From hopeless doubt to blind, unwavering faith

People of Hope Part 6 - Thomas
Monday Devotions@Work  27 April 2020

Eight days after the resurrection of Jesus, there was an incredibly special encounter between Him and Thomas. Sometimes people are cruel and judgmental and will look for mistakes and faults our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ make, forgetting that Christ taught us to first remove the beam in our own eye before we attempt to remove the splinter in our brother’s eye. I think it is the case with Thomas – Jesus’s disciple. To this day he is known as “doubting Thomas”, although he was not the only one who did not believe initially. Interesting how we do not speak about Peter as ‘denying Peter’ or about David as ‘adulterous David’. When the women came to the disciples to tell them that they had seen the resurrected Jesus and that the grave was empty, nobody believed them at first. Not until there were more and more reports of people who had seen Him, but it was not until He appeared to them Himself eating fish and honeycomb, that they believed.

Thomas had just put words to what was in his heart. He spoke up about it. He was honest with God, himself, and others. Unfortunately, Thomas was not there when Jesus appeared to the rest of the disciples. We do not know why he was not there. When they told him, Jesus had appeared to them, he said his now famous words: “I will not believe this unless I get to touch His wounds”. His absence cost him dearly. He would have to wait 8 days before Christ appeared to him. By then I can just imagine all the thoughts that must have gone through his mind while listening to the several different accounts of people who saw Jesus. Mary Magdalene, the other women, the travelers to Emmaus, Simon and the other disciples. He missed all of this. I can imagine him going from hopeless unbelief to doubting the sanity of his friends to thinking something like, “Why did He not appear to me too?”. Maybe thinking that Jesus was angrier with him than with the rest or that he had committed such a grievous sin that he is not ‘worthy’ of being appeared to? I do not really know what went through Thomas’ mind for those 8 long days – but I do know what would have gone through my mind. I think I would have felt that I had missed it, and I would have wondered if I had missed it forever. But Jesus is a God of second chances and so He had grace with Thomas. Granted, He made him wait for those 8 days. He let him contemplate, think about all he had heard from Jesus Himself to what he heard from his friends now. Thomas must have played everything Jesus taught them over and over like a movie, trying to remember and sass out the small details of what He told them. He must by now have heard the disciples and the travelers to Emmaus’s version of how Jesus explained the scriptures - the law, the prophets, the psalms - to them and how He broke bread with them. He had time to contemplate and process a lot of information in that week. He had 8 days to decide if he was going to stick around with them – or leave. His doubt did not make him leave. He stayed. He made sure he was with them. By Sunday morning, Thomas was not going to miss the meeting again. This time he was present with his fellow disciples when Jesus appeared to them.

In John 20:24-29 we read how Jesus met with the disciples. They were together in the house and once again the doors were shut, but Jesus just simply appeared in their midst and greets them with a blessing of peace. He comforts them with His peace before He does anything else. Then He address Thomas with an invitation. Come Thomas, come put your finger into My wounds, come see for yourself. I bet Thomas went – “Who told Him that? He was not there when I said that? Oh! right He is God – really, He knows everything – He knows what I said! He knows that I doubted Him.” I can imagine it being one of those moments where all the blood in your head goes to your feet and you know you can’t get out of this and there are more thoughts going through your mind in milliseconds than what you can put into words in a lifetime. And then Thomas spoke and what he said is profound. He said, “My Lord and my God”. What is there more to say? Unconditional recognition of who Jesus is. Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Never to be doubted again.

Jesus’s answer is remarkable because He refers to you and me in that moment. He says to him – You, Thomas, (and for that matter everybody else present that day) believe because you have seen. Blessed are those who have not seen and still believe. That is, you and me. We believe because of the Holy Spirit’s revelation, and God blessed us in that moment!

What became of Thomas? Certainly, he did not stay ‘doubting Thomas’. He became a missionary to India, China and some say possibly visited Indonesia. Like all the other apostles he died a martyr’s death - not for his belief that Jesus died. Everybody believed that Jesus died. There was no dispute about that. He died for his belief that Jesus was resurrected. If there was one disciple that would not have died for that belief had it been a fabrication of someone’s imagination or a conspiracy of some sort, it would have been Thomas. The life and death of ‘doubting Thomas’ became one of the shining testimonies of the truth of the resurrection, and he must have seen many come into the Kingdom – by believing without seeing.

©2020 Copyright All rights reserved. HG Venter gerda.venter@telkomsa.net

Our song for the week is "Even If" from Mercy Me:

A Song of Hope

 Monday devotions@Work 20 April 2020

This morning's devotions is a song or actually it's rather like a short film.  This song tells the stories of Hagar, Ruth, David and Mary Magdalene.  It really sings the stories of all the people of hope we so far learned about.  Make some quiet time to just sit and listen to this song without being in a hurry and without interruption.

 The Name is "The God who sees" and it is by Kathie Lee Gifford and Nicole C Mullen

The See-saw of hope and despair

People of Hope Part 5 - Mary Magdalene

Monday devotions@Work 13 April 2020

Having celebrated Passover this weekend in a lockdown situation made me think about the people whom Jesus shared His life on earth with in a whole different way. Mary Magdalene stood out for me. We don’t know much about her background, her family – or apparent lack of family for that matter. However, what we do know about her is profound.

We know that Jesus cast 7 demons out of her (Mark 16:9 and Luke 8:2). The circumstances that led up to her being in this state we do not know, but I cannot think that they were hopeful circumstances. There is nothing that leads us to be able to think that she had an extremely bright and hopeful future at that point in time. Yet somehow Jesus had compassion on her and saved her from the hopelessness of this existence. He healed her and she became a most loving, loyal and devout follower. He gave her hope in her darkest hour. She lived in this hope for a year or two or three, we do not know exactly how long, but I think it is safe to say that she must have rejoiced in her newfound freedom and in her relationship with Jesus and the other disciples.

Then came that fateful day that Jesus, against all expectation, was betrayed by Judas and arrested in the garden of Gethsemane. The same night He was sentenced to death by an illegal and unjust nightly court and crucified the next morning. Amongst a few of His other followers, Mary was standing at the cross the next day. Seeing her savior, healer, deliverer die a most cruel and gruesome death. She saw the soldiers declare Him dead when they came to break His bones. She saw them pierce Him with a sword. She saw the water and blood flowing from His side. She saw Him being buried in a garden tomb. She refused to leave or hide, seeing and living with Him through His darkest hour. From hope to utter hopelessness and despair in one day.

Three days later, early morning, we find her on her way to the garden tomb. She finds the stone rolled away and the tomb empty. She runs back to Peter and the other disciples weeping, initially thinking that His body was moved without them knowing where He was taken. Hope deferred. She cannot even pay her last earthly respects to the One whom she dearly loved. The other disciples leave and return to their respective homes. She hangs around in the garden, weeping and alone. Hopeless and directionless. What now? Whereto now? How does she keep on living after this? Have you ever been in this place of not knowing how to take the next step in life? Not knowing which direction to go?

In this state of hopelessness, she has an encounter with two angels that ask her: “…why are you weeping?” I mean really, I think I would go – “How can you ask me this? Is it not obvious?” She answers them respectfully – “…because they have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid Him”. Then she sees Jesus standing there and she does not recognize Him! She thinks He must be the gardener. He must have looked so different, her grief and hopelessness and perhaps her inability to even contemplate the idea of Him being alive, must have been so prevalent that she, who knew Him so well, did not even recognize Him in that moment – until He said her name. There must have been something in the way He said her name that made her realize whom se was talking to. She answers Him, saying: “Rabboni”, which means “My Teacher”. That is a personalized answer. She could have said “The teacher” but the “my” indicates personal relationship. Can we even try to imagine what went through Mary Magdalene in this moment? Can we try to put ourselves in her shoes?

A most extraordinary discussion now follows:

Do not touch Me for I have not ascended to My Father yet.

Can we even begin to understand what it means that the Messiah of all mankind, chooses in this moment to appear to a human being, in this case a woman, BEFORE He ascended to His Father?

He sends her out with a message.

He tells her to go and tell the other disciples that the grave is empty not because they have moved His body, but because “He is risen”.

He tells her where He is going.

He essentially says to her, I have something I need to do first. He says I just need to go home first. I just first need to go see “My Father and your Father, My God and your God”. Mind-blowing. In Mark 16 we read that the angels at the grave already told her and the others that He will go before them to Galilee.

Mary Magdalene, whom Jesus delivered and healed from an utterly desperate place, who’s hope was restored, lost again in the despair of the cross and burial of Jesus, becomes the first human being to see the risen Christ – even before He ascended to His Father. She becomes the first messenger with an extraordinary message of life and hope and death defeated. Redeemed once again out of a place of despair, this time into eternal hope.

Such is it often with us in life. We cannot always see the result and because we can’t see the result, we tend to lose hope along the way. Jesus understands this. He does not leave us in a place of hopelessness without coming to us with His message of hope. He asks us to return to His Stronghold of Hope in Faith. It is when we remain in this stronghold of hope that He will give us peace and joy in seemingly hopeless circumstances. It is from this place of hope that He will deliver us from the waterless pit. It is because of His covenant with us that He does this – not because of anything we can do to deserve it. (Zech. 9)

In the world we currently live in, we seem to be in a place of hopelessness, fear and despair. We are all on lockdown and the economy of the world is crashing. I am definitely riding the emotional see-saw between hope and despair at times and I do suspect that I am not the only one. But one thing I know beyond a shadow of a doubt is that God knows what He is doing even when I don’t know what He is doing. Mary Magdalene did not know what He was doing when He willingly laid down His life at the cross. Only days later she understood. Such is the nature of faith. Faith is to hold on to the things we cannot see nor understand – yet. Faith is to trust a Sovereign God who is inherently good and infinitely wiser than us.

I think if we “hang around the garden” long enough like Mary did – He will meet us where we are. He knows where we are. He knows where to find us. What we need to do is to be on the lookout for Him. Be expectant to meet Him, otherwise we may not recognize Him when He does come. Listen for when He calls your Name in the quietness of the morning, in the darkness of the night, in the brightness of the day… listen… for He will come.

©2020 Copyright All rights reserved HG Venter

Listen to Natalie Grant as she sings The Story of Mary Magdalene.

From a hopeless start to a hopeful finish

People of hope Part 4 – King David 

Monday devotions - 6 April 2020

Read Samuel 16

In the devotions of the past 2 weeks, I referred to King David. However, his story starts long before he was king. In Samuel 16 we read how God called Samuel and sent him to the house of Jesse to anoint the new king. It remains a remarkable discussion with God. God says to Samuel: “I am sending you to Jesse – for “I have provided Myself a king among his sons”. Uhm yes that’s right – did you read that properly? No, God is not saying Jesse and his wife happens to have had a son that I think can do the job of being king. God says, “I have provided for Myself a king among his sons.” You see, God has a Kingdom, and He has a purpose with His Kingdom and His Kingdom purposes come first. After that He then creates David, or you, or me specifically for that purpose. He builds into our very design everything we will need to fulfill our purpose. There is no way anybody on earth is born without a purpose, simply because God’s Kingdom purposes come first – and then God provides for Himself someone – you, me, David, to fulfill that purpose!

Furthermore, God said to Samuel that He will tell him who to anoint and that the choice should not be made on the grounds of outward appearance, because God does not see as man sees. He looks at the heart. On arrival, Samuel invites Jesse to bring all his sons to the meeting, and well this is where the story gets interesting. Jesse brings all his sons – or does he? After Samuel went through all the sons of Jesse, Samuel must ask, “Is there not another”? Upon which Jesse answers well yes… there’s this youngest one still, but he tends to the sheep…

Truth is David was not even deemed worthy enough by his own father and brothers to attend the meeting, let alone did they ever imagine him being worthy enough to be the next king! On top of that, there seem to be serious neglect if not abuse of a young child. In 1 Samuel 17:34-36 David tells Saul that he has killed the lion and the bear while looking after his sheep, so he will kill Goliath as well. How does it happen that a young boy– at most a teenager – is left out in the field having to fight lions and bears to keep himself and his sheep alive. In our day and age this would have been serious endangerment, abuse and neglect of a child. Sounds to me like serious rejection. It really does not give me the idea that David was a very welcome and treasured member of his family.

In addition to this, in Ps 51:5 David, after his sin with Bathsheba and in his own darkest moment of repentance, writes: “I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me”. Was David an illegitimate child? We don’t really know, but what we do know, is that for some reason his father and brothers did not deem him worthy to even be at the meeting. Not even good enough to be present when they brought a sacrifice nor to celebrate with them when his brother (as they expected) gets anointed as king. No sense of: You belong to this family, we love and include you in our midst. No – just a “Well he’s tending to the sheep, you see someone must do that while we are all gathered here. He’s needed there not here”. I doubt that it was just because he was the youngest.

What a hopeless start David had and what a life he was created for! I don’t think that becoming one of the greatest Kings of Israel was David’s best achievement, nor was his victory over Goliath, or the many wars he won, or the psalms he’s written. I think he simply became great because He was ‘a man after God’s heart’, and God does not see as man sees but He looks at the heart. What is in your heart and mine? What does God see when he looks at us? Let’s read psalm 51 and see what David saw when he looked into his own heart:

"Psalm 51
Quoted from the NKJ:  Biblegateway.com 
For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
so that sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
you who are God my Savior,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 Open my lips, Lord,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise.

18 May it please you to prosper Zion,
to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,
in burnt offerings offered whole;
then bulls will be offered on your altar."  

David saw his sin, his iniquities, deceit. He did not hide that or tried to reason or explain or excuse himself. He simply offered his broken spirit to God as a sacrifice. Then he asked God to create in him a pure heart and a steadfast spirit. He asked God to keep him in His presence and to have the presence of the Holy Spirit with him forever.

This is what made David great. In his most hopeless hour he reached out to God – He was a man after God’s own heart.

Thus, one question remains. In your and my desperate hopeless hours do we reach out to God? I want to encourage you to draw near to Him in this time. He will not reject anyone who seeks him.

©Copyright 2020 All rights reserved HG Venter

Listen to the song about David by Chris Tomlin from The CD - The Story