Friday, Oct 30, 2009

10-30 Every Possible Impossible Thing!

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Boo! A day early. Tomorrow hordes of innocent little goblins dressed like cute little princesses and jellyfish will invade the streets to beg for candy. What you may not know is that on this day several hundred thousand not so innocent American pagans, Druids, and witches celebrate a holy day called Shadowfest, a 2,000-year-old Celtic festival held to honor Samhain, the lord of earth… something Christians should avoid! Another thing you may not know is that tomorrow is “Reformation Day,” the day when Martin Luther posted his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. This act triggered the “Reformation” which led to a re-clarification of the Gospel which is so important in our religious heritage. This is the day when we celebrate that heaven is a free gift! “Sola fide” – By faith alone & “Sola Gratia” – only by grace.

Today's Scripture reading is 2 Chronicles 2; Isaiah 53; Acts 17:16-34
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Today’s thought comes from Matthew 28:16-20 “Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

Are you a trekkie? If so, you probably speak Klingon fluently and have seen every episode of Star Trek, The Next Generation, Deep Space 9, Voyager and Enterprise… beam me up Scotty! One of the standard shots in Star Trek is the transporter room where an away team is dematerialized and shot thousands of miles away onto a planet’s surface where they are rematerialized. If only we could do it for real! Jesus can. Jesus can walk on water, walk through walls, disappear in one place and appear in another… and he can “fly.” It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no its… rererererereerereeee (sound of record winding down). Jesus is not just another superhero, Jesus is God almighty, and thus he can do as he pleases. There is nothing he can’t do! Can you imagine the disciple’s reaction to the ascension of their Lord? Right in front of their eyes he floated, flew, ascended, soared into the skies! Their jaws dropped! They had seen Jesus do every possible impossible thing! He had healed the sick, raised the dead, fed the five thousand, given sight to the blind, calmed a stormy sea, and yes he had come back to life from the dead! Now he was flying! Pinch me please, is this for real or is it just special effects? Oh yeah! They didn’t have special effects back then! If he was just an ordinary human he couldn’t have done what he did. Mark, Luke and Acts record the Ascension of the Lord, Matthew does not. But I’m betting that the doubters who worshiped the resurrected Lord in verse 17, had something even larger to ponder in verse 21! (There is no verse 21, but that’s when Jesus would have ascended!) The book of Acts picks up the story and tells us that the disciples went back to Jerusalem to await the promised coming of the Holy Spirit. Days passed. Nights went by. Thomas may have looked at that starry sky, closed his eyes and replayed the ascension of Christ over and over in his mind. Maybe Peter was there with him, tapped him on the shoulder, “Are you thinking about what I’m thinking about? I keep reliving the time he walked right through the locked door and showed us his hands and side! And can you believe the ascension! We serve an awesome God!” They may have stood there in silence taking in the moment. There was no doubt in their minds, “lo I am with you always!” Anyone who could do all that, could still be here, and he is.

Dear Lord Jesus. I know that all things are possible with You. You are here now, right where I am. When I doubt, Lord, fill my heart with the hope of Your Spirit and the reminder of Your Power. I await your return with great anticipation, knowing that “this same Jesus, who was taken up into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven."

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength. This is the greatest commandment

Posted by Dennis Kreiss at 10:25 AM |  MAKE A COMMENT  

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