Mark 5:18-19
A defendant is sitting quietly in a courtroom as his life hangs in the balance. He knows he’s innocent and only the testimony of the next witness can exonerate him. And if this witness testifies, he’ll no doubt be set free.
His lawyer stands up and tells the jury, “Ladies and gentlemen. I’m not going to call the next witness. Instead, I’m just going to tell you that what he has to say will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that my client is innocent of all charges.” The attorney sits down and rests his case.
That makes no sense at all, does it? Why wouldn’t he call his most powerful witness to give his testimony? Why would he simply trust the jury to believe his statement? A testimony is crucial here. You can state the truth, but an actual testimony is so much more powerful.
When it comes to sharing their testimonies of faith, many Christians are sinfully silent. But a testimony of the thankfulness you have for what Christ has done for you is the most powerful evangelism tool you have. Share your story of faith with others and let them know how God has changed your life… and can change theirs too!
Pastor William Del Casale
Hebrews 3:12-13
Sin is always an ever-present danger in our walk with the Lord. We face a very dangerous enemy who, even though he has lost us to heaven, is always looking to neutralize or negate our walk with the Lord. We must be cognizant of any sin that creeps into our lives and, as a safeguard, we need to remain accountable to a local church body. Conversely, we need to keep an eye out for others who have been “knocked off the path,” so they do not get left behind.
We are commanded here to exhort one another daily, the implication being that our obligation to the church body is not once or twice per week, but every day. There are plenty of ways in which modern technology negatively dominates our lives, but ministering to one another is an area where it can excel. We can easily use our electronic devices to send an encouraging verse from our Bible app, call someone to check in on them and to pray with them, or to send a text of encouragement. The point is that we need each other and need to be involved in each other’s lives in order that we may all finish the race well. Lord, grant us a circle of saints to whom we are accountable and give us a heart to reach out to them daily, and provide us with the right words of encouragement as we minister to those closest to us.
Jeff Mericle
Ephesians 2:1-3
In these verses, Paul makes it clear just how dead we were before Christ saved us. He exposed our bondage to sin, our control from a powerful evil being, and the fact we were slaves of all our own evil passions. We need to remember the hopelessness of our former selves and how lost we were apart from the amazing grace of God!
The editors of the NKJV wanted to put a ray of hope in verse 1 by including the bracketed words from verse 4 because these three verses are very dark and bleak without them. But the Apostle Paul let all the bluntness and finality of our hopeless state be exposed: we were dead in our sin and defenseless slaves of three wicked forces: 1) the world, 2) Satan, and 3) the flesh. Furthermore, Paul reveals that we were by our very nature objects of God’s wrath.
But we who were dead have been made alive in Christ Jesus! By the grace of God, by faith, we have escaped the wrath of God. Hallelujah!
Therefore, may the reminder today of the hopeless cesspool from which we have been saved engender in our hearts a fresh spirit of thankfulness to God for His amazing grace. May it also motivate us to live in the power of the Spirit over the three evil influences that once doomed us.
Tom Day
The fourth commandment given by God is the only law in the 10 commandments that is not moral in principal. The idea of the Sabbath was to take one day out of a seven-day period to rest and take time to reflect on God and His goodness in providing the blessings and provisions we need for life. This had both physical and spiritual implications because we were created as physical and spiritual beings. We all need rest for our bodies and rest for our souls.
This command was to benefit man and his whole being, to liberate him to enjoy rest and delight in his God. Sadly, the Israelites treated it much differently, piling laws on top of laws to make the Sabbath more laborious than restful. Thankfully when Jesus came onto the scene, He blew up all these extra laws and said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” Not only did Jesus set this law straight in His earthly ministry, He then fulfilled its requirement at the cross.
The rest that every man desires, peace between God and man, is now permanent when our faith and trust is in Jesus. Everyday our soul is now at rest in knowing we belong to God and, though the Sabbath is no longer law to the Christian, it’s always a good practice to take a day out of the week to rest our bodies and enjoy the bountiful blessings of God and the work He has done for us!
Pastor Jason Witt
Ephesians 4:28
The idea here is that the new man we are told about in Ephesians 4:24 does not steal but instead works an honest job, one that he can be proud of. The point of working is not only so that you can provide for the things you need but to give to anyone who might have a need.
For the most part, I think of jobs as getting what you need to get ahead, to provide for our families so that we aren’t tempted to steal. Very few times do I put the needs of others before mine. I’m sure that you can run through the list of names and come across many people who might have a need.
Working to give, not to get.
Joshua Navarro
Jesus answers Philip’s request saying, “Have I been with you so long and you still don’t recognize Me. If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.” He is the same God that they read about in the Old Testament, the same God that their fathers told them about.
He was as gentle and patient with the disciples as they were arguing about who’s the greatest, as He was with Gideon when he questioned God’s calling for him. He was as just and faithful with the woman caught in adultery in John chapter 8, as He was with King David when his sin was exposed. There were consequences to his sin but there was hope and forgiveness as well. He was as loving and kind to all those He healed and delivered from various illnesses, as He was with Naaman the leper, when He healed him through the prophet Elisha.
If you want to see the Father, if you want to know what God is like, what He thinks about you, just look at Jesus. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Pastor Doug Hardin
2020 drove this verse home for me, how about you? My wife and I had planned a summer full of vacations, weekend getaways, and plenty of beach days. We wanted to make of the most of our summer before our precious baby boy came. We had amazing plans, then 2020 got all 2020 on us and all those wonderful plans changed. It was a great reminder that while we may make plans, unless the Lord wills they will not happen. James reminds us of that truth in these verses. It’s ok to plan and live life, but do not plan and live life apart from reliance upon God. Make your plans for your life (God wants us to think about these things), but as you plan do so from a place of humility that lays your plans before the Lord and says, “Lord if you will”. Do not be arrogant in your planning, rather be humble. Are you including the Lord in your plans?
For the King,
Pastor Daniel Batistelli
It’s always interesting to see what people act like at church compared to how they act outside of church. There is something about being on church grounds where, for the most part, everyone is nice and knows how to play church. We find something very similar to this in the New Testament with these people called the Pharisees. They knew how to be religious and appear fine on the outside, but their hearts were far from the Lord. Since their hearts were set on their own ways and appearing good, their conduct was far from what the Lord would desire.
Have you been conducting yourself in a way that is worthy of the Gospel, not only on the outside, but in your heart as well?
In Christ,
Pastor Sean Boehm
Even the Apostle Paul realized that loving God is not a natural response for us as fallen mankind. As we are being sanctified in our relationship with our Creator it’s important that we keep the main thing the main thing. So Paul prays for us that the Lord Himself would steer and bend our hearts toward a love for God. But then he makes an interesting connection. As the Lord directs and inspired our love for God it will develop in us an endurance and perseverance (patience) that will see us through until we meet Jesus face-to-face.
A commanding officer does not require that his soldiers love him, but if they do, they will respect and obey him with greater diligence and even, if necessary, die for him. Let your love for God fuel your obedience to Him today and know that in the end eternity is waiting.
Lovingly obedient,
Pastor Gerard Deleeuw
Psalm 90 was written by Moses, the man of God, who lived not 70 years, nor 80, but 120 long years. His ministry didn’t really begin until he was 80 and then he spent his last four decades leading the Israelites through the wilderness to the Promised Land. Having accomplished his task, he died before being able to enter the land of Canaan.
Moses’ verse here tells us we don’t know how long we’re going to last. My grandma just died at the age of 102. Her husband died long before she did in his 50s. Since we don’t know how many years with which the Lord will bless us, we need to stay busy for the Lord in the time we have. It is up to God as to when we’ll be cut off and fly away.
The time of COVID had many people contemplating the deaths of themselves and their loved ones. Yet, as Christians, we should know we are only here as long as God allows and not one second more…or less. Occupy, stay busy, until Jesus comes!
My time is in Your hands,
Pastor Ron Kitchell
