One of the reasons Jesus became famous during his ministry was because he performed many miracles. People came from all around to be healed, or to help others be healed. In most of the cases where Jesus healed people, he either asked them if they believed, or after healing them, he told them it was their faith that healed them.

Mark 6 includes the account of Jesus returning to his hometown, and finds that the people there are skeptical about his ability to perform miracles. verses 5 & 6 say, “He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.” I find it interesting that the verse says Jesus “could not” do miracles because of their lack of faith.

I believe from this that we all play a part in whether God performs miracles in our lives. If we don’t believe God can do it, he possibly won’t, and if we believe, Jesus says in Matthew 19:26, “but with God all things are possible.”

Dear Lord, we want to believe that you can do anything, but often we just cannot bring ourselves to truly believe these things that seem impossible to us. Help us remember that we don’t need to figure it all out; we only need to believe in your power. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Matthew Chapter 4 and Luke Chapter 4 record the account of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness. There are many things we can learn from this account, and I would like to point out a few.

First, Matthew 4:1 says, “Jesus was led into the wilderness by the spirit to be tempted there.” Sometimes even when we are doing the right thing and following the Holy Spirit’s guidance, we will be brought to a situation where we will be tested.

Second, The account lists three specific temptations, hunger, protection, and power. In each of these temptations Jesus resists the temptation with scripture as his weapon to fight back. For instance, Matthew 4:10 writes, “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.”

The more scripture we know and remember, the more ammunition we will have to resist our temptations.

Third, after Jesus resisted the temptations, the Devil went away. Matthew 4:11 writes, “Then the Devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.” If we resist, with God’s help we can over-come all temptation. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:13, “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.”

This account is great demonstration of how Jesus was truly a man and faced temptation like us, and also how we are to deal with the temptations that attack us.

Dear Lord, We know that all temptations can be overcome if we rely on you. Help us build up our ability to resist temptation with knowledge of your word and trust in your power to overcome any temptation we may experience. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Writing to the Christians in Rome, Paul tells them how the many details in the Old Testament laws can be simplified.

In Romans 13:9,10 he writes, “The commandments say, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

This simplification ties right to the answer Jesus gave to the Pharisees when asked, what was the greatest commandment. Jesus told them loving God with all your heart, soul, and mind, but the second greatest is to love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:40 says, “The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

Even today, remembering these two simple rules is the basis for how God wants us to live. If we evaluate our actions against these two rules, we can see if we are staying on the right course.

Dear Lord, “Love You and love our neighbor,” is really the essence of living the Christian life. Help us all to remember that. If we all did, our world would become a much better place. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

There is a never ending discussion about the conflict between religion and science. In reality it is not a debate between God and Science, it is a debate between a belief in God and a belief that there is no God.

For those of us that believe in God, there really is no conflict between science and religion. We believe God created everything, and therefore science is the study of God’s creation.

Often people’s success at discovering, learning, excelling and achieving sets them up to believing that they can know and control everything. I believe, as a result of manipulation by the Devil, this positive drive to achieve can be turned into arrogance. This manipulation began in the Garden of Eden with the temptation of Eve to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

“You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” Genesis 3:4-5 The desire to be “like God” tempted Eve to disobey God’s rules.

The similar motivation occurred in the story of the Tower of Babel. Genesis 11:3-4 writes “The people who lived there began to talk about building a great city, with a temple-tower reaching to the skies—a proud, eternal monument to themselves.” The people discovered technology allowing for construction of tall buildings, and followed this into arrogance.

Throughout the years discoveries are made, and theories are developed expanding our knowledge of the Universe. It has become quite clear to me that the fundamental dispute in this God vs Science debate is the “world view” that we start with. If we believe God created it all, we will marvel at these new discoveries of God’s fantastic creation, but if people don’t want to believe in God, they can use new discoveries to come up with interpretations to support their disbelief in God.

Dear Lord, We know that the attempts to lead people astray will continue until you return. Help us remember to use the intelligence you gave us to understand your creation rather than being manipulated into exalting ourselves over you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

I do not speak much French, (almost none) however, I ran across this expression and think it is a wonderful concept and description. Joie de Vivre (pronounced; zhwä-də-ˈvēvr) is defined as “a delight in being alive”

I think Psalm 36:7-9 conveys a similar idea, and attributes the cause of this joy for living to a relationship with God.

It says “How precious is your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings. You feed them from the abundance of your own house, letting them drink from your river of delights. For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see.”

God is the source of of our Joie de Vivre. When we put our faith and trust in him, we can have a lighter heart and the Peace and Joy God offers.

Dear Lord, thank you for the Peace and Joy you give when we release our burdens to you and live in your “fountain of life.” In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.