Look inside this book.Where the Bush is Burning: A Daily Devotional by [Thomas Tice]

Tag: Luke 8
The Personal Christ

The Personal Christ

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The Personal Christ

And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise. And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat….

Luke 8:54-55

Christ is a very Personal Savior. We arrive today at the actual miracle which Christ performed when He raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead. This scene reveals to us that Christ is a very tender Savior. Notice the tenderness with which He approaches the child. He says to her, ‘Little girl, arise.’ He goes farther than just to raise her from the dead, although that would have been enough. ‘He commanded that she be given something to eat.’ This is a very personal touch which reflects how completely Christ knows us. For those of us who have become the beneficiaries of Christ’s Goodness, this is very encouraging. Ours is a very Compassionate Christ. He has known us intimately before our conception. Before He formed us, He knew us. He takes a very keen interest in everything that has to do with us. This brings us a great deal of confidence in Him and security in how He deals with us. We are not dealing with an impersonal God, Who removes Himself from us to casually observe our distresses from a distance. Rather, He attends to our affairs, both great and small. Today, let us take some time to meditate upon this very Personal Christ, Who draws near to us to do us good in every way.

Our Kind and Loving Savior,
We praise You that You very tenderly deal with us.
We rejoice that You manifest Your overwhelming goodness to us every day,
in a multitude of ways.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
’He Put Them All Outside’

’He Put Them All Outside’

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‘He Put Them All Outside’

And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead. And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise….

Luke 8:53-54

Unbelief is a wretched thing. It is one of the crowning sins of humanity. Hardened unbelief, which makes mockery of belief and of those who believe, is an aggravation of what is already a soul-destroying crime. As Christ entered in to the household of Jairus, there were those who had gathered to mourn the death of the little girl. Christ makes the remark, ‘Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping.’ Remember the context. Christ had already raised one person from the dead. The fame of His miracles was rapidly spreading. If there was any hope whatsoever for this little girl, it was in Him. The crowd began to ridicule Him for His remark. Christ does not demonstrate the wonders of His miraculous power before such unbelief. Therefore, ‘He put them all outside.’ This is a fearful place to be. When Christ puts us out from His Presence, and from the place where He is doing the miraculous, it does not bode well for us. What is the alternative to this? The alternative is faith. We believe. We believe in the God Who raises the dead. We believe in Christ, Whom God has sent. We believe that He is the Lord of Life. We believe that nothing is too hard for Him. Today, let us seek the Lord, that He would graciously deliver us from unbelief in all its pernicious forms. Let us pray, ‘Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.’

Our Wise and Wonderful Savior,
we praise You that You give us every reason to believe.
We rejoice that You include us within the doors,
so that we may observe Your Miraculous Works.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
The Divine Perspective

The Divine Perspective

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The Divine Perspective

Now all wept and mourned for her; but He said, “Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping.”

Luke 8:52

Christ does not see things the way we do. As Christ was about to raise the daughter of Jairus from the dead, He made what seemed to the audience, a ridiculous statement. He said, ‘Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping.’ Because the mourners were fully aware that the little girl was, in fact, dead, ’they ridiculed Him.’ Herein lies the wide disparity between Christ’s perspective and ours. We see, what we perceive to be, the harsh realities. We see that, in many cases, the person is ‘dead’ or that a given situation is unredeemable. We observe life from the totally human perspective. Christ views life from the Divine Perspective. Hence Christ could say, without a trace of irony, ‘she is not dead, but sleeping.’ If we would know Christ, then we must arrive at the place where we can see things from His Perspective. Herein lies real wisdom, that only comes from God. This gives us a clear path for prayer. If we are to pass through this scene of time with peace, wisdom and understanding, we are going to need to see things from God’s point of view. He Alone can give us these insights. Therefore, we can appeal to Him in prayer to enable us to see things from His Perspective. Then the hopeless case becomes the hopeful case, the impossible, possible, the unreachable, reachable. ‘Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping.’

Our All-Wise and All-Seeing Savior,
we rejoice that You see clearly what we do not see well at all.
We praise You, that in Your Loving Kindness,
You bring us to a true understanding of reality.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
Overcoming the Obstacles

Overcoming the Obstacles

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Overcoming the Obstacles

While He was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him, “Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the Teacher.”

Luke 8:49

Christ overcomes all the obstacles to perform the miracles which carry out the Plan and Purpose of God. Before Christ raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead, He would encounter, and overcome several obstacles. We have selected the text at the beginning of the article as a representative of the many obstacles which Christ encountered on the way to raise the child. The first of the obstacles was that, ‘the multitudes thronged Him,’ which we find in verse 53. The next obstacle was the incident with the woman with the issue of blood who touched the hem of His garment. While this was a wonderful miracle, and we should not discount it in any way, it did slow the overall progress of the mission. Beyond that, there was the obstacle of the doomsayers who said to Jairus, ‘Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the Teacher.’ The last of the obstacles was the crowd who ‘ridiculed Him’ when Christ said, ‘Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping.’ Christ overcame all of these obstacles in order to arrive at the house of Jairus to effect this miracle. How often do we find this true. We are seeking a large work of Grace from Christ, for ourselves or for someone else and it seems that there are so many obstacles that stand in the way. Yet, Christ can and does overcome all these obstacles. There is nothing too hard for Him.

O Christ, our All-Powerful Savior,
we praise You that nothing is too hard for You.
We rejoice that You overcome every obstacle in
order to do unto us the greatest good.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
Preparing to Worship

Preparing to Worship

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Worship 9:30 am

10900 Huron Street

Northglenn, CO

Scripture:  Luke 8:40-56

So it was, when Jesus returned, that the multitude welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him. And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell down at Jesus’ feet and begged Him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying. But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him. Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any,  came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped. And Jesus said, “Who touched Me?” When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, “Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?'”  But Jesus said, “Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me.” Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately. And He said to her, “Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”  While He was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him, “Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the Teacher.”  But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, “Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well.” When He came into the house, He permitted no one to go in except Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the girl. Now all wept and mourned for her; but He said, “Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead. But He put them all outside, took her by the hand and called, saying, “Little girl, arise.” Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately. And He commanded that she be given something to eat. And her parents were astonished, but He charged them to tell no one what had happened. 

Sermon:  ‘Little Girl, Arise!’ – Tomm Tice

  1. Christ responded to intercessory prayer.
  2. Christ overcame every obstacle.
  3. Christ treated the little girl very tenderly.

Catechism:  Westminster Shorter Catechism Question #16

Did all mankind fall in Adam’s first transgression?

The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity; all mankind, descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him in his first transgression.

1 Genesis 2:16-17. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. James 2:10. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
2 Romans 5:12-21. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Corinthians 15:22. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Worship:

Greaty and Mighty

Whiter Than Snow

Speak, O Lord

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