In the classic sports fantasy film Field of Dreams, the character Ray Kinsella encounters his late father as an athletic younger man. Upon seeing him for the first time, Ray comments to his wife, Annie, “I only saw him years later when he was worn down by life. Look at him . . . What do I say to him?” The scene raises a question: What would it be like to see someone we loved and knew had died, vital and strong again?
Mary Magdalene had that experience when she first met Jesus after He rose from the dead. Mary was weeping beside the empty tomb when she turned “and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus” (John 20:14). Why didn’t she recognize Him? Perhaps because of the tears in her eyes or because it “was still dark” (v. 1). More likely, it was because when she last saw Him, He’d been bloodied and beaten and tortured to death. She never expected to see Him alive again; He was so alive that it took time for the magnificent truth to sink in.
Yet there Jesus stood, “raised imperishable” (1 Corinthians 15:42)! And the moment He called her by name, Mary recognized Him, not only as her faithful Friend and “Teacher” (John 20:16), but also as the risen Lord of life. God always has ways of astounding us with His wonders. His conquering death for us is the greatest surprise of all.
“The Merchant of Death is Dead!” That was the headline for an obituary that may have caused Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, to make a course correction in his life. But the newspaper made a mistake—Alfred was very much alive. It was his brother Ludvig who had died. When Alfred realized he’d be remembered for a dangerous invention that claimed many lives, he decided to donate most of his significant wealth to establishing an award for those who had benefitted humanity. It became known as the Nobel Prize.
More than two thousand years earlier, another powerful man had a change of heart. Manasseh, king of Judah, rebelled against God. As a result, he was taken captive to Babylon. But “in his distress he sought the favor of the
“The
It’s just an old pocketknife, worn and tarnished with time. The blade is chipped and the handle notched, but it was one of my father’s treasures, kept in a box on his dresser until he gave it to me. “It’s one of the few things I have from your grandfather,” he told me. My grandfather died when my father was young, and Dad treasured the knife because he treasured his father.
The Bible tells us that God also has an unlikely treasure, something we might not expect. In the Revelation, we see a throne in heaven encircled by “four living creatures” and “twenty-four elders,” bowing before Jesus in worship (chs. 4–5). Each one is holding “golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people” (5:8). In ancient times, incense was something precious, used by kings (think of the gold, frankincense, and myrrh offered to Jesus in Matthew 2:11). Our prayers may not seem like much to us at times, but God wants them lifted before Him always.
Revelation 5 emphasizes the worthiness of Jesus because of His sinless life and loving death for us. Jesus’ worthiness points us to why God values our prayers. Our prayers are precious to God because we are precious to Him. Because He loves us with such selfless, priceless, and merciful love, He longs for us to stay close to Him in prayer.
Moses with horns? That’s the way he’s depicted in Michelangelo’s masterpiece sculpture completed in 1515. Two horns protrude from Moses’s hair just above his forehead.
Michelangelo wasn’t alone—many Renaissance and medieval artists depict Moses that way. Why? It has to do with the Latin translation of the Hebrew Bible available at the time, which described Moses’s radiant face (after being in God’s presence—see Exodus 34:29). The original language uses a word related to “horns” to describe “beams” of light shining from Moses’s face, and the Latin Vulgate Bible translated it literally. Moses was “misread.”
Have you ever misread someone? After a man unable to walk from birth was healed by Peter in Jesus’ name (Acts 3:1–10), the apostle told his fellow Israelites that they had misread Jesus. “You killed the author of life,” he said pointedly, “but God raised him from the dead” (v. 15). He continued, “This is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer” (v. 18). Peter even said Moses had pointed to Jesus (v. 22).
It was “by faith in the name of Jesus,” a “faith that comes through him,” that the man’s life was transformed (v. 16). No matter how we’ve misunderstood Him or what our past contains, Jesus welcomes us when we turn to Him. The author of life stands ready to write new beginnings for us!
Sometimes I just feel so . . . invisible.” The word hung in the air as Joanie talked to her friend. Her husband had left for another woman, leaving Joanie with young children still at home. “I gave him my best years,” she confided. “And now I don’t know if anyone would really see me or take the time to actually know me.”
“I’m so sorry,” her friend responded. “My dad walked out when I was six, and it was hard for us, especially Mom. But she said this thing when she tucked me in at night that I never forgot: ‘God never closes His eyes.’ When I was older, she explained she was trying to teach me that God loved me and watched over me always, even while I slept.”
The Bible presents words God gave Moses to share with His people during a challenging time, when they were wandering in Sinai’s desert: “The
Even in life’s wildernesses—those places where we wonder if anyone sees us or truly understands—God is faithful. God’s favor—His shining face and enduring love—is always turned toward those who love Him, even when we can’t feel Him because of our pain. No one is invisible to God.
“Did your sin also put Jesus on the cross?” That’s the question Dutch painter Rembrandt seems to be asking in his 1633 masterpiece, The Raising of the Cross. Jesus appears in the center of the picture as His cross is lifted and put in place. Four men are doing the lifting, but one stands out in the light surrounding Jesus. His clothing is different; he’s dressed in the style of Rembrandt’s day, wearing a cap the painter often wore. A closer look at his face reveals that Rembrandt has put himself into the painting, as if to say, “My sins had a part in Jesus’ death.”
But there’s another who also stands out. He’s on horseback, looking directly out of the painting. Some see this as a second self-portrait by Rembrandt, engaging all who observe with a knowing glance that seems to ask, “Aren’t you here too?”
Paul saw himself there, and we may also, because Jesus suffered and died for us as well. In Romans 5:10, he refers to himself and us as “God’s enemies.” But even though our sins caused Jesus’ death, His death reconciles us to God: “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
We stand with both Rembrandt and Paul: sinners in need of forgiveness. Through His cross, Jesus offers us what we could never do for ourselves and meets our deepest need: a new beginning with God.
“Sheer encouragement.” That was the phrase J.R.R. Tolkien used to describe the personal support his friend and colleague C.S. Lewis gave him as he wrote the epic The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Tolkien’s work on the series had been painstaking and exacting, and he’d personally typed out the lengthy manuscripts more than twice. When he sent them to Lewis, Lewis responded, “All the long years you have spent on it are justified.” Lewis and Tolkien didn’t always agree on literary matters, but their shared faith and mutual intellectual interests served as catalysts for great creative accomplishments in both their lives.
Perhaps Scripture’s best-known encourager was Joseph from Cyprus, better known as Barnabas (meaning “son of encouragement”), the name the apostles gave him (Acts 4:36). It was Barnabas who advocated for Paul to the apostles (9:27). Later, when non-Jewish believers began to place their faith in Jesus, Luke tells us Barnabas “was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.” Luke describes him as “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith,” adding that because of him, “a great number of people were brought to the Lord” (11:23–24).
The worth of encouraging words cannot be measured. As we offer words of faith and love to others, God—who gives “eternal encouragement” (2 Thessalonians 2:16)—may move through what we share to transform someone’s life forever. May He help us to offer “sheer encouragement” to someone today!
Two friends were shopping for a laptop in an electronics store when they ran into basketball great Shaquille O’Neal. Aware that O’Neal recently suffered the loss of his sister and a former teammate, they empathetically offered their condolences. After the two men returned to their shopping, Shaq approached them and told them to pick out the nicest laptop they could find. He then bought it for them, simply because they saw him as a person going through a difficult time and was moved by their kindness.
Millenia before that encounter, Solomon wrote, “Those who are kind benefit themselves” (Proverbs 11:17). When we consider others’ needs and do what we can to help and encourage them, we are rewarded ourselves. It may not be with a laptop or material things, but God has ways of blessing us that this world cannot measure. As Solomon explained just two verses earlier in the same chapter, “A kindhearted woman gains honor, but ruthless men gain only wealth” (v. 16). There are blessings that are worth far more than money, and God measures them generously in His perfect wisdom and way.
Kindness and generosity are part of God’s character, and He loves to see them expressed in our own hearts and lives. Solomon summed up the matter well: “Whoever refreshes others will be refreshed” (v. 25).
“God has been so good to us! I want to thank Him for our anniversary.” Terry’s voice was steady, and the tears in her eye showed her sincerity. Those in our small group were deeply moved. We knew what past years had held for Terry and her husband. Though a believer, Robert suffered from the sudden onset of severe mental illness and had taken the life of their four-year-old daughter. He would be institutionalized for decades, but Terry visited him, and God did a beautiful healing work, helping her forgive. Despite profound heartache, their love for each other grew.
Love and forgiveness like that could only come from one source. David writes about God this way, “He does not treat us as our sins deserve . . . . As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:10, 12).
The mercy God shows us comes through His expansive love: “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love” for us (v. 11). Love so profound compelled Him to go to the depths of the cross and grave to take away our sins so that He could bring all who “receive Him” (John 1:12) home to Himself.
Terry was right. “God has been so good to us!” His love and forgiveness reach beyond unthinkable boundaries and offer us life that never ends.
