These words were spoken by a man named Nicodemus to Jesus. Nicodemus was an unlikely person to even approach Jesus, let alone acknowledge that He’d come from God. He was a member of the Pharisees, proud in his strict adherence to Jewish law and fiercely opposed to the message of…
We identified the meaning of “testify” earlier this week, so now let’s look at “convict.” To convict is to expose something—bring it to the light. In this case, it means to expose a person’s wrongdoings (sins) so they can be dealt with. We can’t fix something until we know it’s…
Being indwelled with God’s Spirit gives us strength to endure, discernment to choose wisely, peace when life’s storms rage around us. But until Jesus died on the cross, rose again, and ascended to the Father, the Spirit couldn’t come. He had to wait until Jesus sent Him. Knowing they would…
HYMN DAY! Charles Wesley wrote a number of hymns, and the words always move me. “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” is no exception. It can be read as a prayer. 1 Love divine, all loves excelling, joy of heav’n, to earth come down, fix in us thy humble dwelling, all…
There’s that word “testify” again, but this time it applies to the disciples themselves. They had spent time with Jesus. They’d witnessed His miracles with their own eyes, heard His incredible teaching with their own ears, and experienced change within their own hearts. With the Holy Spirit’s empowerment, they would…
These are words spoken by Jesus to His disciples the night of His arrest. He knew time with them was short and He had a lot to tell them before He was taken. When you’re given a tremendous amount of information in a short amount of time, it’s hard to…
I bet you know someone who once proclaimed faith but, for whatever reason, has stepped away from truly following Jesus. It hurts our hearts when it happens to someone we love, doesn’t it? We wonder, what can we do to draw them back? This entire week, James has addressed the…
There’s a contemporary song we sing now and then that has this phrase in the chorus, speaking of God: “Even when I can’t see it, You’re working; You never stop working.” So very true. And that’s the thing about prayer—just because we can’t SEE something happening doesn’t mean that nothing…
HYMN DAY! “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” by Joseph Melicott Scriven reminds us there is no better response to life’s sorrows and hardships than talking to our Lord and Savior in prayer. 1 What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What…
It doesn’t seem to matter in what direction we look these days, we discover someone suffering. Suffering from an illness, suffering injustice, suffering deep sorrow… This world definitely has its trials and tribulations. It always has; it always will. When we’re suffering, we want it to end. That’s only natural.…
