It is important that we are always ready to give an answer for the hope that lies within us (1 Peter 3:15). Here is our Proverbs verse, the writer tells us that to do so is an act of genuine affection, a kiss on the lips denoting true affection, friendship, and love. So Paul called Timothy to be ready to rightly divide the word of truth, to have an answer from God’s Word so he need not be ashamed (2 Timothy 2:15). In love for the lost and for your brothers and sisters, let’s make sure to prepare ourselves each day in His word so we might have answers that others need.

Seeking to have answers from the Lord,

Pastor Jack Abeelen

What Ben-Hadad asked was absolute surrender; and what Ahab gave was what was asked of him – absolute surrender.

Praise God! If our hearts are willing, there is no end to what God will do for us and through us. But you may say: “Oh, my desire is not strong enough.” God knows. Say: “My God, I am willing that You would make me willing.” As we read in Mark 9:24: “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.”

Remember, when you come with what you believe is absolute surrender, it will be imperfect. You may have doubts. But remember Mark 9:24, and with a trembling heart, say: “I do not feel the power; I do not feel the determination; I do not feel the assurance.”

Be certain that whatever measure of surrender you offer – if it is ALL you have – will be received. Do not be afraid to come just as you are, and in the midst of your trembling, the power of the Holy Spirit will work His work in you. And God will use your imperfect life to the glory of His Kingdom! Amen!

Pastor Del Casale

Jesus spoke these words in conclusion of the parable of the soils and the parable of the lamp. “Take heed” admonishes us to pay attention to how we are listening to the Word of God. The parable of the soils illustrates a sower sowing seed and the various outcomes as the seed falls on different types of ground. The seed that fell on fertile ground yielded “a crop a hundredfold.”

If you are a vegetable gardener, you know that your soil becomes depleted over time as the veggies take up nutrients in order to grow and produce food. To continue producing crops, your soil needs ongoing feeding with fertilizer, compost, and other organic matter. Similarly, as Christians, we need to feed the soil of our hearts in order to grow in faith and to bear fruit in our lives. For us, the fertilizer is God’s word, but we must make sure that our hearts are prepared to receive what the word says so that fruit will be borne in our lives. That preparation is in the form of how we hear God’s word. The word for hear has a connotation of attentiveness or effort, therefore we need to take in God’s word with the intent of it working in our heart so that we can be doers rather than just hearers (James 1:22). Lord, may we hear your word with the expectation of fruit being borne in our lives.

Jeff Mericle

In just eleven words, how would you describe yourself and the essence of who you are? Would you describe yourself by your vocation, your role in your family, your political affiliation, or by the sports team you follow?

Paul described himself by his divine calling. An apostle: he was one who was sent by God with the full authority of the Sender. It was an office bestowed by the will of God, not by any human will or self-promoting resolve. Paul was commissioned by Jesus Himself to go to the Gentiles. In Galatians, Paul wrote, “When it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles…” (Galatians 1:15-16).

Just as Paul was called of God, you were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). You were chosen for a purpose—a holy purpose—to promote the glory of the grace of God. You may not have been given Paul’s influence in the world, but God has given you some influence in the people He placed around you. So influence them! Pray for them, serve them, and love them. Then you can truthfully say: I am an ambassador of Jesus Christ, by the will of God. This is your greatest calling and your most important purpose in the world. And it will become your greatest joy, too.

Tom Day

We live in a chaotic time in history and I see people struggling to find safety and security and coming up short. People look to politics, look to movements, look to hide themselves in their houses, and there is an obvious unrest in our nation. As Americans, we are typically shielded from the chaos of other nations, shielded in the sense that nation’s problems don’t affect our day-to-day lives. But there has been plenty of unrest in other parts of the world — civil wars, genocide, and poverty — and this has been going on for all of history.

Moses, the author of this Psalm, was not ignorant to these hardships. He faced a great deal of difficulty in his lifetime that would have left the average American citizen in the fetal position. But he remained steadfast. He didn’t do it perfectly, but he didn’t lose hope. Why? Because he always refocused his faith on truth. What is that truth? That with God, he is safe. With God, he is secure. It’s still true today, because we have faith in that same God.

From Everlasting to Everlasting, YOU are GOD!

Pastor Jason Witt

If you’re like me, you often look back and see the Lord’s hand in your life. We see that God opened and closed doors for us. We see and find all the great things that God has done for us in our lives.

After reading this chapter and knowing Paul is writing this from prison, I wonder why he’s rejoicing. But Paul had a heavenly outlook. He saw the lives that needed God’s grace. Notice what he says, all that I’ve gone though was for the furtherance of the Gospel. I would have said all that I have gone through made me a more faithful and stronger person. That’s possibly true but for Paul it was about sharing the gospel.

You might be in a situation where work is not fun. It’s a pain but you need to eat, so you go. Take the mind of Christ and see it as an opportunity to further the gospel. Maybe you or a loved one might be sick. Use this opportunity for the furtherance of the gospel. Whatever situation you are in, use it as an opportunity to share the gospel. If you weren’t there, you wouldn’t have this great opportunity.

Joshua Navarro

For almost six weeks, this Giant of the Philistines would come out morning and night to lay down his challenge to the men of the army of God. And it was at this time, over a month into this standoff, that Jesse calls David to go and take some provisions to his brothers and to the captains of the army. “Take a little grain, bread, and some cheese to your brothers and come back and tell me how they are doing,” Jesse told David.

I love the picture. The Lord sees His people, who should be trusting in their God, instead frozen in fear because of the threats of the enemy and their champion. So He prepares this young man to go and, in faith, be an example to the people of what it is to trust in God.

Everyone else saw a giant in that valley, but David’s eyes were on the Lord. I don’t know what the giant is in your life today, but I would tell you, take your eyes off of that and put them on the Lord. Your fear will flee and victory will be yours.

Pastor Doug Hardin

There’s a lot of cool things that God is able to do. He changed my life in ways I never imagined possible. As I get older, I find myself forgetting that the Lord can totally accomplish the same thing in new and amazing ways. The coolest part is it seems to be done often through the wilderness and in the desert.

If you see your life as a wilderness with no path or a desert with no life and only vast emptiness, God offers direction, life, hope, and salvation. Turn to Him and remember, just because it’s not being done the way we think it should, it doesn’t mean God won’t accomplish His same wonderful and awesome will.

Resting in Him,

Pastor Sean Boehm

How often in our lives do we want things to be different but then we get frustrated when, without any effort on our part, nothing changes. It’s a crazy cycle to observe from the outside but very often not recognized from within. My daughter struggled with this when she fell behind in her college math class. She didn’t do well on quizzes and tests but she wasn’t changing her study habits. Then the stay-at-home order hit and everything went online. To her advantage, she could now stop and start the lectures, which gave her time to take copious notes. She began to get the concepts and started acing her tests.

Do we approach our relationship with God in the same way? Let’s not sit back and wait for God to come to us. Determine today to be diligent of soul and press in to our time with Him in prayer, in His Word, and in fellowship. God’s loving rewards are waiting.

Not content with discontentment,

Pastor Gerard Deleeuw

David wrote Psalm 51 after his sin with Bathsheba, which included adultery and then the murder of her husband, Uriah. Certainly if David, a man after God’s own heart, can commit such atrocious sins, we’re all susceptible.

Thus we need to pray as David did, that the Lord would wash us thoroughly from our iniquities and cleanse us from our sins. Fortunately for Christians, we have a God who forgives sins. All of us fall short in our daily walks, but God’s mercies are new every morning and He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins.

If you’re reading this today, dwelling on a sin you can’t forgive yourself for, realize God is willing to cleanse you. Just call to Him as David did.

Forgive this sinner,

Pastor Ron Kitchell