NEED OR GREED The righteous look to the Lord for provision. They sow and labor for the harvest, yet they look to the Lord for the increase. They know that both the seed and the fruit are from the Lord, so they work while trusting God for their food. The Lord meets their needs, so
HOW DOES JESUS FEEL ABOUT YOUR HEART? The Pharisees brought out the full range of emotion from our Lord Jesus. When He tried to show them the spirit of the Sabbath, they clung to the letter of the law, even that which they themselves had added to it. He asked them a simple question, one
CHRIST’S IMMEDIATE CARE The Gospel of Mark is unique among the four in that it was written in present tense. Mark’s action-oriented writing is marked by his favorite phrase, “and immediately” (καὶ εὐθὺς), which is found throughout the book. Here, the NLT translates the phrase as “instantly.” Each gospel presents a different perspective of
A VALENTINE FOR THE BROKENHEARTED Not everyone will receive a Valentine today. Some have a heart still hurting from a broken relationship. Other hearts have slowly broken from a lifetime of loneliness. Yet, everyone who comes to the Lord with a contrite and humble spirit, admitting their broken hearts, will experience His presence and salvation.
EQUAL SACRIFICE, NOT EQUAL GIFTS God is honored when His people worship Him with “stirred” hearts and “moved” spirits. The first has to do with the emotion and the other the will. One with a stirred heart is filled with passion for God’s kingdom work. They enthusiastically bring their offering of praise. One who is
WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH JESUS? The Roman Governor Pilate asked the crowd to answer this question for him. He sought to avoid making a decision about Jesus, but his plan backfired. The crowd’s surprising support of the criminal Barabbas left Pilate still responsible to answer the question of what to do with Jesus. Pilate
ROCK OF AGES God agreed to show Moses His glory, but had to hide him in the cleft of a rock so he wouldn’t die. Whenever I read this passage, I always find myself singing, “Rock of Ages, cleft for me. Let me hide myself in Thee.” Whatever Moses saw, it must have been amazing
JESUS, SON OF MAN, SON OF GOD Jesus remained silent before His accusers. But when Caiaphas, the high priest, demanded that Jesus answer whether He was the Messiah, the Son of God, He replied, “You have said it.” In other words, Jesus answered in the positive. And Jesus said even more, quoting the prophet Daniel,
THE LORD JESUS SANG ON THE NIGHT OF HIS BETRAYAL The night Jesus was betrayed to be crucified, He joined His disciples in singing a hymn before going up to the Mount of Olives to pray and await His betrayer. What hymn did they sing? The traditional Passover hymns were the “Hallel” (“praise”) psalms found
EXTRAVAGANT GENEROSITY THE MARK OF GOSPEL BELIEVING PEOPLE What Jesus said is true. Wherever the gospel is preached, the story of a woman’s extravagant generosity towards Jesus is told. A woman in Bethany came up to him with “an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and poured it on his head” (Matt.26:7) causing those in