challenging, but the answer itself is straightforward. “…remain in my love.” –John 15:9. Jesus assures us, the solace and strength we need to overcome any trial is not only readily available to us, but found only in Him.

Equally, a prolific seed of Truth is found inside this simple verse: our unequivocal need for absolute Oneness with God. “Without me, you see, you can’t do anything. –John 15:5.

Sounds simplistic, I know. Maybe even trite to some.

However, absolute Oneness with God is what our relationship with Jesus must be built upon for us to flourish—to overcome and thrive spiritually.

We must have a resolute, watertight bond with our God. “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.” –Matthew 7:24-25.

And yet beloved, when we’re the ones facing the mountain before us, the death, terrifying diagnosis, betrayal, break-up, or loss, this simple Truth of abiding in Jesus, clinging to Him, placing a measure of faith we didn’t even know we possessed in Him, can feel not only daunting, but down-right impossible for some of us to swallow. And yet, swallow we must. Staying connected to Truth—to Jesus, we must.

Our feelings will fail us, so will our hearts, courage, and minds—our friends, too, as well intended as they may be. In times of trials, only Jesus can help us. Save, heal, deliver, strengthen, enable, make a way through or restore us.

Only Jesus.

Actually, this is true every day. For most of us, unfortunately, we only become aware of this when the winds and waves are threatening to take us out.

Each verse in today’s teaching is intended to harken us back to Jesus. To Remind us we can do nothing apart from Him—not even those things we so readily take for granted, like drawing our next breath.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus repeatedly states that He came not to exercise His own will but to do the will of the Father who sent Him. To say what He’d heard the Father say only. “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does…” –John 5: 19-20.

At the core of all Jesus did was an ever-present determination to obey God and His Word to the utmost, even unto His death on the Cross.

It was this burning love for the Father, this fixed determination that was such a part of who Jesus is that nothing and no one could lure Him away from oneness with the Father. This absolute oneness caused and enabled Jesus to do what the “fully man” in Him momentarily stumbled over. “Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” –Mark 14:35-36.

We would do well to imatate Jesus by remaining in, trusting in, the love of the Father for His children.

Beloved, you have a Great High Priest who knows how hard it is for you right now. He not only sees you but that all but unbearable weight of pain you’re carrying—He’s been there. It’s why, in part, He sent me to remind you to stay connected to Him—your True and Only Source of Strength. Abide in Him. Trusting that the strength, healing, rescue, answers, or freedom you need—have been praying for— is found only in Jesus—that He has you.

Your trial, the “hour” that has come upon you, is safe in God’s Hands.

No matter what things look like, regardless of how dark it may get, trust God, beloved, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand.  The Father and I are one.” –John 10: 28-30.

Friend, Jesus made connecting with Him simple. Here’s how: “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.” –Romans 10:9-10. I encourage you to call out to Jesus as your Lord and Savior today, become one with Him—abide in Him.

How the Poor Man Became Rich and Mourned No More.

September 21, 2024 /

Matthew Botelho

“The poor in spirit are blessed, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Those who mourn are blessed, for they will be comforted.” –Matthew 5:3-4.

If we are saved, we have a testimony of where we were when we met Jesus. That very place of despair, trapped. We were feeling like we were in a cage. Pacing back and forth, unable to set ourselves free. Our very souls were crying out, “Is there any hope for my suffering, my lust, my addiction!”

Think about this for a moment: The moment you said, “My suffering” or “My addiction,” you claimed something that is no longer your portion in this life. Because when you became Christ’s own, you were born again, washed clean of the sins that once held you captive and led you into states of depression and self-loathing. “Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat it’s fruit.” –Proverbs 18:21

Everything changed when we received revelation, and the Light of Christ pierced our hearts. Only then could we truly see.

Many of us did not see or understand what we were speaking over ourselves before we accepted Jesus because we were blind, walking in darkness. “There is nothing covered that won’t be uncovered, nothing hidden that won’t be made known. Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you whispered in an ear in private rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.” –Luke 12:2-3

Friends, we will not see the Kingdom of God as long as we stay in our sins. “Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s Kingdom? Do not be deceived; No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or anyone practicing homosexuality, no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s Kingdom.” – 1 Corinthians 6:9-10

Reading the above scripture made me wonder how anyone can live a “carefree life.”

Have you ever heard someone say, “Oh, they are such a free spirit?” But they’re not really a free spirit if that freedom will cost them their soul. If any of the sins listed above are present in their “carefree” lifestyle, then I assure you they’re not living so carefree. Jesus is the only one who can bring life, not some “carefree” counterfeit spirit. “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”- John 14:6

The person’s life may look good from the outside, but looks are deceiving.

Such people are living a lie—just as we all once did before Christ. We all tried to fill a space within ourselves that made us feel good. That eased our pain or loneliness. But it was just a placebo. Something that made us think we felt better, at least for a while. The truth is, we were still sick.

In my last teaching, “Cleansing A Leprous Heart,” I said sin was a sickness. And I likened sin to leprosy. Sin is a spiritual sickness that starts on the inside and works its way out. “Summoning the crowd, He told them, “Listen and understand: It’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”– Matthew 15:10-11

Though only God knows a man’s heart, you can see how a person thinks, what they live by, and their morals and beliefs by observing their life. Be still and listen to them talk. You will know them by their words and how they speak to others. Watch their walk. Scripture says: “You will know them by their fruits…” –Matthew 7:16.

We all carried the sickness of unrepentant sin with us at one point.

Jesus is the great physician who cured our sickness by separating our sins from us as far as the East is from the West, never to remember it again. “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” –Psalm 103:12.

Listen to how Jesus explained why He’d come to the Pharisees. “When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was sitting with sinners and tax collectors, they asked His disciples, “Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard this, He told them, “Those who are well don’t need a doctor, but the sick do need one. I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.” – Mark 2:16-17

Jesus used the word “righteous” to make evident to the Scribes that their “righteousness” came only by knowing the law and then pointing out what other people cannot or should not do. The Scribes couldn’t see that these people were lost in their sins with no one to help them. They couldn’t understand that these people were the very reason Jesus came.

My friends, don’t fall into a place where you claim yourself to be so righteous you won’t help out a brother or sister when they are having a tough time, afraid you’ll dirty yourself. Instead, remember Who showed you mercy and love when you were at your lowest. Lest we forget what the apostle Paul wrote: “Carry one anothers burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone considers himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” – Galatians 6:2-3

Jesus told the Pharisees, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, yet you have neglected the more important matters of the law–justice, mercy, and faith. These things should have been done without neglecting the others.” –Matthew 23:23.

Jesus came for sinners. The “Whosoever’s.”  “And then, whoever calls out to the Lord for help will be saved.” –Acts 2:21. He dined with them that night because He was about His Father’s business, to meet the poor in spirit and to show them the way into the Kingdom of heaven.

Friends, we no longer need to mourn our sins, but we can rejoice because Christ Jesus’ has clothed us in His Righteousness. He has comforted us in our time of need. “And when you were dead in trespasses and in uncircumcision of your flesh. He made you alive with Him and forgave us all our trespass. He erased the certificate of debt, with it’s obligations that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the cross.” –Colossians 2:13-14

Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.”

 We were once poor in spirit, but God made us rich. We were prisoners of our sins, but God set us free. We mourned in our trespasses, but God filled our hearts with joy. Jesus died so that you and I will live for all eternity and be coheirs in the Kingdom of God. Jesus loves you so much.

We at the SonsoftheSea ministry are continually praying for every one of you. I invite all who feel the stirring of the Holy Spirit to open their heart and come to Jesus in complete repentance. Repent and accept Jesus as Savior and Lord. “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.” – Romans 10:9-10.

I pray you receive Him and His gift of salvation that cost Jesus His life. Be washed by His precious Blood, and your every sin will be washed away in Christ Jesus.

Amen.

“Cleansing A Leperous Heart”

September 7, 2024 /

Matthew Botelho

“While traveling to Jerusalem, He passed between Samaria and Galilee. As He entered a village, men with serious skin diseases met Him. They stood at a distance and raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When He saw them, He told them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And while they were going they were healed. But one of them, seeing that he was healed, returned and with a loud voice, gave glory to God. He fell facedown at His feet, thanking Him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus said, “Were not cleansed? Where are the nine? Didn’t any return to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And He told him, “Get up and go on your way. Your faith has made you well.” –Luke 17:11-19.

As stated, these ten men had a severe skin disease, which Scripture hints at being leprosy, a chronic but now curable infectious disease mainly causing skin lesions and nerve damage. The Law of Moses stated: “The person afflicted with an infectious skin disease is to have his clothes torn and his hair hanging loose, and he must cover his mouth and cry out ‘unclean, unclean!’ He will remain unclean as long as he has the infection; he is unclean. He must live alone in a place outside the camp.” –Leviticus 13:45-46

To make a point, I’ll use this metaphor. Just as leprosy deteriorates the flesh, unrepented sin will deteriorate your soul, causing you to live removed from God. It may even cause your death.

Brothers and sisters, before we came to Christ, we were as unclean spiritually as these poor men were physically.

Our hearts were diseased and riddled with sin.

Our minds were saturated with the things of this world, the lusts of the eyes. “For the mindset of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit itself to God’s law, for it is unable to do so. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” –Romans 8:7-8

And we know that the longer a person chooses to live a sinful life, the more the evidence of their sins radiates outward. Their outward man becomes a reflection of their inward sins. “The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable–who can understand it?” –Jeremiah 17:9.

As with the ten lepers in today’s Scripture, your sin will cause you to live apart from God.

Man cannot rid himself of sin, but God made a way for all men to be free and be cleansed of all inequities through His son, Jesus. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” –Romans 6:23.

Concerning the lepers: “He told them, Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And while they were going they were healed. But one of them, seeing that he was healed, returned and with a loud voice, gave glory to God. He fell facedown at His feet, thanking Him. And he was a Samaritan.” –Luke 17:14-15.

These lepers cried out to Jesus, “Have mercy on us!”  and a repentant heart is what God wants. You may have been cast out, friend, but know that God still sees you, even though your sin has distorted your heart. Jesus still knows you and loves you.

They cried out for mercy and acknowledged Jesus as Lord and Master over their sickness and hearts. God does not want you to remain in your sin. He wants you to be all He created you to be: holy and full of purpose. In Mark, Jesus reminds us of this: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the good news!” –Mark 1:15.

 When these ten lepers heard Jesus say, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” Something stirred inside them. Having lived as cast-outs, it must have been a while since they had felt this stirring of hope inside themselves.

Their disease had plagued them for so long they had forgotten what it felt like to have hope and faith. But because of Jesus, their faith had been stirred up, and, in obedience to His command, they ran to show themselves to the priests.

But why did they have to show themselves to the priests?

Showing yourself to the priest was written in the Law of Moses, and Jesus never contradicted His Father’s Word. “But if the raw flesh changes and turns white, the priest must pronounce the infected person clean; he is clean. “–Leviticus 13:16-17. Also, the local priests must have known about these ten men and their condition. Their all being healed together was Jesus’ way of sending a message to these priests that the Messiah had come. Surely, they would remember what the prophet Isaiah had said about Him: “He Himself bore our sicknesses, and carried out pains; but we in turn regarded Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.” –Isaiah 53:4.

Ten men received healing from something that had taken everything away from them, and then, each man was restored because of their encounter with Jesus—there must have been some head-scratching happening by those local priests.

Friends, instead of sorrow and living as cast out from God because of your sin, you too can come to Jesus in complete repentance and cry out, “Jesus, save me! Have mercy on me!” Because of His mercy and great love for you, Jesus will change your heart and heal your inner man. He’ll redeem you, making you holy and clean by forgiving your sins and giving you new life! “I assure you: Unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” –John 3:3.

Once restored, Jesus, our high priest, declares us clean and in right standing with the Father!

We read only one leper returned to Jesus and gave glory to God, a Samaritan, which the Jews hated. He was that one who needed a touch of God; the others got what they came for and then went their way. Then Jesus said, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Didn’t any return to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And He told him, “Get up and go on your way. Your faith has made you well.” –Luke 17:17-19.

We should not take God’s blessings for granted, especially His gift of grace. “Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.” –Psalm 2:12.

Friends don’t be like the nine who got what they came for and then forgot to thank Jesus for what He had done for them. Instead, raise your hands in joyous admiration and thank Jesus for His true gift of salvation! The Blood of our Lord Jesus has cleansed our leprous hearts.

Like the ten lepers, Jesus has made us new creations.

As I close this week’s teaching, know that we at Sonsofthesea are praying you know God’s love and the Truth that salvation is found in no one but in His Son, Jesus.

Do not harden your heart or turn away if you hear His voice calling you. Today is the day of salvation. Repent of your sins and ask Jesus to come into your heart. Believe His promise to you: “Listen! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and have dinner with him and he with Me.” –Revelation 3:20.

Amen.

Fragile Vessels

August 3, 2024 /

MaryEllen Montville

“But we have this precious treasure [the good news about salvation] in [unworthy] earthen vessels [of human frailty], so that the grandeur and surpassing greatness of the power will be [shown to be] from God [His sufficiency] and not from ourselves.” 2 Corinthians 4:7.

Chosen vessels, ministers of the gospel, as appointed to bear the glad news of salvation to others; called also earthen vessels, on account of their weakness and frailty. – Noah Webster.

Servant of the Living God, be reminded that we who carry within us His Spirit, called to proclaim His Gospel, are blessed yet unworthy vessels handpicked by our Father for such a weighty privilege. Yet compared to our Omnipotent God, we are infinitesimal creatures, like hummingbirds in a vast desert; we are small, fragile winged creatures called to carry the transplendent and incalculable weight of the Glory of God into inhospitable places on fragile, gossamer wings. “But God has selected [for His purpose] the foolish things of the world to shame the wise [revealing their ignorance], and God has selected [for His purpose] the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong [revealing their frailty].” –1Cor.1:27.

That God alone, not we, His earthen vessels, receive the glory. “But you are my witnesses, O Israel!” says the Lord. “You are my servant. You have been chosen to know me, believe in me, and understand that I alone am God. There is no other God— there never has been, and there never will be. I, yes I, am the Lord, and there is no other Savior. First I predicted your rescue, then I saved you and proclaimed it to the world. No foreign god has ever done this. –Isaiah 43:10-12.

We were not created to steal God’s proverbial thunder if you will. We are image bearers only—likenesses created to carry the thirst-quenching Presence of our Omnipresent God into a dried-up, arid world. “When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.” –Isaiah 41:17-18.

And again, concerning God’s reviving Presence, Jesus said of Himself: “But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.” –John 4:14.

As Jesus’s disciples, we are called to lay down our lives as living sacrifices: our wants, desires, hopes, dreams, bodies, minds, wills, and emotions. Each surrendered fully at the feet of Jesus—each subject instead to His will, plans, and purposes. “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is within you, whom you have [received as a gift] from God, and that you are not your own [property]? 20 You were bought with a price [you were actually purchased with the precious blood of Jesus and made His own]. So then, honor and glorify God with your body.” –1 Cor. 6:19-20. Though Paul specifically references sexual sin in this passage, it contains a broader Truth that applies to Christians.

You and I will undoubtedly fall and fail the moment we allow ourselves to see what God has called us to do as separate, somehow, from “our lives”—as though each thing is not inextricably one. This fallacious notion is deadly to the Christian because: “I have been crucified with Christ [that is, in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith [by adhering to, relying on, and completely trusting] in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” –Gal.2:20.

The second we fail to remember that we are not our own but have been called instead to be glory carriers for the Most High God, sin, as the Scriptures tell us, will have gained a toe hold in us.

By the power of this same Truth, that we are not our own but Christ’s, we mere earthen vessels, small, gossamer-winged, fragile creatures, are empowered to carry the weighty, life-saving Gospel of Jesus Christ into a parched, arid world. “You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.” –2 Corinthians 4:5-8.

And so, by dying to our bulky, sin-full, and heavy-laden flesh, we are, by God’s amazing grace, made free by Christ, in Christ, to carry within us His Spirit, to proclaim His Gospel.

To be used by God to pour the Life-giving Water of God’s Inerrant Word over that one He is calling to Himself—cleaning them of those sins that “so easily beset them.”

As was done for us, we, too, must bring this same hope of new life into the most inhospitable of places. “…Freely you have received; freely give.” –Mathew 10:8.

We, frail friends, get to be used by the Omnipotent God of the universe, in whose image and likeness we were created.

May we, by His grace, both never forget and be ever grateful for this extraordinary, weighty privilege.

May God, in His loving kindness and tender mercy, remain ever mindful of our hummingbird-like frailty as He causes us, His Glory-carriers, to thrive in this inhospitable place—a world in which we, which you, beloved of God, are merely passing through. “The same way a loving father feels toward his children—that’s but a sample of your tender feelings toward us, your beloved children, who live in awe of you. You know all about us, inside and out. You are mindful that we’re made from dust.” –Psa.103:13-14.

Dear friend, are you the one I have been called to? Are you feeling dry? Are you uncomfortable living in a world that no longer feels welcoming? That is God calling you to come out of this world. To live free. Free of the weight of sin you’ve been carrying around—free from the weight of its shame and guilt. You were created for so much more. Won’t you cry out to God today, asking Him to make you His child, allowing you to carry His Glory to your family and friends—into this inhospitable world? “I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.” –Ezekiel 36:25-27.

New Season.

July 27, 2024 /

Pastor Maria Braga

“When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” –1 Cor 13:11.

Scripture is so current! It was not only for the past but also the present and the future. I have grown and become an adult woman in an adult body, and I continue to grow and mature. I have matured in many areas of my life and am still maturing in other places, especially my spiritual life. I pray that God never stops chasing me in every area, but especially the areas of immaturity where I need to become wise and discerning in life. This Scripture is life to me – it not only reminds me but also causes an urgency in me to continue transitioning and growing from the person I was yesterday into the new person I’m becoming in Christ Jesus.

Often, we think challenges come to break us! However, God sends these very challenges our way to grow us. In our limited minds, we can’t comprehend God’s plan for us, but He tells us of His plan in Scripture. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” –Jer. 29:11.

When we capture this concept, we mature and understand that to grow spiritually, we must experience growing pains. God allows us to go through some valleys to shape and mold us to fit His plan for our lives. God uses all we go through to grow and develop us while preparing us for things much greater than ourselves. The situations He allows us to go through are the foundations for our breakthroughs and our ability to experience something new. “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland” –Isaiah 43:19.

Some seasons in life involve cutting people and situations away. We must delete conversations, phone numbers, and contacts, remove negativity, and bury stories and memories that will hurt us in our new season.

Even some good things from the old Season don’t fit in with the new.

All you need is to heal and grow in the confidence that those past things, as good as they once were, will now be thorns used to poke you in this new season. “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” –2 Corinthians 3:18.

 Don’t expect everyone to applaud the new in you.

Acquire the faith and trust you need to move on regardless. “No, dear brothers, and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” –Philippians 3:13-14.

It is complicated for humans to understand that God’s timing is not ours.

His timing is perfect for every situation. All things happen the way they do for a reason. Life looks like a mountain at times, a mountain of stuff accumulated over the years that becomes clutter and blurs our vision of the next season of life. We must check in daily and ready ourselves for whatever comes by wearing the whole armor of God. It will protect us from any unexpected fiery arrows directed at us.

The Kingdom of God is an ever-increasing, always forward-moving Kingdom.

An organism that moves constantly in the direction of the King of kings and Lord of Lords; God longs to lead us into maturity; His heart longs to take us deeper into our knowledge and understanding of His love.

We look to Jesus’ victory for endurance, and we embrace His joy as our strength. “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” –Hebrews 12:2.

You can choose to step through your next door, full of fear, doubt, and low expectations. But you will only experience the fullness of the new season God intends for you if you step into it with faith and great expectation.

I thank you, Lord, for this great salvation. For Your grace, we get to experience the joy that comes with it. Please fill me up with your Spirit and heal me today. Please help me continue to grow and become more and more like you as I journey through this life. Fill my heart and bless me. And I also pray for those who have yet to ask you into their lives as Lord Savior. May they do it today. In Jesus’ name. Amen. “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.” –Romans 10: 9-10.

Me, Lord?

July 13, 2024 /

MaryEllen Montville

“Boaz went over and said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Stay right here with us when you gather grain; don’t go to any other fields. Stay right behind the young women working in my field. Ruth fell at his feet and thanked him warmly. “What have I done to deserve such kindness?” she asked. “I am only a foreigner.” –Ruth 2:8;10.



Like many redemption stories, Ruth’s started long before Boaz, her earthly kinsman redeemer, took notice of her gleaning grain in his field. Long before, he would waste no time hastening before the town elders and leaders to state his intentions concerning her. “Then Boaz said to the elders and to the crowd standing around, “You are witnesses that today I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kilion, and Mahlon. And with the land I have acquired Ruth, the Moabite widow of Mahlon, to be my wife.” –Ruth 4:9-10.

As with all those Jesus calls His own, somewhere in the eternal past, a conversation occurred between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit concerning us; in this instance, Their discussion centered around Ruth and Their plan for her life. As with our own, Ruth’s story began so far back that as God recounted it, the earth was yet formless and void. “According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.” –Ephesians 1:4-5.

Ruth, a Moabite, married Mahlon, a Judean immigrant from Bethlehem. Son of Elimelech and Naomi, Mahlon had accompanied his parents and brother to Moab due to a famine that had struck their land. Thus, Mahlon somehow lands in Ruth’s proverbial backyard and ever the story goes. Boy meets girl. Boy marries girl, yet after ten years of marriage, Ruth is not only left childless but a widow when Mahlon dies suddenly. Nonetheless, El Roi, the God of her husband’s people, saw Ruth’s plight. “The LORD protects foreigners; He sustains the fatherless and the widow, but the ways of the wicked He frustrates.” –Psalm 146:9.

Ever watchful, El Roi, the God who saw Ruth, sees us. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” –Hebrews 13:8.

So even when we, the vulnerable and dispossessed, the seemingly unseen, unprotected, the foreigner, feel as Ruth did, wholly unworthy of receiving such unfathomable kindness and such incomprehensible love. Contrary to those feelings and far more than any man’s kindness toward us, God is far more willing, kinder, and more gracious than the best of us deserve. “Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.” –Isaiah 30:18.

“When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there.” Ruth 1:6. But somewhere en route to Bethlehem, “the house of bread,” Naomi has second thoughts. She tells Ruth and her sister-in-law Orpha to head back to Moab, their families, their gods, and, hopefully, to future husbands.

After some tears and a long goodbye, Orpha concedes and heads back to Moab, but not Ruth.

Right there on a dusty road that will lead both women to a future they could not have imagined, Ruth upends her heart, spilling its contents at her mother-in-law’s feet. “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” –Ruth 1:16-17.

Only at the feet of Jesus, as Mary, Lazarus’ sister, cries tears born of eternal devotion and an inexpressible love while pouring spikenard over Jesus’ feet, wiping them with her hair, do we see a more moving example of such humble, pure and heartfelt devotion. But that’s a teaching for another day. Ruth’s humility, tender devotion to her mother-in-law, readiness, confidence, and courage to leave her family—and the only life she’s ever known; her emboldened plea and willingness to follow Naomi, come what may, were gifts from God.

Unrecognized at the moment, each trait was some piece of the whole she would need to walk out God’s plan for her life faithfully.

A destiny unfolding undecipherably before her as she walked beside Naomi on that dusty, one-way road that led to redemption. “So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.” Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.” –Ruth 4:13-17.

And if we follow David’s genealogy, it leads us straight to our Eternal Kinsman Redeemer, Jesus: “Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David.” Then, after skipping multiple generations, David’s natural lineage ends with “and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.”

Ruth could not have known where her obedient, submissive heart would lead her.

We know Ruth was overwhelmed with gratitude by the human kindness shown to her by Boaz; the scriptures make that clear. But what we can only imagine is how full of gratitude, how much more humbled and thunderstruck Ruth may have felt had she known standing on that dusty road that her one decision to leave a familiar world behind her to follow Naomi would one day lead to her having played some small part in ensuring her spiritual Redeemer and ours; Jesus,  Savior of the whole world, is born.

So, what does Jesus’ being born mean for you specifically?  

It means if, like Ruth, you are willing to humble yourself and follow after the One True God who has led you not to some dusty road but here, instead, you might meet and, like her, walk away following not some earthy redeemer who can offer you only temporary rewards, but your eternal, Kinsman Redeemer, Jesus Christ who offers you His Life.

Won’t you welcome His Life into your yours? Are you willing to leave behind this world’s old, familiar things and follow God more wholeheartedly, passionately, and tenderheartedly than even Ruth once followed Naomi? “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.” –Psalm 32:8.

As scripture says, being born again must occur for you to have a relationship with God. A relationship Christ gave up all to have with you. “Me, Lord?” “Yes, you child.” “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” –John 3:3.

Clean Your Lenses.

July 6, 2024 /

MaryEllen Montville

“And he looked up and said, “I see people, but [they look] like trees, walking around.” 25 Then again Jesus laid His hands on his eyes; and the man stared intently and [his sight] was [completely] restored, and he began to see everything clearly.” –Mark 8: 24-25.

Have you ever felt like this blind man, perplexed by God’s actions or lack thereof, disoriented, unclear, questioning, even? Not questioning God, precisely—instead,  asking why something you’re positive God’s given you just doesn’t seem to be shaping up into all you thought or hoped it would be. You’re operating in it, walking by faith, using every drop of this God-given gift, and yet, there’s this inescapable thing in your belly telling you there’s so much more available to you. “I see people, but I can’t see them very clearly. They look like trees walking around.”

Maybe, like the blind man in today’s Scripture, that incomplete feeling concerns your healing or that of a loved one—that ailment, insecurity, or spiritual affliction, that addiction you’ve been praying God would remove altogether, deliver you or them from. But still, it lingers—it’s 50% gone, just not 100%.

Friends, I’ve come to remind you that God’s plan is always perfect and complete—even when we perceive it to be otherwise. God’s Word promises He is faithful in finishing what He has started in us. “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” –Philippians 1:6.

It is we who must remember we operate on God’s time. He doesn’t operate on ours.

In studying today’s verses, various commentators and theologians weighed in as to why, based on Scripture, this man did not straightaway receive his sight. After all, throughout the Gospels, Jesus’ other healings were immediate—except for this lone, unnamed blind man.

Why did he require a second touch? Jesus undoubtedly intended to restore his sight fully, lest he continue to see men who “look like trees walking around.”

Those of us who know Jesus as Lord believe God is unchanging. That with only one touch from Him, this man’s sight could have been restored immediately. In fact, Scripture teaches Jesus didn’t even need to be in the same room with the one He was healing. He need only speak a Word and the person was healed. “When he (Jesus) was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.” –Luke 7:6-7;10.

But in this instance, offering us only brief glimpses of clarity, the encounter between Jesus and this unnamed blind man is shrouded and unclear, much like this blind man’s first glimpse of the world.

But was it his first glimpse of things?

I ask this to point us toward the oft-overlooked obvious.

Our blind friend instantly recognized and knew the difference between a person and a tree.

Scripture doesn’t come right out and say it; rather, it eludes to the obvious: our unnamed blind man was not born blind.

So why the double touch from Jesus?

Why didn’t this blind man’s miracle result in instantaneous healing? After all, every other healing Jesus performed did.

What is Jesus trying to teach us? Get us to see?

This is where, within the context of this seemingly brief encounter and, much like the coming together of our blind man and Jesus, the details of why Jesus chose to heal this man in the location and manner He did is shrouded in the unspoken and seemingly unfinished.

One potential answer backed by Scripture that some commentators offer up is:

  1. Jesus chose to perform this miracle for the benefit of His disciples—for us.

In Mark 8, Jesus had just fed the masses—some four thousand men, besides women and children, with a few pieces of bread and a few fish. After this, Jesus and His disciples get into a boat and head to Dalmanutha, where they go ashore only for Jesus to encounter the Pharisees, who immediately demand He show them a sign from heaven.

He assures them He will by no means perform such a sign. He returns to the boat with His disciples and heads toward Bethsaida, where a conversation between the disciples almost immediately catches Jesus’ attention. The topic? Lack of provisions—the disciples had only brought a single left-over loaf of bread. After watching Jesus take a few loaves and as many fish and feed some 10,000 men, women, and children, His disciples saw only their lack of bread! Like the blind man, they, too, saw only in part. While unbeknownst to them, it appears Jesus had been ruminating on the Pharisee’s demand for a sign from heaven because, seemingly randomly, Jesus warns them to “Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”

Why? Because at this point in their relationship with Jesus, His disciples still saw Jesus much as our blind friend’s first glimpse of the world—kind of, in part, “like trees walking around.”

 They believed, yet did not fully possess a clear understanding of Jesus. That would come later. “Jesus, aware of this [discussion], said to them, “Why are you discussing [the fact] that you have no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Though you have eyes, do you not see? And though you have ears, do you not hear and listen [to what I have said]? And do you not remember,  when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?” They answered, “Twelve.” “And [when I broke] the seven [loaves] for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?” And they answered, “Seven.” And He was saying to them, “Do you still not understand?”—Mark 8:17-21.

Bewildered and thinking only in the natural, the disciples immediately do what so many of us do: lean on their own understanding. And as a result, they miss entirely the more significant spiritual implications our Lord is trying to get them to see.

The deeper Truth Jesus wanted them—and us, to see clearly. The dangers of unbelief. How just a little can blind us to the whole Truth. In time—God’s time, each man would see clearly. So clearly, whether by martyrdom or natural causes, each would give his life for Jesus: “We [who were with Him in person] have seen and testify [as eye-witnesses] that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.” –1 John 4:14.

So be encouraged, brothers and sisters, if what you thought would happen has yet to happen, God is not finished with you. Clean your lenses by asking God to touch you—again. Trust His timing and plan for your life until all is clear and you are at peace with who God is—Lord of all.

Friend, if you want to see Jesus clearly, your first step is to ask Him into your life as Lord and Savior. Ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins and give you eyes to see so much more than what surrounds you in the natural. None of us deserves to be forgiven of our sins; such forgiveness is a free gift from a loving and mercy-full God. “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” –Titus 3:5.

There Were Witnesses.

March 30, 2024 /

MaryEllen Montville

“No one takes it away from Me, but I lay it down voluntarily. I am authorized and have power to lay it down and to give it up, and I am authorized and have power to take it back. This command I have received from My Father.” –John 10:18.

We are a step away from Resurrection Sunday, the most glorious, life-affirming miracle this world has ever witnessed. And yes, there were witnesses to Jesus’s Resurrection. God’s Inerrant Word assures us of this. Some would keep silent about all they’d seen and heard early that Sunday morning. While others would run and share the news of that dizzying, inscrutable miracle with their brothers. So, let’s identify the witnesses; first, those who chose silence—the guards. Right before their eyes, God’s angel descended from heaven like lightning and rolled away the stone used to seal Jesus inside the tomb they’d been charged to guard. “And a great earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone [from the opening of the tomb], and sat on it.” –Matthew 28:2

Were these a cohort of Jewish, Temple Guards, Roman soldiers, or both? After reading the Gospel accounts and commentary, I agree that both were present at Jesus’ tomb. “The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.” –Matthew 27:62–66.

After witnessing that awe-inspiring, improbable occurrence, they ran back, not to Pilate, but straight to the chief priest, informing him of all they’d seen firsthand. And, it was the chief priest and elders who schemed, covered for, encouraged them to lie, and ultimately paid them off for their silence. “…some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.” –Matthew 28:11-15.

Also, John 18 informs us that the leading priests and Pharisees sent a contingent of Temple Guards and Roman soldiers to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. “So Judas, having obtained the Roman cohort and some officers from the high priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons.” –John 18:3.

Still, I’ll leave the debate on this topic to far more learned minds. Instead, we’ll turn our attention to the heart of today’s teaching…

To help aid and abet those spurious religious leaders in keeping the Truth about Jesus, His miracles, and now, this most unfathomable, sure fact silent, that Jesus must indeed be the Messiah, some if not all of those soldiers, Jews, Romans or both, who witnessed Jesus Resurrection—chose silence over truth.

They opted to shut up, to hide in plain sight. To be paid off, rather than speak up—a woeful decision ripe with eternal consequence if ever there was one. “But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.” –Matthew 10:33.

Then there were the women—the other witnesses:” And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulcher at the rising of the sun.” –Mark 16:1.

Like the guards, these women were afraid and bewildered by the inconceivable miracle they’d just witnessed. An empty tomb! He’s Risen? An Angel! And yet, unlike the guards, something within these women would not be silenced. An unseen, inexplicable force propelled them ever forward.

Upon finding Jesus’ tomb empty, they ran with abandon to where they knew they’d find their brothers. They couldn’t help but share this paradoxical Truth. “The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.” —Matthew 28: 5-8.

They chose to run toward, not away from, this undeniable Truth—however inexplicable.

One group of witnesses sided with those who sought and thought they’d succeeded in exacting the last drop of hope the people had that Jesus was, in fact, who He claimed to be.

While the other group ran to boldly proclaim the unexplainable, undeniable Truth that Jesus is who He claimed to be—the Messiah.

He is the One True God who has defeated sin and our final foe, death, and the grave!

So sure, of this Truth were His Disciples—all Twelve Apostles willingly died brutal deaths defending the fact that Jesus is the Christ. ” That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.” –1 John 1-4.

“Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword”. –Hebrews 11:35-37. “The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted and had John beheaded in the prison.” Matthew 14:9.

“It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also.” –Acts 12:1-3. (Killed by the sword here is understood to mean beheading).

Thousands of years have passed since the dawn of that first miraculous, hope-infused Sunday morning.

Yet one thing has stayed the same: only two groups of witnesses exist.

Those who’ve encountered Jesus and been eternally changed—made new, emboldened—unstoppable witnesses for Christ in the here and now—witnesses who will worship Him for eternity.

Then, there are those like the guards.

Exposed to Jesus’ miracles and power, His Words of Life. Words unlike any they’ve ever heard, drenched in power, Love, forgiveness, hope, and Life. And still, they’ll choose to walk away from what they’ve witnessed unchanged, unphased, and life-less—hiding away in plain sight instead. “This is the judgment [that is, the cause for indictment, the test by which people are judged, the basis for the sentence]: the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.” –John 3:19.

As I said in my opening, we are a step away—hours really, from Resurrection Sunday.

God’s Inerrant Word has been proclaimed: Jesus Christ has defeated our final enemy, death, and the grave. And on His Cross, just days before, He spoke three final Words that seal the promise of all who believe that Jesus is the Christ—the only way to the Father. “Jesus said to him, “I am the [only] Way [to God] and the [real] Truth and the [real] Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” –John 14:6.

There will only ever be two groups of witnesses.

Those who walk away unchanged, unphased, unbelieving still, and make no mistake, life-less.

Or those who will go forward and tell anyone who will listen about Jesus.

Which will you choose?

Friend, Jesus loves you. I’m praying you’ll accept the promise of New Life He offers this Resurrection Sunday. “I, only I, am He who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins.” –Isaiah 43:25.

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