Samuel D. High
sdhigh@aristotle.net
-----Original Message-----
From: "Apostle Tom" <pressingon@hotmail.com>
Sent: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 14:57:25 -0500
To: pressingon@hotmail.com
Subject: Morning Manna (Apr. 17); BP: Lk. 24:13-32; RBTTY: Lk. 14:1-24; II Sam. 1-2
April 17 “When Faith and Doubt Collide”
“And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto Him, ‘Are
You only a stranger in Jerusalem and have not known the things which have
come to pass there in these days?’ And He aid unto them, ‘What things?’
And they said unto Him, ‘Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, Who was a prophet,
mighty in deed and word before God and all the people—and how the chief
priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death and have
crucified Him. But we trusted that it had been He Who should have redeemed
Israel. And, besides all this, today is the third day since these things
were done’.”
Luke 24:18-21
It takes faith to see Him and rest in what He has said and done.
Some things in Scriptures require spiritual speculation on our part.
We must ponder them. . .mulling over them in “righteous rumination” (Ps.
1:2). . .if we are to drink from God’s cup of deep truths.
Such is certainly the case with today’s Manna. We read of these two
followers of Christ—one named Cleopas and the other apparently named Simon
(vv.18, 34)—on their way to Emmaus on the third day after Jesus’
crucifixion. Their day had certainly started out in an unusual way, with
the women bursting into the room saying “He’s alive! He’s alive!” But, the
men refused to believe them, likening their excited claims to “idle tales”
(v.11).
Even when Peter and John returned from the tomb and told them it was
empty, they still refused to believe anything miraculous had happened
(v.24). No wonder they were still heavy-hearted when the Stranger drew near
to them (vv.14-17). The One they’d hoped would “redeem Israel”—i.e., rescue
her from her earthly enemies—was dead. We should not be surprised that
they’d gone from believing Him to be the promised Messiah to little more
than “a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and all the people.”
Thus, we also should not be surprised that Jesus could draw near to
them and walk along with them without their recognizing Him (vv.15-16). Why
was this? Most likely because they weren’t expecting to see Him, their eyes
blinded by unbelief.
Oh, dear Pilgrim, aren’t there times when we, like them, fail to
recognize the Lord’s presence with us—especially during times of pressure or
crises? Aren’t there times we get uptight, fret and fume over this or that
instead of heeding His invitation to “Come unto Me” (Mt. 11:28-30)?
Assuredly there are.
That’s why faith has to arise when doubt, fear, guilt, etc., come
knocking at the door. We are powerless to resist them in our own strength.
Without faith, we forget “Who God is and what He has promised” (Heb. 11:6).
However, when we exercise faith, those “dark demons from hell” flee—knowing
they no longer have any power over us. Hallelujah!! May the Holy Spirit
help us today to walk by faith, not sight, confident that the Lord Himself
is with us every step of the way.
_________________________________________________________________
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