Editors Note: The devotional has a background song by
called 'Prince of Peace by Twila Paris' which can be heard if you use Internet
Explorer.
SCRIPTURE:
"Thomas
said to him, "My Lord and my God!" Then Jesus told him, "Because you
have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and
yet have believed." (John 20:28-29, NIV)
Observations:
I asked myself what do I learn about Thomas?
Thomas said to him [Jesus],
"My
Lord and my God!"
Yesterday, I learned that Thomas doubted that the disciples had seen
Jesus until he had proof:
"But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail
marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my
hand into his side, I will not believe it." (John 20:25, NIV)
I
also learned Jesus' response to Thomas in his doubts when he did not
want to believe:
Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here;
see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting
and believe."
Today, I decided to look at Thomas' response!
Observations:
I asked myself what was Thomas' response to Jesus
action?
Thomas said, 'My Lord and my God'
Interpretations:
I asked myself what is significance of Thomas'
proclamation to Jesus?
Thomas' statement to Jesus showed that Thomas finally believed
and his doubts were resolved because of Jesus' previous action in
reaching Thomas where he was at. Because of that action not only did
Thomas call Jesus 'My Lord' but also 'My God'. It is what Thomas
believed in.
Thomas calling Jesus, 'MY LORD' showed
Thomas' allegiance to Jesus alone. It showed that Thomas saw Jesus as
the Master of his life and One who is to be obeyed and worshipped. By
calling Jesus, 'MY LORD', Thomas was also
referring to himself as a servant and a subject of Jesus Christ. Thomas
knew his place and knew He was standing with the Lord of the Universe.
Using the pronoun 'MY' showed his own personal allegiance with Jesus.
But,
Thomas also goes a step further and calls Jesus,
'MY GOD'. Thomas' response shows that he believed Jesus to be God
after his doubts were squashed. It started with Jesus INITIATING the
response to Thomas in his doubts and unbelief. Jesus helped Thomas see
that Jesus is Lord and Jesus is God.
Wow!
That is so amazing and awesome to know that Thomas was face-face with
God.
Observations:
I asked myself the response of Jesus to Thomas'
proclamation?
Jesus said, "Because you have seen me, you have
believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
Interpretation:
I asked myself the significance of Jesus'
statement to Thomas?
By Jesus saying to Thomas, "Because you have seen
me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have
believed.", Jesus is letting Thomas know that He is Lord and He
is God. Jesus could have told Thomas not to call Him Lord and God but
instead Jesus says "blessed are those who have not
seen and yet have believed."
Implications:
I saw important implications for my own life. When Jesus said,
"blessed are those who have not seen and yet have
believed.", I felt like Jesus was talking to me and telling me
that I can be blessed because of believing in Jesus as
MY LORD and MY GOD,
even though I have not seen Jesus in person as Thomas saw Jesus in
person. I realized there is no other way to Heaven and an abundant life
in Christ other than believing Jesus to be MY LORD
& MY GOD. He alone is GOD and there is no other.
When
Jesus revealed Himself to Thomas in Thomas' doubts especially meeting
Thomas specifically where he was at with the evidence he wanted, Jesus
was showing Thomas His love for Thomas and wanted Thomas to believe that
Jesus rose from the dead. This prompted a response from Thomas in
exhilaration when Thomas said, 'MY LORD and MY
GOD'.
I ask you now dear friend, what C.L.A.I.M do you
make about Jesus?
Dear friend, Jesus loves you so much and wants to reach you in your
doubts too. Just as Jesus reached Thomas where he was at, Jesus will
reach you where you are at. Thomas responded by saying, 'MY LORD and MY
GOD'.
How about you friend?
Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and
tomorrow.
If
Thomas could claim Jesus to be Lord and God and Jesus agreed with Him
giving a blessing to those who have not seen Jesus in person and yet
believe He is rose from the dead and is Lord & God, you can make that
claim too and be confident.
You
can claim Jesus to be Lord and God of your life for Jesus is Lord and
Jesus is God. That is exciting to know that the God of the Universe
wanted to have a personal encounter with Thomas to make Thomas believe
in Him. Now this same Jesus wants to have a personal encounter with you.
Jesus wants to have a personal relationship with you as you are and meet
you as you are just as Jesus met Thomas.
When
Jesus met Thomas then Thomas was able to proclaim Jesus to be Lord and
God. Jesus cannot be Lord and God to some and not to others. In other
words, whether you or I believe that Jesus is Lord and God will not
change the fact that JESUS IS LORD and JESUS IS GOD.
Will you make that claim in your life right
now?
You
can make that claim right now and proclaim Jesus to be the Lord and God
of your life. Jesus wants to be your Lord and Jesus wants to be your
God.
Wow!
I am overwhelmed that I can have a relationship with the God of the
Universe.
If God be for us who can be against us?
God
is for you friend and this is the best relationship you can ever have.
Jesus will take care of you and meet you in your needs. This is not to
say that everything will be peachy for it won't always.
Thomas believing in Jesus and calling Him Lord & God is very special to
me because as an Indian, I am reminded of the missionary work Thomas did
among Indians in India. Thomas spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ in
India.
Thomas not only believed in Jesus to be Lord & God but also believed
Jesus died for the sins of humanity to cleanse them by His precious
blood so we can be found righteous in Him.
Now
thousands of years later, I an Indian am a born-again Christian because
of Christ's work in my life showered upon me by His ABUNDANT GRACE. It
is His GRACE that not only SAVES but helps us LIVE and TRANSFORMED LIFE
BY HIS GRACE.
The
Lord used Thomas mightily after meeting him in his doubts and to
evangelize thousands of Indians. I thank the Lord Jesus for having the
opportunity to come to the Lord. It is His choosing for me to come to
Him and it is His choosing for you to come to Him friend whether you are
Indian or not.
When
Jesus died on the cross to save humanity, Jesus died for the entire
world. Jesus' blood was shed to ransom humanity from its sin when those
who receive the cleansing blood as their antidote for the virus known as
sin. Jesus died for you and me friend.
Jesus
became the INITIATOR and only after Jesus became the INITIATOR could we
come to Jesus. We could not come to Jesus if Jesus did not act first. I
thank the Lord for Jesus acting and He did that for you and me.
Jesus
wants to be your Savior, your Lord, and your God. That is exciting to
know.
Friend, you may have never believed in Jesus to be God but He is and you
can believe that now. Yes, you can friend as you depend on Christ to
work in your life. Jesus never denied to be Lord or God when Thomas
addressed Him that way. Instead Jesus accepted those titles and said,
"blessed are those who have not seen and yet have
believed."
Those
blessings are for you and me friend. Jesus wants us to believe in Him as
Lord and God. God wrote the Bible by inspiration and we have the Bible
as our Life Manual. That is exciting to know.
May
you come to know Jesus as your Savior, Lord, and God for you will
experience Christ Lord As Immanuel Messiah!
"Christ Lord As Immanuel Messiah!" (C.L.A.I.M)/"What
C.L.A.I.M do you make about Jesus?"
Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, thanks so much for revealing yourself to Thomas in his
doubts. You gave him evidence of who you are and Thomas called you 'MY
LORD and MY GOD'. You did not tell Thomas not to call you that because
you are LORD and GOD. Thank you so much Jesus. And Jesus, thanks for
your Word for Thy Word is truth. You are the Way, the Truth, and the
Life and no one comes to the Father except through you. You say, 'I and
the Father are One. Oh Lord Jesus, I believe you are MY LORD and MY GOD.
Please let not my allegiance be to anyone but YOU ALONE. Since you are
the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, what you did then you can also
do now. That said Lord, I love you so much and you are never changing.
You are the same. Help me to rest in you so I can tell others about you
as Thomas did in India and other places. Thanks so much Jesus. Thank you
for being the Initiator and Saving me. Thank you for the blessings you
give for those who have not seen you and yet believe. I love you Lord
and need you in my life. Oh Lord when I believe you to be Lord and God,
that means I am saying that you are in control and not I. I leave my
destiny in your hands for I cannot create my own destiny that will be
fruitful for apart from you I can do nothing. Thanks Jesus so much.
Thank you for hearing my prayer and answering me. In Your Name I Pray
Jesus! Amen!
May
you experience the POWER OF CHRIST'S RESURRECTION this day, and give Him
the LOCKED areas of your life too so you can experience His PEACE as you
become an ACTOR in the film called LIFE being directed by your DIRECTOR,
JESUS CHRIST who comes to give JOY and PEACE.
You
don't have to be locked away anymore for Christ is here to free you and
give you peace to live out your actions.
How
do you look at GODISNOWHERE?
One
of my pastors, Pastor Hugo shared this example this past Sunday at the
RESURRECTION DAY SERVICE in the combined worship service of Pittsburgh
Chinese Church-Oakland & Oakland International Fellowship:
If
you look at it as GOD IS NO WHERE, you will still be lost in your sin
and be in bondage locked away in your sins and problems finding no
peace.
But
as my pastor spoke to the congregation and spoke to me, I am here to
tell you that GOD IS NOW HERE.
Yes,
friend God is alive and wants to bring a transformation in your life
through the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ for He paid the penalty on
the cross to rescue you and me and came back to life to save us and live
with us.
Yes,
friend that is exciting to know that we can experience HIS SAVING GRACE
& LIVING GRACE.
When
we mess up, we can go to Jesus with our shortcomings and He will forgive
us and restore us to Him and we will find peace in Him.
"Therefore, if
anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has
come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ
and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the
world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he
has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore
Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.
We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him
who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God." (Colossians 5:17-21, NIV)
"For the wages
of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord." (Romans 6:23, NIV)
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the
light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his
Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive
ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness." (1 John 1:7-9, NIV)
Friend, we need Jesus because we have been separated from God due to our
sin. Because of our sin, Jesus had to pay the price to become our bridge
so we can reach God now not of our own good works but because of the
finished work of Christ, the Lord on the cross.
"For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not
by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV)
May
you come to know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Personal Savior becoming
His offspring so you can spend Eternity with Him. He is waiting for you.
Come as you are. Please do not reject the gift of God.
If
you would like to invite Jesus Christ into your heart and make Him a
daily part of your life, you can this very moment. You will never be
alone. You can claim God's promises for you in the Bible and see them
come true, before your eyes, in His wonderful timing. You don't have to
wait for a special time to come to the Lord. You can come right now as
you pray this prayer, meaning it in your heart and finding your new
identity in Christ Jesus.
Make this your prayer. Don’t let
the enemy deceive you into thinking you need all the answers before
coming to Christ. Let me just assure you though you may not have all the
answers right now before coming to Jesus, He will answer them slowly.
Yes, He will for I know our Redeemer will! Amen!
Prayer:
Dear Jesus, thank you for foreshadowing once again about SAVING US when
you spoke to the disciples about the KERNEL OF WHEAT. Thanks for dying
for our sin so we can have Eternal Life and be saved when we turn to
you. The previous day, you allowed Mary to wash your dirty/stinking feet. Anything
you do has a reason and you foreshadowed what you would do for us one
day on the cross. You washed away all our sins with your precious
cleansing blood on the cross. Thank you so much Jesus. No matter what we
have done or where we have been, we can know that you love us and paid
the ransom to deliver us from the stench of sin. Thank you Jesus. I
accept the antidote you offer and want you to wash me clean with your
precious cleansing blood so I can have new life. My sin I give it all to
you so you can cover me with your righteousness. Help me Jesus. I don't
want to live like I have been living. I don't want my life to smell
because of the stinky/dirty sins of my life. I know you offer cleansing
and washing so I come to you now and receive it. Thank you for forgiving
me of all my sin when you paid the price on the cross for me which I
accept now. Please give me new life Jesus. Come into my heart and make
my heart your home. Live in me Jesus and I will live for you and help me
to serve you the rest of the days of my life so I can say, "Lord Jesus,
ANYTHING, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, I am ready" as you strengthen me and walk
with me and talk to me. I love you Jesus. I accept you as my Lord and
Personal Savior. Please be my Lord and Personal Savior. Thank you for
helping me learn about what Mary did for you and the implications for
our own lives. Thank you that you have heard my prayer and answered me
giving me new life. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!
