Devotions for Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Reflection Series Continues tonight!
Tonight is going to rock at H2O as we finish up the Reflection series. Make plans to be there!
Now to today’s Devotion:
John 20:24-31
24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.29 Jesus saith unto him,Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
Pastor Ben’s Commentary:
-This passage tells the story of what happened with Thomas, one of Jesus’ disciples.
-When Jesus first appeared to the disciples Thomas was not there.
-When they told Thomas that they had seen Jesus alive after he died Thomas was skeptical. Thomas didn’t believe. He was so skeptical that he told them he would have to see and touch Jesus to actually believe it to be true.
-Thomas was wrong though. When Jesus appeared again, Thomas was there, and Jesus gave Thomas the opportunity to see and touch Him. Thomas didn’t have to touch Him at all, but rather proclaimed “My Lord and My God.”
-The passage goes on to say that Jesus did all kinds of things that aren’t even contained in the rest of the book of John.
-The author then goes on to say that what is written is there so that WE MAY BELIEVE! THAT IS FAITH!
Application:
1. Those who believe in Jesus even when they haven’t seen Him will be blessed! That is faith! Faith believes what it can’t see. That doesn’t mean that there is not evidence to believe in Jesus, it just means that where we can’t see or understand we choose to trust in God.
2. The purpose of the Bible is that we might have faith in God. The purpose that John states here for the book of John isn’t really different from that of any other book of the Bible. The whole Bible is about God’s interaction in human history in revealing Himself to man, and redeeming man to Himself.
3. One day faith will become sight. Just like it was for Thomas, we will see Jesus one day. There will come a day when the Bible says that “every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” One day we shall see Him and know Him better than we ever have!
4. Our faith in Jesus must lead us to making Him known. The only gospel that many people will ever read is our lives. Is your faith in God leading you to help make Him known to others?
One day faith will become sight!
Study the Scriptures with Ben Jennings 
So was Thomas still blessed when he saw Jesus??
One day I will be able to touch and feel Jesus too…but for now I’m good with just knowing he’s real and being blessed in faith… Does that make sense??
Of course Thomas was happy when He saw that Jesus is alive, but Jesus says that there are many who will be happy and blessed who don’t physically see but still beliee.
The Bible says that “every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” That is pretty cool.
Very cool!! 🙂
Mafalda thats awesome! Yeah i was wondering that too but i cant wait till that day when we get to see him.
I can’t wait either hehe!! 🙂 and thank you
its awesome to think that He’s coming some day!
If you believe in your heart, Jesus is Lord, Thall shalt be saved. I still remember that song from VBS. that was a long time ago, but it’s true.
Ben, Ben, and Blake- It rocks that you guys got on here today and did your devos. Proud of you! I hope to see you on here again.
Im proud of all you guys for getting on here today! 🙂
What i learned from todays passage was that even when we can’t see Jesus, our faith in Him shows that we believe and trust in Him! Theres the common saying that “seeing isn’t believing, believing is seeing” which i think applys to the story today. Having faith in God is like seeing God. We don’t have to see Him to believe in Him. When we believe and trust in God, we “see”, or get to know Him 🙂 like Pastor Ben said, one day faith will become sight! Idk about you guys, but i can’t wait to meet Jesus and see Him when He comes back to earth!! The bible is our way to having faith in God. The past few days in this series has shown us incredible acts of faith, which we should live by everyday!
Also, i believe Thomas, being a disciple of God, was so wrong in not believing Jesus rose again after He died. Just because he wasn’t there to witness it! But on the other hand.. a lot of us are guilty of not having faith in God. I know i am sometimes. It’s something i struggle with and pray about daily!
Although Thomas was a disciple, he didn’t have any faith that Jesus was alive at one point and that he died because Thomas wasn’t there, because he didn’t see it with his own eyes he didn’t believe. He said he would believe if he got the chance to touch Jesus’ hands where the nails were. When Thomas saw Jesus he believed automatically and didn’t even need to touch him. Thomas didn’t have any faith, he didn’t believe because he didn’t see for himself until he did see Jesus did he then believe. I think Thomas is an example of what not to do. We as believers in Christ need to have faith that God exists and that Jesus really did come to earth and die for us. It’s hard to have faith in something we can’t see when society around us believes in so many different things and they try to pump things into our heads to make us think that God isn’t real at all. We need to ignore what society says and believe that God is real because evidence shows He is and because we believe in our hearts and have FAITH that He is! 🙂 Showing others that we can have so much faith in something we can’t even see, show’s them that you don’t have to necessarily see something to claim that it’s real! I can’t wait until the day that I can meet Jesus! That I can see Him and just see the person I’ve lived my life for and see all He’s done for us!!! 🙂
Ben, Ben Via and Blake I’m so happy you guys are on here!!! You rock :))
What’s cool too Melanie is that there is a lot of evidence out there for us to believe. For those of you who may want a more in-depth look at proofs for Jesus existence and claims check out these link:
http://carm.org/evidence-and-answers
Hey thanks for the link! There is a lot of good stuff on there! “Is Jesus just a
Myth?” is very interesting and has a lot of good stuff! 🙂 thanks! 🙂
Hey guys- I want to start a little discussion…
Why do you think it is hard for people, especially teenagers, to believe in what they don’t see? (specifically Jesus)
That’s a great question Pastor Ben! I think part of the reason why it’s so hard for teenagers to believe in something they can’t see is because now-a-days everything is so tangible! Teenagers live their lives off of things they can see, touch, use, rather then things they have to put their trust and faith in. I think another reason why teenagers have a problem with it is because of betrayal. I know from witnessing experiences at my school and even with friends, teenagers back stab each other. Friends are supposed to be able to be trusted, but people are always getting hurt that they can’t even trust their friends let alone Jesus, someone they can’t even see and doubt if He’s even real. I think teenagers feel if they can’t even trust people they know are real and see all the time, how can they trust someone who to some of them is a myth.. This is why by acting like godly people and showing our friends they can trust us, we can show them that they can have faith in Jesus and by doing that, they can live a life for Him and not live a life suffering by always getting hurt.
Maybe because It’s hard to believe in something you can’t see, especially when society is telling you to just go with the flow and do what everyone else is doing cause it’s “cool”.
Well I think because they think if they see it then they will beilve it like that saying I’ll believe it when I see it.
Well, from personal experience it’s hard sometimes to believe in something i can’t see because we live in a society where a lot of people lie, start rumors, and to where information gets mixed. Like Melanie said we live off of a world where everything is tangible. A lot of people believe that because of today’s technology we have everything at our fingertips and all the information we need. Well something we do have at our fingertips and is 100% true all the time is the word of God!! Having something like THAT is incredible! 🙂 I think it’s hard for teenagers to believe in Jesus because it seems like “so long ago” that Jesus came and that it doesnt matter anymore. One of my friends last year said that to me.. And it made me realize that it really wasnt long ago at all when Jesus came to earth, died, and rose again! A lot of people don’t believe in miracles, and i think that’s a big factor also. It’s safe to say they have no faith in God.. Which scares me because that’s where ALL our faith and trust should be, in God!!
It is really cool seeing you guys on here doing your devotions. I am proud of all of you. U guys inspire me. I never even heard of devotions when I was your age. You guys are so blessed to being studying God’s Word at such a young age. I wish I had that when I was young.
This passage is where the saying “Don’t be a doubting Thomas” comes from. (i believe :)) It is interesting after getting saved and reading scripture, how much of what I have said over the years came directly from the bible. Cool stuff. Didn’t even know it. It is easy to doubt when we can’t see something. We don’t literally see the air we breath do we? But we have faith that it is there every day. It pleases God when we have faith. Pastor Ben is right when he says there is evidence all over the place. Just look at creation. We have to have faith in our lives all the time or else we would probably never leave the house. When I get a flat tire and take it to be fixed at the mechanics I have faith that he will fix the problem and I will have a safe car again. I need to have faith every time I get in an airplane to fly. I have faith that the pilot knows what he or she is doing and I will arrive safely at our destination. We exercise faith every day. We need to have faith in good times and in bad.
I agree with Melanie that the story of Thomas is what not to do! We don’t have to see God to know he’s there, we should have faith that He will be with us always, no matter what! 🙂 & I cannot wait ’til the day faith becomes sight! It wil be so amazing to see Jesus face to face!!
I really like this passage. Thomas is unbelievable because he spent time with Jesus before the Cross and yet He couldn’t believe that He had come back. Sometimes I am like Thomas. My faith doesn’t go beyond my eyes of what I can see God do in my life.
When I don’t think I can see God working in my life I feel as though my faith is small and insignificant. I need to allow God to work in my life no matter if I see it or not because He is worthy of my faith.
I Agree!
-It makes sense what you guys are saying about being lied to and not being able to trust others to move over to God. It’s like- If I can’t trust my friends/parents/authority/government/religion/etc. then when someone tells me that there is a God I may not be able to trust that either.
-I think another thing is that if I believe that there is a God, then I am accountable for the way I live. Typically, we don’t like being accountable.
-I think another thing may be that the way we are taught about for instance science is that reality and spirituality can’t co-exist. Obviously, I believe that true science leads us to the understanding that we aren’t alone, and then end of all things. There is a designer who designed the world and the universe, but that’s not taught very often.
I view this story a little differently! I think a lot of time we give Thomas a bad rap and hate on him, but honestly if i was in that position I’m not sure that i would believe the other disciples either. But here is what I think is cool, Thomas did not believe until he saw Jesus right? But when he did see Jesus and believed how did Christ respond? Jesus did not blast Thomas and condemn him because his faith wasn’t as strong as it should be. Here is why I think this is cool, sometimes my faith is not what it should be, lets be honest there are times when I doubt Christ too, and if your honest you do the same thing. You doubt that God can handle the situation, of that God will really come through for you, and Im the same way. That being said we are a whole lot more like Thomas than we care to admit. But here is the great part Thomas restored his faith and put it back in Christ and went on to do incredible things for God. What I’m trying to say is that when we mess up and doubt that God can pull you through a situation or take things into your own hands because you think you can do it better than God; we need to be like Thomas and when we realize what we’ve done have the same response as Thomas, “My Lord and my God” When we have doubts like Thomas remember to put your faith back in Christ!
I agree!
Very cool take. I completely agree.
it’s cool to know that even when I doubt that Jesus is with me even when I can’t see, He still loves me and forgives me.
Well what i got out of this message was that jesus had a group called the diciples and there was this one in particullar and his name was thomas. He didnt always believe that there was a god in heaven and then the day came where he got to meet jesus. What i got out of all this is this is that even though we dont see and hear we still can talk to him and through the bible we see him talking to us.