The Realm of the Possible

Daily Reading:  Luke 18

Scripture Focus: What is impossible with man is possible with God. (Luke 18.27)

Devotional Thought: "With God, all things are possible" (Matthew 19.26).  I remember learning that as a middle school student in Ohio...

"With God All Things Are Possible" became Ohio's state motto on October 1, 1959. James Mastronardo, a twelve-year-old boy, recommended this quotation from the Bible.  In 1997, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a suit against Ohio and its state motto, claiming that this phrase from the Bible violated the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees religious freedom and a separation of church and state. Various federal courts sided with Ohio, allowing the state to retain the motto... Ohio is one of five states with the word "God" in their mottos. (Ohio History Central Website)

Jesus made this statement after teaching his disciples that it is hard for a rich person to be saved - harder even than a camel passing through "the eye of a needle" - a thing not impossible but certainly very life-changing for the camel!  Be that as it may, God is able to save a rich person - or a poor person, or a middle-class person, or any person.  But it is hard.  As a matter of fact, it required the most intense suffering ever encountered in history - the death of Jesus on the cross.

When it comes to matters of salvation, you and I can't save ourselves.  We can't save each other.  It is impossible with man, but abundantly possible with God: "There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4.12).

Prayer: Lord, thank you that I am not outside the saving reach of God.  Thank you that no one is!  Help me to share the good news that what is impossible with man is possible with God!  Amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 142.1-7

1 With my voice I cry out to the Lord; with my voice I plead for mercy to the Lord.

2 I pour out my complaint before him; I tell my trouble before him.

3 When my spirit faints within me, you know my way! In the path where I walk they have hidden a trap for me.

4 Look to the right and see: there is none who takes notice of me; no refuge remains to me; no one cares for my soul.

5 I cry to you, O Lord; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. ”

6 Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low! Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me!

7 Bring me out of prison, that I may give thanks to your name! The righteous will surround me, for you will deal bountifully with me.