Where's God? Finding Him in the Small Stuff

Lazarus was ill, dying, and his sisters, Mary and Martha, had sent word to Jesus, counting on Him to drop everything and help them by healing their brother.  They waited, and waited, but no Jesus.  When He did arrive, it was too late. Lazarus was dead and buried.  How did Mary and Martha feel about Jesus at that point? Did He meet their expectations?  Does He meet ours?  Or, does Jesus have a bett...

"Light" in the Bible often equates to salvation. In Psalm 27, David wrote, "The Lord is my light and my salvation." So when Jesus proclaimed, "I AM the Light of the World," He was saying that, through Him, we can find salvation. And when Jesus is your "Light and your salvation," then He resides, He guides, and He decides. The response of the Pharisees to what Jesus was saying was a low blow.

The religious leaders of Jesus' day knew Isaiah 42 and Isaiah 49 like the back of their hands. God had inspired the prophet to write about His Messiah as the "Light of the World." So when they heard Jesus say, "I AM the Light of the World," they understood exactly what He was claiming. He was the Messiah. It shook their world with an earthquake of resentment and anger. But it is good news for ever...

When Jesus proclaimed, "I AM the Light of the World," it came out of the context of the Feast of Tabernacles. During that celebration, an impressive "light ceremony" took place when huge menorahs in Jerusalem were filled with oil and set on fire. Jesus had attended the Feast, and He used the symbolism of the light ceremony to apply to Himself.

Some people may look at the Bible as a book which is full of darkness and death. There are, after all, accounts of devastation, like at the flood of the Old Testament and awful death, like at the cross of the New Testament. Add huge battles where thousands were killed, and end-time prophecies with more of the same, and you could, seemingly, make that case. However, for believers, the Bible is a bo...

When Jesus proclaimed to His followers, "I AM the Good Shepherd," He also said, "I lay down My life." What did He mean as we look back at the cross in this day and age? Jesus talked, too, about how God "knows" Him. What was that all about? And how do WE know Jesus as the Good Shepherd?

To fully appreciate Jesus' declaration of "I AM the Good Shepherd," we have to go back to the Old Testament book of Ezekiel, chapter 34. There we find the context of Jesus' statement, God's condemnation of the "bad shepherds" of Israel, found in the Jewish priesthood. God promised to send them a Shepherd who would care for them, a Good Shepherd. Surely, the crowd around Jesus that day must have ma...

Jesus promises that the sheep who follow His voice will receive "abundant life." What does that mean? This life reflects the "unlimited limit" of Jesus when it comes to salvation. The pasture of eternal life is unlimited. It is available to ALL. But it is limited too. It can be entered into by only ONE Gate. If you miss that Gate, then you miss the pasture, and you miss eternity with Jesus. Open t...

Jesus told the crowd, "I Am the Gate," and talked about how His sheep listen to His voice, and will run away from a stranger's call. What form does this take today for contemporary Christians? How does Satan try to deceive us with subtle counterfeits? Because we live in a fallen world today, we need to be able to know Truth from fiction.

When Jesus said to the crowd around Him, "I AM the Gate," He was making a profound statement. It was clear that the "sheepfold" mentioned in the story offered safety, salvation, and eternal life. But there was only one way into that sheep pen. Only one Gate. There was absolutely, positively, no other way to enter it, but by this one and only Gate. People back then didn't like that teaching very mu...

When Jesus proclaimed to His followers, "I Am the Gate," He also told them a story about sheep, and a sheepfold, and thieves and robbers, and a Shepherd who calls His sheep "by name." What does it all mean and what is the symbolism telling us? Who's who in this metaphor, anyway?

Just before Jesus proclaimed to the crowd, "I Am the Gate," He miraculously healed a man who had been born blind. That healing really stunned the people who knew the blind man and were familiar with his disability. Why was there such a strong reaction to this particular healing? Because it was more than a healing, it was creating! And yes, that is stunning! And yes, it was the perfect lead-in for...

After Jesus declared to the crowd, "I AM the Bread of Life," He had to convince them that the "bread of heaven" was not Manna, but Him. He had to show them that Manna was temporary, but He is eternal. He had to inform them that those who ate Manna still died, but those who believe in Him will never die. Manna was sent by God to give life to His people physically for "now," but Jesus was sent by Go...

When Jesus told the crowd, "I AM the Bread of Life," He was using the "Name of God" and applying it to Himself. "I AM" is the Name which the Lord revealed to Moses in the Old Testament book of Exodus. What does this Name mean, and how did those people react to Jesus' claim? Eventually, they wanted to know what they could DO to earn God's favor. Jesus explained to them that they should not be askin...

The day after Jesus fed 5,000 men, plus women and children, in a miraculous way, using only two fish and five loaves, He declared to them, "I Am the Bread of Life." What was it about the miracle that made His statement so startling to them? And how did it prove the "paradox of the full belly?"

Host Greg McCollam's reading of the full text of "A Tree Full of Stars" by West Virginia author, Davis Grubb.

Simeon was an old man who had been promised by God that he would see the Messiah, God's Promised One, before he died. When Simeon observed Mary and Joseph entering the temple in Jerusalem with Jesus, he knew that God had fulfilled His promise. Still, it was important that Simeon hold Jesus in his own arms. Why? I think it has to do with the time of year when Jesus was born (spoiler, it was not in...

When the angels appeared to the shepherds on that first Christmas night, they proclaimed certain things about a Savior who had been born. Some of these were signs for the shepherds so they would know when they had found Him in Bethlehem. In turn, the shepherds proclaimed these things to Mary and Joseph, and to the whole world through the gospel of Luke. God sent His messengers to the lowliest of t...

When Pilate finally pronounced judgment upon Jesus, he turned and washed his hands in an expression of innocence of "this man's blood." In doing so, he was repeating the religious ritual of "hand washing" which was part of the Jewish seder observed during Passover. Does this mean that Pilate was ultimately innocent of the condemnation of Jesus, or was he truly guilty of Jesus' crucifixion?

At the conclusion of Jesus' second trial before Pilate, the religious leaders persuaded the crowd to demand that a man named Barrabas be released, and Jesus be crucified. How did the religious leaders convince the crowd to do so? We talk about that and also about how God's plan is almost always accomplished by man's hands, even if the man or woman whose hands God is using does not know it at the t...

At the end of Jesus' second trial, Pilate offered to release a prisoner, who would be set free. The crowd shouted for Barabbas instead of Jesus. Who was Barabbas? What do we know about him? Why did Pilate leave this decision to the people when he was the Roman governor in charge of the region? And what role did Pilate's wife play in this whole drama?

Jesus has been sent back to Pilate by Herod, which must have come as quite a surprise to Pilate. He thought he had seen the last of Jesus when he sent Him Herod's way, at least he hoped so. Why did Herod refuse to decide Jesus fate? And why did the "Hosanna" of Palm Sunday eventually turn into the "Crucify" of Good Friday?

Herod subjected Jesus to a harsh interrogation, even though Herod thought of Jesus as unimportant. It was during this trial that Herod's soldiers adorned Jesus with a special robe. This robe was different than the one that Pilate's soldiers placed on Jesus later. Does Herod's robe show up elsewhere in scripture, after Jesus' crucifixion? I think it does!

Herod was in charge of the area around the Sea of Galilee, the same place where Jesus had carried out the bulk of His ministry. So when Pilate sent Jesus to Herod for prosecution, Herod couldn't wait to interrogate him. Herod planned on making it a big show for all of his friends, but it didn't go quite like that. Who was Herod anyway? How did he become part of the narrative of Jesus' crucifixion?

When Pilate declared, "I find no reason for a charge against this man," he was saying that Jesus had done nothing, that Jesus had no fault, that there was nothing blamable in this case. In essence, Pilate was saying that Jesus was sinless! Can you imagine? From the mouth of a pagan, Roman governor comes the proclamation of truth about Christ, while the religious leaders were screaming for crucifix...