James 2:14-17 “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
Does it mean anything if I say that I love you, or even that I care about you, yet there is nothing about my actions that shows it?
John 15:14 “You are my friends if you do what I command.”
Jesus gave a test to determine if one is truly His friend. That His friend will do what He has commanded. Not talk about it, not think about it, not do it only if it is easy or considered one of one’s gifts. An easy test of friendship with Jesus is whether one does what He has commanded.
In a nutshell, Jesus commanded to live out the two commandments that are the greatest of all commandments, to love God with all that I am and to love my neighbor (all are my neighbors) as myself (Mark 12:30-31). Oh Lord Jesus please help me to love more, in deed and in truth!
The following link is to a two minute Francis Chan video. I love the way this brother plainly speaks the truth! https://youtu.be/9KIA-DGx_3Y
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you. But to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
by Bob with“Life isn’t about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain.” A pretty good description of joy lived out, and of faith in God. Understand the reality of God and the fact that God does not change. Perfection need not change. Trust in God and not oneself (Proverbs 3:5-6). That is a formula to chase away disappointment…and bring back joy. But, it is a learned formula. God is a patient and willing teacher. Ask God, He is waiting for you to ask.
by Bob with
Luke 2:49 – And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?”
1 Corinthians 9:16 – For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
Mark 16:15 – He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
I am not an educated man. I am not a scholar. I am a simple guy who is simply intending to do the best I can with what God gives me. I share what God has given me because I must. I am driven to serve God as He leads me. As what was in the heart of Jesus, so it is in my heart to be about my Father’s business. Growing up, I had always wished that my father had owned a business so that I could have learned his business, known his business, and to have worked side-by-side with him in his business. I think my dad would have liked that, but it was not to be. However, my Heavenly Father has a business that He wants all His children to be a part of. I am His apprentice and ever shall be. He gives me work to do and I try to do it as best I can. Oh, I have a lot to learn. I try to always be diligent in trying to do His business as perfectly as possible. Of course, I never perform perfectly, but the Lord knows my heart. He is so gracious with me!
I must be about my Father’s business. My efforts are feeble, but my heart is right. And what is not right about me, my Father is correcting. I desire His correction. Family, it is good to work side-by-side with our Father. It is the best of all things! Working with Dad, it is oh so good! I love our Dad!
I can see the sign hung above the door of His shop “God & Sons & Daughters.” Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?
by Bob withJohn 3:16 – For God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Hebrews 1:1-3 – In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom also He made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
1 Peter 2:24 – “He himself bore our sins” in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by His wounds you have been healed.”
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 – 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
Often, if I went on a little vacation, I would feel bad. My parents were home. They lived sacrificial lives for us. My Dad worked over 35 years at a job that he despised. He did that for His family. He esteemed benefit to His family higher than his own benefit. My Mom worked at a factory when her heart was to be a homemaker/ homekeeper. They taught us that love involved sacrifice and dedication. That love is a denying of self for another, or others. Love does not have to be mutual. True love, as taught by God, is not conditional. God loves those who hate Him (Matthew 5:43-48). So, on vacation, often I have lamented and wondered how I don’t measure up to my parents and to what they have taught me. My parents didn’t take vacations. They were busy providing for us. They could not afford it. They kept a very old Ford Country Esquire station wagon for many years so that they could buy my sister, me and brother cars. We mattered to them beyond themselves. That is love. We rarely, really, very rarely, ate a restaurant (not fast food). We couldn’t afford it. But they made sure we had a roof over our heads, food on the table, clothes to wear, and a place to lay our heads at night. They made sure we knew we were loved. How very narrow and insensitive we would have been to not know. So, as I eat at a restaurant, or take the occasional vacation, I think of my parents who sacrificed for us, hoping better for us. I have often felt guilty and thought why were they not with me? Have I failed to love as the love they lived out?
It is the same as I pass the homeless person sleeping in the dark on a bus bench. Or when I pass a person walking in the rain to work. Both of these I pass by in my comfortable car. Oh, sometimes I may stop to give a blessing, but more often I don’t. Yet, I confess, that my heart hurts for these people. My heart hurts regardless of the reason for their situation. Reasons can be sought by those who want to help, but I fear the majority of the time, reason are sought only to justify an uncaring heart. I know that God has blessed me in many ways. I pray that I would hurt for all who are in need, all who hurt, just as He hurts for all.
I pray that my love for others, my compassion for others, would know no boundaries, no culture differences, and not even any religious differences. I want them all to know the blessings of God through Jesus. I don’t want any to suffer. Maybe it seems like a utopia that can never be achieved, but I long for world that first loves God, and second loves each other.
Our neighbors and people all over the world are hurting. God hurts for all of them. So should I. And I do, but not enough. I am horribly selfish. It hurts me that I am. I pray that God would change me. And He is. Day by day, small step by small step. I am grateful that He never gives up on me.
God the Father loves us so much that Jesus stepped down from His throne in heaven so that we could live eternally with God. Jesus stepped down from His throne and lived a sinless life, He was brutally tortured and finally killed on a cross that was meant to shame Him. But Jesus endured all that, He was scorned, and killed, by those He came to love and save. Men thought that Jesus died in shame; little did they know that He had accomplished the greatest victory in the history of mankind. Jesus died because of love. Did God have to do that? No, and yes. No, He could have lived eternity without us. Yes, His love for us is such that He can not bear to live without His children being with Him. Where He travels, He wants us with Him. Where He eats, He wants us with Him. He desires to bless us all. He asks only for us to trust and obey Him. To learn who He is. Knowing is power and the ultimate reality of that saying is the knowing of God. Truly knowing God leads to having faith in Him. God does not change (James 1:17). What is behind our faith is the knowledge and the love of God for us. We have faith in Him because He is faithful to us. We love Him because of who He is.
Jesus paid the full price for all the sins of mankind when He died on the cross. He died on Friday (What we refer to as Good Friday). Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday (Resurrection Day, commonly known as Easter). He died to be the full price for our sins. He rose to lead us on the path back to friendship with God. From the cross Jesus cried out “Finished!” Yes, He finished the complete work for our salvation. He cares for all of us. Wherever a man or woman can be found, there, upon that person, the love of God may be found.
Family, let us love all of God’s children. Let us even love those who resist Him. That way we can be like Him, because He loves even those who resist Him. Love God. Love each other. And the world will be a better place.
Honoring Jesus, may your Easter Sunday be one of honoring the Risen Savior Jesus Christ! “Because He lives, we can face tomorrow!” Happy Resurrection day!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?
by Bob withDevotion John 12:12-16 They Cried Save Us. He Did. They Killed Him.
John 12:12-16 – 12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the king of Israel!” 14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: 15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” 16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.
Psalm 118:25-26 – 25 Lord, save us! Lord, grant us success! 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. From the house of the Lord we bless you.
Zechariah 9:9 – Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Daniel 9:25 – 25 “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.
Pause for a moment and consider the scene that is about to unfold before us. Picture Old Testament Jerusalem. Before trains, planes, automobiles, radio, television, computer, smart phones, etc. Here is a time when Israel again is under the control of a foreign power. This time it was Rome. Rome allowed them to live in their land, but understand, they were not free. Yet they were not hopeless, they were hoping for a Messiah, for a promised Savior.
Five hundred thirty-eight years before Jesus was born, the prophet Daniel wrote about the coming of the Messiah. He said that it would be four hundred eighty-three years from the time the command was given to rebuild Jerusalem, until the Messiah came to Jerusalem. That command, over fifty years later, was given by the powerful King of Persia, King Artaxerxes on March 14, 445 B.C. Four hundred eighty three days later, on April 6, A.D. 32, just as Daniel had prophesied, the Messiah to the Jews, and all the world, entered Jerusalem. Jesus was the Messiah who came the exact day that God had foretold, over five hundred fifty years before. Not only did He come on the exact day that Jesus had foretold, but He came riding a donkey, just as the prophet Zechariah prophesied over 500 years before it came true. Does God have timing or does God have timing (Romans 5:6)! Side note: People who claim that the Bible is just the words of men, speak ignorantly and have never studied the Word of God. These are only two prophecies of the many that Jesus exactly fulfilled.
During this time before the crucifixion of Jesus, the Jews were waiting for the Messiah. When Jesus came riding the donkey they waved palm branches and shouted “Hosanna” which was a plea to save them. And Jesus would provide full salvation for them. But, like mankind today, they did not fully understand what Jesus was to accomplish by His first coming. You see, God is concerned about our lives here on earth, but He is firstly concerned with our eternal lives. Jesus said to not worry about the people who can harm us while we are here, He said to be concerned about our eternal position with God (Matthew 10:28). When Jesus came to earth, He came to restore to us the most important thing that was lost in the Garden of Eden. He came to restore our rightness with God. But the Jews did not realize their greater need. They could only look around and see the harsh hand of the Roman Empire upon them. They wanted to be free of that. In fact, the waving of the palm branches was actually a tradition that was started two hundred years previously. When the Maccabees revolted against the evil Syrian King Antiochus Epiphanes, they miraculously succeeded in driving the Persians out of Jerusalem. It was at this time that the people of Jerusalem had celebrated being saved from the cruel tyrant by waving palm branches. So, when they were waving palm branches as Jesus arrived, they were calling out to Him to save them, but not for their greatest need of spiritual salvation. They were crying out for their temporal need, of being free from the rule of the Romans. Here their Messiah was before them, and they were calling to Him, but they refused to know their true need of spiritual salvation. They thought because they were Jews that their salvation was secure because of their earthly lineage. So here, they called out to Jesus. Here they wanted Him to rescue them from Rome. They shouted for Him to save them. When He did not literally save them from Rome, they would later be shouting out for the Romans to crucify Him. Jesus, knowing their hearts and their spiritually lost state, must have been saddened. No wonder, in Matthew 23:37 He lamented over Jerusalem how He longed to gather them up to Himself, to save and protect them, but they were not willing. How sad, how very sad. Yet we need not despair, God has a plan. He is not done with Israel.
As Jesus rode into Jerusalem the people shouted out to Him ““Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the king of Israel!””. As they did, the people who would later turn in anger on Him, were fulfilling a prophecy from Psalm 118. It was a Psalm that was likely written about one thousand years before. This is yet another prophecy that was perfectly fulfilled by Jesus.
The disciples of Jesus did not fully understand all that was happening. The Word says that it was not until Jesus was glorified that they understood. And that is the key. If one truly wants to understand the Words of God, Jesus must be glorified in their hearts, their souls, their minds and will all that they are (Mark 12:30, 1 Corinthians 2:12-14). How do we glorify Jesus? By submitting to Him as Savior and Lord. Then we spend all of our lives seeking what He would say to us through His Word and through the Holy Spirit (Jeremiah 29:13). We must, as Jesus did, seek not our own desires (As the Jews did), our own will, but the will of our Father God (Luke 22:42).
Today, the cry of the believer, having received salvation, is “Maranatha!” We call out to Jesus “Come Lord Jesus, come!” Not only come, but come soon! Such should be the cry of all who first and most importantly in their lives, love and wait for the Lord. It is the same cry of believers throughout the ages. It is pleasing to God to teach our children these things. To teach all children, these things.
Thank You Jesus for saving me. I look for You Lord. I look for You!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
by Bob with