Archives: Watchword

WATCHWORD:

¹⁰ One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, ¹¹ he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. ¹² When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!” ¹³ Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God! ¹⁴ But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. “There are six days of the week for working,” he said to the crowd. “Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath.” ¹⁵ But the Lord replied, “You hypocrites! Each of you works on the Sabbath day! Don’t you untie your ox or your donkey from its stall on the Sabbath and lead it out for water?  Luke 13:10-15

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 Continue reading

WATCHWORD

³³ When they came to a place called The Skull, they nailed him to the cross. And the criminals were also crucified—one on his right and one on his left.  ³⁴ Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” […] ³⁹ One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!” ⁴⁰ But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? ⁴¹ We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” ⁴² Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” ⁴³ Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:33-34,39-43 Continue reading

WATCHWORD:

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Matthew 6:26 Continue reading

WATCHWORD:

When he stops, the earth shakes. When he looks, the nations tremble.
He shatters the everlasting mountains and levels the eternal hills.
He is the Eternal One! Habakkuk 3:6

¹⁷ Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines;
even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren;
even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty,
¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
¹⁹ The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer
able to tread upon the heights. Habakkuk 3:17-19

He lifted me out of the pit of despair,
out of the mud and the mire.
He set my feet on solid ground
and steadied me as I walked along.
Psalm 40:2 Continue reading

WATCHWORD:

⁵ So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. ⁶ Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. ⁷ When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”  ⁹ The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” ¹⁰ Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” ¹¹ “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?  John 4:5-11

⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God. Who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. ⁶ But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. James 1:5-6a

The Lord replied, “Look around at the nations; look and be amazed!  For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it. Habakkuk 1:5

Meditation:

Touched by Jesus

Now it was morning, two days later, and Photini stood at the edge of Sychar watching Jesus and his followers make their way down the hill in the direction of Capernaum. What an amazing time this has been, she thought. What a blessing it has been to have this man among us. Many in the village embraced him and believed what he was teaching.  (From The Inn on Jericho Road, a manuscript by Stan Escott.)

The woman at Jacob’s well. Shunned by other women in this small Samaritan town. A woman who had lived a very hard life, had endured many things, and now was alone. She had ventured to the well in the heat of the day to avoid contact with others, and there stood Jesus. The encounter changed the whole course of her life. She went from obscurity to become sainted in the Orthodox Church, St. Photini, Mother of Evangelists.

More than three years ago my first book, A Life for Barabbas, was published. Written on the back cover is this: Here was a notorious man convicted and facing crucifixion, suddenly pardoned by Pilate… Stunned and confused by this turn of events, he flees the city and within hours finds himself on Calvary where he encounters the crucified Jesus…

That is fiction, based on Biblical research, but still fiction. We don’t know what happened to Barabbas, but it doesn’t take much of an imagination to believe that such an encounter would change the direction of his life. We can look at Photini or Paul, the Disciples, or the millions of followers of Jesus and how their lives were changed by the touch of Jesus, God incarnate.

Your life, my life, changed by our encounter with Jesus. Would it have made a difference if we were in the crowd on that hillside, dining on the bread and the fish that Jesus provided? Would it have made a difference if the encounter had occurred on Calvary? Would it have made a difference if we had a near death experience and emerged with a firm belief that God was in it? Maybe yes, maybe no. Maybe our Jesus encounter was subtle, occurred under the most normal of circumstances. We weren’t threatened, we were healthy, our family was fine, and then something, maybe just a word, a scene from a movie we were watching, or you just happen to come across a word of scripture, and nothing has ever been the same.

We’ve heard the phrase many times that God works in mysterious ways to touch us with grace. We have been told that we have the spirit of God within us. Maybe we puzzled about that until something, that you can’t put your finger on, opened your spiritual ears and you became aware of the word, the circumstance, a little nudge, maybe an inconvenience, and you came to realize that God was in it. The spirit had spoken. And you knew, maybe the for the first time, that you are blessed. Praise the Lord. Amen.

An Oops and a Correction:

The Oops — I reached back four years of Watchword to find a good one in Voice of God. I failed to edit out the references to the pandemic. Sorry. Still, I thought the Meditation was a good one.

The Correction — The Shrine of Christ’s Passion is on US 41, just a few miles south of US 30.  A great and blessed destination for the Lenten Season.

Let Us Pray:

Father, thank you for Your Word and its truth. Thank you for the angels you have sent to serve and minister around us. Lord, forgive me for when I’ve been indifferent, unaware, or asleep. Lord, awaken me. Stir my heart and the hearts of those around me. Let the fear of the Lord and a reverence for you and Your Word grow within me. Give me a desire to know you, to worship you, and to seek you beyond anything I ever have before. In Jesus Name. Amen.  — AJ M