Beyond the Sacred Page
Note from Jesus Dear Beloved, The Bible is a precious treasure. Don’t neglect it. Use it and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you through it. Remember! It is a tool that the Spirit uses to shape your life and to point you to Me. Even the best of religious people can get so caught up in trying to prove themselves right by the Bible that they lose sight of the goal and the gift. The goal of the Scriptures is to find Me! That’s why My beloved disciple John identified Me as God’s Message, the Word, that became flesh (John 1:1-18). That’s also why the apostle Paul could say that faith in Me was necessary to unlock the salvation promised in the Bible (2 Timothy 3:15), that I am the “yes” to God’s promises and the One through Whom every “Amen” can be spoken (2 Corinthians 1:18-20). I am the goal of the Holy Spirit’s transforming work in you (2 Corinthians 3:18) and the goal that the apostles were trying to reach in their work with you (Galatians 4:19; Colossians 1:28-29). I am the Father’s ultimate, greatest, and clearest Word (Hebrews 1:1-3). The gift you receive when you understand that the Bible points to Me and when you follow Me is life! I came to give you full, abundant, and purposeful life (John 10:10). I want you to experience true life, which is life in Me (John 14:1-6; John 17:1-3). I want you to have life through faith in Me (John 20:30-31; 1 John 5:13). So let the Bible bring you to Me and find the life I long to share with you! Appreciate the Bible, use the Scriptures, and learn the message of the word of God. But, don’t worship the Bible. Worship God — Father, Son, and Spirit. Seek Me! Love God with all you are. Don’t substitute the Bible for the Holy Spirit. Seek the Father to Whom the Scriptures point and from Whom the Scriptures come. Sadly, many of the religious people in My days on earth were so caught up in looking at tiny little arguments over the Scriptures, so caught up in trying to prove themselves and their traditions to be right, that they missed Me — the very One to Whom the Scriptures point. I am so glad you are taking this year to journey with Me through the New Testament. So I want to encourage you to continue this spiritual exercise to help you along your journey this year, and every time you open the Bible going forward. As you study the Bible, pray this simple prayer: Father, thank You for Your Scriptures. Open my heart to hear Your truth. Holy Spirit, please open my eyes to the message Jesus wants me to put to work in my life. Jesus, conform me to Your will and help me find true life in You. Amen. Verses to Live There are a couple of big points made in this passage, but notice especially the message with bold emphasis. This point is the one I want you to see… to be your focus… and to help you find life in Me! Jesus: The Father does not exert His power to judge anyone. Instead, He has given the authority as Judge to the Son. So all of creation will honor and worship the Son as they do the Father. If you do not honor the Son, then you dishonor the Father Who sent Him. I tell you the truth: eternal life belongs to those who hear My voice and believe in the One Who sent Me. These people have no reason to fear judgment because they have already left death and entered life. I tell you the truth: a new day is imminent — in fact, it has arrived — when the voice of the Son of God will penetrate death’s domain, and everyone who hears will live. You see, the Father radiates with life, and He also animates the Son of God with the same life-giving beauty and power to exercise judgment over all of creation. Indeed, the Son of God is also the Son of Man. If this sounds amazing to you, what is even more amazing is that when the time comes, those buried long ago will hear His voice through all the rocks, sod, and soil and step out of decay into resurrection. When this hour arrives, those who did good will be resurrected to life, and those who did evil will be resurrected to judgment. I have not ever acted, and will not in the future act, on My own. I listen to the directions of the One Who sent Me and act on these divine instructions. For this reason, My judgment is always fair and never self-serving. I’m committed to pursuing God’s agenda and not My own. If I stand as the lone witness to My true identity, then I can be dismissed as a liar. But if you listen, you will hear another testify about Me, and I know what He says about Me is genuine and true. You sent messengers to John, and he told the truth to everyone who would listen. Still his message about Me originated in heaven, not in mortal man. I am telling you these things for one reason — so that you might be rescued. The voice of John the Baptist, the wandering prophet, is like a light in the darkness, and for a time, you took great joy and pleasure in the light he offered. There’s another witness standing in My corner Who is greater than John or any other man. The mission that brings Me here, and the things I am called to do, demonstrate the authenticity of My calling which comes directly from the Father. In the act of sending Me, the Father has endorsed Me. None of you really knows the Father. You have never heard His voice or seen His profile. His word does not
15 Jan 2026
We were given the capacity to reason, let us use it wisely. May we not be distracted and lose faith in God. Let us trust God and live for Him without complicating matters. May we use our time constructively serving God and He will keep blessing us. Mark 11:27-33.
Today’s Verse – 1 John 4:20-21
If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” —1 John 4:20-21 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… Love! The word can mean almost anything in a world where it is overused and under-practiced. Many in the Christian community have tried to define it by a dictionary or lexicon, not realizing that the key word for love, agape, is defined by action. Before Christians got a hold of agape, it meant basically the same thing our word “love” is used today: just about anything! But if you read 1 John, you see love defined by God through what he does. God demonstrates his love. He asks us to do the same for our brothers and sisters. Love must be more than talk; love must be genuinely demonstrated in loving, selfless actions! For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son… (John 3:16). This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us (1 John 3:16). This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:10). My Prayer… Precious Father, you have so graciously shared your love with me. I must confess, in my heart, I intend to love others as you do, but my intentions often get washed away with busyness, selfishness, or timidity. Father, through your Spirit, I ask that you prompt me to demonstrate my love to others in actions, not just words. Through Jesus, your most significant demonstration of love, I pray. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
True Healing
Note from Jesus Dear Friend, To be My disciple means that you are committed to following in My footsteps. You come to Me, recognizing your need for healing grace — not just to cure some physical malady or even just to find salvation, but also to heal what is broken inside your life and your heart. When you recognize that I have called you to follow Me, that I have accepted you, and that I have brought you into My family, then you will offer My healing grace to others. Today in My life story from Luke’s gospel, Levi, also known as Matthew, leaves his life as a tax collector. In the times when I physically walked the earth, tax collectors were a notorious lot who used their position and power to extort money from others in the name of Rome and to line their own pockets. They were hated and despised. Most lived up to their reputation — living it up with those who were openly sinning. When Levi followed Me, he didn’t abandon his friends even though he left his old lifestyle. Instead, Levi did what he knew best: he threw a party for his friends at his house. There, he introduced his friends to Me. As you might expect, my religious critics launched their criticisms at My disciples and Me for being at Levi’s party. Before their whispers turned to full public criticism, I reminded them what Levi knew: I came to heal sinners. I came to mend broken lives. I came to restore people to fellowship with God and with each other. So when people find My healing grace, it becomes their lifestyle to share that healing grace with others — not to think of themselves as spiritually superior and certainly not to isolate My healing grace away from those who desperately need it. Verses to Live As you read this story about Levi, rejoice in the grace I have given you (Ephesians 2:1-9). Realize that grace not only saved you from sin and destruction but that it also saved you to be a blessing to others: you were carefully made by the Father for this purpose (Ephesians 2:10). I hope this will stir your heart to follow Levi’s example and think of others who need to be invited to come and know Me! Some time later [after forgiving and healing the paralyzed man who was lowered through the roof], Jesus walked along the street and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting in his tax office. Jesus: Follow Me. And Levi did. He got up from his desk, left everything (just as the fishermen had), and followed Jesus. Shortly after this, Levi invited his many friends and associates, including many tax collectors, to his home for a large feast in Jesus’ honor. Everyone sat at a table together. The Pharisees and their associates, the religious scholars, got the attention of some of Jesus’ disciples. Pharisees (in low voices): What’s wrong with you? Why are you eating and drinking with tax collectors and other immoral people? Jesus (answering for the disciples): Healthy people don’t need a doctor, but sick people do. I haven’t come for the pure and upstanding; I’ve come to call notorious sinners to rethink their lives and turn to God. (Luke 5:27-32) Response in Prayer Abba Father, thank You for the grace that forgave my sins and adopted me into Your family. Today, dear Father, I want to pray for several people who need Your healing grace in their lives. So, Father, please bless the following people as I pray for them by name… Also, use me to be a magnet to attract people who need Your grace and please use me to be a bridge for them to You and Your family of grace. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. ‘A Year with Jesus’ is written by Phil Ware. © 1998-2026, Heartlight, Inc. ‘A Year with Jesus‘ is part of the Heartlight Network.All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Voice™. © 2008 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
14 Jan 2025
Do we have to see to believe? Obviously, evidence goes a long way to bolster faith. But we are often forced to believe, even when we don’t see. We trust God for something even when it hasn’t become manifest. May our faith in God never die. May we believe that He hears and answers our prayers. And in time, may we be witnesses of His love for us when what we prayed for comes to pass. Mark 11:20-25.
Today’s Verse – 2 Corinthians 5:19-20
God has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. —2 Corinthians 5:19-20 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… Jesus has paid the price. God provided the ransom. The LORD’s holy judgment was averted, not because of anything we did to appease him, but by the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins. If God has gone to such great lengths to reconcile us to himself and adopt us into his family, how can we refuse? We must not! Father God, we offer you our hearts, and we pledge to share the message of reconciliation as ambassadors on Christ’s behalf! We will share your message of Jesus and invite, urge, and implore those around us to receive Jesus as their LORD and Savior to be reconciled to you through your Son! My Prayer… O Gracious God, we know our sins have broken your heart and offended your holiness. Words, therefore, cannot communicate our thankfulness fully to you for the way you provided us a way for us to be reconciled to you. You were hurt by our sins, yet provided a sacrifice to redeem us from your judgment and reconcile us to you through Jesus. We praise you for your grace, thank you for your love, and promise to share your mercy and reconciliation with all who will listen. Through Jesus, our atoning sacrifice, we pray. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Move Out to Deeper Water
Note from Jesus Dear Friend, Wow, there is so much I would like to say to you about this important moment in today’s verses that forever changed the lives of Peter, James, and John when I told them where to cast their fishing nets. The last few days, I’ve been trying to help you look beyond the miraculous to My message and My mission. The same is true with today’s message. You see, I’m trying to gain committed followers, real disciples, not just an audience. This purpose is an important message for you to hear in your day because some churches are working hard to gain an audience, but not all are equipping people to be real disciples. So notice a couple of things about the events in today’s story from My life on earth. First, Peter and his co-workers had to trust that I had authority over the areas of their lives that they didn’t see as religious. On their road to being fully committed to Me, they had to learn that My lordship extended over every area of their lives. So when I pushed them to go to deeper water and to continuing fishing even though they hadn’t caught anything all night, they had to decide whether to obey Me or do what their human experience thought best. Notice this key phrase from the way Luke tells the story: Peter says, “I’ll do it if You say so.” Boom! That’s the point. It’s the key point for a disciple in your day, too. There are some religious sounding people in your day who have found ways to make themselves sound smarter about truth than what I said when I was among you. They haven’t learned the lesson of Peter. Second, Peter admitted in front of his rough, tough, fishing partners that he needed My grace and forgiveness. This response is not easy for anyone, but it was especially tough for a guy like Peter. He recognized that he had to surrender control of his life to Me or he was going to make a mess of things. In fact, he was pretty sure he was not worthy to be around Me because he had made a mess of things in the past. Of course, My grace has something much more profound to say about this presumed lack of worth. In simple words, I told him, “Peter, I’ve got bigger fish for you to catch than you are fishing for now!” Verses to Live Once again, while a miracle is involved in the following account from Luke’s gospel, this whole series of events grows out of My teaching. We’re about to spend some time with My teaching. So I want you to open your heart to receive My truth and to make a commitment — like Peter — to say, “I’ll do it if You say so!” Picture these events: On the banks of Gennesaret Lake, a huge crowd, Jesus in the center of it, presses in to hear His message from God. Off to the side, fishermen are washing their nets, leaving their boats unattended on the shore. Jesus gets into one of the boats and asks its owner, Simon, to push off and anchor a short distance from the beach. Jesus sits down and teaches the people standing on the beach. After speaking for a while, Jesus speaks to Simon. Jesus: Move out into deeper water, and drop your nets to see what you’ll catch. Simon (perplexed): Master, we’ve been fishing all night, and we haven’t caught even a minnow. But… all right, I’ll do it if You say so. Simon then gets his fellow fishermen to help him let down their nets, and to their surprise, the water is bubbling with thrashing fish — a huge school. The strands of their nets start snapping under the weight of the catch, so the crew shouts to the other boat to come out and give them a hand. They start scooping fish out of the nets and into their boats, and before long, their boats are so full of fish they almost sink! Simon’s fishing partners, James and John (two of Zebedee’s sons), along with the rest of the fishermen, see this incredible haul of fish. They’re all stunned, especially Simon. He comes close to Jesus and kneels in front of His knees. Simon: I can’t take this, Lord. I’m a sinful man. You shouldn’t be around the likes of me. Jesus: Don’t be afraid, Simon. From now on, I’ll ask you to bring Me people instead of fish. The fishermen haul their fish-heavy boats to land, and they leave everything to follow Jesus. (Luke 5:1-11) Response in Prayer Father in heaven, I thank You for coming to our world as Jesus and telling us heaven’s truth. I confess that I want to call the shots in my life when I think I know best how to do things. However, I realize that I need Your grace and guidance, Your words and wisdom, or my life will never be all that You have made me to be. I offer myself to follow Jesus because I know that You are God, and I am Your creation. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. ‘A Year with Jesus’ is written by Phil Ware. © 1998-2026, Heartlight, Inc. ‘A Year with Jesus‘ is part of the Heartlight Network.All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Voice™. © 2008 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
13 Jan 2025
Faith is one of the most common sermon topics. That should also show how important it is. May we grow in our understanding of faith as guided by the Lord. May He show us where to invest our trust and may there be results that glorify His name. I pray that this will help us and others grow in our walk with God. Matthew 21:18-21.
Today’s Verse – Galatians 3:26-29
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. —Galatians 3:26-29 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… When we become Christians through faith and our baptism into Christ, the Holy Spirit makes us one with all other Christians around the world. Race, gender, and social status are not what matter in our lives. In fact, those things don’t distinguish us from each other. We are brothers and sisters in Christ living for Jesus with those we love. Our lives are his, and thus the Spirit connects us and makes us one (1 Corinthians 12:13). Our destination is the same: heaven. Our family is the church. No barriers. No closed doors. We are one in Christ Jesus! My Prayer… Abba Father, thank you for adopting me into your family. May we, your children, truly be one on earth now, as we will be when we are all together around your throne in heaven. I pray for our unity among all those who call upon your name and share your Spirit so the world may know there is a solution to the conflict, strife, and division it experiences through all its different prejudices. Through Jesus, our uniting Savior, in whom we are one, I pray. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
12 Jan 2026
The heroes of faith were commended for their faith and obedience. Because they believed, they followed what God asked them to do, even if they did not see what they were promised. May we hear from God and obey. May our faith increase and may the Lord show Himself faithful. Hebrews 11:1-2 & 13.