Tag: hope
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Why the Resurrection
Have you recently considered the claims of the Scripture? No, I don’t mean the claims of people who carry the Bible – they could have an agenda. I mean, have you really read what the New Testament claims about Jesus? It isn’t a message of morality. The New Testament does not have a simple respect…
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Why We Need Jesus
This is Easter week. Good Friday is now just days away. Although it may seem superfluous, I feel a need to examine why Jesus had to come. My reason is simple: in every generation there have been whole groups of people who seem to be oblivious to their need for a Savior of their soul. …
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Faith in the Trenches
Sunday, we looked at the deliverance of Peter from Herod in Acts 12. It is an amazing passage of Scripture highlighting the power of God. It is also a profound example of fervent prayer. Yet, the part that I personally find so instructive is the response of the people. Acts 12:5 says, “So Peter was…
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Faith that is Self Evident
Last Sunday we looked at James 2:14-26. James has some hard words for those who do not live out their “faith”. He calls it dead. He asks if such faith can save anyone. He declares that such faith is useless. These are hard words. It gets even harder when he says that a person is…
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Touching the Throne of God
Revelation 4:8 declares that the four living creatures say “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” Have you ever thought about what that would be like? What would it be like to just say, all the time and without stopping, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord…
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Desiring God Conference on Prayer
This week I went to a conference that dealt with the prayer life of a pastor. Since the conference speakers quoted the reformers quite liberally, I thought that it would be appropriate to put a quotation on prayer in this week’s devotion. This is from my favorite preacher of the 1800s, C. H. Spurgeon: “Continue…
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Where are We Going
Last Sunday’s message was intended to lay out a continuing vision for this new year. We looked at how God has blessed our church and its efforts to reach out to our community with the love of Jesus. Wow. God has worked! Yet, I don’t want anyone to think that projects are the vision of…
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Christmas Shadows
I was thinking last week about the dark things that we sometimes miss seeing when we talk about the first Christmas. We overlook that Joseph was about to abandon Mary. We tend to not talk about the babies that were killed by Harod. We gloss over Simeon’s blessing in the temple that includes declaring that…
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Behind the Scenes
Our scriptures last Sunday focused on the many ways that God had planned the coming of Jesus – and brought those plans to pass. Have you ever thought about how much God was working behind the scenes to get things to happen just as He predicted. He had told Israel that their Messiah would be…
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Preparing for Christmas – A Struggle of Faith
Sometimes we forget how much of struggle Christmas was for the first people who experienced it. I think of the struggle of Mary and Joseph as they made their way to Bethlehem. I think of the struggles of everyone who was visited by an angel. At each encounter, the angel had to say, “Do not…
Pastor John D Jakes 