Posts with the category “devotional”

Our scripture reading for today, John 20:19-23, marks a profound moment in the New Testament. Jesus, having risen from the dead, appears to his disciples. This moment is not just a reunion; it is a reinstatement of their mission, a revitalization of their purpose, and a commissioning that echoes through the ages.   To fully appreciate the significance of this passage, it is essential to understand...  Read More

The watercolor painted sky in the morning as the sun pierces through the horizon, there is something about the beauty of a sunrise and how it transcends the seasons. In the summer my favorite time to see the sunrise is in the middle of a morning run or bike ride, giving me something to focus on as its beauty reflects upon the changing scenery. In rural Michigan, in late July or early August you ca...  Read More

Have you ever had something so traumatic or something so shocking happen to you and the only thing you can do is stand in disbelief? Like, your brain cannot process what is going on. The most recent, for me, was when my daughter told me she was pregnant with baby #3. I was in shock and disbelief. I just stared at her, my brain glitched. It took a few seconds to realize what she had said, and it to...  Read More

Main Point and Overview:  Sometimes in life we lose all hope. We get discouraged. We get afraid. We get “worn down,” leading to depression and anxiety. The disciples had just experienced the most traumatic moment of their lives. Their Rabbi was murdered right in front of their eyes. The one who they chose to abandon everything for was gone. How could this be? He was supposed to be the Messiah. He ...  Read More

Let’s take a mental walk. The distance and the destination is up to you; it could be a quick stroll or a painful and grueling trudge. Now think back to a time whether it was 50 years ago, 5 years ago, or 5 minutes ago to an incident in which you were wronged and you felt that extending forgiveness to that person or situation was completely unfathomable. Curious, did you quickly forgive or are you ...  Read More

Pressure: “attempt to persuade or coerce (someone) into doing something.” Pressure is something that none of us can escape. It's something every single one of us faces daily. Pressures from work, friends, and even family. Pressure to do make decisions on the fly, or to make a hard decision in a short amount of time. Long story short, no one likes it. We see in today's scripture reading that Pilate...  Read More

Being one of four siblings, and being the youngest, I got quite adept at playing the “It wasn’t me” game. I remember one time I was having a fight with my oldest brother (which I often did). I had saved my allowance money to buy a really cool accessory for my G.I. Joe (the 12” size). It was a paraglider that actually flew like a kite. I was having trouble assembling it, so I asked my brother to he...  Read More

The pain would have been unfathomable, beyond excruciating.   The Garden: Before He even gets to the cross, and even before Pilate, He was in torment—all the way back to the garden He was sweating blood as He cried out to God. Do you understand what your body has to go through to sweat blood? It is called hematidrosis, which is caused by EXTREME emotional stress. Agony, and no one had even laid a ...  Read More

“Your plane”  “My Plane”“Your plane”“My Plane” This was the communication and series of commands traded back and forth as I took control of the planes rear controls before performing maneuvers under the supervision of the pilot. I had never flown a plane before, nor had any interest to… But Doug, a youth group leader/mentor, and retired Airforce pilot took me up in his stunt plane! This was one of...  Read More

Pressure is a thing. We are all under it in different areas of our life. People expect from us. People have perceptions about us. People even threaten us when they don’t get what they want. It’s in these moments where the truth of a person’s character rises or falls. I’ve watched sports my whole life. I’ve seen teams that were really good at “blowing out” inferior opponents, but when they faced a ...  Read More

Main Point and Overview:  There is not a single event in world history that can compare to The Cross of Jesus Christ. It is the greatest display of sacrificial love that there has ever been. What makes it so special is the magnitude of the price that was paid by a completely innocent man. Sometimes, we forget what Jesus went through, or at least, we block it out of our memories. Maybe it makes us ...  Read More

On Christmas Eve family and friends gathered in Emmanuel’s auditorium to commemorate the birth of Christ. The room was aglow with a backdrop of festive Christmas trees, there were many hugs and greetings being exchanged, and it was evident that the children and adults alike were brimming with the anticipation of Christmas. With candles lit and held high, the congregation raised their voices togeth...  Read More

Admit it or not, we all like it when we have clear directions no matter the circumstance. You may be on your way to a family vacation or making the last-minute trip to the grocery store for forgotten items. No matter what it is, the worse felling is not being productive in the task at hand. Today's verses we see Pete giving some powerful directions about faith. Petter says the following: “For this...  Read More

There is the old saying “Say what you mean, mean what you say.” It is easy to say you’re going to do something, but it’s a lot tougher to actually carry through and do it. A few years ago, Jennifer and I took a Caribbean cruise. One of the stops was in Belize. One of the great things about cruises is the excursions. Feeling adventurous, we went on the excursion that included rafting in an underwat...  Read More

Before we dive into the scripture for today…. I want to say that this passage of scripture has fascinated me for YEARS. I have researched and researched, because it leaves me with so many questions. If you don’t know this about me, I am what would be considered a cinephile (a lover of the cinema). This passage of scripture fills my mind with such imagery, and has the potential to be a truly great ...  Read More

Sanctification: Another one of those big scary church-words. The reason this word can be daunting or intimidating at first glance, is because it encompasses an entire biblical doctrine in a single word. It’s a word used to define the ebbs and flows, ups and downs, shortcomings and triumphs, the setbacks and progression of an individual Christian’s journey of faith. A comprehensive definition of sa...  Read More

Sometimes in life, you must accept your fate. What does that even mean? Well, it means that life is hard, and your purpose in Christ is going to have bumpy roads attached to it. We just finished 2024, and for every single one of us, there were challenges that we faced. As we enter a new year, one thing is for sure, there will be challenges that we are either going to face with courage or run from ...  Read More

Main Point and Overview:    While Jesus faced The Cross with tremendous courage, his disciples were not prepared for this moment of truth. In fact, their claims of allegiance suddenly fell apart when faced with pressure. The posterchild for this “crumbling under the pressure” is seen in the behaviors of Simon Peter and Pilate as Jesus endured arrest, trial, and crucifixion. A once proud claim was ...  Read More

Happy New Year. Here's to new beginnings and a fresh start! Do you approach the New Year as a chance for positive change and personal growth? Maybe you're like me and choose a word for the year to focus on. Or you bravely make a New Years resolution? Perhaps one or more of the goals on your list are; exercise more, lose weight, learn a new hobby, save more money, spend less money, quit smoking, re...  Read More

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Today's verse tells us that the will of God for our lives are to rejoice, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstance. As we looked over John 17 this past Sunday we focused on prayer for fellow believers and prayer for the unbelievers. I first want to focus on the believe...  Read More

I remember the first time that someone said to me “I’m praying for you.” I was 8 or 9 years old. We were living in Naples, Italy at the time (my father was in the Air Force, and he was stationed there). Our neighbors across the street had kids about the same age as my brothers and me. We had been there about a year when they moved in. Like all neighborhoods, the neighborhood kids always sized up t...  Read More

Having grown up in church my whole life, as a pastor’s kid, I have been around several people who I would consider to be “Prayer Warriors”. You may know some of these people in your own lives. The Prayer Warriors I have encountered are nothing short of admirable. To selflessly give up one’s personal time to make time for prayer, to not necessarily pray for themselves but to spend time praying for ...  Read More

Another year has come to an end… Goals were set, some were met, others were missed. With a steely resolve we attacked the 365 days that stood in front of us, although at times it may have seemed like the year fought back. Most everybody has been met with unexpected changes, loss, circumstances, blessings, and undulations we would have never anticipated. A year is a long time, yet it goes by so qui...  Read More

What is our purpose here on this earth? For years and years, as I was growing up, my dad would ask me what I was going to do with my life as an adult. In my elementary years, I was going to be a professional baseball player. In my teenage years, I was going to own my own business and be a millionaire. Then, finally in my college years, I set aside sports and business for youth ministry. I would be...  Read More

Main Point and Overview:    Jesus’ earthly ministry had come to a close, and right before he died on The Cross for the sins of the world, he began his intercessory ministry for his disciples (Hebrews 7:25). He has been faithful to fulfill the will of God the Father, and now he prays for himself, his disciples, and those who will later form the church through his eternal salvation. He models for us...  Read More

Christmas gifts. We’ve all yearned for that one gift... ya know, the one that we just had to have, those presents that were going to “change our lives!” Let’s take a little nostalgic stroll down memory lane together and think about some of those items written in crayon in our letter addressed to the North Pole. If you need help with those memories, I took some time to survey a few different people...  Read More

I don't know about you but every event I go to, no matter what it is, I try and find the VIP section and ponder the question—how much do those tickets cost? For some of us maybe we have been lucky enough to sit in those VIP seats, with the play or the game happening just inches away! When sitting there you feel a sense of you are a part of it. During my college days I had the privilege to attend m...  Read More

“How will this be?” was Mary’s initial response when the angel told her she was going to bear a child. She was gobsmacked! She knew she was a virgin. Why would she, a simple girl, be found to have favor with God? So much so that she would conceive and give birth to God’s only son, Jesus. Can you imagine all the things that must have been swirling around in her head? So many questions. Why me? Why ...  Read More

Picture it. Nazareth. 9 months BC. You are just a teenager, living your life, engaged…and then suddenly out of nowhere an angel appears, and drops a bomb on you. Now you are a teenager, engaged, but to spice things up, now you are about to have a baby. Not just any ol’baby…THE baby—the one people had been waiting for, the baby that would grow up to die on the cross, to save us from our sins, to gi...  Read More

What makes Christmas so merry and the holidays so happy? Could it be the Christmas carols that are played from November 1st through the end of the year? Is it the traditions shared with family? Perhaps it’s the trip to Bronner's to pick out the annual family ornament? Imaginably it’s a snowy afternoon cutting down a Christmas tree and drinking hot cocoa? Maybe it’s going to watch your children or ...  Read More

What. A. Disaster. At least that’s what it seemed like at first. An unknown and unimportant peasant girl was “betrothed” to be married to a man named Joseph. A Jewish marriage was arranged by the parents with a contract called a betrothal. This ceremonial pledge was legally binding, and only divorce could break it. After the man offered the woman a special gift, both persons would go back to their...  Read More

Main Point and Overview:  Before Emmanuel took on human flesh and came to dwell among me, there was a lot of discouragement in that day. From hypocritical religious leaders using religion as a tool to manipulate others and Roman authorities forcing Jews to submit to their outrageous economic expectations, people were hopeless. Then, Jesus came and reversed the fortunes of the world! What cannot be...  Read More

Weeping, crying, grieving, gut wrenching emotionally draining overwhelming weeping. I’ve been there and know the agony.  I think we’ve all been there. Perhaps you’re there now. If you are, I am sorry you are hurting. But be encouraged, God cares, and he knows all about your life and your pain. The Bible is filled with many examples of God showing up in the middle of somebody’s darkest moments and ...  Read More

I don’t know about you but there are times when I feel as if I have let Jesus down. May it be the temptation that we let win or the missed opportunities we had to share his love. Just this past week Sarah and I were out on a date night, we went out to the movies and followed that up with dinner. Both times Sarah and I talked about missed opportunities, did we let God down? All the way to the resta...  Read More

It is so easy to become too comfortable or at least used to a tough situation. I remember as my first deployment to Iraq was coming to an end and having a bit of anxiety about leaving. I had arrived several months earlier. One day I am with my family at home with all the security and comfort that goes along with it, then 40 hours later to living and working in the “Green Zone” in downtown Baghdad....  Read More

"If I fail to reaffirm my helplessness daily, then yesterday's victory will lead me to today's defeat."  - Steve Curington This quote lives rent free in my brain, and has since I heard it almost 10 years ago. Today as I was researching for my devotional it popped into my brain once again. I think it is very easy to slip into the mindset that we are in control, that we have it all together, or that...  Read More

Through the work of Jesus, we have access to God the Father! Without the cross, without the sacrifice that Jesus made for us, there is an un-crossable chasm between us and God. BUT… through Jesus, that gap has been closed, and the way has been made for us to “go to God”. To go to God with our hurts, with our needs, with our struggles, with our pain, and with our praise.   Because we are broken and...  Read More

Hope is a powerful word. When all seems lost, hope believes that there is a chance for success, victory, restoration, healing, and many other life-changing goals. I have been in several situations over the years as a pastor where there seemed to be no hope for a marriage, a salvation need, or change of direction, etc. Then, God “showed up” in a person’s life, and the rest is history. Now, that per...  Read More

Main Point and Overview:    The coming murder of Jesus would cause the corrupt culture to celebrate, while his disciples would mourn. It seemed like all hope was lost. The popular words that we sing in Death was Arrested come to mind: “Our savior displayed on a criminal's cross. Darkness rejoiced as though heaven had lost. But then Jesus arose with our freedom in hand. That's when death was arrest...  Read More

 Have you ever had a scary dream where you found yourself walking on a cold concrete floor down a long dimly lit corridor and you sense that you are being watched, you feel so restricted, the tensions mount, there is no one to help you and no way out. And whew, what a relief, you wake up and realize that it’s just a bad dream.  For many, it’s not a bad dream, it’s real life, and it’s worse than th...  Read More