Faith Defined

The Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms defines Christian faith as “Belief, trust, and obedience to God as revealed in Jesus Christ. In Hebrews 11 we are told that faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Can you see that both definitions rely on that with which we have faith. There is a criticality in the object of our faith; an absolute necessity. Faith becomes our link to the object of our faith.

Kevin DeYoung offers an interesting perspective and illustration;

“Faith is only the instrument by which we embrace Christ, have communion with Him, and share in all His benefits. It is the object of our faith that matters. If you venture out onto a frozen pond, it isn’t your faith that keeps you from crashing into the water. True, it takes faith to step onto the pond, but it is the object of your faith, the twelve inches of ice, that keeps you safe. Believe in Christ with all your heart, but don’t put your faith in your faith. Your experience of trusting Christ will ebb and flow. So be sure to rest in Jesus Christ and not our faith in Him. He alone is the one who died for our sakes and was raised for our justification. Believe this and you too will be saved.”


Grace and Peace!

A Question of Faith

Things can seem so overwhelming in this fallen world; economy, unemployment, illness, storms, earthquakes, crime, wars… Many years ago I was facing one of the most trying times of my life. I found myself troubled, worried, and so very weary. There was just no escaping this “feeling” of fear and depression. For one of the first times in my life I turned to the Bible. It seems as if everywhere I read a few powerful themes rose up; God is a God of love, God is faithful and a God that can be trusted.

I took great comfort in those truths and a statement came to mind; It is a question of faith! Whatever we may be facing it is truly a question of faith. That brings to mind Jeremiah 17:7;

But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.

This simple statement; It is a question of faith, was such a great reminder that I wrote it down on a 3X5 index card. I started carrying it in my pocket and as I faced my trying circumstances I would pull that card out and look at it; what peace, what comfort!

Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us;

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 
6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Oh what a God we have. I carried that little card for a very long time, but a few years ago a good friend was facing a very difficult time and as he and I were talking I told him this story and handed him my card.

If you are troubled; have faith!

If you are worried; have faith!

If you are weary; have faith!

If you are facing untold trials; have faith!

In 1 Corinthians 4:6-9 we read;

6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

Father, we thank you that through faith in Christ as Lord and Savior and by the power of the Holy Spirit that we can rest assured come what may. Even when we are hard pressed, perplexed, persecuted, or struck down, we know that by faith we can trust in your surpassing power. Abba, Father we love you…Amen!

Grace and Peace!

Unconquerable Hope

It is amazing how God stretches me to learn, to grow; placing people, questions and scripture together at just the right time. I have a friend who is a teacher at YWAM and he recently sent me an email asking about Matthew 15:21-28.
This is a passage I have often wondered about myself but upon study we find so much:

Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession.” Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” She said. He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.” “Yes, Lord” she said, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

First a little context; Jesus and His disciples have traveled about 50 miles to Tyre and Sidon and while still among mostly Jew this territory had tremendous gentile influence. Next, Matthew identifies this woman as a Canaanite and if you remember from time of Judges the Canaanites were not just Gentiles, but were the enemies of Israel (and what does Christ teach us about enemies). Also, we need to consider the people involved; Jews, Disciples, Gentiles so there could be multiple lessons

Picking up in verse 22 - this woman was crying out - the word means so much more than just crying out - there is a sense of loudly talking and praying associated with this word and look how she recognizes Christ as Lord and as Son of David - she recognizes Christ as messiah when most Jews did not or would not accept that so you can begin to see what Hendriksen calls the "great contrast between the unbelief of the Jews and the faith of this woman, born a Gentile". Move to verse 23 and notice how Christ responded (with silence), but the disciples responded and look how they responded…"send her away"…Mounce writes that in this verse the insensitivity to suffering by Jesus is explainable by the rest of the lesson on faith, but the disciples were without excuse; they were annoyed and considered this woman a bother (where was the Christian love).

In verse 24, Jesus explains the he is for the lost sheep of Israel (Jews) so while he seems to refuse immediate help for the woman, and most people tend to downplay this, but notice he also did not send her away; refusing the request of the disciples so maybe this is more for the disciples than the woman. Then in an amazing display of faith the woman kneels before Christ (and reading of different versions help here, look at KJV); that word kneel in Greek is proskyneō - and also means to worship - amazing! So in this verse we see the reverence of this woman in agony worshipping Christ and the intense love she has for her daughter; she simply cries out, "Lord, Help me" - a prayer we all need…

Then comes verse 26 and Christ answering in a somewhat concerning manner - it is not right to give the children's bread to the dogs… SO there are probably two concerns to consider; first, why did Christ use this seemingly harsh phrase and second why did he delay in helping? First, the phrase is certainly cultural and in Greek there are several words for Dog - some mean savage, ugly dogs but not this one - in Greek this word is Kynarion - which is like a little puppy or house pet - well loved! Barclay remarks about this verse saying "we can be quite sure that the smile on Jesus' face and the compassion in his eyes robbed the words of all insult and bitterness" - which brings us to the delay - why delay in helping? Well for one thing this is certainly not the first time in the bible there is a delay in answering/helping - Abraham and Sarah had to wait patiently and persistently; Many of the Psalms written by David cry out on the wait; Jairus in Mark 5; Lazarus in John 11, so we can see this pattern of delay which is usually a lesson in faith. In this case it could be said that this woman displayed great faith, but also that her faith was refined as you can see by her answer in verse 27. Hendriksen calls this verse a "glorious expression of faith" and in this verse you can see her humility - she doesn't resent be called a dog as long as she is loved, you can see her eternal hope as she turns even what seems to be a negative response of no help into reason for optimism (even dogs get crumbs), you can see her "unswerving faith in Christ" as she sees Him as Lord, Savior and Master, and finally you can see her perseverance in faith - oh my! Barclay wrote of this as an "Indomitable persistence springing from an unconquerable hope" - Amen and a lesson for us all.

Then in verse 28 we see the daughter healed instantly and Christ declaring O woman, great is your faith - His love is so great that he praises expressions/examples of faith - another lesson for us all! So while this passage can be concerning there is so much in it - a lesson on the right position of our hearts as disciples of Christ to learn to love well especially those in need, a lesson on faith - patience and persistence in faith, it is a lesson on the great love of Christ and that no matter the trials before us there is Hope in Christ!


Grace and Peace!

Reckless Leap

As I continue my journey through the book of Mark, there are many examples of extreme faith; a faith that may appear to the worldly as a reckless faith. There is the faith of the four friends who cut a hole in someone’s roof and lowered their paralytic friend to Jesus; there was the sick woman who touched Christ’s cloak; as well as the mother of the possessed child. And there is Bartimaeus; a blind man who begged Christ for mercy despite being rebuked by the crowd. A blind man who as soon as he heard Christ was calling him leaped to his feet and went to Jesus. We find this story in Mark 10:

46 Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” 50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. 51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” 52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

In this passage a blind man with such faith, a faith some would call reckless, some would rebuke, a man with such faith his focus was clearly on Christ. I read somewhere that this passage is a good example of active faith in contrast to what some would call safe religion. A faith that was active in seeking Christ, leaping and running to Christ despite all odds. For me it is an introspective call; a call to ask is my faith active and alive, a call to examine what I pray for, to examine just exactly what am I clinging to…

Oswald Chambers once wrote:

“Our clingings come in this way – we put one foot on God’s side and one on the side of human reasoning; then God widens the space until we either drop down in between or jump onto one side or the other. We have to take a leap, a reckless leap, and if we have learned to rely on the Holy Spirit, it will be a reckless leap onto God’s side. So many of us limit our praying because we are not reckless in our confidence in God. In the eyes of those who do not know God, it is madness to trust Him, but when we pray in the Holy Spirit we begin to realize the resources of God, that He is our perfect heavenly Father, and we are His Children. Always keep an inner recollectedness that God is your Father through the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Father, through Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit help us to take that reckless leap of faith, filling us with confidence, allowing us to trust that you are our perfect heavenly Father and that we are your Children. Amen.

Grace and Peace!

Focus

I have a friend who is struggling right now. I am not sure how to help; he wants space. It has caused me to think and pray. You know life is full of stuff – trials, storms, tribulations. Yet, I think that no matter what is going on if our focus is correct we can persevere, we can move forward in this life.

Focus is an interesting word. It means the concentration of attention or energy on something, maximum clarity and a point where there is a convergence of light. So to me the question becomes where is our focus? Pastor Scotty Smith in a recent prayer helps provide me some clarity when it comes to focus.

He said, “It’s only because of your cross, Jesus, that we can be certain that trials don’t come to us as punishment for our sins, but for the purification of our faith. We praise you for exhausting God’s judgment against our sins. We praise you that your cross was our Judgment Day. The perfect love of the cross drives away all fear of judgment and punishment (1 John 4:18). What peace this give us… what hope… what freedom!”

So this stuff of life is not punishment and with focus we can see that the result will be the purification of our faith. With focus on God, Christ and the cross we can have true peace, eternal hope! Amen and Amen.

In Psalm 42:11 we see;

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Downcast, disturbed? Focus on the cross of Christ; put your hope in the Lord. May we all concentrate our attention, may we all achieve maximum clarity, may we find that point where there is a convergence of light. May that focus reveal the Love of our Savior!

Grace and Peace!

I Know that my Redeemer Lives

Scripture is so amazing that even a verse or part of a verse can contain such meaning. Every once in a while a passage will really just come alive for me. It is not often, but it is just an amazing thing. Recently this happened with me on just part of a verse; and while it is a famous verse, one that I have blogged about before there was more. In Job 19:25a we are told;

“I know that my Redeemer lives”.

Just six words but what can we take from them; what came alive for me? I have a friend who gave me some great advice that when studying scripture it will sometimes help to break the structure of the verse down. So it helped me to break this verse into two parts; I know that; and My Redeemer lives. I see so much in each of those segments.

First, I think we can learn a little about faith. Notice with all Job is going through, all that he has lost he says I know that…he doesn’t say I hope that or I suppose that or I think that; he states emphatically, I know that! Can you see the great faith Job shows; great faith even though just five verses earlier he tells us he has lost everything but the skin on his teeth. It’s truly a faith that seems to surpass understanding, a faith we can read about in Hebrews 11 with the heroes of faith. It is a faith we can see in Genesis 22 with Abraham; a faith that no matter the trial or circumstance knowing the lord will provide.

That reminds me of a story of a man and his son that live in an old farm house. One night the house catches fire and the father manages to get everyone out except for his son. The father stands staring at the inferno when suddenly from the highest window in the house he sees his son crying for help. There is smoke everywhere and the father yells for his son to jump and I will catch you; but the son replies I can’t because I can’t see you. The father replies; Son I love you and it doesn’t matter that you can’t see me, what matters is that I see you. By faith (not blind faith, but trusting faith) the boy jumps and the father catches him.

So what I take from this is that faith enables us to face life, its circumstances and tragedies not because we see all or know all the answers, but because we are seen and we are known. We can have faith in all circumstances.

The second part of the verse; my Redeemer lives, is equally amazing to me. I notice first the word my – how personal is that and it’s followed by Redeemer lives. So to me each of us has a personal living redeemer; one that pays our debt that we are unable to pay, one that sets us free, one that recovers us, one that delivers us from penalty, one that atones and restores; one that buys us back; a personal and living Lord and Savior.

So bringing it all together; by faith we can enter into a personal relationship with our personal redeemer and it would seem to me that prayer would enable that relationship, prayer would enhance that relationship, and prayer would build that relationship.

I once heard of some missionaries that reported that some recent tribal converts just became so devoted to prayer. In fact each of these recent converts had a spot in the jungle where they would spend time praying their hearts out to God. Over time there became some well worn paths to these prayer spots. As a result if someone started neglecting prayer the others would say; brother, the grass grows on your path!

So may the grass never grow on our path which brings us back to Job 19:25a; “I know that my Redeemer lives.” Charles Spurgeon said of this verse, “A living redeemer truly mine is joy unspeakable!”

Grace and Peace!

Storms of Life

You know I just love our assistant pastor; he really in such a caring way stretches me. He many times asks me what is God teaching you? And you know recently I believe God has been leading me to a certain passage in Matthew.

It is a famous passage; one that points out the differences of being religious and trusting Christ; one that is used to help understand maturing as a Christian; and it is a passage that keeps coming before me. So as this happens I now ask myself what is God teaching me. This passage is the final parable and the final portion of the Sermon on the Mount. The sermon where Christ Himself teaches us things like turn the other Cheek, be salt and light, forgive one another, Do not judge and do not worry. This is the parable of The Wise and Foolish Builders; this is our Lord and Savior speaking;

24"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

What can we take from this parable? I see a truth; a path; a divine lesson on how to weather the Storms of Life! Quickly unpacking this passage I see two key points; first I see the contrasting foundations of this passage. Can you see that one foundation was rock solid and deep while the other was shallow and weak? Can you see that one foundation has no real substance, is centered on worldly ideals, might even look good, but is it really built to last? The other foundation is Christ centered, grounded by the Gospel and with an eternal hope.

In the storms of life which house would you want to be in? You really have to think about that and I challenge each of you to really ask yourselves what has been built in your life? Are we as believers on that foundation of Rock; that foundation laid by Christ? Romans 8:31 tells us “If God is for us, who can be against us!”

And that brings us to our second point; kind of an amazing thing that I’ve got to confess has only recently become clear, as we read the parable did you notice even those well built houses; the houses built on rock were not exempt from the storms of life. We see this in verse 25; 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. Christians, as believers we are not exempt from storms! Look around, there are those that have suffered mightily. Do you know anyone who has weathered an economic storm, a health storm and emotional storm? But,you know what; when we are grounded by faith we are able to weather those storms. Was Christ; our Lord and Savior exempt from storms?

So Friends, no matter the condition; no matter the news before us, there is great hope this day. When our foundation is centered on Christ and solidly built on the eternal Word of God we are grounded, we are anchored, we are secured and we can weather any of life’s storms. With the right foundation we will survive the storms of life. When we recognize that our strength comes from the Lord, when we trust in the Lord and not ourselves, when we focus not on the struggle, but on the future hope provided by Christ; when we in times of storm we turn to Christ knowing he will rescue, save, restore, our foundation is solid.

In John 16:33 Christ says; I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

Today, right now, this very minute, no matter the storm in front of us; may we all take heart!

Grace and Peace!

Doubts?

Would you believe that some with great faith have doubts? Would you believe that some struggle to the point that they ask can I be Christian if I have doubts. I believe we can answer both with a resounding, of course! You know this is a tough subject for me and who among us doesn’t have doubts. That being said, we should deal with our doubts and not let them fester. We must recognize that it is ok to ask tough questions. We must also recognize that there is a difference between doubt and unbelief.

I read somewhere that doubts are ok, doubts are saying something is hard to believe, but unbelief says something totally different, unbelief says I won’t believe. I also read somewhere that doubt is looking for light while unbelief is being content in darkness. To me that is the key; with our doubts we can never become content in the darkness; we must strive to find the answers.

There is a great passage in the bible that shows someone with great faith having doubts during a trying time. From Matthew 11 we see:

1After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee. 2When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples 3to ask him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" 4Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy[b]are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. 6Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me." 7As John's disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: "What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 8If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings' palaces. 9Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10This is the one about whom it is written: " 'I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.'[c] 11I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. 13For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. 15He who has ears, let him hear.

This is an amazing and encouraging passage; it is amazing that even John the Baptist had doubts and such an encouraging example of what to do with our doubts. John the Baptist, the one who pointed the way now imprisoned facing certain death begins to have doubts and these doubts could be intellectual or emotional or both. He pointed the way for a savior, a king and now finds himself in peril; who wouldn’t have doubts and then notice what he does. He asks the tough question. Can you imagine asking Christ; “are you the One?” And then; oh my, how does Christ respond? Does he ignore, does he shy away from the tough question, does he belittle? No, he embraces the doubter, He answers the tough question, he points to the evidence. You know that is a beautiful thing about our Lord, he embraces the doubters; John the Baptist, Thomas, the man who cried out; "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"

You know there are more important lessons from this passage. Have you noticed that it seems like there are CSI shows on every night of the week now? And the premise of these shows is that there are factual, scientific forensic links to every question. That with the proper investigation things can be proven beyond a doubt. Well is that how life really works? I think it is great to look for the answers; to search for answers, but there are a couple things to note in that search.

First, we must challenge ourselves to find proper sources for the answers. In other words, where do we turn for our answers? Where did John the Baptist turn for his answer? John the Baptist was facing a life shaking doubt and where did he turn for his answer? To Christ! Can you go to other sources? Can you turn to sources like the discovery channel or the media? Certainly, but as a seeker of truth shouldn’t you also turn to Christ; to God’s word for the answers? Shouldn’t we ask the tough questions directly through prayer and seek answers in the written Word? For questions of faith there are many other good sources and a few that come to mind are Lee Strobel’s; The Case for Faith and The Case for Christ and F. F. Bruce’s book; The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?

Second, we must really check our hearts in our search and be really, really sure that we want an answer. Have you ever seen someone so biased that they ask questions, but are so hardened there is really no search, no desire for truth. Perhaps they are content in the dark. Unlike CSI, with questions of faith our answers may not come in solid, scientific, forensic evidence, but they will come with enough evidence to believe. Hebrews 11 reminds us that “1Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” With hearts open there will always be enough evidence to make informed decisions.

You know the Bible also has some advice about how to find answers for our doubts. During my times of doubt (and yes they are numerous) I try to remind myself to look at Jeremiah 29:13; “13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” I ask myself am I truly seeking and am I truly seeking with all my heart?

Is it normal to have doubts? Absolutely! A wise person once told me to take comfort in my questions and doubts that unbelief would have no questions or doubts. Take heart my friends. We have a great God. A God that is loving, merciful and faithful. He is not afraid of our doubts, our tough questions. But, we must truly seek the answer, we must prepare our hearts for the answer and we must turn to the proper source for the answer. Turn to Christ my friends!

Grace and Peace!

Running Through the Tape

I have had several events converging that when combined create this perfect storm. It has encouraged me to rely less on myself and more on God’s grace. These events are not really impacting my well being, but that of some of those closest to me. Two in particular weigh heavily on my heart. Without revealing too much detail, both involve very long paths; long races, much effort to complete or overcome.

This has brought a few memories back to me from my “old” track days. We would prepare and prepare and then the day of the race would arrive and the one thing our coach instilled in us is that during the race no matter what run through the tape; whether in first place or last run as hard as you possibly could all the way through the tape.

Another way to say it comes from my favorite football coach who has this motto; finish the drill – no matter the circumstance; let your last step be your best step; let your last block be your best block; your last pass be your best pass. I think the Apostle Paul would have appreciated this mindset.

Think of Paul and all the trials he faced from shipwrecks to deserts to prison to illness yet he encouraged us all to finish the race. In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul instructs us;

24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.

Can you see Paul encouraging us to finish strong. There will always be obstacles, there will always be trials, and there will always be influences, but no matter what finish strong. We have a great, loving, healing and glorious savior waiting at the finish line with arms open wide. So my friends what ever may be going on in your lives know that Christ is there for you and finish the race just as Christ finished His race for each of us.

In 2 Timothy, Paul provided something that one day I hope we all can say;

7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Grace and Peace!

Gifts at Christmas - Part 1

I am going to attempt something during this Christmas season. I want to explore something. I want to take a single verse; Matthew 2:11 and attempt to blog a series on this one verse. In this verse we are told;

11On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

What immediately comes to mind is that upon seeing the Child; upon recognizing Christ our Lord they bowed and worshipped. Shouldn’t we all? However, I want to look at the last sentence in the verse and attempt to unpack (or maybe I should say unwrap) the three gifts and examine what we might learn from these gifts, what they might tell us about Christ and perhaps what we might learn about our relationship with Christ.

I would like to invert the order and begin with Myrrh; probably the least recognizable to each of us. I will be honest and tell you I wasn’t really sure what is was, how it was used or if it is even around anymore. However, upon doing a little research I found that Myrrh has many uses ranging from a preservative to perfume to a medicine.

What really struck me were the healing properties of Myrrh. Myrrh is used to treat many ailments and is also known for regenerating properties. A popular aromatherapy site states that Myrrh’s medicinal uses include; Anti-infectious, Antiviral, Antiparasitic, Hormone-like, Anti-inflammatory, Antihyperthyroid, and helps support the immune system.

So we might say the Myrrh is good for what ails you and you must admit what ails us most is our broken natures. With such brokenness comes great need; the need of a great physician; a healing, regenerating, preserving savior! Maybe those wise men were pretty wise; symbolically helping to reveal to us something about the nature of Christ.

I just love this imagery; the image of being healed; regenerated by the loving touch of Christ. Wayne Grudem defines regeneration as “a secret act of God in which He imparts new spiritual life to us”. Sounds like pretty powerful medicine for what ails us.

We can see healing by Christ in scriptures; both physical healings, but more importantly spiritual healings. And when we think of the spiritual healing that we need, I am so comforted by Isaiah 53 which reminds us;

4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

So, by His wounds we can be healed; restored. However, most are reluctant even avoid medicine so how do we take this medicine; the medicine of Christ shown through a gift of Myrrh? As Christ himself tells us in coming to heal the young daughter of Jairus in Luke;

50Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, "Don't be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed."

How appropriate the gift of Myrrh; a gift given to a child and freely given to us. Friends, don’t be afraid; just believe!

Grace and Peace!