Caleb...a Man of Faith and Courage

One of my very favorite "hero's of the faith" is a man whose story is rather obscure. You only hear about him during two very important times in Biblical history...but his testimony is strong and powerful. The first time you hear about this great hero was during a time of testing during the time of the Israelites wilderness wanderings. He was one of the 12 spies who was sent into the "Promised Land" to spy it out. You remember the story.

In Numbers 13 we see that Moses is choosing the twelve leaders of the 12 tribes of Israel to send them into the promised land just before they had planned to enter in. It had been a long journey since our Hebrew friends had departed Egypt and they were anxious to move in and possess the land that God had promised them. But when the 12 spies returned, their report was far from comforting. Ten of the spies confirmed what God had told them about this great land, that it was indeed a good land...a land flowing with milk and honey...and they even brought back some of the fruit of the land to prove it. 

People Surrounding The Cross

Since we are in the middle of the Passion Week, I would like to take a look at the crucifixion story once again. Every year about this time, we begin to read the gospel accounts of that tragic event, and we talk about Jesus and His death on the cross and how terribly He suffered that day to pay the penalty for your sins and mine. But this time I would like to look at the events of that day from a different angle than the way we normally view it. This time I want to look at that day from the perspective of some of the people who were there when Jesus was crucified… some of the first-hand witnesses who saw the blood, heard the lashings, watched as the nails pierce His hands and feet and heard the agonizing screams of pain as His body hung there on the cross. Who were these people, and how did the events of that day affect their lives? And possibly by looking at their lives, we can try to better understand how His death has affected us, and how that event in history still changes lives today. So join me as we look at what the Bible reveals about these first-hand encounters of people surrounding the cross:

The Parables of the Doors

I remember a time many years ago when I had no idea which way to turn or what to do. Maybe you have been there too. It seemed as though I was wandering around in the dark and no matter what I tried or which way I turned, everything was closed to me. Then, the Holy Spirit gave me a "Parable" so to speak, or a picture story in my own spirit, and this is that parable.

He showed me a large room and all around the room were doors, much like the picture below...but the room was very dark and I couldn't see anything and had no direction. I felt very lost and hopeless in that room. Then I would see a door over on the other side of the room begin to open, and I would run to that door, but just as I was about to run out the door, it would slam shut in my face! That would bring much frustration, confusion discouragement, and I would sit down and cry and cry not knowing what to do. You know that the devil is able to open and close doors too, but his doors lead to nowhere.