Jesus — God’s Gift to Us

“Everything that the Father gives to me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away...”    (John 6:37) We say Jesus is God’s gift to us, and He is. Today’s passage, however, doesn’t say that. Instead, today’s words make this astounding claim: We are God’s gift to Jesus. …

Continue reading Jesus — God’s Gift to Us

Our Personal Relationship With Jesus

“Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband, and come back.’ The woman answered him, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands,’ and the one you have now is not your husband.’”    (Jn. 4:16-18) Before this moment, the …

Continue reading Our Personal Relationship With Jesus

Sharing Love Forever with God

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”    (Jn. 3:16) No line in scripture is so well known or so often recited. Because we’re so used to these words, I sometimes think we don’t fully …

Continue reading Sharing Love Forever with God

Jesus Came to Help, Bless, and Serve

“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited…”   (Phil. 2:5-6) Exploitation is a dirty word because it’s ugly and heinous for one person to use another, one race to put down …

Continue reading Jesus Came to Help, Bless, and Serve

The Grace of Jesus

“And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’”    (Rev. 21:5) A friend, during a recent conversation, said she had just taken a DNA test. When I asked if she had learned anything interesting about her background, her eyes got real big, and she said, “Yes, …

Continue reading The Grace of Jesus

Jesus can Lift Up, Heal and Mend Us

“When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’”    (Jn. 1:38) When Jesus noticed that some people were following him, He turned around and asked, “What are you looking for?” Did they answer? No. …

Continue reading Jesus can Lift Up, Heal and Mend Us

The Living Water of Jesus

“Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I have ever done.’”  (Jn. 4:39) We’ll never entirely know what happened during the conversation between Jesus and the woman at the well in Samaria. He asked her for water, and before she had a chance to put …

Continue reading The Living Water of Jesus

Living Into God’s Purpose For Your Life

“Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.”    (Matthew 5:37) If we’re going to have a meaningful life, we must learn how and when to clearly say yes and how and when to clearly say no. So many people find it difficult to be …

Continue reading Living Into God’s Purpose For Your Life

The Lord God is Always With You

“I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord, your God, is with you wherever you go.”    (Josh. 1:9) Once I was asked to give a graduation address to some men who, after leaving prison, had joined an intensive program to change their lives. Before giving …

Continue reading The Lord God is Always With You

A Wise Counsel of Elders

“The king answered the people harshly. He disregarded the advice that the older men had given him and spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, ‘My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”  …

Continue reading A Wise Counsel of Elders