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.)
The all-knowingness of Jesus ensures that He knows all about us and that He remembers our limitations (Psalm 103) and helps us recall our past blessings (Psalm 63) and His present presence in prayer (Jonah 2:7). The experience of Nehemiah further encourages God’s people. He had returned to Jerusalem to do God’s work in rebuilding the city. Nehemiah 4:7-23 records a conspiracy of the people surrounding the city to attack it before the walls were completed. Verse 9 references the necessity of supplication. “Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night.” Imagine the tension! Later, Nehemiah exhorts the believers, “Be not ye afraid of them: remember the LORD, [Who] is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses” (verse 14). Because these people trusted the Lord, worked together, and were prepared to defend themselves, the attack never came. The very real threat of a physical battle pictures the spiritual battle that each one of us faces each moment of every day (Ephesians 6:10-18 – note that this passage ends with a call to prayer). We must, like Nehemiah’s people, “remember the LORD,” for the world’s war against us will not cease. Jesus reminds us to remember Him, for without Him we cannot win.