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.)
Jesus wants to give all Christians His hope. He reveals this desire in His Word. I Peter was written to Christians who were experiencing increasingly intense persecution.They were assured that they had been given a living hope (1:3) and could thus live in that hope “to the end” (1:13). We, of course, share in this assurance. I Peter 3:15 adds, “Sanctify [reverence] the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” One reason that Jesus permits difficulty in our lives is that we can then have a testimony of hope. Our hope is not to be hoarded: what Jesus has given to us can be spoken of to others. We have all known Christians who remained reverent through enormous personal pain. Their examples were powerful – and reached beyond Christians to the unsaved. Likewise, our Biblical hope in the face of life’s challenges can provide an opportunity to share this hope with those who need it most.