Loving Jesus Style

 Scripture: John 14:27 (ESV) : “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (ESV)   In this verse, Jesus speaks directly to His disciples during the Last Supper. He knows that soon He will face betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion. Yet, amidst these impending trials, He offers them a profound and transformative gift: peace. This peace is not just for His disciples, but for each one of us, a personal and intimate gift from our Savior.   The peace that Jesus bestows is not a fleeting or superficial offering. It transcends the peace that the world can provide, as it is not limited by time or circumstance. The peace of Christ is more than a mere facade of tranquility, more than a warm smile and a firm handshake on a Sunday morning. It's like a calm sea that remains undisturbed even in the midst of a storm. Once you have this peace, it becomes an inte...

Scripture: Philippians 4:6-7 (ESV) 6  do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 7  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Devotion:             These verses above are often quoted but have yet to be lived out. Why is that? One primary reason for this disconnect is that Christians more often conform to the world than we are transformed into Christ's ways. The world, through our media, tries successfully to get our eyes turned toward the stories that keep us anxious and unsettled. If Christians are not careful about what media we pay attention to, we can often fall prey to their schemes to keep us anxious and depressed.             One only has to pay attention to the statistics about anxiety an...

Scripture: Isaiah 41:10 (ESV) 10           Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God;                         I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Devotion:             This verse from the prophet Isaiah pictures God reassuring His people that He is in control and they can trust in Him to save them. This was spoken to the people when they had every logical reason to doubt God’s goodness and care for them. Enemies threatened to conquer and take them from their homes on every side. Doubt and despair were emotions that seemed natural when faced with these circumstances. Yet, God in this verse and those that follow speak to those fears and tell the people that their God was there in that time a...

  Scripture: John 14:26-27 (ESV) 26  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. Devotion:             These words of Jesus to his disciples in the upper room on the night He was betrayed convey a divine approach to peace. Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to Him, did not pray for strength, courage, or any other response that we might consider more appropriate, humanly speaking. When we humans face inevitable persecution and execution, our natural response would not be peace. Yet, Jesus exemplified peace under these conditions. How did He behave in this way?             First, Jesus had...

  Scripture: Luke 7:36-38 (NIV) 36  When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37  A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38  As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and poured perfume on them. Devotion:             First of all, some warnings to my readers. This post will exceed the 500 words I try to limit my posts. Second, this post will contain content people may find offensive or otherwise unfit for print. Please understand that my purpose is neither to offend nor upset but to provoke thought and, hopefully, respectful dialog.             We will use Luke chapt...

  Scripture: John 1:9-14 (ESV) 9  The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10  He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11  He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12  But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13  who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 14  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Devotion:             The babe lying in the manger on Christmas day came to bless us with all kinds of blessings. However, as indicated in today’s scripture reading, the world was not ready or willing to receive the gifts He came to offer. This world system has blinded our eyes and stop...

Scripture: Matthew 1:18-25 (ESV) 18  Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.  19  And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.  20  But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  21  She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”  22  All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:              23           “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name...

Scripture: Ephesians 4:4-6 (NIV) There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5  one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6  one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Devotion:             Paul writing in this scripture passage is calling the church to radical unity. In our society there are so many divisions in the body of Christ it is impossible to see how we could be united about anything. However, we know that Jesus himself prayed for the unity of believers. If Jesus thought that unity was possible and desirable then we can, as members of the church, seek to become united with our brothers and sisters in the Lord regardless of how different we may be from one another.             As our world moves farther and farther away from God and the church, we must be more united than ever. When t...

Scripture: Exodus 3:13-15 (ESV) 13  Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, “What is his name? what shall I say to them?” 14  God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: I am has sent me to you. ” 15  God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. Devotion:             In this scripture passage we consider the divine name of God. Moses who had turned aside from what he was doing to see the awesome sight of a bush that was on fire yet not consumed, was being instructed to go back to Egypt to lead the Hebrew slaves out of slavery. However, Moses had several objecti...

Scripture: Ephesians 2:19-22 (NIV) [Y]ou are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20  built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21  In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22  And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. Devotion:             Today, we continue in Ephesians 2 by looking at Paul’s message to the Gentile believers in Ephesus. Since most of us reading this would be considered Gentiles this message is for us no matter where we live today. Paul states that Jesus by His death and resurrection has made us one with the people of God, the Jewish people. This means that all the promises made to the people of God throughout the Old Testament can now be applied to us ...

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NRSV) And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit. Devotion:             There is a hymn in our hymnbooks called  Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.  That hymn captures perfectly what Paul is trying to communicate to the church at Corinth in this scripture passage. We all must learn to contemplate who Jesus is and what His suffering and death on the cross mean for His people today. There is light and love in no other that compares with the light and love we see in the face of our Savior. Jesus Christ came to show us the way to everlasting life if we will but turn away from our newsfeeds and other social media activities to see Him as He is.             In this age of smart ph...

Scripture: James 1:26-27 (ESV) 26  If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.  27  Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. Devotion             Here in today’s scripture the author of James gives a prescription for what ails the church in every generation. The church so easily loses track of its reason for existence. We as a church are in constant danger of losing our collective minds over trivia, and neglecting the important work of loving God, our neighbors, and ourselves with all our being. Jesus kept the main thing, the main thing throughout His ministry. He shut down all attempts by others to speak about matters that did not concern Him.             For the c...

  Scripture: Luke 21:20-24 (ESV) 20  “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. 21  Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, 22  for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. 23 Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. 24  They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Devotion:             It seems that the tiny nation of Israel is back in the headlines again. Jesus who is speaking in the passage above made the prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem and the e...

Scripture: 2 Timothy 4:3-5 (NIV) 3  For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5  But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. Devotion:             In this scripture, Paul is writing to his young disciple Timothy. Paul wants to encourage the young man to continue to be on fire for the Lord. Paul knows he is at the end of his life. His time as a prisoner of Emperor Nero in Rome is nearing its conclusion. So, he wants to warn Timothy of the obstacles that Paul knows this young man will face as he ministers to the people around him. However, it is not a big step to apply this teaching to ou...

Scripture: Romans 5:6-8 (ESV) 6  For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.  7  For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—  8  but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Devotion:             We humans are weak, frail, and prone to sin. How is it that God, who we believe is a good and kind God, would allow such faults as these in His special creation? Why would His rescue plan be to become incarnate only to die a humiliating death on the cross? A logical and philosophical answer to those questions would require more knowledge and skill in reasoning than exists on planet earth today. So why bother tackling them in a short 500-word blog post? Because the simplest answer can be found in today’s scripture quotation.          ...

Scripture: Psalm 41:1-3, 11-13 (ESV) 1  Blessed is the one who considers the poor!                 In the day of trouble, the  Lord  delivers him; 2      the  Lord  protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; you do not give him up to the will of his enemies. 3      The  Lord  sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health. . . . 11     By this I know that you delight in me: my enemy will not shout in triumph over me. 12     But you have upheld me because of my integrity, and set me in your presence forever. 13     Blessed be the  Lord , the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen.   Devotion:                      ...