JOHN SHIRK – In the Year of Vision, today’s 20/20 Insight focuses on the beauty of a flower and the brilliance of God’s glory.

Jesus said in Matthew 6:28, “See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.”

Flowers have their season when they burst forth in brilliant color and decorate our world with breathtaking beauty.  But they don’t last forever. Eventually, their beauty fades. That is one of the ways we are similar to a flower. We have a moment on earth that God has given to shine. Our most brilliant moments occur when we are fulfilling our God-given purpose to reflect His glory. This moment is our opportunity. This is our season to shine by sharing His grace, and standing for His truth.

Focusing on God’s glory gives us greater clarity for living out the Christian life.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com

JOHN SHIRK – In the Year of Vision, today’s 20/20 Insight focuses on the Lord’s strength.

David said in First Chronicles 16:11, “Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.”

A thriving faith is only possible through an ongoing relationship with Jesus. In John 15, He told His followers, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

God invites us to spend time with Him every day and to depend on His grace to live the Christian life. Here are some of the specific practices that can bring greater clarity into our relationship with God. Take time to thank Him for His blessings. Name them one by one. Take time to praise Him for His greatness. Remember the reference points of history that prove His love and power such as the cross, the empty grave, and the day of Pentecost. Take delight in studying His Word. That is where He reveals His grace and guides us in wisdom.

Focusing on the Lord’s strength gives us greater clarity for living out the Christian life.  

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com

JOHN SHIRK – In the Year of Vision, today’s 20/20 Insight focuses on the search for  meaningful worship.

In Psalm 27:4, David wrote, “One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.”

The temple was known as a place for worship. That is what gave David great delight-dwelling in the house of God and seeing Him in His glory. Churches today are known as houses of worship, but we don’t have to go to church to worship God. We can honor Him right where we are, because the body of the believer is identified as a temple of the Holy Spirit. 

Focusing on God’s glory and grace gives us greater clarity for living out the Christian life.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com

JOHN SHIRK – Today’s Good News Focus is on Psalm 90, verse 2.

Before the mountains were born, or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

How do you comprehend an infinite God with a finite mind? We cannot fully grasp His eternal nature, or understand all His ways. He sees reality from a higher perspective, and He also sees reality from an eternal perspective. His view of time is different than ours. Moses wrote that a thousand years in God’s sight are like a day that has just gone by.

Even though we cannot fully comprehend God, He fully understands us. He made us. He has provided a way for us to know Him better and to live in a peaceful relationship with Him forever. Jesus is our way to the Father. 

Jesus is our Source of Good News, leading us to a place of awe-inspiring worship in the Year of Vision. 

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com

JOHN SHIRK – In the Year of Vision, today’s 20/20 Insight focuses on the searching. heart of Zacchaeus.

In Luke 19, we find this wealthy tax collector climbing a tree to see Jesus. The Bible says that he wanted to see who Jesus was. 

Jesus noticed him and invited himself to Zacchaeus’s house. Zacchaeus welcomed Jesus gladly. 

The encounter changed his life. He said to Jesus, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

In seeing Jesus, Zacchaeus saw the folly of his greed, and saw how his life could be different by being more generous. His words to Jesus reflected his commitment to change course. Jesus said to him, “Today, salvation has come to this house.”

Focusing on the generosity of God’s grace gives us greater clarity for living out the Christian life.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com

JOHN SHIRK – In the Year of Vision, today’s 20/20 Insight focuses on the testimony of Jesus’ disciples to His resurrection.

In John 20:25, the disciples told Thomas, who had not yet seen Jesus alive, “We have seen the Lord.”

One of the compelling pieces of evidence that Jesus rose from the dead is found in the Bible.  There were witnesses, and those witnesses were the disciples of Jesus. 

Tim Keller explains why this is significant in his book “The Reason for God.” “Virtually all the apostles and early Christian leaders died for their faith, and it is hard to believe that this kind of powerful self-sacrifice would be done to support a hoax.”

Even though Thomas did not initially believe this report, he too would be convinced after seeing Jesus with his own eyes one week later.

Focusing on the resurrection of Jesus from the dead gives us greater clarity for living out the Christian life.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com

JOHN SHIRK – Today’s Good News Focus is on John 20, verse 1.

“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.”

Peter Marshall is quoted as saying, “The stone was rolled away from the door, not to permit Christ to come out, but to enable the disciples to go in.”

What did they find when they went into the tomb? Peter and another disciple saw strips of linen lying there and the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. But there was no body. John 20, verse 8 records that the disciple who reached the tomb first saw and believed when he went inside. The biggest piece of evidence to make the case for the resurrection of Jesus was what was missing at the tomb of Jesus when the stone was rolled away. Jesus’ body was missing, but He later appeared to His disciples alive. Jesus told His followers in John 14:19, “Because I live, you also will live.” 

Jesus is our source of Good News, leading us to a place of faith and resurrection hope in the Year of Vision.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com

JOHN SHIRK – In the Year of Vision, today’s 20/20 Insight focuses on one of the purposes for Jesus dying on the cross.

Second Corinthians 5:15 tells us that “He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”

At the cross, Jesus committed Himself to His Father’s plan for the redemption of the world. He leaves us an example to make the glory of God the reason for our activity. That is when our faith really comes alive-when we are in the will of God, expressing the love of God for the glory of God. The death of Jesus means that we can live with purpose to make His name famous. Living for Jesus is what matters most.

Focusing on the opportunity to live for God’s glory gives us greater clarity for living out the Christian life.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com

JOHN SHIRK – In the Year of Vision, today’s 20/20 Insight focuses on a prophecy about Jesus’ death.

It’s found in Isaiah 53, verses 4 to 6. “Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.”

This prophecy contains the prediction of Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins. Suffering is a harsh reality of life, and sometimes people blame God for it. But one thing that we learn here is that Jesus would be willing to take on the pain of our sin’s penalty to extreme measures. He knows the pain of the cross. 

His pain had a redemptive purpose-to restore us to a right relationship with God.

Focusing on Jesus as the Suffering Savior gives us greater clarity for living out the Christian life.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com

JOHN SHIRK – In the Year of Vision, today’s 20/20 Insight focuses on the contagious effect of kindness.

While the Coronavirus is having a contagious effect on the world in an unhealthy way, there are contagious influences that have a positive effect on our lives.

One of those influences is kindness.

Kindness uses a gentle tone rather than a Megaphone to draw attention to God’s love for the world. Kindness is how God moves us to places of repentance. Christ died for us while we were still sinners. When we think of the price He paid for our sins, we are humbled. 

The Apostle Paul noted the contagious effect of God’s kindness on his life. He wrote in Titus 3:3, “At one time, we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived, and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.”

Focusing on the kindness of Jesus gives us greater clarity for living out the Christian life.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com