In His Praise

“Preach the Word; be prepared in and out of season…” 2 Timothy 4:2 As the Apostle Paul was approaching the time of his death, he wrote to his young protege’ Timothy. He gave Timothy a charge to continue on in the work of spreading the gospel. Paul told Timothy to be prepared at all times. Timothy may have be placed in difficult or unplanned circumstances during his ministry.  He may have been called upon to preach on the spur of the moment or maybe he was asked to explain some scripture without having a chance to study it first. He may have even been sick or tired at times or had something else he wanted to do that day. Yet, Paul told him to always be prepared to share the…

“Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come…” Song of  Songs 2:12a As winter turns to spring we are once again reminded of the awesomeness of our God! Brown, faded grass turns into lush green, dead bulbs sprout and burst into colorful flowers, and bare trees are soon covered in lovely green leaves and blossoms. Birds chirp joyfully as they prepare their nests for the new life they will hold. The warmer temperatures seem to give all of nature a boost! People are energized to be outside more and we enjoy all of God’s creations. Spring is a great testament of our Father’s love for us. Just as the earth is brought back to life after its long winter nap, so God can renew and rejuvenate our…

“I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God  like a little child will never enter it.” Luke 18:17 Watching and interacting with children is amazing! Play is such an important part of their development as they imagine, pretend and create.  A child’s imagination can turn a broom stick into a horse, an old towel into a super hero cape, or an empty box into a rocket ship. Children are trusting, believing, accepting and full of curiosity. They make friends easily with other children and may play at the park for hours with another child and never know their name or anything else about them. They just accept each other as they are and call them friend.  It has been said that children laugh, giggle…

“He is not here; he has risen… Then go quickly and tell his disciples…” Matthew 28:6-7 Some women came to Jesus’ tomb early on the first Easter morning. Emotions were probably running high as they approached the place where Jesus was laid. But Jesus was not there! The confusion they felt must have added to their sadness, but then, an angel spoke reassuring words to them — “He is not here, He is risen” — Jesus was alive! Joy and praise replaced grief and confusion. But the women were not to keep this good news to themselves. The angel said “go and tell His disciples”.  Later, Jesus gave a great commission to these same disciples  when He told them to go and tell the whole world about Him. (Matthew 28:16-20,…

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” John 12:13b The people of Jerusalem welcomed Jesus as a king. They worshipped Him, laid palm branches and clothes before Him. They shouted praises to Him — Hosanna! Hosanna!. It seemed everyone was happy to see their Savior. But it didn’t take long before the mood of the crowd changed. Only a few short days later Jesus was arrested, given a mock trial, beaten and sentenced to death on the cross. Pilate tried to let Jesus go free. But the chief priests and other officials began to chant Crucify Him, Crucify Him!  (John 19:6) Their chants soon incited the crowd to join in and some of the same people that worshipped Jesus a few days before were now ready…

“And this is what he promised us —even eternal life.” 1 John 2:25 In the second chapter of  1 John we find a section written to Christian believers warning them about false teachers and antichrists. During this time there were those that wanted to teach things that were contrary to Christian beliefs. John wanted to give the people encouragement and reminders of what was true and right. In verses 1-17 he reminds them of their salvation through Christ and what living in the light should look like. These people lived in perilous times. There were real dangers and real evil lurked around them. It was important that they be well grounded in the gospel. They needed to be strong in their faith, remember their salvation and be assured of the…

“I pray that you… may grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge…” Ephesians 3:17-19 Today’s Bible verse is a part of the prayer spoken by Paul for the Ephesian people. Paul wanted to encourage and strengthen their faith and to help them be more aware of the love that Christ had for them. Although, we know that we can never measure Christ’s love, we can see examples of it in our lives everyday and throughout the scriptures. Here a few thoughts to ponder on this subject: How wide is the love of Christ? So wide that He stretched out His arms on a cross to be nailed there for the sins of all the world.…

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23 Some may say that there is no such thing as ‘free anything”. Admittedly, with mankind there usually is a hidden catch. Anything that sounds too good to be true, usually is just that — not true. We have been conditioned to be alert to scams, tricks and deceit. We stay on our guard to prevent being taken advantage of or making a bad choice that we will regret later.  In Romans 6:23 though we read about a choice that we can make, which really should be a no-brainer. We all are given this choice. We can either reject Jesus and live in sin which will pay us with…

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”  Hebrews 10:24  “I am not my brothers keeper!” We have all heard these words before and may have even spoken them. While it is true that we are not responsible for another’s actions, the Bible says that as part of a Christ’s body, we are to encourage (spur)  each other toward good deeds.   Cowboys are known to  wear spurs on their boots to help get their horses to move faster or to go in the desired direction. It is a gentle nudge. We can give these gentle nudges to others when we lend a listening ear,  offer a helping hand, or express sincere gratitude. It might also simply be a warm smile, a…

“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” Ephesians 1:18 The prayer that the Apostle Paul penned when writing to the Ephesians is powerful and timely. The recipients of Paul’s letter were already Christians and Paul expressed his thankfulness for them in verses 15 - 17. He went on to say though, that he was asking God for more for them. Paul wanted to see these people grow in their faith, he wanted to strengthen their hope in Jesus and he wanted to make sure they knew that God was working on their behalf. …