shawnethomas

If You Loved Me You’d Rejoice!

Posted on 2017/08/01 by Shawn Thomas

“You heard that I said to you, ‘I go away and I will come to you.’ If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.” (John 14:28)

Here Jesus seems to mildly rebuke His disciples for being grieved at His leaving them and going to the Father. “If you loved Me”, He said, “You would have rejoiced”! He was going to His “Father’s house”; to heaven; to “the glory He had with (Him) before the world was”! (17:5) Being so enveloped by this world, it was hard for the disciples to comprehend anything besides their own loss; they couldn’t see how much better for Him it would be to leave and be with His Father.

And don’t many of us today experience the same limited perspective with our own loved ones? Continue reading →

Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Uncategorized | Tagged comfort, Death, eternal life, glory, God the Father, heaven, Hudson Taylor wife death, Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret, Jesus, John 14:28, peace | Leave a comment

“Don’t Be A Hypocrite!” (Matthew 6:1+ sermon)

Posted on 2017/07/31 by Shawn Thomas

“Beware!” If you are out driving, and you come across a sign in the road that says “Beware!”, you are going to pay attention, and proceed very carefully, aren’t you? And you should. You know there is something dangerous ahead, that you need to be very careful about.

Well if we pay attention to the warnings of men from the highway department, how much MORE should we heed it when Jesus begins Chapter 6 here of the Sermon on the Mount by saying, “BEWARE!” It’s like He’s waving a red flag in front of our faces, saying, you need to careful; there is something dangerous here. Every one of us needs to “perk up our ears” and LISTEN to the warning Jesus gives us here. What He talks about here IS a danger, because it can take what could be some of the BEST things for your relationship with God, and turn them into the tools of the devil.

So, Jesus starts Matthew 6 with this warning: “BEWARE of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.” Continue reading →

Posted in Matthew sermons, Sermon Illustrations, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged actor, alms, applause of heaven, church, Facebook, fasting, giving, heart, humility, hypocrisy, hypocrite, hypocrites, Jesus, John 11 Jesus prayer, let your light shine, Luke 20:20, Matthew 23, Matthew 5:16, Matthew 6:1, Matthew 6:1-18, model prayer, motivation, NBA home court, Pharisees, poor in spirit, praise, prayer, pride, private prayer, public ministry, pure in heart, recognition, righteousness, scribes, singing, tip of the iceberg, worship | Leave a comment

The Believer’s Peace

Posted on 2017/07/31 by Shawn Thomas

“Do not let your heart be troubled.” (John 14:1)

Many of God’s people are familiar with the opening words of this chapter. But they may not remember that Jesus REPEATS these very same words again later, near the end of the chapter, in :27: “Do not let your heart be troubled.” It is as though He is “enclosing” what He tells us in between with these two commands; that in between them we find those truths which will help our hearts not to be troubled. What are those things? WHY, in light of what He said, should His disciples’ hearts not be troubled? Continue reading →

Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Uncategorized | Tagged Comforter, disciples, heart, heaven, helper, Holy Spirit, Jesus, John 14:27, John 14:6, John 1:41, peace, salvation | 1 Comment

Keeping His Commandments

Posted on 2017/07/28 by Shawn Thomas

“He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” (John 14:21)

It is not without purpose that several times in John 14, Jesus emphasizes the importance of keeping His commandments. This should be instructive to us: there can be NO disconnect between “loving God” and keeping His commandments. Continue reading →

Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Discipleship, Uncategorized | Tagged commandments, discipleship, John 14:21, knowing God, love, love and commandments, obedience | Leave a comment

A Triune Comfort

Posted on 2017/07/27 by Shawn Thomas

“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever.” (John 14:16)

Jesus, knowing that His disciples were grieved by His impending departure from this world, comforts them with the promise of the Holy Spirit. In doing so, He also reveals an important truth about the Triune nature of God: Continue reading →

Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Doctrine/Theology, Uncategorized | Tagged comfort, Comforter, disciples, discipleship, doctrine, Father Son and Holy Spirit, helper, Holy Spirit, Jesus, John 14:16, spirit, Trinity, Triune nature of God | Leave a comment

The “Next” Verse …

Posted on 2017/07/26 by Shawn Thomas

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” (John 14:15)

Much attention is focused on Jesus’ promise in John 14:14, “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it”, and rightly so. And yet it is interesting how many focus on that promise, while completely neglecting the next verse. It contains only nine very brief words, and yet in them Jesus shares some very convicting truths: Continue reading →

Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Discipleship, Uncategorized | Tagged commandments, discipleship, I John 2:3, John 14:15, Lordship, love, love relationship, obedience, relationship | 1 Comment

Praying “In Jesus’ Name”

Posted on 2017/07/25 by Shawn Thomas

These two verses in John 14 are VERY strong in their teaching that what a follower of Jesus asks “in His name”, He will give:

— :13 “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do …”
— :14 “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”

How much more clear can these verses be? And yet the meaning of these promises is often greatly misunderstood. Continue reading →

Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Uncategorized | Tagged God's will, Jesus' name, John 14:13-14, kingdom, model prayer, prayer, praying in Jesus' name | 2 Comments

Are You Doing His Works?

Posted on 2017/07/24 by Shawn Thomas

“Truly, truly I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to the Father.” (John 14:12)

Much of the attention given this verse is often directed toward the second part: “greater works than these he will do” — people are amazed at the implication that Jesus’ followers might do works even greater than those that He did when He was here on earth. And that IS an amazing statement indeed!

But perhaps we should give as much attention to the FIRST part of the verse, Continue reading →

Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Uncategorized | Tagged disciples, discipleship, Jesus, John 14:12, marks of discipleship, Matthew 4:23, ministry, test, works | Leave a comment

“The Unseen Battle”

Posted on 2017/07/23 by Shawn Thomas

With three of Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church’s adult members on mission in three different nations the next couple of weeks, our members need to realize the important responsibility we have to support our colleagues in prayer. In the biography, Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret, Taylor is quoted as saying of his mission workers in China: Continue reading →

Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Discipleship, Ministry, Sermon Illustrations, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Distractions From Devotions

Posted on 2017/07/21 by Shawn Thomas

Our church, Pleasant Ridge Baptist in Morganton, North Carolina, is sending three adult members out to different mission fields this weekend: one to Wales, one to Haiti, and one to Romania. I sent them this quote from China Inland Mission founder Hudson Taylor about the importance of prayer to mission work — and the way that the enemy will often try to distract us from it: Continue reading →

Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Discipleship, Ministry, Sermon Illustrations, Uncategorized | Tagged Bible study, daily mission, devotions, home mission, Hudson Taylor, Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret, John 15:5, missionary work, missions, prayer, quiet time, service | Leave a comment