Growing up I had always feared the weight room.  I played organized sports my entire life, but somehow, by playing football, basketball, and running track, I was able to avoid ever having an off season for weight training!  It was not the weights that scared me, it was the other people I would find there.  Now, my high school weight room was not the dwelling place of Arnold Schwarzenegger, but his picture was on the wall (an encouragement to participate in the Presidential National Fitness Challenge), and the weight room placed me in close context with other people who, no doubt, could lift considerably more than I could.  I lived in fear that I would have to share a workout with D’Angelo who would be bench pressing 250 pounds while I was struggling to raise just the bar.

As an adult, I have a new-found interest in weight lifting.  I have found that the gym is a place where many people, just like me, are just trying to stay fit and “tone their cores.”  We all have roughly the same goal in mind.  Sure, I may start with less weight on the bar than most, but raising that bar is still a good workout for me.  Over time and with proper exercise, raising that bar will make me stronger so that I can lift more tomorrow than I can lift today.  This is the progressive and proportional nature of weight lifting.

I was thinking of this idea as I was reading Matthew 14:22-33 (and its parallel account in John 6).  In this story, the disciples were on a boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee amidst a fierce storm when Jesus came walking to them on top of the water.  What an amazing site this must have been!  There were twelve disciples in that boat that saw Jesus walking on the water.  Upon seeing the figure on top of the water, eleven of them decided that it must be a ghost.  Eleven of them kept their mouths shut.  Eleven of them trembled in fear.  One of them spoke.  In Matthew 14:28, Peter said, “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.”  Jesus said, “Come!” and while eleven other men watched with wide eyes, Peter hopped the side of the boat and walked ON TOP OF THE WATER in the direction of Christ.  Now, after Peter got a good distance from the boat, he began to realize that he was walking on top of the water.  This sudden realization led to Peter taking his eyes off Christ and sinking into the sea.

When Peter sank, Jesus spoke and said in 14:31, “You of little faith.  Why did you doubt?”  Now the question comes.  Why would Jesus say this to Peter?  Why not say this to the other eleven men cowering in the boat with their jaws on the deck.  Why call Peter out?  I think the answer to this question (while I cannot know for sure) is found in the weight room at the local fitness club.

You see, Jesus’ goal for every person is that they would grow in their faith in Him.  Jesus wants us to trust Him.  Though His goal for each of us is the same, by faith, each of us (at different times in our lives) can “lift” different amounts.  Some can only lift the bar and others can bench press a mobile home.  Spiritually speaking this translates into the fact that our faith grows over time as we exercise it.  It is a significant faith step for a mature Christian to trust God with cancer or the death of a child, but it is also an equally significant step of faith for a new Christian to trust God with the forgiveness of his or her sins—something that a more mature Christian had trusted Christ with long ago.  Our faith grows over time, and as God grows our faith, each day/season/year is filled with different “weights” that God has placed on the bar.  

Based on who Peter was and all that Jesus had taken Him through (including the initial steps he took on the water) Jesus wanted Peter to persist in that faith and lift even more.  Once Peter walked on the water, Jesus expected him to keep walking.  For the rest of the disciples in the boat, their faith steps may have had less “weight.”  Their faith steps may have involved just ceasing to be afraid, or believing that Jesus could really perform such a miracle.  This is the progressive nature of growth in the Christian life.

What about you?  As you live out your life today, what are the weights that God is asking you to lift by faith?  It is probably different for every person, but they all have the same goal … to grow us in our depth of relationship with Jesus Christ.  Don’t spend a lot of time comparing yourself to others, growing fearful of participating in the spiritual life because you don’t think you can lift as much as the next guy.  Know that Christ has put the weight on your bar that is appropriate for you to grow in faith.  Believe that and then trust Him.  If you do, you will find that your faith is stronger tomorrow than it is today.

Jesus walking on water is the fifth miraculous sign John records arguing that Jesus is God.  May we grow in our faith in Him!

 

This devo is a part of the 2022 Wildwood Christmas Daily Devotional, “God with us.”  You can find the entire Christmas Devotional here.

Growing up there were two toys I always THOUGHT I wanted, but never got.  These toys looked awesome in TV commercials and on the pages of the JC Penny Christmas catalog.  They were always surrounded by boys about my age looking like they had just won the lottery.  What were these toys?  The tabletop electronic football game, and the electronic slot race tracks.  

They looked awesome, so I often asked for them for Christmas, or birthday, or whatever.  However, I never got them.  Why?  Because I did not have parents who loved me?  No.  I did not get them because I DID have parents who loved me, and understood that these gifts were not all they were cracked up to be.  They both promised happiness in a flashy package, but they did not deliver the lasting enjoyment that other gifts would.

The tabletop electronic football game (after all) was just a vibrating board.  The slot race track was only fun the first time around.  After the initial excitement of opening the package, disappointment would almost surely soon follow.

In John 6, Jesus was reaching new heights in popularity.  He had just fed thousands of people and performed a number of other miracles that demonstrated His power and compassion.  People were flocking to Him from throughout the Galilean region.  Every time Jesus and the disciples would bring their boat ashore, a crowd was waiting for them.  One day as Jesus went ashore, the congregation was asking Him to do more miracles.  They had eaten the lunch at the feeding of the 5,000 and now had come back for seconds.  They said to Jesus, “Our fathers ate manna in the wilderness.”  The implication … God provided food EVERY DAY to the Israelites in the wilderness.  So, they were saying to Jesus, “If you are really from God, then give us DAILY bread and fish, like God did during the days of Moses.”

Jesus response is classic.  A summary of His response goes like this, “You want bread and fish … but I want to give you something even greater!  I want to give you a ‘bread’ that is truly life giving.”  The people respond saying, “YES!! We want that!  Can you give us this bread ALWAYS?”  To which Jesus responds with the iconic statement, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst.”

Jesus did not give the people of Galilee another meal of bread and fish BECAUSE He loved them.  They thought they knew what they wanted, but God knew what they REALLY wanted, and (more importantly) needed.  They needed Him, not just fish and loaves.  They needed Someone to fill their souls, not just something to fill their stomachs.  The One who would truly satisfy their deepest thirsts and hungers was Jesus Christ Himself, the “One who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

We think we know what we want, so we ask for it.  We want happiness and joy so (like a child looking at the JC Penny Christmas catalog) we ask for the relationships, things, or experiences we think that will best deliver these emotions.  What are you asking for this Christmas?

Our Heavenly Father hears our prayers and receives our wish list … our Christmas catalogs filled with circled items we desire.  As our loving Father, thankfully, He does not just give us what we ask for.  Instead He gives us what we desperately need … a real relationship with Him and the soul nourishing provision that comes from a relationship with Jesus.  

He is the bread of life.  And if we receive Him, He can satisfy our deepest hungers and greatest thirsts eternally.

“I am the Bread of Life” is the first revelatory “I am” statement Jesus made, further revealing His divine identity to us

This devo is a part of the 2022 Wildwood Christmas Daily Devotional, “God with us.”  You can find the entire Christmas Devotional here.

When my son was young, I wore many hats.  On any given day, I might have to serve the function of a jungle gym, an elevator, a taxi driver, and a tour guide … and that is just after 5:00 PM!  Before you begin to think that I was one of the original Wonder Twins from the 1970’s “Superfriends” television show or a raging lunatic, I need to explain.  While I was not actually becoming any of those tasks vocationally, I was performing their functions for my (then) sixteen month old son, Joshua.  

Being so small at that time, Joshua found himself in situations of need frequently.  If he wanted to climb and swing, he needed someone to climb on or to swing him around.  If he wanted to go up one floor (from the floor of our sunken living room to the hallway leading to the rest of the house), he needed someone to lift him.  If he wanted to get outside and see the world, I either needed to drive the car or push the stroller.   Because of his need, he cried out frequently for help.

Now, as Joshua’s father, I loved wearing the hats he asked me to wear.  There has come a day when he no longer wants to wrestle on the floor while watching a basketball game.  There will come a day when he will be able to drive himself where he wants to go.  There has come a day when climbing the steps to the rest of the house became an after thought.  But before those days came, I was all too excited to hear him cry out in need.  I loved wearing all those hats to help meet his needs.

Two thousand years ago, as Jesus was living on this earth and was in the process of training His disciples (and by extension, training you and I who read of their experiences in the New Testament), He knew that a necessary component of a vibrant spiritual life would be a child-like sense of need.  By virtue of our sinful tendencies and God’s lofty calling, by ourselves—spiritually speaking—we are very small … therefore we frequently find ourselves in situations of great need.  Our spiritual need is not partial, it is total.  Jesus wanted His disciples to know this, and that is why He led them to a remote place among a hungry crowd to teach them a lesson.

In John 6:1-15, Jesus led His disciples into the countryside among 5,000 men, not counting women and children.  When it came time to eat, Jesus asked Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”  This is a very funny question for Jesus to ask!  Sure, Philip grew up in the area in which John 6 took place and most likely knew the whereabouts of all the grocery stores and restaurants nearby, but buying food for all these people would cost an amount far greater than the disciples had available to them.  Even if Philip knew of a grocery store next door, they would not be able to afford the cost of giving everyone even a light snack, much less a full dinner.  Jesus asked this question, not because He was unaware of their financial situation, but because He wanted to “test him (Philip), for He (Jesus) already knew what He was going to do (6:6).”  Jesus had planned all along to provide the food for the whole crowd in a miraculous way; He just wanted to make sure that Philip and the rest of the disciples recognized their need and thus could recognize God’s supernatural provision.  In the end, Jesus blessed a few fish and loaves so that they fed everyone present, with twelve basketfuls of leftovers!  Jesus gave each of the twelve disciples their own basket full of reminders that He was able to meet any need.

As adults, we tend to see problems as things we need to fix, pay for, or solve.  Since we are grown, we tend to think that we do not need or even deserve any help; therefore we often do not cry out.  We think we are supposed to have the resources necessary to meet all of life’s demands all by ourselves.  We may fear that any cry for help is a sign of weakness and might even bother God or cause Him to think less of us.  If this is you, then remember that Jesus wants us to have child-like faith.  This is the kind of faith that caused a small boy to offer a few measly fish and loaves to a hungry mob.  Any adult would tell you the boy’s offering was not enough, but any adult who said this would be forgetting the One who would be doing the feeding.

Spiritually speaking, we are like sixteen month olds with many needs requiring someone who wears many hats to come to our rescue.  We need someone who can be a doctor, a counselor, and an empowerer every moment of our lives.  When we realize this and cry out, Jesus hears our cries and comes to our rescue.  In fact, He loves wearing the many hats we ask Him to wear because in this life, we will never grow out of our state of dependence.   

The feeding of the 5,000 is the fourth miraculous sign John shares to argue of Jesus’ divinity.  Only God could meet such a need!

 

This devo is a part of the 2022 Wildwood Christmas Daily Devotional, “God with us.”  You can find the entire Christmas Devotional here.

In 1871, a wide spot in the road just outside of Washington DC got a new name – “Bethesda, Maryland.”  Up to that time, this little rural community was called “Darcy’s Store” because the only store in the “town” was run by (you guessed it) a man named Darcy!  In 1871, though, the postmaster changed the name of the town to Bethesda, naming it after a Presbyterian Church in that community by the same name.  This community would have stayed small and off the radar were it not for two massive government buildings constructed in its city limits during the 1940’s:  The National Institute of Health (NIH) and the Bethesda Naval Hospital.  These two places of health and healing are what the town of Bethesda are currently known for … and the name is quite fitting!

The name “Bethesda” actually comes from a location in Jerusalem.  In Hebrew, Bethesda means “House of Kindness” and in the first century (while Jesus was walking the streets of Jerusalem) there was a particular pool named Bethesda where sick people would gather and wait for a “supernatural stirring of the waters” believing that the first one to enter the waters after such a stirring would be healed of their infirmity.  In John 5:1-18, the account of a particular lame man is told who had been sitting by the waters of the Pool of Bethesda for 38 years waiting for his healing.  38 years!

When Jesus finds this man, He asks him a peculiar question, “Do you want to be healed?”  At first glance, this seems like a question only Captain Obvious would ask … OF COURSE he would want to be healed!  But look at the situation more closely.  For 38 years this man’s plan was to wait for the waters to stir and then be the first one into the pool.  However, the man was at the Pool of Bethesda alone … and he was unable to walk.  So his plan for 38 years was nothing more than hopeless fantasy.  IF the waters stirred, and IF there was supernatural healing in them (two big “ifs”) then the lame man would have to somehow get down into the water himself, while being unable to move.  Jesus sees the sad situation and calls it out.  It is as if Jesus says, “Your plan is broken.  But if you want to be healed, can I offer you an alternative?”  

Seeing the look of longing and desperation in the lame man’s eyes, Jesus says to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.”  And guess what … HE DID!  The man who had not walked, walked.  The man who had the hopeless plan, had a bright future!  Jesus was able to do what the broken plan could not – give the lame man his legs back.  Jesus was able to produce what was desperately needed – hope and life.

In this account we learn something important.  Kindness is not found in a place (remember, Bethesda means “house of kindness.”)  Kindness is found in a Person.  The Pool of Bethesda had been there for years, but when Jesus showed up, He was able to truly deliver kindness to the lame man.  

For a couple of millennia now, the term “Bethesda” has been placed on hospitals and places where care is administered to the sick and wounded.  A town in Maryland that houses the NIH and a large military hospital appropriately bears this name.  However, may we never forget the One who embodies Kindness, and the One who can deliver in Himself what no place ever could – hope and life and light. 

We go to places like pools or churches (appropriately so) to gather and to seek hope and life.  However, as we show up in church this Christmas season, don’t just look at the decorations on the wall.  Instead look for and learn about the One from whom Kindness flows:  Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

The healing of this lame man is the third miraculous sign John records pointing to Jesus being God.

 

This devo is a part of the 2022 Wildwood Christmas Daily Devotional, “God with us.”  You can find the entire Christmas Devotional here.

Every year in elementary school, there was one event that attempted to separate the mental men from the boys … one event that drew the attention of students and parents everywhere.  What was this event?  The Science Fair.  Every year, I would make a project … and I would lose every time.

While some students were discovering the theory of relativity, I was relatively impressed with my project, “Which carpet cleaner works best: Scotch or Resolve?”!  While some students were putting together computer “mother boards” to power robots that could make dinner for you, my mother was impressed by my card board box covered with hand drawn images that represented video games I “designed,” complete with a tape recording of me making the related sounds these games would produce.  

Every year, as the projects would be displayed at the fair, and as all the ribbons would go to my friends, I would begin to rationalize my performance.  “My friends must not have designed their own projects,” I would muse.  “Their fathers who are research scientists must have worked on their projects for them.”  Of course, in my reasoning, the answer could not have been that they were just better at science than me.  There must be some other explanation!

As these friends have gone on in life to become engineers, research scientists, and medical doctors, however, I am forced to realize that my original assessment was not accurate.  Though I had the right information (their projects were better than mine), I was drawing the wrong conclusions (they must have cheated).

I was thinking about this reality as I read John 4:43-5:15 and pondered the reactions people had to the miracles of Christ.  Compared to the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, His actions and methodology stood out in their power and authority.  Though people all saw these same awesome acts of Jesus Christ, they all did not respond in the same way.  When the royal official from Capernaum was told by Christ that his son would be healed, the official “took Jesus at His word and departed.”  In the next few verses we find out that the royal official and all his household believed in Jesus Christ.  Later in the passage, though, the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, after seeing Jesus heal a lifelong paralytic, assumed that Jesus was cheating the Father’s Sabbath.  The royal official in Capernaum and the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem both got right information about Jesus Christ, but they each had different responses.  Though the Jewish leaders had correct information, they made the wrong conclusion.  

Jesus Christ is the Son of God (as these miraculous signs reveal), and His actions are always impressive, and they are always right; however, sometimes, we find ourselves not reacting rightly to the revelation of Jesus that we receive.  Sometimes when things don’t work out the way we had hoped, we might be tempted to draw the incorrect conclusion that Jesus is not in control or that He does not care about us in our time of need.  While it may be true that things are not working out according to our plan, it is wrong to ever conclude that Jesus is anything less than our holy and loving God.  

The spiritual life is not simply a life of observation; it is a life of our response to God’s revelation.  We should follow the example of the royal official and always take Jesus at His word and believe.

The healing of the official’s son is the second “sign” that John records revealing that Jesus is God.

 

This devo is a part of the 2022 Wildwood Christmas Daily Devotional, “God with us.”  You can find the entire Christmas Devotional here.

The year was 1957.  IBM had created a device which would change the world as we know it.  This device was large by today’s standards, taking up several cabinets of space.  This machine was also expensive, costing nearly $80,000 to purchase.  What is this large and expensive machine that changed the world?  An electronic calculator.

Now, I realize that we do not normally consider the calculator to be a world changing device, but that is because we have grown up with it.  We have grown accustomed to it, and thus we take it for granted.  If you were born prior to 1957, all math was done in your head.  If you are like me, you grew up in elementary school learning to add, subtract, multiply, or divide by hand.   And if you are like me, math became difficult for you when dealing with numbers that outstretched your number of fingers and toes!  Because of my difficulty with math, I welcomed the day I got to use my first calculator to aid in solving problems in school.  It was as liberating as it was accurate.  It also opened new vistas into deeper fields of mathematics (things like trigonometry and calculus) which would be nearly impossible without the use of a machine.  The machine IBM invented in 1957 did not invent math … it was based on the same numbers and truths as long division … but it did reinvent how higher math was computed, placing a powerful tool in the hands of people everywhere.   

In John 2:1-11, Jesus performed a miracle filled with symbolism to reveal to His followers that He was creating a New Covenant by which mankind would relate to God.  For centuries, God’s people had related to Him under the Old Covenant based on the Old Testament Law which was filled with the Ten Commandments, ritual cleansing, and animal sacrifices.  While the miracle of John 2 may look like Jesus was simply providing some good wine to a few thirsty guests at a wedding feast, a closer look reveals that Jesus was actually highlighting a significant truth about His identity and the gift He was offering.  By taking the water from the Old Covenant ceremonial jars and turning it into something new (and better), Jesus was actually foreshadowing the fact that He was creating a New Covenant that would change the spiritual lives of all who would embrace it.  This New Covenant would be very expensive, costing Jesus His blood.  This New Covenant that Jesus was establishing was what we know of as Christianity.  

Now, I realize that as Americans, we can take for granted the amazing revolution that life in Christ creates, but that is because many of us have grown up with it.  If you lived your life before the time of Christ, all spiritual interaction with God was based on strict adherence to the Law.  If you are like me, you find God’s Law beautiful but too lofty to adhere to 100 percent of the time.  Because of our inability to keep God’s Law, we should welcome the amazing extension of God’s grace to us in Christ.  It is as liberating as it is holy.  It provides forgiveness for our sins once and for all in Christ and opens new vistas for our spiritual lives including mission, purpose, a close and personal relationship with God, and gracious provision to actually live out the Christian life.  The New Covenant did not invent holiness—it was based on the same righteousness prescribed in the Law—but it did reinvent how our spiritual lives would be lived out, placing the powerful life of Christ in the hearts of people everywhere.

Like wine out of water, Jesus has saved the best for last.  Take a moment and praise God for creating us as people who are arriving at the feast of history at this time.  Like wedding guests in Cana, we can enjoy the blessing that Jesus creates out of an old pot.  

Turning water to wine at the wedding in Cana was the first “sign” of Jesus’ divinity referenced by John.  Only God Himself could initiate this new covenant.  This miracle, and its symbolic significance pointed to Jesus’ true identity.

 

This devo is a part of the 2022 Wildwood Christmas Daily Devotional, “God with us.”  You can find the entire Christmas Devotional here.

Imagine you were to get a phone call this afternoon from someone who is really famous (in a circle or industry you care about).  Could be a politician, a famous sports star, an author, an actor, or a titan of industry.  This is a hypothetical, so you get to decide which famous person is calling you.  Upon answering the call, they inform you that they are coming to YOUR HOUSE to celebrate Christmas with YOU!  Now that would be quite a phone call … wouldn’t it?

If you got that call, what would you do next? 

Well if you are like me, you first would want to make sure that the phone call was ACTUALLY from the famous person and not from an impersonator.  You might check the caller ID, request written documentation, evaluate whether their voice sounded like the person they said they were, etc.  I’d be looking for signs to determine if this person really was who they said they were.   

After seeking signs of verification as to their identity, I would next begin to wonder what it was going to be like to have THAT PERSON in MY HOME.  What would we talk about?  What would we serve for dinner?  Should I get them a gift?  Will they bring me one?

These are just some of the things we might do if a famous person announced they were coming over to spend the holidays. Truth is, though, for most of us, we will not get that call this Christmas season.  However, I want to let you know something even more amazing to light up your holidays:  God came to your house.  That’s right … the One who created all things has come to us at Christmas.  

Now hearing that statement, you might ask a couple of questions.  First, how do I KNOW that God really came to earth on that first Christmas?  Second, if God really did come at the first Christmas, what was it like?  What did He do?  What can we learn from it?

Well, this Christmas at Wildwood Community Church, we will be exploring one of Jesus’ nicknames – Immanuel.  This Hebrew word (translated “God with us”) is attributed to Jesus in both Matthew 1:22-23 and Isaiah 7:14.  Christmas is the story of God coming to be with us!  

But how do we know that Jesus is really God?  Over the next couple of weeks we will be looking at evidence to answer this question in daily devotionals (from November 27-December 11).  These 15 daily readings will explore 15 Scripture passages revealing that Jesus is indeed God.  These 15 passages are all rooted in the Gospel of John.  John (one of Jesus’ close earthly friends and followers) wrote His Gospel “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:31)  John organized His Gospel around 7 miraculous signs, 7 revelatory statements, and one exclamation point (the resurrection) that all made the case of Jesus’ divine identity.  We will explore these 15 passages of John’s Gospel from November 27-December 11.

And … what is it like for God to be with us?  We will explore this in 14 daily readings (from December 12-25).  We will explore many excerpts from the historical account of the first Christmas to see what the experience of “God with us” is trying to teach us about what it is like to live in relationship (and in close proximity) to Almighty God.  

This daily devotional is intended to help you understand more of what it means to say “Immanuel” this holiday season.  Join us on this journey!  Oh, and make plans to be with us on each of the Sundays at Wildwood between November 27 and January 1, as we will have a sermon series exploring these same concepts.  

In addition, Wildwood has produced a Spotify and Apple Music playlist of some of our favorite Christmas songs to help serve as the soundtrack for our season.  We also have a number of different ways for us to serve our community together this time of year.  Find out more about all these opportunities on our website – wildwoodchurch.org/christmas.

We look forward to worshipping with you and your family this Christmas season!

In Christ,

Pastor Mark Robinson

 

NOTE:  The devotional will post one reflection each day from November 27-December 25 to this blog and on my Facebook page.  However, you can also access the entire devotional for download:

• To download the full 2022 Christmas Devotional in pdf format, click here.
• To download the full 2022 Christmas Devotional in ePub format, click here.

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