Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
Prayer is inherently a good thing, for “the prayers of all saints” ascend “before the throne” of God (Revelation 8:3-4). Prayer is also a source of good things. We touched briefly upon Matthew 7:11 three weeks ago. The entire pericope (verses 7-11) is extremely encouraging: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil [yes, Jesus said that!], know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father [Who] is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?” Our God is intrinsically good; He is on the throne in heaven; and our prayers are there, too. We thus have every reason – every good reason – to lift our petitions to the Lord. “He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer” (Psalm 102:17).