Easter Devotion (Day 1) - Holding Onto Hope

  

Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: 

“Sovereign Lord, as You have promised,
    You may now dismiss Your servant in peace.

For my eyes have seen Your salvation,

which You have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
    and the glory of your people Israel.”

 Luke 2:25-32 

Devout Jews had been waiting for the Messiah for centuries. Simeon, a righteous man of God, was especially eager for the Messiah to come because he wanted to see Israel escape from Roman oppressors and be restored...he wanted to see God's plan of salvation in action, before His very eyes, as God had promised him. Led by the Spirit, he entered the Temple. The Messiah would be there that day! The Holy Spirit had told him!

Imagine him scanning the crowds. Who would be the new king of Israel? Suddenly his eyes rested on an unlikely family - a peasant man with his teenage wife, holding their infant son. They were even too poor to give anything but a peasant's dedication to the Lord, offering two pigeons instead of the usual lamb. Yet Simeon swept this baby into his arms and blessed the Lord for sending the Messiah. 

The moment Simeon looked into Jesus' face was the most important moment of his life. He could rest in peace. He had seen salvation, not only for himself, but for all the world. 

Simeon held the hope of the world in his arms that day, but we have the same promise as Simeon. If we follow the Spirit, we will find the hope of the world too. The moment we look into Jesus' face is the most important of our lives, when our eyes have seen God's salvation and we know that we can rest forever in the peace of God. 

Prayer: Lord, thank You for showing me Your salvation. Thank You for Jesus, the Messiah of Israel, my Messiah, the hope of the world. Help me to put my hope in Him each and every day of my life. Help me to realize that like Simeon, I hold the hope of the world. May I share that hope with others this day. In Jesus holy and precious name I pray, Amen.  

** This devotion was taken from The Sanctuary for Lent 2016 by Sue Mink

Easter Devotion (Ash Wednesday) - Mary's Song

  

And Mary said:

“My soul glorifies the Lord

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for He has been mindful

of the humble state of His servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,

for the Mighty One has done great things for me—

holy is His name.

Luke 1:46-49 

Imagine for a moment that you are Mary. You're a teenager, poor, Jewish, and female, all reasons that you would be marginalized and disrespected in an ancient, occupied land. Added to all that, you are unmarried and pregnant. How many people would ever come to believe your incredibly implausible explanation that you were actually still a virgin and that you were carrying the Son of God by the Holy Spirit? How many people would whisper behind your back for the rest of your life?

Yet read Mary's remarkable prayer of praise. Even though God had placed Mary in an extremely difficult situation, she praised God with every fiber of her being. She completely trusted in God's care for her. Not only would she survive this difficulty, but she would be blessed and honored for her obedience. In the midst of a puzzling and shameful situation, she rejoiced with all her heart. 

Mary was told the reason that God had chosen her and caused her pregnancy, and she obediently agreed. The angel said to her: “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” Luke 1:30-33

We don't always know the reasons why God places us in difficult situations. But like Mary, we can trust that God will honor us for our obedience. We have a reason to sing praises to God, even in our darkest times. 

Prayer: Lord, teach me to trust You enough to always sing Your praises! In the difficult times, show me how to praise you and offer to you a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Keep my eyes focused on You, on Your promises, on Your presence. I love you and commit my life, my dreams, my future, into Your loving care. In Jesus' name, Amen. 

** This devotion was taken from The Sanctuary for Lent 2016 by Sue Mink

Easter Devotion - Preparing Our Hearts

 

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday...the beginning of the Easter or Lenten season. This time will culminate with Good Friday on March 29th and Easter on March 31st. This is the greatest celebration for Christians yet for many, including our children, it can often revolve around Easter egg hunts and candy with very little reflection on what this most holiest of days really means. 

The cross is not a comfortable image. Suffering and death are subjects that most of us want to avoid. Yet it's important to prepare our hearts and our minds during this Lenten season, leading up to Resurrection Sunday/Easter, in order to draw nearer to our Lord.  I will be sharing a daily devotion for each of the forty days in Lent, plus Sundays. These devotions will focus on prayer - on people in the Bible who prayed, and especially on Jesus and His prayers. They are written by Sue Mink from a booklet entitled The Sanctuary for Lent, 2016.

So how to make Easter meaningful for ourselves and our children? I believe that if we can spend a few minutes every day in God's Word and prayer, we can better embrace the Easter message. Just like we prepare for Christmas with the Advent season, we can prepare for Resurrection Sunday/Easter with the Lenten season. 

Kublai Khan and a Missed Opportunity

 

While studying the lives of Marco Polo and Kublai Khan with my children, and then reading about them once again in Scott W. Sundquist’s article entitled Asian Christianity, I was deeply saddened by the HUGE loss of opportunity for mission outreach to Asia during the time of Kublai Khan.

“In the 13th century, when Genghis Khan ruled, this empire stretched from China to Central Europe — a kingdom larger even than those of Alexander and the Roman Caesars, covering all of Asia, Indochina, and even Eastern Europe. No nation has yet to rival the magnitude of the Mongolian Empire,” (Sundquist).  His grandson, Kublai Khan, had a mother who was a Christian. Kublai “ruled when the Mongol Empire had reached its limit. It could not expand any farther, so Kublai concentrated on maintaining peace in his borders. When Marco Polo (1254 - 1323?) journeyed to China, he found evidence of Christian communities and served in the court of Kublai, having become the Khan’s trusted friend.

Kublai became interested in Christianity and even asked the Polo’s to bring back teachers and missionaries to his land,” (Sundquist). He specifically requested from Pope Gregory X, that 100 missionaries be sent to the Mongol empire to teach himself and his people about the Christian faith. Sadly and regretfully, “the request was never fulfilled because the Popes in Europe were more concerned about defending themselves militarily than they were interested in extending the Gospel spiritually,” (Sunquist, 241). This may be one of the greatest lost missionary opportunities of all times!

Imagine if Pope Gregory X had immediately fulfilled that request. He was in charge of the vast Christian Church. Popes had been able to stir up huge support for the Crusades, in the past, and he could have found 100 or more monks who were willing to go to Asia to share the Gospel of Christ with the Mongols and thus the entire Mongol Empire. God was opening a door of opportunity for Christianity to spread to the largest empire the world had ever seen through a man whose mother was a Christian. If these monks had been sent, history may have seen the conversion of a vast empire to Christianity. Look at how God used one monk, St. Patrick, to convert Ireland or Columbu to convert Scotland. What could have have been done with 100 monks who were requested, specifically, by the Mongol leader himself?

Instead, “it is in the time of the Great Khans that the Tibetan form of Buddhism gained influence in Mongolia...(and) Buddhism became the predominant religion in the Mongolian territories... Today, they do not persecute Christians (though there are only a few), but they still firmly believe that Buddhism is the only true religion and even more so as a reaction to Christian missionary efforts.,” (Sundquist).

If Christianity, however, had been the religion that Kublai Khan and his followers embraced, Mongolia, and possibly other countries in Asia today may have become Christian. Christianity may have swept across Asia the way it did across Europe. The strongholds of Islam and Communism may never have gained a foothold if Christianity had been the predominant religion.

This is a huge lesson for the Christian Church today. When God opens a door, we must walk through it! We must take every opportunity given to us to share the Gospel with those who are lost, no matter their religion or skin color. This lesson can be applied especially today where America, a Christian nation, has a powerful influence on many strongholds of Satan.. Will we send the “100 missionaries” to share the love of Jesus with them or will we, like the Popes of old, be more concerned about defending ourselves militarily than we are interested in extending the Gospel spiritually?

Love the Alien

 

The illegal alien issue in America garners much impassioned talk from both sides. Personally, I am in favor of legal immigration. Our precious daughter was born in China. My father's family...two generations ago...all came from Europe to America. I am not in favor of illegal immigration because of the influx of crime coming across our borders, increase in taxpayers' money going to support them, etc. 

Yet, for some time now God has been speaking to my heart about this issue. How does God feel about the alien...illegal or legal? While reading Deuteronomy, I came across this verse in 10:18-19:

"He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens..."

In America today, there is a huge influx of people coming across our borders who know very little about Jesus. Some come from countries where Catholicism is mixed with voodoo or other pagan practices. Some come from Muslim countries. How many of them really have a deep, personal relationship with Christ? 

So, beyond the politics of the situation, what is the Church in America to do? Well, if we follow God's Word to us, we are to "love those who are aliens." Some churches do this. A church close to my heart in Fayetteville, NC, called Northwood Temple, has a Spanish-speaking service and has had one for many years. More churches need to do this. There are many ways, beyond this, that churches can reach the aliens. 

What about each of us as individuals? Are we to hate them because they are "invading" our country? No. They are men, women and children created in God's image who He has allowed to come to America, maybe, so that they will have the opportunity to hear the message of Jesus in a "Christian" land. The question is up to us? Will we let our opposition to their illegal entry cause us to turn away from them. Or, like the "Good Samaritan," will we pray for them and reach out to them? 

The pastor at Crosstowne Christian Church, here in Charleston, reached out to one family. It was right around Christmas a few years ago. He was driving down the road and saw a Hispanic man next to his broken-down car. He was about to pass him by, wondering in his heart whether this guy was a drug-dealer or violent criminal, when his wife cried out, "there are children in the car." He immediately stopped.  They took the family home to a very poor trailer park, and said good-bye. But Pastor Paul sensed that God wanted him to do more. So on Christmas they brought the family gifts and food. The children were so happy and this family was not the only ones blessed...Paul and Susan were as well. 

That is the heart of Christianity. Will the world know us for our opposition to things only or...will the world know us for our love?