Worshipping God In Spirit and In Truth

Jesus said, “But the hour is coming, and is now here when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to worship him.”    (Jn. 4:23) When the woman at the well felt like Jesus was becoming too personal, she tried to divert the conversation by embroiling …

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A Glimmer of Being Loved by Jesus

“Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”    (Jn. 13:1) Even though Jesus knew that His disciples would deny and desert Him, He loved them “to the end.” Loving them to the “end” meant that He loved them to the uttermost, loved them without end, loved them …

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Jesus Rules with Joy and Freedom

“Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.’ Pilate asked him, ‘So you are a king?’”    (Jn. 18:36-37) Pilate had every …

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Jesus is Always With You

“Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.”    (Jn. 20:8-9) Although I believe Jesus was raised from the dead, I don’t always live into the implications of what I …

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Believe In and Hold Fast to Easter

“But on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body.”    (Luke 24:1-3) Where would we be without Easter Day? Without Easter, there wouldn’t be …

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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. …

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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 …

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Drinking Deep Upon the New Wine of Jesus

Jesus said, “No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and wine is lost, and so are …

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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 …

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Keeping Awake in Our Faith

“And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.” (Mk. 13:37) I was in Galveston taking a kayak trip. After two hours of paddling, I was tired. Because there weren’t any boats on the horizon and the waters were calm, I decided to take a short nap. I was awakened when I …

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