The Jew Were Amazed

John 7:15 ncv The Jews were amazed and said, "This man has never studied in school. How did He learn so much?"

There's one translation that I like: "How can He know so much when He's never been to our schools."--Tay

What school? If a person wants to become a Rabbi, a man usually goes to school to be trained. What were the Jews amazed about Jesus? His style of teachings were so different from them.

What was Jesus' answered? John 7:16-17 ncv "The things I teach are not my own, but they come from Him (God) who sent Me. If people choose to do what God wants, they will know that My teachings comes from God and not from Me." Doesn't this make you want more of Jesus?  

Song: I Want More of Jesus
I want more of Jesus, more and more and more.
I want more of Jesus than I ever had before;
I want more of His great love, so rich, so full and free.
I want more of Jesus, so I’ll give Him more of Me.
(Inspiring Choruses)

Pastor Dale Boyd of Edmonton, Canada traced back to Oct. 28, 2010 and sends me this 

"Jesus is so cool" and I was so encouraged. Thank you, Dale!  

Addition: This reminds me that Jesus was "full of grace and truth" from Feb. 4th, 2013, Fresh Manna.

Grace is all about Jesus Christ, our Lord!

 Dorothy 

How Rich God's Grace

Ephesians 1:7 ncv
"In Christ we are set free by the blood of His death, and so we have forgiveness of sins. How rich is God's grace..."

How much is God's grace? ".. He has given to us so fully and freely" (Eph.1:8a). What is that? "That is, in Christ, He chose us ... to be His people and we bring praise to God because of His wonderful grace. God gave that grace to us freely, in Christ, the One God loves" (Eph.1:4,6). God gave His grace to us, why? "Because of His love, and it was what He wanted ... to make us His own children through Jesus Christ. And that pleased God so much" (Eph.1:5).

You know, I have come to appreciate God's grace more and more. I pray that Holy Spirit will open our hearts toward God, the wondrous of His grace. The song came to me:  

Grace Greater Than Our Sin.
"Marvelous grace of our living Lord,
Grace that exceeds (goes beyond) our sin and our guilt,
Yonder on Calvery's mount outpoured,
There where the blood of the Lamb was split (spilled).
Chorus:
Grace... Grace... God's... grace...,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse.. within...;
Grace... Grace... God's... grace...,
Grace that is greater than all.. our sins..."
(Julia Harriette Johnson)

May the Lord gives you grace and peace today!

Dorothy 
PS. I happen to find this in Dec. 2010 and I thought, "wow," I didn't even remember that far back that I had done this. His Word of Grace is new every morning.

He Held On

Hebrews 12:3 ncv

“Think about Jesus’ example. He held on while wicked people were doing evil things to Him. So do not get tired and stop trying.”

Do you ever face hard time and get discouraged when your friends hurt your feelings?  Do you ever get tired and ready to stop trying? Do you ever say this: “Oh, what the use of doing this for the Lord?” What should you do? The Scripture encourages us to “think about all he (Jesus) endured when sinful people did such terrible things to him (Jesus), so that you don’t become weary and give up” (NLT).

It is easy to lose sight of the big picture of what God is doing. So the Lord is speaking to us: “My thoughts are not like your thoughts. Your ways are not like My ways. Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts. The same thing is true of the words I speak. They will not return to Me empty. They make the things happen that I want to happen, and they succeed in doing what I send them to do. So you will go out with joy and be led out in peace” (ncv, Isaiah 55:8, 9, 11, 12a).

So here are the words of encouragement: “So HOLD ON through your sufferings, because they are like a father’s discipline. God is treating you as children and LET US HOLD ON to the faith that we have” (ncv: Heb. 12:7a; 4:14c).

Song: His Name is Higher

His Name is higher than any others.

His Name is Jesus. His Name is Lord.

His Name is higher than any others.

His Name is Jesus. His Name is Lord.

His Name is Wonderful. His Name is Counselor.

His Name is prince of Peace, the mighty God.

His Name is higher than any others.

His Name is Jesus. His Name is Lord.

(Collection of songs, author unknown)

So let us hold on to Him and never stop trusting Him!

Dorothy

His Grace was True

Acts 14:3b ncv

“He (God) showed that their message about his grace was true . . .”

Paul and Barnabas traveled from Antioch and arrive in Iconium. They went as usual to the Jewish synagogue. They spoke so well that a great many Jews and Greeks believed. But some of the Jews who did not believe stirred up the trouble among the Gentiles against Paul and Barnabas, saying all sorts of evil things about them (Acts 14:1-2).

In spite of trouble, Paul and Barnabas stayed in Iconium a long time and they spoke boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of His grace. Some of the Jews found it hard to believe about “God’s grace” so the Jewish leaders brought theological arguments against Paul and Barnabas. Something happened here. God confirmed His Word of grace with miracles, signs and wonders done by Paul and Barnabas’ hands. NCV quoted: “He showed them their message about His grace was true by giving them the power to work miracles and signs” (Acts 14:3c). God gave miracles to help the Jews believe that His grace was true!

Wow! I would have like that! It would be wonderful to have miracles, signs and wonders to prove God’s grace. But surprise, it doesn’t always work that way. The next Scripture tells us that the city was divided. Some of them sided with the Jews, and others sided with the apostles, Paul and Barnabas.

We may wish we could perform a miraculous act that would convince everyone once and for all that Jesus is the Lord. But we see here that even if we could perform a miracle, it would not convince everyone. God gave these men power to do great wonders as confirmation of the message of grace, but people were still divided. Don’t spend your time and energy wishing for miracles. Sow your seeds of the Good News on the best ground you can find in the best way you can, and leave the convincing to the Holy Spirit (note from QuickVerse Life Application Bible).

What can I learn from this? Jesus said, “Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:31). So let us believe God that His grace was true.

Dorothy

Continue in Grace of God

Acts 13:43b niv

“… Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.”

Paul was saved by the grace of God and his life was changed. God called Paul and Barnabas together to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So Paul began his first missionary journey from Antioch where the prophets and teachers prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away (Acts 13:3).  Paul and Barnabas sailed to the island of Cyprus and went to different towns and preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Jewish synagogues. They went on to Perga (Turkey) and went north to another Antioch which is between Asia and Galatia. 

Paul and Barnabas went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and sat down. Paul and Barnabas listened to the leaders of synagogue (church) who read the Law of Moses and the writings of the prophets. After that the leaders asked Paul and Barnabas if they have any message that will encourage the people.  Paul took the opportunity to speak to the Israelites and there he gave his long speech from Acts 13:16 through 41. While Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people asked them to tell them more about these things on the next Sabbath.

When the meeting was over, many Jews and those who had changed to the Jewish religion and who worshiped God followed Paul and Barnabas from that place. They were really hungry for more of what Paul has to say. But Paul and Barnabas were persuading them to continue trusting in God’s grace (Acts 13:43b NCV).  

In King James Version quoted: “… Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.” And what was more interesting was that the next Sabbath day, almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God (Acts 13:44). I believe that when they heard, “God’s grace,” that was very new to them.

This devotion touched my heart to “continue in the grace of God.” This means I am to continue to study them and remind myself that we are under the grace of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and our Savior.

May the Lord bless your heart to continue in the grace of God!

Dorothy

Grace and Truth

John 1:17 ncv

The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

In the Old Testament, Moses was the giver of the law. Moses emphasized God’s law and justice. It was the only way that the people would come to know God was through His law and God’s nature. God communicated through different people, usually prophets who were told to give specific messages. But no one ever saw God.

In the New Testament, Christ came to earth to fulfill the law (Matthew 5:17). The only way God could communicate His people was through His Son, Jesus Christ. God send His Son into world to show God’s mercy, love, faithfulness, and forgiveness rather than through the cold stone tablets.

In the beginning of John’s writing, he introduced Christ, as the Word. The Greek word is “logos,” meaning any kind of communication; it could be translated “message.” Here, it means Christ, because Christ was the way God told people about himself (note from ncv).

John continued, “The Word became a human and lived among us. We saw his glory—the glory that belongs to the only Son of the Father—and He was full of GRACE AND TRUTH. John (the Baptist) tells the truth about him (Christ) and cries out, saying, “This is the One I told you about: ‘The One who comes after me is greater than I am, because he (Christ) was living before me.’” Because he (Christ) was full of GRACE AND TRUTH, from him (Christ) we all received one gift after another. The law was given through Moses, but GRACE AND TRUTH came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. But God the only Son is very close to the Father, and he (Christ) has shown us what God is like. (John 1:14-18 ncv)

Jesus said, “For when you see Me, you are seeing the one (the Father in Heaven) who sent Me. I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the darkness” (John 12:45-46 qvlab).

We often wonder what God is like. How can we know the Creator when He doesn’t make Himself visible? Jesus said plainly that those who see Him see God, because He is God. If you want to know what God is like, study the person and words of Jesus Christ. Why? It is because Christ was full of GRACE and TRUTH, the One whom you can trust.

May the words of grace and truth dwell in you richly!

Dorothy

Words of Grace

Luke 4:22a ncv

“All the people spoke well of Jesus and were amazed at the words of grace he spoke.

QVLAB: All who were there spoke well of him and were amazed by the gracious words that fell from his lips. “How can this be?” they asked. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

What were the words of grace that Jesus had spoken that the people were impressed with? Jesus simply opened the book of Isaiah and found the place where this was written:

        The Lord has put his Spirit in me,

            because He appointed me to tell the

                  Good news to the poor.

       He has sent me to tell the captives they are free

            and to tell the blind that they can see again.

      God sent me to free those who have been treated unfairly

            and to announce the time when the Lord will show

                  His kindness.

Jesus closed the book, gave it back to the assistant and sat down. Everyone in the synagogue was watching Jesus closely. He began to say to them, “While you heard these words just now, they were coming true!” So all the people spoke well of Jesus and were amazed at the words of grace he spoke (Luke 4:17-22 ncv). When Jesus speaks, His words always inspired. It was the Holy Spirit that made His words full of grace that would reach an open heart. His word enriched us!

Song: Wonderful Grace of Jesus

1. Wonderful grace of Jesus,

Greater than all my sin;

How shall my tongue describe it?

Where shall its praise begin?

Taking away my burden,

Setting my spirit free,

For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.

Chorus:

Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus,

Deeper than the mighty rolling sea;

Higher than the mountain, sparking like a fountain,

All sufficient for me,

Broader than the scope of my transgressions,

Greater far than all my sin and shame;

O magnify the precious name of Jesus,

Praise His Name!

(Haldor Lillenas, Sing His Praise)

May the Lord bless you today!

Dorothy