He is my shield

Psalms 33:18-20 In Psalm 33, the psalmist praises God for his Word, his creation and his sovereignty. This time of praise helped the psalmist put life in perspective and reminded him to wait for the Lord, his shield. Sometimes we lack the strength or courage to face difficult situations in our lives, as the psalmist did. In times like these, the best way to remind ourselves that God is our protection today is to remember what he did for us in the past. This gives us a whole new perspective on what we're facing and reminds us that God is our shield to protect us and give us hope. See also Ephesians 6:10-18.

PERSISTENT PRAYER

As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. 1 Samuel 12:23a An important aspect of prayer is to pray patiently. God meets our needs “at the proper time” ( Galatians 6:9). Too often Christians weary of praying, and give up. This is often justified on the basis that God's failure to answer means the request is not according to His will. Remember, God can: Deliver - whatever we ask in His name; Delay - to fit His perfect timing (only He sees the end from the beginning); Deny - and say ‘No’ because we ask amiss or give a Different and better answer. Jesus urges us to be persistent in prayer ( Luke 11:5-8). This does not mean that God does not want to meet our needs and that we need to try to persuade Him. It simply means that only God, who completely understands the whole situation, can know when and how to answer. Only when we have assurance in our hearts from the Lord, should we remove a matter from our prayer list. Many times Christians lose heart in prayer because they do not recognize when the Lord does answer their prayers. Sometimes this is due to the fact that they did not pray specifically enough and sometimes because they have decided in advance how God must answer. Perhaps they think that only a great miracle can meet their need. But the Lord may change the circumstances so that the need seems to be supplied “naturally.” Mature believers will recognize that the events of everyday life also come from the Lord. Our daily bread and safety are miracles of God in this troubled world Let us not presume to tell God how to answer, and let us praise Him for His daily care. RESPONSE: Today I will acknowledge God gives His best to those who leave the choices to Him. PRAYER: Lord, help me to be patient and persistent…and leave the answers to my prayers in Your hands. Standing Strong Through The Storm (SSTS) A daily devotional message by SSTS author Paul Estabrooks

Do the Resurrection Accounts in the Four Gospels Contradict Each Other?

A cursory reading of the resurrection in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John reveals a few differences in the recorded facts. While these supposed discrepancies sometimes alarm modern readers, they tend not to concern historians because any differences are merely relegated to secondary details. In each Gospel account the core story is the same: Joseph of Arimathea takes the body of Jesus and puts it in a tomb, one or more of Jesus' female followers visit the tomb early on the Sunday morning following his crucifixion, and they find that the tomb is empty. They see a vision of either one or two angels who say that Jesus is risen. Despite the differences concerning the women's number and names, the exact time of the morning and the number of angels, we can have great confidence in the shared core story that would be agreed upon by the majority of New Testament scholars today. Even the usually skeptical historian Michael Grant, a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and professor at Edinburgh University, concedes in his book Jesus: An Historian's Review of the Gospels, "True, the discovery of the empty tomb is differently described by the various gospels, but if we apply the same sort of criteria that we would apply to any other ancient literary sources, then the evidence is firm and plausible enough to necessitate the conclusion that the tomb was, indeed, found empty." The differences between the empty tomb narratives are indicative of multiple, independent affirmations of the story. Sometimes people say, "Matthew and Luke just plagiarized from Mark," but when one examines the narratives closely, the divergences suggest that even if Matthew and Luke did know Mark's account, they also had separate, independent sources. So with these multiple and independent accounts, no historian would disregard this evidence just because of secondary discrepancies. Consider the secular example of Hannibal crossing the Alps to attack Rome, for which there are two historically incompatible and irreconcilable accounts. Yet no classical historian doubts the fact that Hannibal did mount such a campaign. Hannibal's crossing is a nonbiblical illustration of a story in which discrepancies in secondary details fail to undermine the historical core accuracy of the event. While that may be enough to satisfy historians, also consider that many of the alleged contradictions in the Gospel accounts are rather easily reconciled. For example, the accounts vary in the reported time of the visit to the tomb. One writer describes it as "still dark" (John 20:1), another says it was "very early in the morning" (Luke 24:1), and another says it was "just after sunrise" ( Mark 16:2). But if the visit was "at dawn," (Matthew 28:1), they were likely describing the same thing with different words. As for the number and names of the women, none of the Gospels pretends to give a complete list. They all include Mary Magdalene, and Matthew, Mark and Luke also cite other women, so there was probably a group of these early disciples that included those who were named and probably a couple of others. Perhaps when the women came, Mary Magdalene arrived first and that's why only John mentions her. That's hardly a contradiction. In terms of whether there were/was one angel (Matthew) or two (John) at Jesus' tomb, have you ever noticed that whenever you have two of anything, you also have one? It never fails. Matthew didn't say there was only one. John was providing more detail by saying there were two. Adapted from interview with Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Norman Geisler

No rights they might claim protect this community of strangers in the world. Nor do they claim any such rights, for they are the meek, who renounce all rights of their own for the sake of Jesus Christ. When they are berated, they are quiet. When violence is done to them, they endure it. When they are cast out, they yield. They do not sue for their rights; they do not make a scene when injustice is done to them. They do not want rights of their own.... But Jesus says, they will inherit the earth. The earth belongs to those who are without rights and power. Those who now possess the earth with violence and injustice will lose it, and those who renounce it here, who were meek unto the cross, will rule over the new earth. O Lord, you will hear the desire of the meek; you will strengthen their heart, you will incline your ear to do justice for the orphan and the oppressed, so that those from earth may strike terror no more. Psalm 10:17-18

THE POWER OF GOD’S WORD

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 Jesus is our best example of dependence on the written Word of God. He quoted scripture repeatedly. When Satan tempted Him in the wilderness, for example, He quoted scripture in answer to each of Satan’s demands (Matthew 4:1-11). Jesus based His teaching on the Old Testament Scriptures and referred to them frequently for historical examples. It can be said that Jesus authenticated almost every book in the Old Testament by quoting from it at least once as divine authority! It is especially interesting to note how Jesus used the scriptures after His death and resurrection. While walking with some followers on the road to Emmaus, He began “with Moses and all the Prophets” explaining “…to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself" (Luke 24:27). The central place scripture held for the early church is evident throughout the book of Acts. Scripture was used to explain the events of Pentecost ( Acts 2:16-21), to identify Jesus as the Messiah (2:25-28), to determine their reaction to persecution (4:23-26), to state the church’s position in the face of persecution (7:1-53 ), to preach Christ (8:29-35), and to determine how to accept Gentile believers (15:13-21). There are literally hundreds of examples of New Testament Christians and the writers of the epistles using the Old Testament Scriptures to prove their positions. In fact, it is so basic to sound biblical teaching that it is still common in evangelical circles today. The Bible is our true source of divine knowledge. Outside the city of Seoul, Korea stands the memorial to the martyrs of the Korean church. Interestingly, the first picture in the gallery is of a Welshman, R. J. Thomas. We learned about him earlier as he gave his life taking the Bible into northern Korea in 1866. The nephew of a scholar became a Christian by reading a gospel portion plastered on the compound wall of the man who killed Thomas. The young man reportedly helped a Scottish missionary, John Ross, make the first translation of the New Testament into Korean in Shenyang, China a mere twenty-five years later. This led to the first group of believers in the country of Korea even before foreign missionaries arrived. The Word of God is powerful! RESPONSE: I will treasure God’s powerful and living Word, today. PRAYER: Thank You Lord for the power of Your Word! May it impact North Korea anew in my generation.

"They are they which testify of me." John 5:39 Jesus Christ is the Alpha and Omega of the Bible. He is the constant theme of its sacred pages; from first to last they testify of him. At the creation we at once discern him as one of the sacred Trinity; we catch a glimpse of him in the promise of the woman's seed; we see him typified in the ark of Noah; we walk with Abraham, as he sees Messiah's day; we dwell in the tents of Isaac and Jacob, feeding upon the gracious promise; we hear the venerable Israel talking of Shiloh; and in the numerous types of the law, we find the Redeemer abundantly foreshadowed. Prophets and kings, priests and preachers, all look one way--they all stand as the cherubs did over the ark, desiring to look within, and to read the mystery of God's great propitiation. Still more manifestly in the New Testament we find our Lord the one pervading subject. It is not an ingot here and there, or dust of gold thinly scattered, but here you stand upon a solid floor of gold; for the whole substance of the New Testament is Jesus crucified, and even its closing sentence is bejewelled with the Redeemer's name. We should always read Scripture in this light; we should consider the word to be as a mirror into which Christ looks down from heaven; and then we, looking into it, see his face reflected as in a glass--darkly, it is true, but still in such a way as to be a blessed preparation for seeing him as we shall see him face to face. This volume contains Jesus Christ's letters to us, perfumed by his love. These pages are the garments of our King, and they all smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia. Scripture is the royal chariot in which Jesus rides, and it is paved with love for the daughters of Jerusalem. The Scriptures are the swaddling bands of the holy child Jesus; unroll them and you find your Saviour. The quintessence of the word of God is Christ.

"We live unto the Lord." Romans 14:8 If God had willed it, each of us might have entered heaven at the moment of conversion. It was not absolutely necessary for our preparation for immortality that we should tarry here. It is possible for a man to be taken to heaven, and to be found meet to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light, though he has but just believed in Jesus. It is true that our sanctification is a long and continued process, and we shall not be perfected till we lay aside our bodies and enter within the veil; but nevertheless, had the Lord so willed it, he might have changed us from imperfection to perfection, and have taken us to heaven at once. Why then are we here? Would God keep his children out of paradise a single moment longer than was necessary? Why is the army of the living God still on the battle-field when one charge might give them the victory? Why are his children still wandering hither and thither through a maze, when a solitary word from his lips would bring them into the centre of their hopes in heaven? The answer is--they are here that they may "live unto the Lord," and may bring others to know his love. We remain on earth as sowers to scatter good seed; as ploughmen to break up the fallow ground; as heralds publishing salvation. We are here as the "salt of the earth," to be a blessing to the world. We are here to glorify Christ in our daily life. We are here as workers for him, and as "workers together with him." Let us see that our life answereth its end. Let us live earnest, useful, holy lives, to "the praise of the glory of his grace." Meanwhile we long to be with him, and daily sing-- "My heart is with him on his throne, And ill can brook delay; Each moment listening for the voice, Rise up, and come away.'"