March 14:  Following His Guidance.

HIS CALLING
"Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel."--Acts 9:15

The way God guides us in our life purpose is as real as it is enigmatic.  God doesn't give us the whole map, but instead guides us one step at a time.  Consider the way God guided the prophet Elijah (see 1 Kings 17).  First, Elijah told the king that it wouldn't rain for a few years; then God guided him to the brook Cherith, where he would drink and was fed by ravens.  Then the brook dried up, and God sent him to the house of a widow in Sidon, outside of Israel's territory, then...

When the risen Jesus met Saul on the way to Damascus, He gave him instructions only for the next step: "Get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do" (Acts 9:6).  Jesus didn't show him a map of the next ten years; neither did He disclose all the epistles that he, as the apostle Paul, would write, or the churches he would visit.  After his encounter with the risen Christ, Saul discovered that he couldn't see, so he was led to Damascus.  In this story, God guided another man through a vision.  His name was Ananias, and we don't know much about him (he is mentioned again in Acts 22:12).  Ananias got instructions for the next step as well: "Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay hands on him (Acts 9:11, 12).  God sent two visions: one to Ananias, and another one to Saul.  Ananias answered something like, Are you sure?  I've heard about this man...the harm he has done to your followers and the purpose of his visit to Damascus....Then the Lord disclosed to Ananias that He had chosen Saul to bear His name to Gentiles, kings, and Israelites (verse 15).  Ananias went to Saul, laying his hands on him and calling him, "brother Saul."  And the rest is history, as Paul began to proclaim Jesus.  The same God who designed the plan for your salvation, is the One who promises to guide you in your calling.  And He will do it one step at a time.

My Response:_____________________________________________________________

March 13:  Following His guidance.

HIS PROVIDENCE.
Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.--Acts 8:35

The person who picked me up from the airport at the European country where I had come to preach that weekend had been a supporter of our ministry for a few years and had arranged for this special event to take place.  When I asked him how he found out about Jesus 101 in the first place, I was speechless!   He told me how one day he was listening to an internet broadcast, when suddenly the programming was interrupted, and our program came on.  He was about to turn it off, but lingered for a few seconds, got interested in the Scriptural topic, and the rest is history.  I don't believe this was a coincidence but a providential event.

We often hear such testimonies about how people throughout the world discover our media ministry.  I am convinced that God is always at work behind the scenes.  Some call these events coincidences, but I believe otherwise.  In Acts 8, the story is told of the Ethiopian man who was a court official of the queen of the Ethiopians (verse 37).  He had gone to Jerusalem to worship and was on his way back, reading in his chariot from the prophet Isaiah.  Suddenly, Philip ran up next to the chariot and asked him if he understood what he was reading (verse 30).  He was reading Isaiah 53!  This chapter is called the "proto-gospel," because it is the prophecy about the suffering Servant, explaining the death of Jesus on our behalf.  The man needed someone to explain this prophecy, and Philip, filled with the Spirit, was right there, ready to preach Jesus to him from this very Scripture (verses 30-35).  The Ethiopian official could have called Philip's presence a coincidence, but we know better; because in the first four verses of the story we are told how God, in His providence, had orchestrated this meeting.  Philip was given divine direction to take this particular road (verse 26), and to go up to this specific chariot (verse 29).  God is always providentially guiding our lives, and He desires our ultimate redemption.  If you truly desire to do God's will, you can be assured that He will providentially and clearly provide the guidance you need.

My Response:_____________________________________________________

March 12:  Following His Guidance.

HIS STIRRING.
"Do you understand what you are reading?"..."Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?"--Acts 8:30, 31

A particular comment that the Jesus 101 ministry received from a Muslim man caught my attention: "The way I heard about you guys is a long story.  I was having a girlfriend who was a Muslim just like me and from the same tribe too...she was convincing me about the Christian faith, and I was not listening to her, but now I decided to download this Jesus 101 app to learn and know more about Christianity."  What exactly stirs a person's heart to seek to know Jesus?

God is personally involved in guiding people to the Savior.  It is a divine initiative that creates divine appointments, reaching out to all types of groups, encouraging seekers to respond to the Spirit's promptings.  God sent Peter to explain the gospel to Cornelius, who was a Gentile (Acts 10), and He sent Ananias to minister to Paul, a zealous Jew, who had encountered the risen Jesus on the way to Damascus (Acts 9).  It is God's initiative to guide and send appointed guides to explain Jesus to a wide variety of people.  Acts 8 is no exception.  "An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, 'Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza' " (Acts 8:26).  This was a desert road towards Gaza, one of the five cities of the Philistines.  It seemed an unlikely territory for evangelism.  But God knew that someone needed guidance to accept Jesus.  It was an Ethiopian man, a treasurer of Candice, queen of the Ethiopians (Nubia).  Kandake was the title of the queen mother who performed secular activities for the king.  This man was far away from home, but he had come to worship in Jerusalem.  Was he a Gentile, a proselyte, or a Jew?  Luke doesn't say much about him, other than the fact that he was a eunuch, which would have excluded him from the inner temple courts.  Yet he wanted to know more and was reading Isaiah the prophet.  God sent Philip to guide him in this process, and we will study their encounter tomorrow.  In the meanwhile, may you be assured that it is God Himself who stirs human hearts to seek Him and to accept Jesus.  And He takes the initiative to guide us in this process!

My Response:_____________________________________________________

March 11:  Following His Guidance.

HIS PROPHECY.
"This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, 'God will raise up for you a prophet like me.' "--Acts 7:37

While preaching at a camp meeting, I experienced a great blessing through a gospel quartet.  They gave me one of their CDs, which contained a song entitled "Bible Story." *  The main line of the song has stayed with me until now: "He will make a Bible story out of you!"  Yes!  Out of you and me.  The biblical characters were flawed, yet God used them throughout redemption history as His spokespeople and leaders.  Of course, He is able to make a Bible story out of you too!

Before he was killed, Stephen, the first Christian martyr, preached a sermon mentioning many people who had become "Bible stories": Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, and Solomon (Acts 7).  We could have many devotionals just from this sermon.  It is fascinating!  False witnesses had charged Stephen with altering the customs handed down by Moses (Acts 6:14).  Now, in his last discourse, Stephen detailed the story of Moses at length (7:20-390, including Moses murdering an Egyptian and having to flee, becoming an alien in Midian, and spending forty years in the wilderness before the Lord called him to finally deliver Israel from Egypt.  Moses had tried to liberate Israel in is own way: "And he supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him, but they did not understand" (verse 25).  He was educated in the Egyptian culture, became a murderer and a fugitive, and still God made a Bible story out of him!  "This Moses whom they disowned...is the whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer" (verse 35).  He became a symbol of the upcoming Deliverer of the world, and God used him to utter one of the most significant prophecies about Jesus, found in Deuteronomy 18:15, which Stephen referred to: "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you...you shall listen to him."  Let God make you a powerful witness of Jesus, no matter how flawed your life has been or how many detours you've taken.  In human history, there is only One character who is perfect: Jesus!  And all the Bible stories point to Him!

My Response:_____________________________________________________
* Lyrics by Scott Kryppayne, "Bible Story," It Goes Like This, Spring Hill: 2003, compact disc.

March 10:  Following His Guidance.

HIS STRATEGY.
After being warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee and came and lived in a city called Nazareth.--Matthew 2:22, 23

Have you ever had an experience of finding something wonderful at an unexpected and despised place?  Featured in countless magazines and on TV shows, the story of the Paraguayan orchestra of Cateura has warmed my heart.  Amidst mountains of trash, the children living in the now-famous Cateura slum could have never imagined that one day they would become internationally known musicians.  Someone had the amazing idea of creating instruments out of trash and the unlikely orchestra was born, which has now performed all over the world. *

There are five fascinating infancy narratives in Matthew, each one built around an Old Testament prophecy.  This is quite important for Matthew, who points out that Jesus fulfills the Old Testament Messianic prophecies.  By the way, this is the core reason why the Old Testament is so important to us: it contains the DNA of Jesus, giving us information about the appointed Deliverer who would come.  The last of the infancy narratives, found in Matthew 2:19-23, is puzzling and unexpected.  God communicates with Joseph through two dreams, the first of which starts with a divine command to leave Egypt and go into the land of Israel "for those who sought the Child's life are dead" (verse 20, compare with Exodus 4:19).  After being warned is a second dream not to go to Judea due to the reign of Archelaus (Herod's son), Joseph took his family to Galilee, to the city of Nazareth.  This was a small, obscure town, with a bad reputation, which becomes obvious from Nathanael's comment when introduced to Jesus of Nazareth in John 1:45, 46: "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth.'  Nazareth is not mentioned in the Old Testament at all.  It was a small town, estimated to have had less than five hundred inhabitants in the first century A.D.  Why would God choose such a town for Jesus, the Galilean Messiah?  Well, God is an expert in creating beauty out of ashes and deliverance in unexpected places.  When someone hints that God may not be able to use you and your circumstances for His glory, remember Nazareth.

My Response:___________________________________________________________
* For information, go to www.landfillharmonicmovie.com

March 9:  Following His Guidance.

HIS IMMUTABILITY.
Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am."--John 8:58

There are days that feel completely out of control.  I remember one such day when I was a child and we lived in Buenos Aires.  One morning there was a fire at the Church Publishing House, and my dad rushed to help.  After a few hours, he came back, showered and left for the office.  He returned an hour later and told us that he had been held at gunpoint, his car was stolen, and he had been kidnapped. Later the robbers dropped him off in a remote place, and he walked home.

Much more happened that day, yet even on days like that, God is still on His throne and our salvation is still assured.  He is eternal, constant, unchangeable, and in complete control.  He does not get bogged down by the things that overwhelm us, nor is He fearful, neither is He rushed nor late.  He has been there from eternity and will be there for eternity.  The immutability of God is our security and anchor in times of distress; and His love for us is our guarantee.  You might not be battling a fire or being held at gunpoint, but you might be battling cancer or find yourself in an oppressive situation.  During these difficult seasons in our lives, we find comfort in focusing on who God is, what He has done for us, and how His Presence is always with us.  The eternal God of the mountaintop is also the God of the valleys.  The Gospel of John starts by stating Jesus' eternal preexistence: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1).  Later, in a controversy with the Jews, Jesus Himself asserted His preexistence: "Before Abraham was born, I am: (John 8:58).  He didn't say "I was" but "I am," which echoes the powerful name of God's immutability and sovereignty as revealed to Moses in Exodus 3:14: "I AM WHO I AM."  Be assured that the eternal and unchangeable God of the universe is also your Redeemer and Deliverer.  He guides us through the valley of the shadow of death; and He secures our eternal life on the cross.  "For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end" (Psalm 48:14, NIV).  Amen!

My Response:________________________________________________________

March 8:  Following His Guidance.

HIS IMPERATIVE.
"Get behind Me, Satan!...for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's."--Matthew 16:23

In one class of my master's degree in organizational behavior, I was reproved by a substitute professor, and it changed my life.  We were studying Kohlberg's Moral Development Model, and she challenged me because of a comment I made.  I realized that she was right, and that my view of God needed realignment.  This reprimand was a pivotal moment for me, and it provoked a reassessment of my understanding of God's will for humankind.

Peter had just made a ground-breaking confession about Jesus being the Son of God (Matthew 16:16), and Jesus said that this understanding was given to Peter by His Father in heaven.  Only a few verses later, things had changed dramatically.  Jesus was revealing that it was imperative for Him to go to Jerusalem, suffer many things, be killed, and be raised on the third day (verse 21).  "That He must go..." (verse 21) uses the Greek verb dei which means that "it is necessary."  Jesus had to go through this (see also Luke 24:26).  The suffering of Jesus was an absolute necessity in order to achieve His redemptive plan.  Peter cannot reconcile this perspective with his preconceived ideas of what the Messiah was to achieve.  Taking Jesus aside, he "began to rebuke Him, saying, 'God forbid it, Lord!  This shall never happen to You' " (Matthew 16:22).  Using a double negative (translated as never), Peter tries to impress upon Jesus that this is not the way.  In doing so, Peter has taken Satan's position, trying to divert Jesus from the cross (see Matthew 4:1-11).  Jesus recognizes the intention of the enemy and utters a stern reprimand: "Get behind Me, Satan!" (Matthew 16:23; see Matthew 4:10); and goes on to explain that Peter's mind is not set on the things of God but on the things of humans (verse 23).  At that moment, Peter had become a stumbling block for the redemptive act of Jesus.  In our spiritual walk, we must also surrender to God's interests instead of ours.  God is more interested in our salvation than in our comfort.  Let's trust God's viewpoint of what is necessary in our lives for His redemptive purposes.

My Response:______________________________________________________

March 7:  Following His Guidance.

HIS SILENCE.
"The kingdom of heaven suffers violence and violent men take it by force."--Matthew 11:12

As a child, I listened to the Mission Spotlight stories, and it seemed that God's children never had to experience pain, because their houses were always shielded from disasters, and their lives were protected from violent attacks.  But as I grew older, life challenged that concept.  In the second half of his book about John the Baptist,* Gene Edwards imagines John's agonizing thoughts in Herod's dark prison, as he realizes that Jesus is not coming to deliver him, even though He has the power to do so.  He ponders the paradox of Jesus helping many, but not all.

There is often a temptation to ignore the painful biblical accounts in which God seems to be silent.  John the Baptist wrestled with a God who wasn't meeting his expectations.  You can read his questions and the tribute Jesus gave to him, in Matthew 11:1-15.  We could accept his doubts as trials, but it gets harder when we are faced with John's senseless beheading (narrated in Matthew 14:1-12 and Mark 6:14-29).  We are told that when Herod heard of Jesus, he thought he was John the Baptist risen from the dead (Mark 6:16), because Herod had a remorseful conscience.  That's when we find out that, having been incarcerated for denouncing Herod for taking his brother's wife, John was killed in the mindless craze of out-of-control entertainment at a royal banquet (Mark 6:17-29).  Herod is so taken by the dance of Herodias's daughter, that he promises the girl up to half of the kingdom (verse 23).  Prompted by her evil mother, she asks for the head of John the Baptist (verses 24, 25).  Even though Herod is grieved by the request, he grants it because of his oath; his pride and his reputation are at stake before his guests (verse 26).  They bring John's head on a platter (verse 28).  Wicked people ended the life of God's highly esteemed prophet, yet God was silent.  In His sovereignty, God often did not prevent the death of His prophets and martyrs, and He definitely did not stop the death of His Son on our behalf.  When we don't understand the silences of God, we are invited to trust His plans, His viewpoint, His wisdom, and, overall, His love.

My Response:_________________________________________________________
* Gene Edwards, The Prisoner in the Third Cell (Auburn, ME: The Seedsowers, 1991).

March 6:  Following His Guidance.

HIS REPORT.
"Go and report to John...: the lepers are cleansed...the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them."--Luke 7:22

As I write this devotional, there have been two mass shootings in the United States in the last two weeks.  Many people lost their lives in these disastrous events. In the midst of personal and corporate tragedy, many may ask, "Where is God in all of this?"  Sometimes the effect of unbearable and unexplained pain in our lives may translate into doubts in our minds and darkness in our hearts.  What answers does Jesus provide for us in moments like these?

Jesus had been healing the sick, raising the dead, and proclaiming the good news.  And John the Baptist, who had devoted his public ministry to proclaiming the arrival of the Expected One, is now sitting in his dark and smelly cell, alone and in pain.  He has a question for Jesus: "Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?" (Luke 7:19).  Wow!  Obviously, John was struggling with his own expectations about the Coming One, unlike the way in which Jesus was carrying out His ministry.  Perhaps the same is happening to you today, and you are wondering about Jesus and His intervention in your life: "Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else (verse 20).  The emphasis on "the Expected One," or "the Coming One" is repeated in both verses (verses 19, 20).  Drawing from several verses in Isaiah, especially Isaiah 61:1, Jesus answered by sending John a report about His salvific activity: the blind received sight, the lame walked, the dead were being raised, and the gospel was being preached to the poor.  All of these were proofs, enacted parables of His redemptive purposes.  That was the report to be given to John; that was the evidence of who Jesus was and is.  Even though all of us can witness about God's miraculous intervention in our lives, we often aren't able to explain pain, tragedy, and the reason why God allows certain things.  During those times, let's cleave to the core evidence that God has provided through Jesus: His salvific deeds in the plan of redemption.  Someday we will understand all things. Until then, let's cling to the cross and trust.

My Response:____________________________________________________________

March 5:  Following His Guidance.

HIS LEADING.
The Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life.--Revelation 7:17

Public transportation was the main way we got around when I was a little girl.  One evening, we thought we had boarded the right bus but soon realized that we were in an area that we didn't recognize, and it was getting dark.  We got off the bus and found ourselves in a dangerous part of town.  I had no idea where we were; all I could do was hang on to mom's hand and follow her lead.  As we walked, we kept reciting Psalm 34:7.  Finally, she led us to a residential area and found a way to get us home.  I had fully expected her to lead us to safety.  She was my mom!

Today we discuss a picture of Jesus that has brought comfort to countless people in distress.  Those who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, find themselves before the throne of God, who spreads His tent or tabernacle over them (Revelation 7:15).  The Greek word for tabernacle is the same word that was used in the Greek Old Testament for the tent of meeting in the wilderness (see Exodus 26:13).  All the evils that God's own suffered on this earth are no more.  We are reminded of their blissful eternal existence: "They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat" (Revelation 7:16; compare with Isaiah 49:10 and 25:8).  What follows is one of the most comforting pictures of Jesus: "For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes" (Revelation 7:17).  In a striking expansion of the role of the Lamb, the Lamb now becomes their eternal Shepherd!  He has provided for their salvation, and He will supply whatever else they need forever and ever.  He guides them to springs of water; He leads them to places of rest.  Jesus Himself announced that He was the good Shepherd (John 10:11).  In Revelation 7, the Lamb becomes the Shepherd for eternity!  He provided for our salvation and will lead us to safety.  If you find yourself in a difficult place today, just don't let go of His hand; He will lead you and restore your soul!

My Response:_________________________________________________________