Miraculous Moments

         Miraculous Moments Lent 2025: Day #9 "'But what about you?' he [Jesus] asked. 'Who do you say I am?'"  ~ Matthew 16:15 "It is written." At this point Jesus hasn't been referred to as Rabbi nor has he preached a sermon or asked anyone to "Follow Me." One unfamiliar with the life of Jesus might assume that immediately following his baptism is when Jesus feeds the multitudes. Or surely this high point is when He brought someone back to life--or one may wonder if this is when He gave sight to the blind. Remember, God's ways are not our ways. Mark 1:12-13 "At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him." Matthew 4:1-11 "Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, ...

        Miraculous Moments Lent 2025: Day #8 "'But what about you?' he [Jesus] asked. 'Who do you say I am?'"  ~ Matthew 16:15 While we fast forwarded to Jesus' adult life, we also back up in Scripture to dig into the background of another individual who is part of the story.  Luke 1:11-19 "Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him [Zechariah], standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: 'Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on befo...

       Miraculous Moments Lent 2025: Day #7 "'But what about you?' he [Jesus] asked. 'Who do you say I am?'"  ~ Matthew 16:15 We are seven days into Lent, and hopefully, we have established some routines as we continue our deep dive to determine a confident response to Jesus' question recorded in Matthew. Who do we say Jesus is? Let's look at one more passage regarding Jesus' childhood, and then we will recap what we have uncovered so far.  Luke 2:41-51 "Every year Jesus' parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look...

      Miraculous Moments Lent 2025: Day #6 "'But what about you?' he [Jesus] asked. 'Who do you say I am?'"  ~ Matthew 16:15 Today we are going to witness true marveling. (As if we haven't already marveled at Creation, the Trinity, the appearance of angels, and God's presence in dreams, to name just a few.)  The event we will marvel at today may seem mundane as we read it, but it certainly caused Mary and Joseph to marvel as well.  Luke 2:22-32; 33-35 "When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, 'Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord'), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is aid in the Law of the Lord: 'a pair of doves or two young pigeons.' Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and th...

     Miraculous Moments Lent 2025: Day #5 "'But what about you?' he [Jesus] asked. 'Who do you say I am?'"  ~ Matthew 16:15 " The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God." Jesus is part of the divine family--the Trinity. Jesus was also part of a human family as a child of Joseph and Mary. The earthly family is temporal; the heavenly family is eternal. Jesus invites us to follow him into his spiritual family--to be his brothers and sisters in faith. Luke 2:6-7 "While they [Joseph and Mary] were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them."   Philippians 2:5-11 "In your relationships with one another have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:  Who, being in very nature God,  did not consider equa...

     Miraculous Moments Lent 2025: Day #4 "'But what about you?' he [Jesus] asked. 'Who do you say I am?'"  ~ Matthew 16:15 I do so hope that all of us realize the promise that was given to Joshua exists for each of us today. The promise is that God will be with us wherever we go. God's presence can be witnessed in numerous ways, and God communicates with His people in various ways as well.  Angels and Dreams and Stars, oh my. Any one of these occurrences can confound us with a lack of understanding. Combine several of these encounters around one event and we have something miraculous. The records of Jesus' birth reveal God communicating with numerous individuals as the divine plans for the coming Messiah unfolded. Matthew 1: 18-25 "This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husban...

     Miraculous Moments Lent 2025: Day #3 "'But what about you?' he [Jesus] asked. 'Who do you say I am?'"  ~ Matthew 16:15 The Commander of the Lord's Army So, we are going to spend one more day with our focus being on a Scripture from the Old Testament, and it happens to be one of my favorites. It comes from Joshua, and ever since I was a young Christian, I felt encouraged by the story of the one who was appointed to follow in the footsteps of Moses.  In Chapter 1, Joshua is reassured by God that he is to "be strong and courageous" as he leads the Israelites into the land that has been promised them. They have crossed the Jordan River, and they are currently close to Jericho; the time has come, as they will be doing battle with the people of the land.  Joshua 5:13-15 "Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, 'Are you for us or ...

    Miraculous Moments Lent 2025: Day #2 "'But what about you?' he [Jesus] asked. 'Who do you say I am?'"  ~ Matthew 16:15 Signs and wonders.  Evidence. We base our beliefs on the proof that can be provided. Today we again return to the Old Testament--the books of the Bible that were recorded long before Jesus walked the earth. Why? As we discussed yesterday, Jesus' story didn't actually begin in the manger. God's plan began much earlier than that as revealed in several verses in the Old Testament. These verses contain signs and wonders, and they are also paired with verses in the New Testament that reveal the fulfilling of these promises.  Isaiah 7:14 "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign:  The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." Luke 1:26-35 "In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married ...

   Miraculous Moments Day #1: In the Beginning "'But what about you?' he [Jesus] asked. 'Who do you say I am?'"  ~ Matthew 16:15 Thank you for joining me. Are you ready for a deep dive? No, we are not digging up answers to the latest conspiracy theories. This deep dive is a topic of personal and eternal importance. Matthew records Jesus asking his disciples the question at the center of our deep dive:  "'But what about you?' he [Jesus] asked. 'Who do you say I am?'"  ~ Matthew 16:1 Before we start digging into Scripture, let's prepare our hearts and our minds with the same words that can be found on many warning labels today: results may vary. Why would I caution in this way? Finding an answer to who we really think Jesus is to each of us is no small task. Let us ask for the Holy Spirit to guide us. Almighty God, We believe in You. We know You, God, and we want to know You better. Guide us as we seek to know You, Lord, well enough...

 Miraculous Moments Introduction "'But what about you?' he [Jesus] asked. 'Who do you say I am?'"  ~ Matthew 16:15 "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so."  "What a friend we have in Jesus,  all our sins and griefs to bear.  What a privilege to carry  everything to God in prayer." Jesus.  I have spent my entire life with that name lingering either in the forefront like a fresh bouquet in the center of the dining room table or --at other times--on the top of a bookshelf like a dusty, forgotten knick-knack. Jesus. When I was a child, I knew that He's the reason for Christmas and Easter. I proudly recited my lines from Luke 2 for the annual Christmas program, and I delightedly waved palm fronds while declaring, "Hosanna" louder than anyone in my midst.  These are fond memories, and yet recently I was startled by a question that drifted into my quiet time.  The question seemed to float down from a high shelf, and ...