John 21:15

I have always loved this passage of Scripture. It’s the restoration of Peter after he denied Jesus three times to total strangers. But I especially love what Jesus asks. He doesn’t say, “Simon, let Me hear your confession.” Or “Simon, are you ready to repent?” or even “Simon, do you still want to be My disciple?” Jesus simply asks for his exclusive affections.

Of course, Peter’s honest and sincere answer to this will also answer any of those other questions because Jesus knows that when we place our love on Him, everything else will follow. Jesus knew that if Peter would affirm his love he was indeed confessing his wrong, repenting of his sin, and committing to follow. Then Jesus commands Peter to take that love and pour it into those that would follow after.

It’s a simple question for all of us today. “Do we love Him more than these?”

Yes Lord, I love You,

Pastor Gerard Deleeuw

Psalm 112:1

I like that this verse starts with Hallelujah, praise the Lord! If we realize how wonderful our God is, then the second sentence in this verse is easier to do – to fear the Lord and delight in His commandments.

If we have an appreciation of who the Lord is and cognizance of His power, then we’ll realize He should be feared, but He should also be obeyed. God didn’t give us His commandments to burden us but to help us. Pastor Jon Courson said, “Sin’s not bad because it’s forbidden by God. Rather sin is forbidden by God because it’s bad.” In other words, God knows those things He calls sins will hinder our life.

That’s why it shouldn’t be a chore to just follow God’s commandments, but to delight in them also. Sometimes I feel as if I’m following the commandments of God because it’s on the list, I gotta do it! Instead, we need to get to the point where we realize those things the Lord tells us to do and not do should be a delight. They will be if we remember who God is.

Hallelujah, God is good,

Pastor Ron Kitchell

2 Timothy 2:22

In the chapter of being a vessel, a life for honor (2 Timothy 2:20-21), Paul encourages Timothy with one negative and four positive injunctions. They can be summed up clearly by saying: run for your life from sin and temptations, but run after, or pursue, righteousness (what God accepts and counts as right), faith (dependence upon God and His Word), love (agape love or God’s love placed in us by the Holy Spirit) and peace (a life that does not engender strife or uncertainty). What are you running from today and what are you running after? God would have you be useful to Him by running well!

Running in the right direction,

Pastor Jack Abeelen

1 Corinthians 11:23–24

If you knew bad things were about to happen, would you still give thanks?

Jesus did. He gave thanks, knowing that He was about to bear the sins of the world. Jesus knew the future. He knew what lay ahead for Him would not be easy or pleasurable.

Jesus knew the whole story. That’s because Jesus is God, and He is omniscient—all-knowing.

Then why did Jesus give thanks? It’s because He knew what His suffering would accomplish. The greatest good of all time came from the worst travesty of justice.

Anyone can praise God when the sky is blue and the sun is shining. But if you can praise God when the roof caves in, when the bottom drops out, and when things go wrong, it says to me that you’re a true follower of Jesus Christ.

We must remember that despite our immediate circumstances, God is always at work. And that’s a great reason to give thanks.

Pastor William Del Casale

Romans 4:4-5

When an employee works for an employer, the employer has a binding obligation to pay the employee the wages that are due for the time worked. This temporal concept, however, does not translate to the spiritual realm. When we stand before God on judgment day, we will not be able to present our works as justification for our salvation, because that implies that God has an obligation to accept those works. God is holy and just and our sin prevents Him from any obligation of saving us from an eternity apart from Him.

Thankfully God is also gracious and merciful and He freely gives salvation to those who simply believe on Him. Through Christ’s redemptive work, we can stand righteous before God, not because we can boast of our works (Romans 4:2), but purely because of His grace. Thank you, Jesus, for going to the cross on our behalf to redeem us from the penalty of our sin.

Jeff Mericle

Exodus 20:16

It was Pontius Pilate who said, “What is truth?” Truth is everything, for without truth everything falls apart. Without truth in your marriage, the relationship disintegrates. Without truth in your business dealings, you’ll eventually find yourself bankrupt as you are deemed untrustworthy to do business with. Without truth, we could not know God.

Truth allows us to operate more freely and make better decisions. Lies take away from our freedom and lead to bad decisions. Lies lead you to waste time and lead you to false conclusions about things or people. Truth is what allows a society to function well, for without it, chaos will ensue. Look at the political climate today where no one trusts anybody.

To speak lies about someone, to tell tales about yourself, to paint things in colors they shouldn’t be painted, will always destroy, because the father of lies is always seeking to steal, kill, and destroy.

Seek the truth, speak the truth, and live by the truth, for that is the path to life.

Pastor Jason Witt

Joshua 23:6

Joshua gives the children of Israel his farewell address. Joshua is old and advanced in age, his time to depart is almost here. Joshua’s farewell speech is very similar to what the Lord had told him back in Joshua 1. The land was already divided, all they had to do was finish conquering it. Therefore, he tells them be very courageous to keep and do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses. Stick to God’s word and do what it says. Secondly, keep your eyes on God. Stick with Him because He already has driven out your enemies and no one will be able to stand against you.

Joshua told the people what he knew and what he had learned. Discipleship is very similar to that. We take what the Lord has taught us and we teach it to someone else. We teach them to stick to God’s word, to learn it inside and out. Then we teach them to hang onto the Lord. Keep your eyes on Him and to love the Lord with all your heart, mind, and soul (Matthew 22:37).

Joshua Navarro

Judges 7:2

There were about 32,000 men who came to fight with Gideon against the Midianites. On the other side of the battlefield, the Midianites numbered about 135,000 men not to mention all of their camels, which we are told, were so many that they couldn’t be counted. The odds were about 4 to 1 against Gideon and his army. Yet with the odds already against them God says, “You have too many men, I can’t give you the victory with this many men.” After a number of tests, the Lord shaved Gideon’s army down to 300 men, to fight against 135,000, and the odds plummeted to 450 to 1.

Over and over again in the Scriptures, we see God’s people outnumbered and put in situations where their abilities fall far short of what is needed to achieve victory. As Christians today, we find the same is true, but all we have to do is hold that challenge up to the Lord and His abilities and in faith trust in His power to give us victory. Then He gets the glory and we receive great confidence knowing that as God’s children we are over-comers “because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

Pastor Doug Hardin

2 Kings 19:14

The Assyrians were one of the most powerful nations during Hezekiah’s reign and they were threatening war. The Assyrians taunted Hezekiah and the children of Israel and even wrote Hezekiah a letter saying there was no one who could save them, not even God. Hezekiah was facing a situation that seemed impossible to overcome; however, note his response. Rather than surrender out of fear, Hezekiah takes the source of his worry and fear (the threatening letter) and lays it before the Lord. God responded and gave Hezekiah victory over the Assyrians.

Whatever you are going through, you can lay it before the Lord and know that He will give you the wisdom and strength to overcome. There is nothing too big or too small for the Lord. Learn from Hezekiah and cast all your cares before a loving King who longs to deliver you!

For the King,

Pastor Daniel Batistelli

Philippians 4:4

When I think of rejoicing, I think of sports. People rejoice when their team wins and you can see people post about it on social media. Paul’s reminder to the church in Philippi is our rejoicing should be in the Lord. While sports isn’t the only thing for us to rejoice in, anything but Christ will be an eventual letdown. To continually have a mind that is set to the Lord, how can we do anything but rejoice!

Spend some time reflecting on reasons to rejoice in the Lord. There is so much He has blessed us with, but often our minds drift. Realign your mind and rejoice in the goodness, graciousness, mercy, and grace of our Lord.

In Christ,

Pastor Sean Boehm