Good morning! It's always been strange to me how we call it Good Friday when something so horrific happened that day. But it's good because of what Jesus did for us. What kind of love is this to be brutalized and die like this for people who dare to crucify their Creator? God's love is unparalleled and Jesus' obedience is unmatched. Everything we needed was accomplished on the cross. We have forgiveness through the cross. We have the hope of salvation and eternal like through

Good morning! Today is known as Maundy Thursday. It was a busy day for Jesus. He was preparing for the last day of His ministry and His crucifixion. He prepared the Passover meal for the disciples, served them, took communion with them, washed their feet and gave them a new commandment. They were to love one another and serve one another. By their love and service, people would know they were His disciples by loving the way He loved them. Of all the things He could be concern

Good morning! Jesus talked a lot about forgiveness because He was going to need to forgive a lot this week. He had to have a reserve of forgiveness built up in His heart to be readily able to forgive instantly. Even the most heinous of offenses. One of His best friends, one of the twelve who followed Him everywhere and even would sit next to Him at the last supper table, would be one of His greatest offenders. Judas was a thief. No pretty way to say it. He always had his hand

Good morning! Today, Jesus focused on building on prayer with faith and forgiveness. Not only should we pray, but pray with faith believing that God will answer. Have faith in God. It's not a suggestion, but a command and an invitation to trust God. Faith can move mountains. Sometimes we face a mountain of debt or circumstances that seem impossible. Faith in God removes your doubts because it gives room for possibility. In ourselves, we often do not have the answers, but in G

Good morning! As we look at Holy Week this week, we see what Jesus took seriously and is important. Today, His focus was on prayer and order in the house of God. How we treat the temple is important and what we allow to go on there is a reflection of our heart. Not only in the house of worship, but it starts with us individually. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. So, what we allow in our temple is important and will reflect the posture of our heart to the Lord. Do you hav

Good morning! Today is known as Palm Sunday and is the start of what we call Holy Week. It is the week leading up to Resurrection Day or Easter, as it has been called. This verse is Jesus fulfilling a prophesy about him found in Zechariah 9:9. He came in riding on a donkey colt into Jerusalem as a king would enter in a procession. He didn't come on a prized horse and chariot. He came as a humble man on a lowly beast of burden. Those who knew the Scriptures and the customs of

Good morning! As we prepare for Holy Week, it is important for us remember the definitive truth that Jesus is the only way to salvation. Beside Him, there is no other and no other means by which we can be saved. God made it abundantly clear for everyone to understand. We don't have to wonder if we did enough good works or if we were good enough to make it. God has leveled the playing field and said no one is good enough nor can anyone save themselves through works. It is only

Good morning! Sometimes things happen that are just a mystery. There is no answer, no reason, seemingly no purpose or any way to make sense of it. But God will work it out in due time. Don't lose hope or your faith over the unknown. You don't have to go to hell over a mystery. When you love God, He is working for you, not against you. You may not see the why, how, when or where in the moment, but trust Him. He will turn things around in a way that will be for your benefit and

Good morning! God has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness through His divine power. He did so by the knowledge of Christ who called us by glory and virtue. That is what Peter wrote before this verse to give us context. Through this knowledge of Jesus and by God's divine power, we have unmatched and priceless promises of eternal life, righteous living and eternity apart from sin. We are given a new nature that is without corruption. We are a new creature in

Good morning! The promise of God's faithfulness to a thousand generations is a great motivator to keep His commandments. But it all means nothing without love. The Pharisee's in Jesus' day memorized entire scrolls, but had hatred in their hearts and corruption. Knowing God's word is one thing, but loving Him will enable you to keep it. The devil knows God's word too. He's great at quoting it and twisting it to deceive and manipulate. But Jesus loved the Father and perfectly k

Good morning! To sanctify means to set apart for sacred use. It is often used interchangeably for "holy". So, we should set apart our hearts for the sacred use of a dwelling place for the Lord. We have to have Him before we can defend Him. I can't defend what or who I do not know. But it is easy for me to defend what I am well acquainted with. The more I know about it, the better I am at defending it. How well do you know Jesus? How deep is the well of hope inside of you? I k

Good morning! I hear a lot of people saying, "Why would a loving God ever send anyone to hell?" My reply is, "He doesn't. Your choices and rejection of Jesus is why anyone goes to hell." God has done everything to gives us eternal life and forgiveness through Christ. Heaven is not fair. Through Christ, God gives us forgiveness and eternal life we don't deserve and spares us from the judgment we do deserve. God's plan from the beginning had redemption in mind because nothing c

Good morning! How often do you bless the Lord? I don't mean put an extra offering in the plate at church or do some deed, but just from your heart, express out loud a blessing to the Lord out of gratitude for who He is and the things He gives us. He is so good to us! In life, we experience trials, hard times, discomfort, grief and pain. Sometimes, we can feel alone, especially when we're going through something others have a hard time understanding. But God, the Father of mer

Good morning! This is a powerful prayer. Daring to be laid bare before God in the inmost parts of your being. Kind of scary to be that open and vulnerable before the Lord. But, He already knows those things, so we're only fooling ourselves if we think we can hide it. Purity requires honesty. If we really want to have a pure heart and mind, we have to be completely honest with God. We have to be willing to expose the parts of ourselves we protect so vigorously. We can't be lea

Good morning! God is always faithful and it is impossible for Him to lie. He is truth. His track record is perfect, it's our understanding that is lacking. We don't always understand what or why He does what He does or does not do. But He is eternal and sees beyond the moment. We see moment by moment; God sees all time, past, present and future. He has done great things; we can see this in His word and through personal testimony of others. We have to remember and look at the

Good morning! It's very easy to neglect daily reading and study of the word. Life is busy. I know between work, house work, ministry, being a husband and a dad, activities the kids are involved with, it is challenging for me. It's hard as a family to sit down and talk about it. But, every day, to the best of our ability, we make it a priority. Oftentimes, we do it over dinner as we discuss our day. We think about Jesus and how we see Him in our day and working in our lives. A

Good morning! God not only commands us to do or not do things not just because He is God, but to give us assurance to have confidence in serving Him. If He says, "Take the land!" We can have confidence that He has given us what He has told us to take. If He tells you to be strong and courageous, do not be afraid, nor dismayed, you can be fearless, strong and bold. Why? Because He said that when you're serving Him, He is with you wherever you go. He if said it, it is truth. Go

Good morning! Have you ever found yourself trying to tell God how to answer your prayers? Telling Him exactly what you want, how you want it and when you want it; as if He doesn't know what's best? I know I have, oh foolish man that I am! Have you ever argued with God about how He answered your prayers in a way you didn't like, want or ask for; as if He isn't perfect in all of His ways? We have to understand that God sees a much bigger picture than we do. He knows more than a

Good morning! On the surface, Job sounds arrogant. But, if you look at how he lived his life and what God said about him, it is actually confidence in his relationship with God. God said there was no one like him on the earth, that he was blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. That's quite the "attaboy" from God. Job knew what was in his heart. He knew how he served God, feared Him and loved Him. Oh, to be like Job! The world doesn't make it easy for us to

Good morning! No matter how many times I see God come through in impossible circumstances, whenever a new situation arises, I find myself still having to not let doubt overtake my heart and mind. No matter how strong I am, I still find myself tired and weak needing the strength of the Lord to sustain me. It's seems so easy to forget sometimes just who it is we belong to as believers. Even if you have doubts, because we all do at times, we need to let those doubts drive us to