Title: Thank You, Lord / Topic: Grace

Today’s Reading: John 19; John 20; John 21

#1 Scripture: John 19:1-3
1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3 and went up to him again and again, saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!" And they struck him in the face.

#1 Observation/Application/Prayer
It is Christmas eve as I write this. We just got done with six of my grandkids opening a few presents around the tree. Against this backdrop, it was a shock to read the opening verses to chapter 19 with Jesus being beaten. I just am so thankful that Jesus endured so we could have hope and salvation and joy. "Thank You, Lord."

#2 Scripture: John 20:24-31
24 Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!"
But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."
26A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." 28 Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" 29 Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
30 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Observation: I love the fact that Jesus came a second time specifically for Thomas, the doubter. Thomas was a particularly negative guy, and it seems to me that it would be easy to kind of ignore his habitual negativity. (I'm sure the rest of the disciples did this from time to time.) But Jesus makes a special trip just for Thomas.

Application: This gives me hope. I feel that I have let the Lord down so many times that He might just give up on me. But when I read about how He did this for Thomas, I am comforted and encouraged.

Prayer: Thank You , Lord that You are so loving so as to reach out to us even when we don't deserve it. (Of course we never actually deserve Your mercy.) Thank You for Your gentleness and kindness that draws us to You. May I always be a recipient of Your grace.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

btw: Merry Christmas, everybody!