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SCRIPTURE:
“The
Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him
for a sign from heaven. He sighed deeply and said, "Why does this
generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will
be given to it." Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed
to the other side." (Mark 8:11-13, NIV)
OBSERVATION:
I asked myself what were the actions of Jesus in
response to the questioning of the Pharisees, who asked Jesus for a sign
from heaven, when Jesus just came to the region of Dalmanutha?
1.
Jesus sighed deeply!
2. Jesus said, "Why does this generation
ask for a miraculous sign?"
3. Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, no
sign will be given to it!"
4. Jesus left them.
5. Jesus got back into the boat.
6. Jesus crossed to the other side.
INTERPRETATION:
I asked myself why is it significant that
Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, no sign will be given it?"
Jesus did not want the Pharisees and this generation just to
believe in Him for what they could get out of Him but for who He is and
why He came for. The miracles Jesus did were not to exalt Himself
because time after time Jesus told people who He healed not to tell
anyone about it. Now why would Jesus change His modus of operandi or MO
for the Pharisees. He would not! Jesus did the miracles as a means to
provide them His Word and teachings to transform them. Every miracle
Jesus did had a lesson or principle to it that He wanted those around
Him to understand. Yes, there was a time Jesus told others to believe in
Him for the miracles but even then it was to point to Father God and the
Kingdom of Heaven. That is why Jesus came! He wanted them also to realize that
HE IS THE MIRACULOUS SIGN! What can be more MIRACULOUS than a VIRGIN
BIRTH and Jesus, being God-Incarnate visiting humanity to deliver
humanity. The Pharisees and their followers did not want to see the
MIRACULOUS SIGN right in front of them. JESUS IS THE MIRACULOUS SIGN.
IMPLICATIONS:
I saw important implications for my own life. Jesus wants me to
believe in Jesus for who He is and why He came for and not for what I
can get out of Him. My belief in Jesus should not be based on any sign
other than Himself. He is the MIRACULOUS SIGN.
HOW GOSPEL GIVES ME
TESTIMONY REGARDING S.I.G.N.
While
doing student ministry, this story was sent to me via email about a
Philosophy class where there were 300 students with a professor who
mocked God. One day this professor dared anyone to raise their hand if
they believed in God and made a challenge to God! He told the class that
if God exists and is real, He can stop a chalk from breaking when it
hits the floor. One student in the back raised his hand to state that He
believed in God. The professor ridiculed the student and said, "Let's
see what your God can do, if He can stop a chalk that hits the ground
from breaking". He proceeded to throw the chalk but for some reason it
rolled on his pants and rolled away. The students were all awe-struck
and the student had the opportunity to share God with others who were
interested. (I don't know if this is a true story or a story given with
a principle)
What it
showed me is that God can reveal Himself to people if He chooses to by
utilizing signs but He does not have to nor will he do it just for the
sake of overcoming ridicule. I believe in that story, God intervened not
to give the professor a sign to believe but to glorify Himself through
the students actions and minister to the student for his faith.
In my own life, when I first
became a believer in Christ, I became a believer because I had severe
asthma as a Hindu and knew Jesus alone could cure me and heal me as He
did thousands of years ago. Jesus did heal me of my asthma. But soon
this became a habit and I started to expect Jesus to do all these things
for me because I belonged to Him. I wanted the best of everything
including all 'A's. A 'B' was like a 'B-sting'. Slowly, my faith was
getting shaken because I was not getting what I want. I focused so much
on external signs from the Lord to believe in Him that I missed out on
WHO HE IS and WHY HE CAME.
Jesus did not come to be MY
GENIE IN THE BOTTLE. I am glad just like Jesus did not give the
Pharisees what they wanted, Jesus did not give me what I wanted. I
wanted Jesus to give me all 'A's in college, etc. Of course when things
did not go my way, I was not a happy camper.
My mom asked me a profound
question: "Ramesh, do you believe in Jesus because
of what He will do for you or for WHO HE IS?"
I realized my belief in Jesus
was based on the things I could get out of Him more than for who He is
and why He came. I was believing based on signs in my life but depending
on signs alone can be a dangerous slope.
I thank the Lord Jesus Christ
for not abandoning me to my ways. Instead, one day I was able to attend
the Billy Graham Crusade. There, I rededicated my life to Christ
because I wanted to believe in Jesus for WHO HE IS and WHY HE CAME and
not for what I could get out of Jesus.
Later, the Lord Jesus in His
grace and mercy introduced me to InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF)
as a student where I started growing in the Lord.
I am glad that Jesus did not
abandon me to my own ways but worked with me even through my struggles.
Later on, I went on to become a campus minister with IVCF and my
emphasis became counseling broken hearts with the love of Christ and
making the Gospel of Jesus Christ the central theme. A Gospel centered
message is a Christ-centered message.
The CROSS became central to
ministry while I was working with IVCF. Later, I felt I should share
what Jesus was teaching me through His Word with thousands of students.
I started doing that and to this day because of what the Lord impressed
upon me when I was a campus minister with IVCF, I share what the Lord is
teaching me but this time through
http://www.pittsburghstandard.com
Asking
Jesus for a sign is not necessarily a bad thing if our motives are right
but living our lives based just on signs can be very dangerous. Just
because we don't see a sign does not mean GOD IS NOT REAL. Also, God has
His ways of doing things which do include signs at times but they are in
His timing for His purposes just like Jesus when shared the story of
destroy the temple and in three days, it will be raised up.
Here to
Jesus was foreshadowing what would happen to Him. Jesus would be
destroyed on the CROSS for our sin but 3 days later, He would come back
to life to save. What my focus should be on is THE SIGN OF THE CROSS. It
is the sign of the cross that reveals God's love towards humanity.
I am so
glad what the GOSPEL reveals to me. The SIGN revealed in the Gospel is
the MIRACULOUS SIGN of JESUS CHRIST and what He came to do for humanity
including me.
While we were yet sinners, Jesus went to the cross
to die for our sin. Jesus shed His precious cleansing blood on
the cross for you and me. JESUS BECAME THE MIRACULOUS SIGN.
I ask you now dear friend, what does a
S.I.G.N. mean to you?
Dear friend, a sign without the Lord's backing is nothing more than
astrology, fortune-telling, etc but with the Lord's backing, it becomes
a MIRACULOUS SIGN giving direction and purpose for our lives. It starts
at the CROSS.
Wow, you
and I can find my redemption at the cross of Calvary. The cross is not
just a sign to wear on our neck or gesture with our hands for the sake
of doing it. It has TREMENDOUS MEANING BEHIND IT. You nor I should ever
take the cross of Christ lightly.
When we wear a cross on our neck, what does it
tell people about us?
It
should be a sign that we are redeemed by the Lord Jesus because we have
accepted the free gift of grace given to us because of what Jesus did
for us. It should not be just a jewelry worn on our neck. Anyone who
sees a cross should be taken back in time to the place in Golgotha where
a OLD RUGGED CROSS stood. It is on that CROSS, Jesus Christ sacrificed
Himself for humanity.
Jesus
loves you so much that Jesus went to the cross for you. If you were the
only one, Jesus would have still died for you to give you eternal life.
"Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and
tomorrow."
What
that means is the redemption that Jesus bought 2000 years ago with His
blood for you, is available to you even now. Only in Christ can we find
purpose for our lives and redemption from the enemy. That means our
motives for coming to Christ should be based on "being in bondage to
sin" and not to get things out of Christ for our own pleasures.
Friend, if Jesus is someone
you think you can get a lot out of then you will eventually put yourself
in the same boat that the Pharisees did and I did. Jesus is not a genie
in the bottle where at our whim, He will give us what we want. That is
not why Jesus came nor who He is. That is why Jesus did not give into
the wishes of the Pharisees. Jesus did not want them to believe in Him
for what they can get out of Him but for who He is and why He came for.
Friend, Jesus does love you
and wants you to know who He is. Jesus is God, the Author of Life and
the Creator of you and me. Jesus is Lord and Savior of the world whether
people believe in Him or not. The Lordship of Christ and Saving Grace of
Christ does not depend on whether you or I believe for Jesus will
continue to be God for eternity. It is this same GRACE that helps us to
live our lives too!
The question is what are you
going to do with who Jesus is?
What you do will determine
what Jesus means to you. If you accept Jesus as your Savior then you are
saying that Jesus is the Only One that can save you.
Jesus came to save us from the
bondage of sin and the trap that Satan set for humanity which humanity
fell in due to the test that Adam and Eve failed and got trapped by
Satan. Jesus knew only He had the antidote to this virus known as sin
and only His antidote can wipe out this virus. So, for you and me, Jesus
went to the cross where He was crucified and His precious cleansing
blood was shed so humanity can be freed of this virus known as sin when
humanity turned to Jesus and asked Jesus for this antidote.
You see friend,
God desires that none should perish but all come
into repentance so that is why while we
were yet sinners Christ died for us to remove Satan's power over
us. Satan cannot stand the blood of Jesus and it's power to save for
nothing but the blood of Jesus can save.
Jesus loves you so much and
went through so much for you and me. You cannot even imagine what Jesus
went through and the 'Passion of the Christ' is only a glimpse of what
Jesus had to endure. He did it all for you and me to give us His blood
to save us. Jesus did it to be your Savior but Jesus will not force
Himself in your life.
You mean so much to Jesus that
if you were the only one living Jesus would have still died for you on
the cross going through that excruciating pain.
Do you
believe that?
If you do, you can ask Jesus
to be the Savior of your life by turning your life over to Him as you
confess and repent of all your sin. When you confess and repent of your
sin, you are giving them to Jesus to wash you clean with His precious
cleansing blood. Now you are whiter than snow even
though your sins are red as crimson. Yes friend for that is why
Jesus came to save you by His grace. It is by His grace we are saved. He
will wipe you clean no matter how yucky you feel. It is also by His
grace we can live this life.
But it does not end there for
Jesus did not just come to be our Savior but also our Lord. This means
Jesus wants to be the Lord of your life. You can make Him the Lord of
your life. When Jesus died on the cross, was buried, and came back on
the 3rd day, Jesus did that to save but also to show that He is Lord of
all creation including death.
Because
Jesus was obedient to death even death on a cross, therefore He is now
highly exalted that at the Name of Jesus every tongue should confess
that He is Lord. That day is coming soon my friend.
You have the opportunity to
make today, that day to believe in Jesus as your Savior and also take
Him as your Lord. He is your Lord and wants to be the Lord of your life.
That means Jesus means so much to you that you surrender your life over
to the Lordship of Christ and become His humble servant.
I know I want Jesus to be Lord
and Savior of my life for who He is and why He came and not for what I
can get out of Him. But I cannot on my own and need Jesus' help. Jesus
is there to help us. HE IS THE SIGN for our lives. Jesus is my God who
has become my Lord and Savior transforming me by the Power of the Holy
Spirit. This can happen in your life too. Jesus wants you to be in His
arms of love. Sanctification is a process but it is in the Lord's Hands.
May you know Savior is giving
nurture!
"Savior
Is Giving Nurture!" (S.I.G.N)/"What does a S.I.G.N mean to you?"
Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for being my Lord and my Savior. You are my
God who came into this world as God-incarnate, lived as a human being
with divine qualities. Yet, to have a relationship with me that was
marred, you went to the cross to restore that relationship by your
grace. You shed your precious cleansing blood for me so when I am
covered in your blood, my sin is wiped away where Satan has trapped me.
Thank you for being my Rescuer. Thank you for being my Redeemer. More
than anything you have become my Savior. You want me to believe in you
for who you are and why you came than what I can get out of you. Forgive
me Lord for I have made you my genie in the bottle many times and am
sorry for that. I want you to live in me and transform me by the power
of the Holy Spirit. You are MY MIRACULOUS SIGN. Transform my life Jesus
for your honor and glory. Thank you for your Word and what I can learn
from it. Teach me your ways and help me to walk in your Truth! Give me
an undivided heart that I may fear your Name. Thank you so much Jesus.
Thank you that you have heard my prayer and answered me! Thank you for
transforming me! In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!!
If I ask the Lord
questions just to test the Lord to show others that I am trapping the
Lord by my questions, He will not answer and I will be disappointed.
Jesus did not come to earth to be tested and trapped by humanity as the
Pharisees tried to do time after time. Jesus had a bigger picture and
mission in mind and it was not to ARGUE with the Pharisees succumbing to
their testing. I should ask the Lord Jesus questions with genuineness to
find answers and not to trap. First of all what human being can think
they can trap the Lord anyway. A human being cannot even understand the
mind of God without the Lord & Savior revealing Himself to them.
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!
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:
Jesus, I thank you for being the Bread of Life. You are the Living Bread
of my life. Thank you for coming from Heaven and giving your life for
the life of the world. You sacrificed yourself for humanity. Thank you
Lord when we eat of you symbolically making you part of our life,
digesting what you teach us by following you, we can be living
Eternally, and the fruit that comes will reflect and resemble your life.
I want that Father God. I want that Lord Jesus! I want that Holy Spirit!
I know of a lot of people who partake of Holy Communion where the bread
represents your body broken for their sin and the juice represents your
blood shed for their sin. When we partake of Holy Communion, we are
reminded that we are remembering you. I want to remember you always Lord
Jesus. But for me to remember you always, I need to know you and
acknowledge everything you said you are. So right now I acknowledge that
you are my Lord and Personal Savior who died and rose again to give me
life from sin. So right now, I come to you and say how sorry I am for my
sin and living a life on my own. I repent of my sin and ask you to
forgive me of my sin with your cleansing blood which I accept. Wash me
and I will be clean from this infection of sin. Come Lord Jesus and
please become part of my life as you live in me and I will live for you.
I thank you Jesus for coming into my heart and making my heart your
home. Thank you for living in me Jesus and I will live for you and serve
you the rest of the days of my life. I do need your Spirit to reside in
me and work in me and through me so I surrender all that I am and will
be to you. Whatever your will is for me, please give me the strength and
willingness to bear it and rejoice in you. Thank you so much Jesus. I
thank you Jesus for becoming my Lord and Personal Savior. I thank you
Jesus you have heard my prayer and have answered me. I thank you that I
am your child Oh God. I thank you for becoming my only Way to Eternal
Life. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!
