Opening the Word

Devotional: His Appearance – Our Blessed Hope
Devotional: His Appearance – Our Blessed Hope

Devotional: His Appearance – Our Blessed Hope

Read I Peter 1:1-5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (v. 3).
Resurrection power is not wishy-washy. Today’s scripture reminds us that Christ’s mercy is
abundant and our hope is lively, both related to His resurrection.
In 2000 our daughter, Becky, had a serious spinal injury. fter surgery the anesthesia affected her thought processes. She went through what she now calls her “loopy period.” She thought she was going to die, but didn’t say so. That night she told her husband, “Go home.” I was at their home caring for their three children. When Paul arrived he sunk into a chair and said something like, “I can deal with the effects of the injury, but this crazy stuff I don’t know how to handle.” He went to bed upstairs and I settled into a fitful sleep on the couch.
Early the next morning the phone rang. On the way down the stairs Paul said, “Becky called. She‘s going to be alright.” Our hope had taken on a lively twist. God’s mercy was evident. Becky’s mental anxiety was gone, but the physical healing has taken time. While today she walks without assistance, it’s mind over matter. (Ann Coker)

Because He lives I can face tomorrow, because He lives, all fear is gone; because I know He holds the future and life is worth the living – just because He lives. – William and Gloria Gaither

We all have reason to rejoice over God’s mercies and the hope that His resurrection brings.

This devotional is the Sunday, March 27, 2016 entry of Opening the Word.

Herald & Banner Press2016-03-23T08:00:00+00:00March 23rd, 2016|Categories: Opening the Word|Tags: Easter, hope|0 Comments

Devotional: The Messiah's Reproach
Devotional: The Messiah's Reproach

Devotional: The Messiah's Reproach

“Reproach hath broken my heart: and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.” (Psalm 69:20)
The appropriate title for the picture painted in this verse is “Alone”. We can only identify with being alone in a human sense. We do not have the capacity to feel as our blessed Savior felt. He obviously enjoyed the friendship and fellowship of his disciples, and especially “the twelve”. He had even a closer relationship with the inner circle of Peter, James and John. Yet when he was facing the reality of his crucifixion in the Garden of Gethsemane, and needed their support, they fell asleep.
When he was being led away after his arrest, “... All the disciples forsook Him and fled”. (Matthew 26:56)
We sometime refer to the Passion of Jesus. The Latin word “passio” originally meant to endure suffering. This is an appropriate term when we try to imagine the agony and pain that Jesus suffered during those sham trials and the brutal beatings. As we well know a cruel crown of thorns was forced upon His head, and His hands and feet were nailed to the cross of crucifixion.
We should keep in mind that He suffered all of this for the sins of the world. Because He bore our sins, just before His death He cried, “...My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)

“Alone, Alone, He bore it all alone;
He gave Himself to save His own,
He suffered, bled and died alone.” ---Ben H. Price

Jesus died the death of a sinner.

This devotional is the Monday, March 14, 2016 entry of Opening the Word.

Herald & Banner Press2016-03-15T07:00:00+00:00March 15th, 2016|Categories: Opening the Word|Tags: cross, Passion|0 Comments

Christ’s Death Foretold
Christ’s Death Foretold

Christ’s Death Foretold

Read Isaiah 53:1-6
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; And the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all (v.6).
Isaiah portrays for us one of the most graphic, and yet most beautiful, scenes in holy writ. Where would we be had Christ not suffered humiliation and death for our sins? He became the spotless and perfect Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world (Jn. 1:29).
When Christ was here on earth, He also likened the multitudes to scattered sheep having no shepherd. Revealing His compassion through His sacrificial death, He became our Good Shepherd – thus providing meaning and direction to our lives.
Because sheep naturally tend to stray, they become lost and defenseless. This makes them vulnerable prey. Just so, humanity is without Christ. God, the Father, willed that His Son become our substitute – to be sin for us, who knew no sin (II Cor. 5:21). Certainly, we can join with John the Beloved, BEHOLD, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us… (I Jn 3:1a). (Shirley Gordon)

Man of sorrows, what a name
For the Son of God, who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim!
Hallelujah! What a Saviour! - Philip P. Bliss

How can it be that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

This devotional is the Monday, March 7, 2016 entry of Opening the Word.

Herald & Banner Press2016-03-08T09:00:00+00:00March 8th, 2016|Categories: Opening the Word|Tags: cross, death|0 Comments

Forgiveness for All Sin
Forgiveness for All Sin

Forgiveness for All Sin

Read Isaiah 43:22-28
“I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins” (v. 25).
My desk in grade school had an ink well that held a bottle of black ink. I learned to write with a quill pen. After dipping the tip of it in the ink, I then had to move it lightly across the paper to form neat letters. Lingering or pressing too hard caused the ink to flow and spread, blotting out any letters it contacted. The blot could not be removed, and anything covered by it could not be read. That blotting out was far more thorough and permanent than attempting to erase, for it covered and totally concealed what had been there.
The sins and iniquities of Israel were a record against them, as are ours! Neither they nor we can blot out or conceal our own record, as much as we might wish to do so. We don’t have the power to undo what we have done! However, the LORD says He can, and He will blot out our transgressions, and by choice not remember our sins! The blot on our record indicates past transgressions that no longer bear record against us because He blotted them out! (Rodney Stearns)
They are covered by the Blood; they are covered by the Blood.
My sins are all covered by the Blood.
Mine iniquities so vast have been blotted out at last.
My sins are all covered by the Blood.
— Nellie Edwards
While God never discounts our transgressions, He is willing to blot them out.
This devotional is the Monday, February 29, 2016 entry of Opening the Word.

Herald & Banner Press2016-03-01T08:00:00+00:00March 1st, 2016|Categories: Opening the Word|Tags: Forgiveness, sin|0 Comments

Blessings of Christ’s Kingdom
Blessings of Christ’s Kingdom

Blessings of Christ’s Kingdom

Read Isaiah 35:1-10
“No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there” (v. 9).
While John Bunyan wrote Pilgrim’s Progress, he may have had this passage in mind. As Christian approached the Palace Beautiful, he spotted a lion on either side of the narrowing path. Believing death was at hand, he considered retreating. But Watchful, the porter of the palace, called, “Fear not the lions, for they are chained and are placed there for trial of faith. . . . Keep in the midst of the path, and no hurt shall come unto thee.”
Citizens of God’s spiritual kingdom often encounter lions. Satan himself is described as a roaring lion. Daniel confronted literal lions in the den, but God tamed them. Many early Christians faced raging beasts and were torn into pieces by them. Their martyr spirits were, however, safely transported to the presence of God.
Whatever lions lurk near your pathway today, remember, the God of Daniel still lives. He will bring His children safely home — as long as they tread the midst of the path, the highway of holiness. (Joyce Cooper)
And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us.
The prince of darkness grim — We tremble not for him.
His rage we can endure, For, lo, his doom is sure.
— Martin Luther
What a blessing to know the lions are chained and can come no closer to you than our Lord allows!
This devotional is the Tuesday, February 23, 2016 entry of Opening the Word.

Herald & Banner Press2016-02-26T09:00:00+00:00February 26th, 2016|Categories: Opening the Word|Tags: Blessings, trouble|0 Comments

Facing Reality
Facing Reality

Facing Reality

Read John 11:11-15
“Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. (v. 14)
Recently, this fifty-two-year-old played football with teens. Early into the game, I caught a pass and ran toward the goal. A teen cut me off, so I tried what would have worked years ago, which is stopping abruptly, cutting to the side and running around everyone. The stopping abruptly part worked, but cutting to the side and running around everyone failed miserably. My brain had been living in a fantasy world of how things used to be.
We drift between two worlds. The first is imaginary — how things “should” be. The second is reality. Some spend so much time in the first that they never realize their potential for the second. In verse 12, the disciples are living in a world of optimism, believing Lazarus is sleeping. In verse 14, Jesus brings them back to reality. Lazarus is dead. It was difficult for the disciples to accept this news, but it set the stage for a great miracle. (DWM)
This devotional is the Tuesday, February 16, 2016 entry of Opening the Word.

Herald & Banner Press2016-02-17T09:00:00+00:00February 17th, 2016|Categories: Opening the Word|Tags: death, Sorrow|0 Comments

Faith Defined
Faith Defined

Faith Defined

Read Hebrews 11:1-10
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (v. 1).
In The Edge of Adventure, Keith Miller and Bruce Larson tell of a letter that was discovered in a baking powder can. The can was wired to the handle of an old water pump on the seldom-used trail across Nevada’s Amargosa Desert. The letter read, “This pump is all right as of June 1932. I put a new sucker washer into it and it ought to last five years. But the washer dries out, and the pump has got to be primed. Under the white rock, I buried a bottle of water, out of the sun and cork end up. There’s enough water in it to prime the pump, but not if you drink some first. Pour about one-fourth and let her soak to wet the leather. Then pour in the rest medium fast and pump like crazy. You’ll git water. The well has never run dry. Have faith. When you git watered up, fill the bottle and put it back like you found it for the next feller. [signed] Desert Pete. P.S. Don’t go drinking the water first. Prime the pump with it and you’ll git all you can hold.”
Just as the thirsty traveler had to trust in something he could not see to receive water he desired, so the Hebrew writer tells us we must trust God for that which we desire. (Gayle Woods)
Faith in God is based on the substance of hope and the evidence of a yet to be realized reality.This devotional is the Monday, February 8, 2016 entry of Opening the Word.

Herald & Banner Press2016-02-09T09:00:00+00:00February 9th, 2016|Categories: Opening the Word|Tags: faith, Trust|0 Comments

Christ, Master of Fear
Christ, Master of Fear

Christ, Master of Fear

Read Matthew 8:23-27
“But the men marveled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?” (v. 27).

What does faith have to do with fear? When someone says to you, “Trust me,” what is your reaction? It totally depends on the person and their track record, right?
One day I was sitting in the grass pulling weeds from around my mom’s beautiful roses. My little nephew, Westley, toddled over, plopped himself in my lap, and said, “Sit on lap, see what happen!” At that time, I merely smiled at the sweet cuteness of his remark. But many times since that “child moment” has come back to me. I can crawl up into God’s lap and just watch as He teaches me to have faith and not fear.
The goal is to learn to back off and observe Him work in what, to our eyes, are impossible situations. As we do we can begin to surrender to His control, sit on His lap, relax in His embrace, and “see what happen!” I can have perfect confidence that His love for me will keep me from sinking beneath any scary wave this life may bring. And learning this lesson can help us to truly enjoy our many blessings. (Wanda Skeen)

Have you learned to lean on Jesus?

This devotional is the Saturday, February 6, 2016 entry of Opening the Word.

Herald & Banner Press2016-02-02T08:00:50+00:00February 2nd, 2016|Categories: Opening the Word|Tags: faith, fear|0 Comments

Delivering the Demoniac
Delivering the Demoniac

Delivering the Demoniac

Read Mark 1:23-26
“And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him” (v. 25).
You never know what or who you may see at church! I remember D. P. Denton telling of the time he stood up to preach at Mascot, Tennessee and saw the barrel of a shotgun poking through the double doors of the church. Although Denton was a brave man, he determined to keep moving while he preached. When he finished the gun was gone.
In our text, Jesus went to church only to be met by the devil! It seems strange that the demons would have permitted this man to go to church, knowing that Jesus was going to preach. Capernaum was not a large town, and Jesus’ arrival in town the night before seems to have been a clear signal that He would be preaching in the synagogue the next day. Still, the man and the demons that possessed him were there. But when they saw Jesus, they were terrified! Jesus, on the other hand, was quite calm. He knew the power that was in Him.
No one knows what a day will bring. We may come face to face with the devil — even at church. But we can know that the power of the resurrection works within us. And with that confidence we need not fear any obstacle. (Gordon Snider)

I shall not fear the battle if Thou art by side,
Nor wander from the pathway if Thou wilt be my guide. — John Ernest Bode

Oh God, whatever comes my way today, may I know you are with me!

This devotional is the Friday, January 29, 2016 entry of Opening the Word.

Herald & Banner Press2016-01-28T08:00:49+00:00January 28th, 2016|Categories: Opening the Word|Tags: deliverance, Demon-possession|0 Comments

The Lord Gives Sight
The Lord Gives Sight

The Lord Gives Sight

Read John 9:1-7
“And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing” (v. 7).
“Some assembly is required; instructions included.” You can imagine with me a new swing set. There are no fewer than fifty bolts, fifty nuts, fifty lock washers, two-inch pipes, braces, chains, and many parts which seem quite strange, and there is a set of instructions. Imagine dumping the entire contents of the box on the back patio and tossing aside the instruction sheet. Unless one has already assembled a swing set or is mechanically inclined, the likelihood of a pleasant experience and a desired result is close to nil. Following instructions is an excellent idea.
The blind man obediently followed Jesus’ instructions. He went. He washed away the mud. He saw. That was a rather simplistic set of requirements, and the man obeyed and was healed. Did every blind man who applied mud and washed in the pool receive his sight? No. It was not the walking and washing that healed the man. Christ healed the man in response to obedient faith.
Let us remember that the path to spiritual sight begins and continues by submission to Christ. (Lonnie Witt)

Come to Christ. Obey. See clearly.

This devotional is the Wednesday, January 20, 2016 entry of Opening the Word.

Herald & Banner Press2016-01-21T08:00:49+00:00January 21st, 2016|Categories: Opening the Word|Tags: blindness, surrender|0 Comments