Do You Believe This?

Daily Reading: John 11

I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world. (John 11.27)

Devotional Thought: Jesus had gone to raise his dear friend, the brother of Martha, from the dead.  Before he did that, however, he needed to take care of something more important.  He needed ask Martha about what she thought about him.  Speaking of his resurrection, Jesus posed a question: “Do you believe this?”

Just as Martha’s expression of faith had three assertions, so our saving faith will believe these three things:

·       You are the Christ.  The Christ of God was the Anointed One of God, the Messiah.  Her faith had to recognize that Jesus was the culmination of all that had preceded – both in God’s plan of salvation and in her own life personally.  Jesus was the answer to humanity’s predicament and to her life’s needs.  To believe in Jesus is to welcome him into your heart as your Savior and Redeemer.

·       You are the Son of God.  Jesus was and is different from all others who come to save, to help, to deliver.  As the Son of God, he is Lord of all!  To believe in Jesus is to confess him as your Lord and Master.

·       You are the One who is coming into the world.  To Martha, Jesus was not just a philosophy, not just an ideal.  Jesus was a living, breathing friend.  He had flesh and blood just as she did.  At the time, she did not realize how important that was, for she did not fully comprehend that Jesus was going to die for the sins of the world.  For God to die, he must have something that can die – a body.  To believe in Jesus is to believe that he lived, that he died, and that God raised him from the dead.

Amen!

Prayer: Jesus, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who has come into the world!  I also believe you are coming again and will raise me up on that day.  Amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 37.16-24

16 Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked.

17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous.

18 The Lord knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will remain forever;

19 they are not put to shame in evil times; in the days of famine they have abundance.

20 But the wicked will perish; the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures; they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.

21 The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives;

22 for those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land, but those cursed by him shall be cut off.

23 The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way;

24 though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand.