by Shannon Tillman | Jan 29, 2024 | Thoughts
“Truth hurts”. We often think of that statement in the sense of speaking truth to someone for their own good, to confront them with something wrong. Yet, in this passage of Scripture, we see truth spoken to the Truth, Jesus, in the form of hurtful mockery.
The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” (Luke 23:35)
They mocked Jesus with His very deeds, His titles, His true character. The enemy mocks us with truth but twists it to “prove” truth in a way or time that is not God’s will.
Jesus did save others. He did not save Himself at the time because He was saving the world at that moment. By dying, Jesus was actually proving that He was God’s Messiah, the Chosen One. His first mission on earth was to die for our sins. However, at His second coming, He will rule and reign the world from Jerusalem. If He had shortcut His initial purpose, all of us would be eternally lost. But because He is the Messiah, He stayed on the cross to extend salvation to the world.
The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” (Luke 23:36-37)
Jesus is the King of the Jews. He is the King of kings. Yet, He knew that His rule would manifest later in history. By saving Himself, He would not have been crowned king.
That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. (Ephesians 1:19b-23)
It was because of His death and resurrection that God put Jesus above all. Everything is under His feet because He was willing to die for our sins. The people mocked Him as a king and told him to save Himself, but it was His death that heralded His divine coronation.
One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” (Luke 23:39)
The criminals wanted to be saved from their crossed and mocked Jesus with the truth of His Messiahship. The truth is that Jesus was saving them at that moment, if they so chose to receive it. The salvation was not a temporal escape from a cross but eternal salvation.
Often the enemy attacks us with truth. However, the enemy desires us to usurp God’s timing to have the truth manifest now. Jesus is Messiah, King, the Chosen One and much more. But if He had forced the truth instead of trusting God’s timetable, His purpose of saving the world would be thwarted. Instead, He chose to endure the pain, endure the mockery, suffer unto death so that we might be saved. In our own lives, we must trust God’s timetable so that more lives can be transformed to the glory of our Risen King!
by Shannon Tillman | Jan 22, 2024 | Thoughts
A messy journal entry is straight from my prayer journal. Sometimes, I write things down that are easier to transcribe (or fix some of the grammar and thoughts) then try to “tidy up” and make into a decent blog post. On this post I did add an additional thought to the end.
Thoughts on Deuteronomy 2:4-5,9
Give the people these orders: ‘You are about to pass through the territory of your relatives the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, but be very careful. Do not provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, not even enough to put your foot on. I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his own… Then the LORD said to me, “Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any part of their land. I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession.” (Deuteronomy 2:4-5,9)
God gave the land. He delegated the boundaries. The Lord even gave property to the enemies of Israel! He kept His Word to Esau and to Lot despite their unfaithfulness. Our Lord is faithful to His Word. Did knowing this encourage Israel to believe that what God did for others He would do even more for them?
Horites used to live in Seir, but the descendants of Esau drove them out. They destroyed the Horites from before them and settled in their place, just as Israel did in the land the LORD gave them as their possession. (Deuteronomy 2:12)
Esau fought for the land. They acquired the land because the Lord promised the land. If God fulfilled His word to Esau, then the people could trust the Lord for acquiring the land for Jacob (Israel).
Trust God. He is faithful to His Word. What He has promised, He will fulfill. Be encouraged by His fulfillment of His word to others. Do not compare or be jealous. Instead, let it increase your faith for what He will do for you.
by Shannon Tillman | Jan 15, 2024 | Bible Study
My idea of a workout is sitting on the beach. I would rather perspire lounging by a beautiful body of water than sweating during aerobics or weight training. I want to be healthy without any effort on my part. Yet, we all know that this is not how it works (sadly).
The same is true in our spiritual lives. It is the difficulties, sovereignly orchestrated by God for our benefit, that foster spiritual growth. The nation of Israel experienced this truth in the wilderness on their journey toward the Promised Land. They were on their way to the fulfillment of their hopes and dreams. However, a hostile king blocked them:
But Sihon king of Heshbon refused to let us pass through. For the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate in order to give him into your hands, as he has now done. The LORD said to me, “See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his country over to you. Now begin to conquer and possess his land.” (Deuteronomy 2:30-31)
A closed “road” may signal a spiritual fight to gain new territory. We want the Lord to make the path easy but He allows the fight. In fact, God divinely orchestrated the fight to benefit the Israelites. They wanted to pass “safely through” but God wanted them to take the enemy’s ground by His power.
The word Sihon in Hebrew means “warrior”. The word “Heshbon” in Hebrew means “stronghold”. The enemy we fight is a warrior who resides in a stronghold. This is not an easy fight! We must pull down the strongholds that the enemy has set up. We are called to fight instead of allowing the enemy to settle in our territory.
The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete. (2 Corinthians 10: 4-6)
We must not back down. A stronghold is any lie that is against the truth of God. Unless we dislodge the enemy with truth, he will stay settled in our lives. We must go into combat against the lies to dislodge the enemy. This is war!
The enemy told Israel “you can’t pass through.” But God told the Israelites “this is your land, go get it.” The enemy was telling a lie as if he was already victorious and the land was his. God was showing Israel that He alone is in charge.
Often our difficult circumstances will manifest the lies we believe about ourselves, others, our situations, and even God. These lies come up and are set up to block our victory. The Lord sovereignly allows this so we can experience even greater victory and freedom in our lives.
by Shannon Tillman | Jan 8, 2024 | Bible Study
I always carry food around with me. I hate being hungry. Also, I do not want to subject others to my attitude when I want to eat but food is not available. I keep snacks in my bag for the safety of everyone. I plan for my need.
God has a plan for our needs as well. He is not surprised when problems arise. His provision for the needs is in place before we even become aware of the needs. His ways to solve the situations involve creative and surprising outcomes. All we must do is to acknowledge the need and ask for God for His supply. Unfortunately, many of us do not respond by asking, instead we resort to complaining.
The nation of Israel was known for her complaints, especially when living in the wilderness. They had been miraculously rescued from Egypt, yet in a short amount of time they complained about the conditions in the desert. Forgetting their rescue, their hearts turned bitter and they murmured amongst themselves. Their need was legitimate. The community had no food. However, their complaints grew to obscure their view of the Lord, forgetting what God had done for them in the past and His promise to care for them in the future. Eventually the murmuring led them to grumble against leadership and to desire to return to the land of their captivity.
In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” (Exodus 16:2-3)
They believed the lie that “God rescued us to kill us”. They did not understand the heart of God. In their twisted misconceptions, they grumbled and complained instead of asking the Lord for help, as if He did not want to be there for them. God already had a plan. The Lord had “snacks on hand” to give to them. God was waiting for them to ask so He could send His miracle.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. (Exodus 16:4)
God’s plan for food in the wilderness was to rain down manna, bread from heaven. The Lord was not blindsided by the need or trying to quickly form a plan at the last minute. He already knew what He wanted to do. However, the Lord waited for His people to ask. Sadly, they never did cry out to the Lord for help. Instead of asking, they complained, grumbled, and murmured.
If they had asked and then received, faith would have been built. They would trust God with the next set of overwhelming circumstances. They would learn His heart towards them which would encourage them to persevere. By complaining, however, they created a pattern of being alienated from God through their grumbling. This separated them from their source of Help. God was merciful. He still took care of them. Unfortunately, a complaining pattern emerged. This often led to dire consequences. Often, we treat complaining as not a big deal, but that is not how God views it.
And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel. (1 Corinthians 10:10)
Yikes! Grumbling involves the death penalty! Why is this such a big deal? Complaining proves a lack of confidence of who God is and what He can do. To complain is saying “God is not God, He cannot handle my situation.” Complaining is blasphemy. When we grumble, we are showcasing our lack of faith.
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)
Complaining is the opposite of faith, thus it does not please God. When we choose faith, we please the Lord. God is who He says He is. God can do what He says He can do. God has a plan. We can trust Him. We must seek Him through asking, not by complaining. When we do, miraculous answers will come our way. By asking and then receiving from God, we build faith for the next set of circumstances. And we can know that God will meet our need because He is God so we can trust Him to ask for His provision.
Faith is built through asking, trusting, and then receiving. God is faithful. He will take care of you. Remember what He has done in the past and bring the need to Him in the present and watch the miraculous answer in the future!
by Shannon Tillman | Jan 1, 2024 | Thoughts
Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. (John 12:26)
This verse simplifies all of life. Follow Jesus. Where He is shows His servants where they should be.
