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

Tag: Matthew 8
I Will Come And Heal Him

I Will Come And Heal Him

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Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented. 

Matthew 8:5-6 

Christ seemed abundantly willing to drop everything to go to the house of the centurion and heal his servant. This is interesting when we consider Christ did not always respond this way. We have lately been considering the Canaanite woman who appealed to Christ to heal her demon-possessed daughter. Christ had seemed quite unwilling to help her. His reluctance set the stage for her to demonstrate how great her faith in Him really was. She articulated such a high view of Him that He praised her great faith. Because Christ knows all, He understood that for the great faith of this centurion to become clear to all, He had to set the stage differently. Therefore He responds to his request with, ‘I will come and heal him.’ Different people require unique situations in order for their faith to emerge. Because people are unique, their faith shows itself in response to varied circumstances. Christ knows best how to arrange those circumstances. In this case, the centurion would respond with an answer so full  of faith that Christ would praise it for being great. He may put us in circumstances so as to reveal our faith. He does all things well.  

Our Wise and Wonderful Savior, 
we rejoice that You know best, 
how to bring our faith to the fore. 
We praise You that You arrange all things,  
in such a way, as to increase and reveal our faith. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
A Centurion

A Centurion

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Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented. 

Matthew 8:5-6 

Faith knows no nationality. The text before us speaks of a centurion of the Roman army. He was not of the nation of Israel, but rather an officer in the occupying army of Imperial Rome. Rome despised Israel, as the attitude of Pilate reflects. Therefore, it is rather remarkable that this centurion came to Jesus. Herein we see the exceptional Person Christ is, as well as the sovereign plan of God. This centurion is one of the few people whose faith Christ commends. God has, throughout history chosen unusual people to display faith. We may look back in history to people like Ruth and Rahab to find other examples of those who in the sovereign plan of God demonstrated that God grants faith to people whom others would judge as very unlikely candidates for grace.  In this case, the centurion steps up to show what Christ would later describe as greater faith than He had found anywhere in Israel. We ought not feel as if we are to unworthy to have great faith in Christ. We may consider ourselves to be outsiders, yet Christ makes Himself available to those who are unlikely candidates for grace. 

Our Great and Gracious God, 
we rejoice that You condescend to those of us who are of low estate. 
We praise You that You choose whom You will, 
even those that others would pass over. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
How Shall Christ Succeed?

How Shall Christ Succeed?

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And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with  
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 

Matthew 8:11 

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.   

Romans 8:29-30 

How shall Christ succeed in saving many when He says they ‘will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven?’ The answer is, free and sovereign grace. Salvation is from start to finish, the work of God. It was not born of humanity, does not occur by the power of humanity, and does not depend upon humanity. The second portion of our text lays it out before us in explicit order. It is the order of salvation. It starts with God and ends with God. We are the beneficiaries of what God Alone can accomplish. He does so, by Christ our Prophet, Priest and King. It is worth noting that this is not a narrow salvation. Christ is the firstborn among many brethren. Therefore we have every reason to proclaim Christ, because He is going to succeed beyond all human comprehension. We have the privilege to be included in that success. As we make much of Christ by life and lip, God takes up the gospel of Christ in ways beyond our comprehension and draws all manner of people unto Himself. He will bring many from east and west, all His sheep from every fold into the great flock over which He is the Good, Great, and Chief Shepherd. Jesus never fails. 

Glorious, Living Christ, 
we rejoice in Your redemption. 
We praise You that You shall succeed 
in drawing all Your sheep into the fold. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
The Foolish Things

The Foolish Things

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And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with  
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 

Matthew 8:11 

For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak thing of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised Go has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are. 

I Corinthians 1:26-28 

God makes something from nothing. He spoke the worlds into existence out of nothing. He has throughout history taken the least and made them the greatest. Christ multiplied five loaves and two fish to feed 5,000 men, plus women and children. He delights to take humble tradesmen, political zealots, and revenue agents and make them Apostles. He is in the business of calling the most unlikely people to become His joint-heirs. Therefore, we ought not to feel as if we are not worthy to follow Him. Paul articulates the characteristics of those whom Christ calls unto Himself, and how He uses them. We may thoroughly identify with these people. We may be foolish, weak, base, and despised. Of such is the kingdom of God. These are the many who will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom. They are the chosen whom Christ has redeemed by free and sovereign grace and who will reign with Him, as kings and priests. We need not be discouraged or feel that God would never use us because there are so many others whom we would deem better than we are. Look whom He has used in the past. If He can use them, why not us? He is the God who makes something from nothing.  

Our Wise and Holy God, 
we rejoice at the choices that You make. 
We praise You that You, 
bring us from the depths of who we are by nature, 
to be Your children and Your heirs. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
All The Father Gives

All The Father Gives

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And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with  
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 

All that the Father gives Me will come to Me,  
and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. 

Matthew 8:11, John 6:37 

God the Father has given many people to Christ. In the first portion of our text, Christ says many shall come from east and west. On the night before He went to the cross He spoke of shedding His blood for many for the remission of sins. In the second portion of our text, He speaks of all whom the Father has given Him. He declares they will come to Him and goes on to remark that He will not cast out any of these. Thus this matter of many coming to Christ is very certain, at least in the mind of Christ. This is very encouraging for us, because while many bewail the few conversions they see where they are, we can be sure that everyone who is supposed to be embracing Christ is on their way to that saving appointment. According to Christ, they are many and they will come to Him. We have every reason to be confident in the fulfillment of Christ’s word regarding the success of the gospel message. Jesus saves many, all whom the Father gives Him. We have the glorious privilege to point people to Christ knowing that it will be as completely successful as He intends it to be. 

Our Glorious, Living Christ, 
we rejoice that You will accomplish everything that You intend. 
We praise You that You will build Your Church, 
of all those whom the Father has given You. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

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