“So Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.'” (John 20:21)
This must be one of the most important statements found in the book of John, regarding the duty that Jesus has given His followers. He says “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” This command is PACKED with implications. Continue reading
“When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, ‘Woman, behold your son!’ Then He said to the disciple, ‘Behold your mother!’ From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.” (John 19:26-27)
How amazing that even from the cross, in the midst of unimaginable pain, Jesus would be thinking of others at all. Continue reading
The other day I was reading something written by a pastor from generations gone by, and he said of this certain thing: “This is something which is highly dishonoring to God, a sin which we need to make conscience of, confessing it with shame, and seeking grace to avoid any further repetitions thereof.” (Pink p. 219)
That’s pretty strong isn’t it? “Highly dishonoring to God.” No one who knows and loves God would want to be found doing something that is “highly dishonoring to God”, right? But the truth is, that many of us ARE, even today, because that pastor was writing about the sin of worry.
People are worried about a lot of things these days. Last weekend we took up an offering for hurricane disaster relief in Houston, TX, and now this weekend there is another, even stronger hurricane bearing down on our country — and even on our own state — with perhaps a couple more behind it! Then we see where North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is threatening to send ICBM’s with hydrogen bombs against the U.S, the strongest such threat since the Cuban Missile Crisis of the 1960’s. Others of us would say, Listen, I can’t even worry about hurricanes or atomic bombs, I’ve got some things going on my own life: I need a job; I don’t know where my next meal is going to come from; I’m worried about my family …
Worry is one of the most common ailments that we face as human beings. Most of us would admit that there are times when we worry about one thing or another — and maybe you would admit that you are worried about something even today.
So it is for good reason that Jesus spends the whole second part of Matthew Chapter 6 addressing worry. Three times in these verses He commands His people not to worry: :25, :28, :31, He repeatedly says “Do not be anxious”! Now the people in His day were worried about food and clothing. And many of them had legitimate needs: remember when the 5000 gathered to hear Jesus, and it was time to eat, that they didn’t have anything. The disciples went out and “scoured the crowd” and only came up with 5 loaves and 2 fish. They really were a poor people who had needs for daily food that many of us today have no concept of. But Jesus commanded them not to worry, and what He said to them, applies to US today too. We may not be worrying about the exact same things that they were, but many of us worry nonetheless. And Jesus says, if you are My child, you should NOT be worrying! And He shows us why here in the second part of Matthew 6: Continue reading
In Matthew 1 the angel told Joseph that one of Jesus’ “nicknames” would be “Immanuel”, which means, “God With Us.” That is no small thing. In fact, it means everything that God is with us. He created us originally to always be with Him, but our sin separated us from Him. The good news of the gospel is that through Jesus we can experience His presence in our lives again through His Holy Spirit. It is the single most important thing in a Christian’s life, that we can know that no matter what, God is “with us.”
And we see this in Psalm 46 tonight. Psalm 46 is favorite Psalm for many people, and for good reason: it is realistic about the difficulties that we face, but encourages us that God can be with us through them, which makes all the difference. Continue reading
“Therefore the soldiers did these things. But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene.” (John 19:25)
Don’t miss this little phrase in the narrative which describes these brave women: “STANDING BY THE CROSS OF JESUS.” More than a mere description of the physical proximity of these women to the Lord, these words dramatically symbolize their commitment and loyalty to Him. Continue reading
“There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between.” (John 19:18)
The physical arrangement of Jesus and the two thieves on the three crosses could not possibly have been a random arrangement. There was a reason why Jesus was in the middle, with the two thieves on either side. As precisely as God had arranged His death, fulfilling so many scriptures, there must be meaning in this positioning. What could it be? Continue reading
“Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas into the Praetorium, and it was early; and they themselves did not enter into the Praetorium so that they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover.” (John 18:28)
Jesus had previously condemned the scribes and Pharisees as misguided hypocrites, “who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel.” (Matthew 23:24) Now just a few days later, we see them living out a perfect example of it: Continue reading
I served as pastor of Southern Baptist churches in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana for almost 30 years before taking a medical leave from the pastorate in February 2013 due to dysautonomia (POTS) and moving to Norman, Oklahoma. Blessed with renewed health, I was called as Senior Pastor of Pleasant Ridge Baptist in Morganton, NC in February 2015.
In this blog I share daily devotions from my own personal Bible readings, as well as sermons, book reviews, illustrations -- and occasional humorous "peeks" at life inside this pastor's home!
