I’ve never grown grapes, but we have a peach tree in our backyard. In the Spring, when leaves start to appear, we trim off the branches that have died over the winter. The tree is healthier without those dead portions. Then we watch for the blossoms. The little tree is…
Jesus’s choice to lay down His life at Calvary was in direct obedience to God the Father. He had the ability to resist. God’s power was His power because the Father and the Son are one. If He’d wanted to, He could have squashed those soldiers with a flick of…
The ruler of the world was coming to claim Jesus’s physical body. The ruler of world thought he’d won when Jesus released His last breath. The ruler of the world was wrong. Yes, Jesus would go to the cross, but not because of anything the ruler of the world said…
HYMN DAY! John Henry Yates, a shoe salesman in New York in 1855, wrote this wonderful hymn, “Faith is the Victory.” A glorious victory that overcomes the world! That is our faith. 1 Encamped along the hills of light, Ye Christian soldiers, rise And press the battle ere the night…
We can only imagine what it was like to walk alongside Jesus on a dusty road, to listen to Him share from His heart and see Him reach out in compassion to the lost and hurting souls He encountered. What joy it must have been to truly know Him in…
We can’t expect the world to live as Jesus instructs. The lost march to a different drum…their own. Often those who resist accepting Christ do so because they don’t like being told something they’re doing is wrong. When we try to share Jesus’s instructions, some are quick to say, “Who…
Loving Jesus brings so many blessings. I can still hear my mom’s voice in my head as she shared with me during her last days, “I love Jesus so much.” She did, and it showed in the way she treated others, the way she spoke to others, the way she…
We’ve probably previously looked at “Let Others See Jesus In You” by B.B. McKinney, but I like the words—”Your life’s a book before their eyes”—and they seem to fit well with this week’s Scriptures. So here we are! (You can listen to it sung by a Baptist church here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nMlwtYUNuQ)…
All the people who followed Jesus, hoping to see Him perform a miracle or hear Him speak, but did so out of curiosity rather than real commitment wouldn’t see Him again after His crucifixion. People today who choose to disregard the truth of who He is—God’s Son sent to be…
You know, I have always appreciated the Holy Spirit’s presence. He’s a built-in Guide, Comforter, Peace-bringer, Strength-deliverer, and always-available Friend. But I honestly had not considered the Holy Spirit as Jesus’s gift to us until a few years ago. Jesus was returning to heaven, but He didn’t want to leave…
