TODAY IN THE WORD

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Luke 4:1-13
When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. - Luke 4:13
TODAY IN THE WORD
For four years, the Bible department at a well-known Christian college surveyed incoming freshmen to determine how well they knew the basic stories, characters, and events of Scripture.

The results were startling. One third could not identify Matthew as an apostle from a list of names. Half did not know that the Passover story was in Exodus. One third could not match Paul’s travels with the book of Acts.

A questionnaire given to Christian high schoolers uncovered similar results. Eighty percent could not put Adam, Abraham, Moses, David, and Solomon in chronological order. Only one third knew where the Sermon on the Mount was in the Bible, and 80 percent did not know where to locate the Lord’s Prayer.

By contrast, Jesus modeled mastery of the Scriptures in today’s reading. Satan’s use of Scripture was twisted and manipulative, but Christ held fast to the true Word.

In Luke, the temptation of Christ in the wilderness is prefaced by His baptism and genealogy, and followed by the start of His public ministry. Historically and literarily, then, this episode was a test proving Jesus’ divine credentials.

But since temptation is a common part of our spiritual lives, this was also a key event for Jesus as a human being. First, the Devil tempted Him to use His divine power to make bread. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 to show that physical appetite wouldn’t derail Him from His special fast.

Second, the Devil tempted Jesus with earthly power. Since He knew that His Father was going to exalt Him, this was less a temptation to take power than a temptation to ignore God’s plan and timing. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6:13, and refused.

Third, Satan tempted Jesus to proclaim His Messiahship with a daring miracle. Again, the temptation was to ignore God’s plan, and again Jesus resisted with Scripture, rebuking the Devil with Deuteronomy 6:16.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Christ resisted Satan’s temptations with the powerful “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph. 6:17). He had a firm grip on God’s inspired Book!

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Hebrews 4:14-16
[Christ] has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet was without sin. - Hebrews 4:15
TODAY IN THE WORD
C. S. Lewis had this insight into temtation: “You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in . . . Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means.”

Jesus “has been tempted in every way, just as we are” (v. 15). Yet unlike us, He remained perfect and never once gave in to any temptation. As a human being, He experienced the full force of temptation, and this makes Him uniquely qualified to sympathize with and intercede for us in our struggle against sin (cf. Heb. 2:18).

Verse 14 contains both a command and the means to fulfill it. We are to hold firmly to our faith. How? The means is Christ. He is our “great high priest” who offered Himself as the sacrifice for sin. He accomplished His mission, and is now back in heaven.

What specifically about Jesus should give us confidence and inspire faith? The fact that He was tempted. From this, we know that He can understand when we’re tempted. And from His sinlessness, we also know that He can help us resist.

Jesus, the Son of Man, has exhaustive, experiential knowledge of what it’s like to be a tempted human being. Every temptation we face has already been defeated by Him!

Because of Christ’s brotherhood with us, we can pray and worship God with total confidence. We’re not asking a distant God for help with troubles He can’t relate to, but rather, we know with certainty that Christ understands and sympathizes with our weaknesses (v. 15).
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
As you struggle daily with various temptations, today’s Scripture verses should be a great encouragement. As a human being, Jesus knew what temptation was, He has already faced every temptation and is ready to help us.

This truth is so essential to spiritual warfare that we’d like you to write out a prayer about it today. Let your prayer be a heartfelt request for Christ to strengthen you to resist temptations specific to your life, based on the fact that He understands through His personal experience what you’re going through.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Matthew 26:36-46
My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will. - Matthew 26:39
TODAY IN THE WORD
Francis of Assisi, famous for his simple lifestyle and love of nature, also loved the Cross. He saw the two beams as an intersection between vertical and horizontal, that is to say, between divine and human, for there had hung the crucified Christ.

Standing before a cross, he prayed: “All-highest, glorious God, cast your light into the darkness of my heart. Give me right faith, firm hope, perfect charity and profound humility, with wisdom and perception, O Lord, so that I may do what is truly your holy will. Amen.”

Facing the Cross, Jesus also prayed to submit His will to His Father’s (cf. John 4:34).

After the Last Supper with His disciples, but before His arrest, Jesus went to Gethsemane, a garden or orchard on the Mount of Olives. He had already told the disciples of His imminent betrayal and death (Matt. 16:21ff.). Burdened by what was about to happen, He sought out a favorite place for prayer.

Jesus told eight disciples that He was going to pray. He took Peter, James, and John a little further, revealed His state of mind, and charged them to “keep watch with me” (though they failed in this). He Himself went further to persevere alone in prayer.

Jesus was not impassive. He fell with His face to the ground. He was sorrowful, troubled, and overwhelmed. In dying for us, Jesus suffered not only physical pain, but spiritual and emotional pain as well. The thought of bearing the sins of the world and being separated from His Father (Matt. 27:46) caused intense agony.

The “cup” (v. 39) to which Jesus referred meant suffering. At the Last Supper, He’d already linked the cup to His blood. In today’s passage, He also had in mind the cup of God’s wrath. To pay the price for sin, the “Son of Man” (v. 45) would have to drink the full cup of God’s holy anger.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
In Gethsemane, Jesus prayed through the night, submitting His will to His Father’s and preparing Himself spiritually for the suffering and death He knew would come. This is one of the most powerful scenes in the whole Passion narrative!

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Matthew 27:26-44
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteouness. - 1 Peter 2:24
TODAY IN THE WORD
Josue Balderas, a 1984 graduate of Moody Aviation, gave his life last year for the cause of Christ in Mexico.

On September 30, 2000, Josue was piloting a plane carrying five passengers when the engine began to fail. He radioed for help and headed for a nearby airstrip. But his Cessna 206 didn’t make it over a mountain ridge, and the plane crashed, killing himself and a passenger.

Moody Aviation Director Ed Robinson noted that Josue had done much more than fly planes. He had also preached and brought medicine and food to numerous small villages. “Many churches dot the mountainsides in [southern Mexico] because of [his] loving concern and faithful ministry,” said Ed.

While no one welcomes such tragedies, we know that suffering and possibly dying are part of following in the footsteps of our Master.

It had already been a long night. Jesus had been betrayed and arrested. His disciples had fled. The Sanhedrin had convicted Him of blasphemy, while Pilate, the Roman governor, had found Him innocent but bowed to public pressure and sentenced Him to death.

Then Jesus was flogged, a brutal punishment under the Romans. The soldiers had clearly figured out that this convict was hated by powerful people, so it was safe to torture Him. They dressed Him in a scarlet robe (the color of royalty), put a “crown” of thorns on His head, and gave Him a staff (as a kind of scepter). They pretended to bow and mocked Him as “king of the Jews” while spitting on Him and beating Him.

After their cruel sport, Jesus was led to Golgotha. When people offered Him a painkilling drink, He refused it as inconsistent with His mission (v. 34). After all, He had come to suffer and die. They nailed him through His wrists and heel bones, and the slow process of dying began.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
One good way to meditate on Christ’s suffering and death is through music. While there are many good songs that might help you do this, today we’d like to suggest that you track down a well-known tune by Michael Card, “Known By the Scars.”

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: 1 Peter 2:19-23
Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. - 1 Peter 2:21
TODAY IN THE WORD
Twelve Filipino evangelists visited a camp of Muslim rebels last July to pray for a group of hostages. The extremists decided to seize the ministers as well, keeping them as additional hostages. They were held captive for three long months.

Finally, in early October, one of the evangelists escaped and was picked up by Filipino soldiers. After a brief battle between the soldiers and the rebels, the rest of the evangelists were also rescued, although the Muslims escaped with four other hostages.

Because of the turbulent political situation in the southern Philippines, these evangelists endured a harrowing ordeal. But no doubt they viewed themselves as suffering for the Lord. Jesus never said that following Him would be easy! In fact, to follow in His footsteps means we can expect the same kind of treatment He received (cf. John 15:18-21).

Peter taught that when suffering is unjustly received for doing good, then it is worthy of respect before God, no matter what people think. He even went so far as to say that believers are called to suffer. Why? “Because Christ suffered for you” (v. 21).

Jesus set the example. He did not sin against His persecutors, nor did He deceive them, threaten them, or retaliate against them. Instead, He put His trust in God, the ultimate and perfectly just Judge (v. 23). The word example means that we are to imitate Christ in everything, in the same sense in which an art student reproduces a well-known drawing.

In the big picture, because Christ suffered, we are to live holy lives, submitted to the will of God (1 Peter 2:24; 4:1-2). We can expect to suffer, as He did, and should count it a privilege to do so (Phil. 1:29). We know that our reward will be great in heaven (Matt. 5:10-12)!
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Here on earth, suffering occupies a key place in the Christian life. God uses it to shape us into the “likeness of His Son” (Rom. 8:29).

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Matthew 27:45-54
Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. - 1 Peter 3:18
TODAY IN THE WORD
More than 190 names are carved onto a marble wall at the U.S. State Department. They identify American foreign service officials killed abroad in the line of duty, such as the twelve who died in a 1998 embassy bombing in Kenya. These twelve included several different minorities, leading then-President Clinton, in his eulogy, to call them “a portrait of America today and of America’s tomorrow.”

Reporting this event, one newsmagazine pointed out the sobering fact that prior to World War II, American officials who died overseas were mostly victims of exotic diseases or natural disasters. But since then, due to America’s superpower status, the dead are often victims of terrorism.

Patriotism can be a noble virtue, and many in history have sacrificed their lives for their countries. When Jesus sacrificed his life, however, He went far beyond patriotism, for “every tribe and language and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9).

Jesus’ death was unique in world history. He paid the price for sin, a price He didn’t owe. As a result, we, who have sinned and should die for it, can be exempt from the penalty. How? By receiving Christ as Savior and accepting His gift of eternal life (John 3:16).

Today’s reading shows the momentousness of our salvation. From noon to three p.m., natural darkness reflected the spiritual fact that Jesus bore the sins of the world. His agonized cry of separation (v. 46) showed that the Father had turned His back on that sin. In the end, “He gave up His spirit” (v. 50) willingly. Death did not surprise or overpower Him--He decided when His life was finished (John 19:30; cf. John 10:17-18).
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Traditionally known as Good Friday, today is a day set aside to remember the Crucifixion of Christ. Are you planning to do that?

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Hebrews 2:5-9
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. - Romans 6:8
TODAY IN THE WORD
As a child, young Winston Churchill swam out into deep water one day and began to drown. He had been swimming with some other children, and when they screamed, the gardener came running. He jumped into the water and saved the boy’s life. In response, the grateful Churchill family paid for the man’s son to go to college, and he became a medical doctor.

Years later, Prime Minister Churchill fell ill with pneumonia, and the best doctor that could be found was called in to take the case. Who was it? You guessed it! Alexander Fleming, the man who developed penicillin and the son of that gardener. Winston later said, “Rarely has a man owed his life twice to the same person.”

Winston Churchill twice owed his life to the Flemings, father and son. We owe our lives many times over to God, Father and Son.

God put people, not angels, in charge of the earth (cf. Gen. 1:28). Because Adam and Eve fell, no human has ever fulfilled this “creation mandate” perfectly. Jesus, however, is the Perfect Man, and everything is subject to Him. We don’t see this at present, but Jesus will rule the earth perfectly during the Millennial Kingdom. If He were not truly or fully human, this would be impossible. (The writer of Hebrews may be arguing against a heresy that said Jesus was an angel.)

Psalm 8, cited here, is not a prophetic Psalm, but has eschatological implications. Its theme is the greatness of humanity as a beloved creation of God. In the context of Hebrews, we see creation, salvation, and the end of history (eschatology) as threads in a single story: the story of God’s kingdom.

What’s the bottom line? It’s all about Jesus. He became a human being, and as the Perfect Man accomplished His mission of redemption: to “taste death” for us, His fellow human beings. For this reason, His name will be lifted up, and God’s name will be glorified, in all the earth (v. 9; cf. Phil. 2:9-11)!

How should we respond? We “should no longer live for [ourselves] but for him who died . . . and was raised again” (2 Cor. 5:15).
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
The salvation Christ purchased for us with His blood deserves a creative response!

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Luke 24:36-44
We believe that Jesus died and rose again. - 1 Thessalonians 4:14
TODAY IN THE WORD
Do you know who won the first gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney? Nancy Johnson, an American woman, took the prize for her accuracy in the ten-meter air rifle event, in which sharpshooters aim at a bull’s-eye only half a millimeter wide.

Because of her early starting time the next day, Nancy chose to skip the opening ceremonies, which she knew would go late into the night. Her decision paid off, as she edged out a South Korean shooter by just two-tenths of a point to claim the gold medal.

Nancy won the first victory, but many more Olympic competitions and medal winners would follow. The same is true with Christ’s Resurrection. He is the firstfruits, and because of His victory, we too will be raised again one day (Rom. 6:.

Today, we celebrate Christ’s Resurrection! He did not merely “rise in our hearts,” as liberals assert. Nor did He only appear to die, as others have theorized. He died and rose again, and when He did, He was still a man. He had a physical body, albeit a glorified one.

In this body, He will return again one day (Acts 1:11)! When He does, all believers will also receive glorified bodies (Rom. 8:22-25; 1 Cor. 15:20-23).

Jesus’ glorified body is new, but also somehow continuous with His incarnation body. He appeared before the disciples, and they had trouble recognizing Him, although it was still Him! He understood that His entrance would cause surprise and fear, and immediately addressed their feelings and doubts. They could be certain it was Him because the scars from the Crucifixion were still there. Furthermore, they could touch Him– He was not a ghost, but a flesh-and-blood man.

The disciples responded joyfully to these two pieces of evidence, but were still incredulous. So Jesus gave one more proof: He ate!
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Jesus calmed His disciples’ fears and proved His bodily resurrection by the simple act of eating fish.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Read: John 19:25-27
Honor your father and your mother. - Deuteronomy 5:16
TODAY IN THE WORD
“I had eight birds hatched in one nest,” begins a poem by American Puritan Anne Bradstreet. She was writing about her children and continued: “I nursed them up with pain and care, / No cost nor labor did I spare / Till at the last they felt their wing, / Mounted the Trees and learned to sing.”

Bradstreet commented on each child, worrying about their safety and choices. After her death, she hoped they would tell their own children that they had a wise and loving mother who taught them the right path in life. The poem closes: “I happy am, if well with you.”

The love between mother and children is a powerful and universal sentiment. In today’s reading, Jesus modeled for us care and respect for one’s mother.

In this post-Easter section of our study, we’ll continue to explore various dimensions of Christ’s emotional and spiritual life. What were His feelings and virtues as a human being? The first element we’ll consider is simple: He loved His mother. What about His relationship with the man who lovingly raised Him as a father on earth? The Bible doesn’t say, but scholars believe Joseph had already died, possibly even before Jesus started His public ministry.

The women standing by the cross had long been among Jesus’ followers, which was unusual for a Jewish rabbi. Although only one of the male disciples, John, was here, the women had apparently stayed as close as possible.

Watching her son die, Mary must have remembered Simeon’s prophecy: “A sword will pierce your own soul too” (Luke 2:35). She may have been worrying about her future. Jesus, as her oldest son, had taken responsibility for her.

Why weren’t Jesus’ brothers there to care for her? It appears they still didn’t believe in Him (cf. John 7:3-5). Perhaps back home in Galilee, they might have disagreed with their mother about following Him.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Jesus’ tender love and care for His mother is a good example for us. Follow in the footsteps of Jesus and show love for your mother!

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Matthew 9:35-38
He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. - Matthew 9:36
TODAY IN THE WORD
Snoopy as the Red Baron . . . Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown . . . Linus and his blanket . . . Peppermint Patty asking Marcie to stop calling her “Sir”. . . Schroeder playing Beethoven on his toy piano . . . this was the world of Peanuts,the popular cartoon by Charles Schulz.

Peanutsran for nearly fifty years, until Schulz died of cancer little more than a year ago. He created an unforgettable gallery of characters who resonated with people around the globe. When he died, his comic strip was being published in 2,600 newspapers in 75 countries, with 355 million readers.

What was the secret of Peanuts?,Empathy. Readers recognized characters, themes, feelings, and problems common to everyone. Schulz understood human nature, and he drew his strip with kind, wry humor and compassion.

Compassion was Christ’s secret as well (cf. Matt. 15:32). We might define it as kindness, empathy, or pity, but in any case it involved showing love to people in their unique situations.

Verse 35 gives a glimpse into an “average day” in the life of Jesus, as He taught and healed in towns and villages. Looking on the crowds, he felt compassion. Why? Because they were “like sheep without a shepherd”–in other words, they were spiritually lost, helpless, confused, preyed upon, and hungry. This suggests that the Jewish religious leaders of the day weren’t doing their job. By contrast, Jesus is the Good Shepherd who provides and cares for the sheep (John 10:11).

How did Jesus show compassion? By telling His disciples to pray that God would send workers into the harvest field. Here, “harvest field” means the world; “harvest” refers to God’s kingdom; and “workers” represent pastors, evangelists, missionaries, or anyone who brings others into God’s kingdom.

These familiar verses were motivated by compassion! That’s because the best form of compassion is sharing the gospel, just as Jesus Himself had been doing, and just as the Twelve were sent out to do.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
As today’s devotion points out, the best way to show godly compassion is to bring the gospel of Christ into people’s lives.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Mark 10:17-22
Jesus looked at him and loved him. - Mark 10:21
TODAY IN THE WORD
Sergeant Richard Kirkland demonstrated the most difficult love of all–Christlike love for his enemies (cf. Rom. 5:10).

Late in 1862, at the Civil War’s Battle of Fredericksburg, Confederate troops were entrenched at the base of a hillside known as Marye’s Heights. On December 13, thousands of Union troops attempted to break through the Confederate line, but they failed. Many were killed, and the battlefield was covered with the wounded.

The next day, the cries of these suffering men filled the air. Kirkland requested permission to leave the Confederate camp and bring water to the fallen Union enemies. Although unprotected, he wandered the field for hours, helping the stricken. Though he died the following year, today he is remembered as the “Angel of Marye’s Heights.”

Jesus’ love is our focus in today’s devotion, and will be several more times before the month is over. Love is both an emotional feeling and a spiritual virtue–we’ve tried to choose situations in which both are part of Jesus’ actions.

The rich young ruler was a conscientious man. He claimed to have kept the commandments perfectly, and wanted to know what else was necessary for eternal life.

But could he have kept the Law flawlessly? No. He may have kept it externally, but he couldn’t have kept it perfectly in his heart.

Jesus saw the man’s earnestness and sincerity–he was, after all, on his knees with his question–and Jesus loved him. But He also saw the man’s heart, and knew that he didn’t love God with all his heart, soul, and strength. There was something he loved more: his wealth.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Jesus knew what the rich young ruler’s heart truly treasured. What about you? To help remind you where your treasure should be, memorize Matthew 6:19-21, which says in part: “Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven . . . For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: John 2:13-22
“Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!” - John 2:16
TODAY IN THE WORD
King David wanted to bring the ark of the covenant back to Jerusalem. The symbol of God’s presence, it had been captured by the Philistines more than a hundred years before, ending up in a town called Kiriath Jearim. David and a large procession of Levites, musicians, and other Israelites came to escort it back to its true home.

They put the ark on a new cart and started off. When an ox hitched to the cart stumbled, one of the drivers, named Uzzah, put out his hand to steady the ark. Then “the Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah, and he struck him down . . . he died there before God” (1 Chron. 13:10).

What was the problem? Uzzah’s action (and the use of the cart itself) broke the Mosaic Law and demonstrated disrespect for God’s holiness. Such presumption incurred God’s righteous wrath (cf. 2 Sam. 6:7).

In today’s reading, we see Jesus similarly displaying holy anger. In Jerusalem, He had found people selling animals for sacrifices and exchanging money. They had gone beyond providing a service for the hordes of Passover travelers, and were greedily taking advantage of them. Moreover, they were not outside the Temple, but inside the Court of the Gentiles, thus preventing devout foreigners from praying. They’d set up the idol of commerce in the house of the Lord.

Jesus’ response was immediate and forceful. For personal wrongs, He would turn the other cheek, but for wrongs against God, He had no tolerance. His anger was fueled by a desire to see God’s name glorified, whereas the sellers’ actions showed contempt for God and His worshipers (cf. Matt. 21:13).

Jesus’ action revealed His identity in two ways. First, the disciples interpreted His anger as a fulfillment of Messianic prophecy (cf. Ps. 69:9). And second, when asked by what authority He did this, He responded with a cryptic allusion to His Resurrection (v. 19).
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Here’s an open-ended question for you, to be answered between you and the Lord: Do you get angry at the same things and in the same way as Jesus? In other words, how and why do you get angry? This is an important question for distinguishing between godly anger and sinful anger. In our fallen world, the second predominates, while the first is all too rare.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Luke 7:1-10
I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel. - Luke 7:9
TODAY IN THE WORD
Nine-banded armadillos are fascinating animals. They reproduce in fours, since mothers always give birth to identical quadruplets. Until the twentieth century, they were found only south of the United States, but now they’re spreading rapidly throughout the southeastern United States. Texas has named the armadillo the official state mammal, and people there have them as pets, race them, and even join armadillo fan clubs.

When surprised, an armadillo jumps three feet up in the air! This would impress predators!

What do you do when you’re surprised or stunned? Raise your eyebrows? Gasp in amazement? Perhaps your jaw drops in disbelief or admiration.

Jesus and His disciples also felt surprise or amazement, and it shouldn’t be difficult to imagine them making one or more of these very natural responses. We’ve already seen one example in the episode with the young ruler, when Jesus’ statements about rich people stunned the disciples (Mark 10:23-26). Another example is found in today’s passage, in which Jesus Himself was amazed by the tremendous faith of a Roman centurion.

This centurion was a remarkable man. He cared enough about his servant to act personally on his behalf. He was culturally sensitive, sending Jewish community leaders to speak for him. He believed in miracles, and asked for supernatural healing. The leaders testified that he loved Israel and supported the synagogue.

The centurion also understood divine authority. He had a respect for Jesus and a sense of his own unworthiness (and probably knew that religious Jews didn’t enter Gentile houses). He proclaimed that Jesus could heal his servant at a word from any location. And the miracle was done (v. 10).
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
The extraordinary faith of the Roman centurion amazed Jesus in today’s reading. Can you find one other person or group in the Gospels whom Jesus praised for their faith? Use a concordance, looking through the four Gospels for occurrences of the word faith. Once you’ve found the example, read the story and compare it to today’s Bible passage.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: John 17:13-19
That joy is mine, and it is now complete. - John 3:29
TODAY IN THE WORD
Prosperity doesn’t bring happiness. Though spending for luxury items has increased by more than four times compared to other types of consumer products, a recent book entitled Luxury Feverclaims that excessive spending doesn’t make rich people happier.

Surveys reveal that the percentage of people saying they’re “very happy” or satisfied with their lives has not risen with the national income. Between 1972 and this year, American incomes have gone up 39 percent, yet the percentage of happy people has remained about the same. And between 1958 and 1986, surveys found the same to be true for Japanese people, even though their incomes quintupled at this time.

What can bring real happiness or joy? Let’s look at the life of Christ to find out.

Like love, joy is both an emotion and a fruit of the Spirit. The two don’t always coincide, but they do in today’s reading. Jesus felt joyful, and prayed to share the “full measure” of His joy with His disciples (v. 13; cf. Luke 10:21; John 15:11).

The context for their joy would be an uneasy relationship with the world (vv. 14-16). They were in the world, but not of it, and because they didn’t buy into the world’s values, the world hated them. Nonetheless, Jesus didn’t pray for their removal from the world, but instead for their spiritual protection.

Along with joy would be sanctification and ministry (vv. 17-19). The truth of God’s Word is the means of sanctification. Just as God sent Jesus into the world, so Jesus also sent His disciples, and just as He was perfectly consecrated for His mission, so they would be for theirs. After all, Christ endured the Cross “for the joy set before Him” (Heb. 12:2).

If you think this seems an odd way to talk about joy, you’re right! As Christians, we should think about and pursue true joy, not the world’s counterfeit “joy.” Paul and John, for example, found joy in fulfilling their ministry and calling (Phil. 2:1-2; 3 John 3-4).
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
James 1:2-3 has this to say about joy: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” “Perseverance” can also be translated as “endurance,” “patience,” or “steadfastness.”

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: John 11:17-27
A friend loves at all times. - Proverbs 17:17
TODAY IN THE WORD
Are friendships important? Aristotle commented, “Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods.” In good times or bad, “friendship is a sheltering tree,” wrote poet Samuel Coleridge, and a proverb reminds us, “A friend in need is a friend indeed.”

Does friendship have any limits? Mark Twain ironically remarked: “The holy passion of Friendship is of so sweet and steady and loyal and enduring a nature that it will last through a whole lifetime, if not asked to lend money.”

Friends teach us about ourselves, as poet George Herbert described: “The best mirror is an old friend.” And as the Bible itself says: “Faithful are the wounds of a friend” (Prov. 27:6 kjv).

Who are your friends, and what impact have they made in your life? Jesus, too, had close friends during his life on earth, including the family of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus (v. 5; cf. John 15:14-15).

Lazarus was sick, and his two sisters had asked Jesus to come and heal him. Jesus responded that the illness wouldn’t end in death, but that God would be glorified (v. 4); Jesus then delayed coming for two days. By the time He arrived, Lazarus had been dead four days (two days’ delay plus two days’ travel).

Perhaps wanting privacy, Martha went out to meet her friend alone. Why had Jesus delayed? She didn’t know, but she displayed extraordinary faith in His power to heal and in His relationship with God (vv. 21-22). She may have been grieving or confused, but there’s no accusation in her words, only faith. She even believed in resurrection . . . in the future. Despite her uncertainty about what He was going to do, Jesus rewarded His friend’s faith with the most powerful statement in the narrative: “I am the resurrection and the life” (v. 25).
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Be a Christlike friend! Find a way to encourage and challenge one of your friends today, in the same way that Jesus challenged and encouraged Martha in today’s Bible text.