Lk. 22:42 “Not My Will”   As Jesus looked ahead to the horrible suffering ahead of Him, He prayed to his Father in Lk. 22:42, “nevertheless, not My will, but Yours be done.” He knew he would be betrayed, tried by the Jewish leaders, scourged by the Roman soldiers, carry His cross to Golgotha, and

Gen. 50:20 “God Meant It for Good”   All of us face difficulties at times. Circumstances can be hard. And sometimes other people are the cause of our difficult circumstances. But God promises to work things together for good (Rom. 8:28).   Jesus went through the most difficult circumstances imaginable. Even before dying on the

Mt. 26:26-28 “Remember” The Israelites had been celebrating Passover for almost fifteen hundred years (the U.S. is not even 250 years old). At the last supper Jesus let His disciples know that the Passover was not just looking back to an event in Egypt centuries before but ahead to His death on the cross. Jesus’

Jn. 13:1-17 “Serve One Another”   Jesus knew He was about to die on the cross but He focused on serving His disciples by washing their feet. Our tendency would be to focus on ourselves, but His nature was to love and serve. We should have the same attitude (Phil. 2:5) and take the same

Phil. 2:5-11 “Jesus Deserves Our Praise”   The King of kings and Lord of Lords was greeted with praise when He was entering Jerusalem during the triumphal entry. The multitude cried out, ““Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ *The King of Israel!” We too should praise Him for who

Jn. 11:1-44 “Impossible Situations”   It was an impossible situation, at least according to the perspective of Martha and Mary. Their brother Lazarus had gotten sick and died, and Jesus was nowhere around. But then Jesus came. And after some conversation with Martha and Mary, Jesus said, “Lazarus, come forth.” Lazarus’ resurrection from the dead

3/27/21 – Mt. 5:48 “Be Perfect” One of the most challenging verses in the Bible is Mt. 5:48 where Jesus says, “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” We know from the greater context of scripture in 1 Jn. 1:8-10 that Jesus is not speaking of sinless perfection but

Phil. 1:11 “Living Right”   God wants each of us to live right. In Phil. 1:9-11, Paul prays for the Christians at Philippi to experience growing love, excellent priorities, genuine purity, and righteousness which comes from Jesus Christ and glorifies God. In verse 11 Paul prays that they would be “filled with the fruits of

Phil. 1:10b “Being Holy”   We should not continue to sin because we know that God will forgive us when confess. In fact, in Phil. 1:10b Paul prays that the Christians at Philippi “may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ.” God wants us to be genuine, to be pure, to be

Phil. 1:10a “Choosing Well” We make hundreds of decisions every day, and our decisions can be bad, good, better, or best. After praying for Christians to grow in love in verse nine, Paul prays for them to “approve the things that are excellent” in Phil. 1:10a. To choose well. We can choose to read Facebook