No Greater Love
Admit it! Accept it! Share it! My wife and I were recently in a setting with several long-time friends. We felt love. We felt fortunate. We felt the presence of God as we were in the presence of these friends. As we drove home from the event we talked of the blessing of being loved by so many for so long. As we celebrate another wedding anniversary, I wonder how many times we have expressed our love for one another through our thirty-six years. We have said it with cards, we have said it with gifts, we have said it with physical presence, and we have said it with words. Every time I communicate with one of my children, I realize what it means to be loved and to love. A text. An email. A conversation. A photograph. A visit. Each interaction is a reminder of what it means to love and be loved. When I think of one of my brothers, my sister, my parents, my grandparents, my cousins, my nephews and nieces, and my aunts and uncles, I am convinced all over again of what an amazing heritage of love has been bestowed upon me. At the end of a sermon, as I see a brother or sister moving toward the front of the assembly hall with tears in their eyes, then I see other brothers and sisters surround them, embrace them, and wrap their arms around as we pray for them, I am grateful for the fellowship of love with which I serve the Lord. Whether I write it in an article, preach it in a sermon, share it over coffee, discuss it in a class or a small group, I am convinced of the truth that our God is a God of love who has demonstrated His love for all people with the ultimate expression of love: He gave His life for us. This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything (1 John 3:16-20 NIV). Jesus gave His life for us. He loves you. He loves me. Admit it. Accept it. Appreciate it. Share it. About the author: Tom Norvell is the author of “A Norvell Note” — Thoughts and reflections on God, life, people, and living as a follower of Jesus. He has ministered with followers of Jesus for four decades and loves Jesus, his family, and those seeking Jesus, passionately.
Forgotten Kindness, Forgotten Love?
When is the last time you let God know how much you love Him? I read Oswald Chambers devotional for January 21 in “My Utmost for His Highest.” It talked about being “kind to God.” That really got me thinking. I don’t know that I’ve ever considered that. This is what Oswald Chambers said: Am I as spontaneously kind to God as I used to be, or am I only expecting God to be kind to me? Am I full of the little things that cheer His heart over me, or am I whimpering because things are going hardly with me? There is no joy in the soul that has forgotten what God prizes. It is a great thing to think that Jesus Christ has need of me – “Give Me to drink.” How much kindness have I shown Him this past week? Have I been kind to His reputation in my life? We think of God as being the all powerful creator: and He is. We think of Him as knowing everything, judging, and disciplining: and He does. I guess we sometimes forget that the Father wants a personal relationship with us. When we say that God wants a personal relationship with us, I fear that we are just saying that He cares about each of us so much that He made a way for each of us to be saved. But I believe He wants more than that: He really does want a personal relationship with us – a relationship that includes us being kind to Him and telling Him that we love Him. Not that He needs us, but yes, actually He does desire this of us. Jesus told us: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the first and great commandment. (Matthew 22:37-38 NKJV). When was the last time you simply spoke to God like you would a good friend sitting next to you on a bench? When was the last time you told God you loved Him in a kind, sincere, and personal way? When we spend time with God, we must remember some basic needed elements in that time. Thanksgiving and praise are important. Confessing our sin and repentance are, too. Praying for others and ourselves, is something we should do. Waiting on Him to speak to our hearts, is something we should do – but often are in too big of a hurry to do. But today, let’s be reminded to never forget to be “kind to God.” He loves us, and enjoys our kind, sincere, and heartfelt words of affection. About the author: Mike is a pastor and writer for a number of online publications.
God at Our Feet
Here’s a place it’s hard to imagine God, but it is the place God often chose to be! Our friend had quadruple bypass surgery and his first hospital stay. Instead of parking in the ministers’ reserved area and visiting the sick, he lay in an airy hospital gown and received visitors. Later, his sweet wife listed the kindnesses extended from hospital staff, family, and friends because many rallied to “bless” this godly couple. Their helpers bowed their knees to them, not in worship but in service. When God called Abram, one of the promises he made was to “bless” him. The primary root for “bless” means “to kneel” or “to bow the knee”: [God said to Abram,] “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:2-3). Once source explains, “The idea of blessing may come from several factors including that of bending the knees to give or to receive.” Both elements of giving and receiving are present in God’s call to Abram. First, God bowed his knees and served Abram so Abram could accomplish God’s will for his life. Eventually through Abram’s lineage, God gifted the entire earth with Jesus Christ. Abram believed God’s promises, used God’s provisions, and bowed his knee in service to his family and foreigners. I easily imagine Abram bowing his knee to serve God and his contemporaries. However, I have difficulty when I picture God on his knees, serving Abram, not in worship but through the keeping of his promises to bless Abram. While the picture of God kneeling to serve might be difficult to visualize, testimonies of God’s gracious service appear all through scripture. From the earliest days, God has served his creation and expressed his all-out love through provisions and justice. The Creator seeded the earth and set up an atmosphere to support plant life and humans. He didn’t let Cain get away with murder. For thousands of years, God has nurtured humanity, yet we as humans have continued to ignore or bite the hand that feeds us. In addition, God planned a complete demonstration of his love through Jesus Christ – a demonstration of love that would impact us like nothing before or since. Ultimately, God let us view his servant heart through his Son Jesus, and his three year ministry held countless revelations of God’s truth and grace (John 1:14-18). On the evening before his crucifixion, Jesus assured his disciples, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Earlier that night, Jesus had demonstrated God-as-servant, showing his disciples the “full extent of his love” (John 13:1). When the Master Teacher had gathered to dine with his disciples in the upper room, street grime had come along on their feet. That’s when the God of Abram, “found in appearance as a man” (Philippians 2:8), got up from the meal, took off his outer garment, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After pouring water into a basin, the God of Abram knelt, and one at a time he would lift and clean 24 dirty feet. Wash and dry. Wash and dry. Wash and dry. Thomas. John. Thaddeus. Andrew. James. Bartholomew. Peter. Judas. The cleansing wasn’t brief: The meal stopped. It took time. Minutes and more minutes ticked by as Jesus, found in appearance as a man, made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant (Philippians 2:6-8). Servant God knelt. Moved from man to man, foot to foot, and physically touched each disciple. Dipping water from a basin, scrubbing toes, toweling ankles, Jesus humbled himself one more time before he “became obedient unto death-even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:8). When Jesus reached the reluctant Peter, we find these words in John’s story of Jesus: He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me” (John 13:6-8). Later… the disciples comprehended. They remembered the night Jesus made himself of no reputation and took upon the form of a servant – the night he declared most of them were clean and set in motion a perpetual cleansing. They learned from God “found in appearance as a man” that protocol couldn’t hinder lavish love. When Abram received his call, Servant God eventually furnished everything Abram needed to carry out the divine path for his life. Abram believed God and his belief equaled righteousness in God’s court (Genesis 15:6). I find it easy to picture looking up into the heavens and praying to God. I can even clearly picture God at my side walking in a garden as we talk about life. However, the image blurs when I look down into the eyes of the God of Abram fashioned as a man washing my feet. I’m ready for a new portrait. I’m praying that God will place in my mind and heart the knowledge of a towel-draped Savior at my feet who will equip me to bless – bow my knees to others. About the author: Author Cathy Messecar speaks at local and national women’s retreats, social clubs, and writing guilds. Her inspirational columns ran in Houston Community Newspapers for 11 years and over 600 columns. She wrote A Still and Quiet Soul: Embracing Contentment (2011) and other gift books cathymessecar.com.
Today’s Verse – John 13:34-35
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. —John 13:34-35 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… How do you recognize Jesus’ followers? How do you find true Christians? Many people claim to be followers of Jesus, but are they really? How do we know? In the Gospel of John, Jesus gives us three ways that show we are his true disciples: we abide in his word (John 8:31-32 ESV), we bear much fruit (John 15:8), and we love one another (John 13:35). Today, we focus on our love for one another as a mark of true discipleship. Jesus said his disciples would love each other just as he loved them. In the immediate context, this kind of love is defined: like Jesus, we are willing to love and serve each other selflessly and practically – just as he washed their feet and later went to the cross while protecting them. The LORDs ministry revealed he would do almost anything to demonstrate his love for his disciples, whether extravagant, simple, or something in between. Imagine if we all followed the LORD Jesus’ example and proved ourselves his disciples by loving each other in the same way Jesus demonstrated his love to them and to us! My Prayer… Father of Compassion and God of all grace, we thank you for teaching me to love through the example and commands of Jesus. May our words and actions reflect his love toward your people today, tomorrow, and until you bring us all home to you. In the name of Christ, our Great Example and LORD, 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.
More Than!
Note from Jesus Dear Believer, I know that the religious world has its share of overstatement, hyperbole, exaggeration, and sometimes even fraud. So beware of the person who is trying to get you to buy something to get some favor from Me. Don’t trust anyone who teaches you to bargain with God. The mindset of “If I do this, then God will do that for me!” is really a form of idolatry. It’s based on having a god you can manipulate and control for your own desires. We — Father, Son, and Spirit — can’t be fit into a box or forced to jump through a hoop you’ve made so that you can (try to) control Us and get Us to do what you want! On the other hand, as the one true and living God — Father, Son, and Spirit — We are the God of grace. We can and we will do more than you can ask or imagine through the power of the Holy Spirit at work in you (Ephesians 3:14-21). I am talking about the power of the kingdom — Our power within the hearts and in the people with whom We reign as King. The two little short stories below about a mustard seed and a little bit of yeast are great examples to remind you that I AM at work bringing the kingdom of God to you in mysterious and wonderful ways. Here’s your part: Submit to My lordship. Ask Me to reign over your heart as King. Now take that kingdom focus — My holy reign over your heart — into every aspect of your life. I taught you to pray, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10 NIV). When you pray this prayer, you are asking for My holy reign over your heart! Your commitment to being a person who lives for Me, a person who seeks to bring My kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven,” is like planting a tiny seed in the ground or putting a little yeast in a batch of dough. You don’t make the seed grow. You don’t make the yeast spread and the dough rise. But there is a mysterious and wonderful power unleashed when that seed is planted and that yeast is mixed into the dough. My kingdom power and grace at work within you and through you are like that seed and that yeast. The seed sprouts and grows. The yeast spreads, penetrates, and permeates, and the dough rises. Before long, the impact of your heartfelt commitment to let My “will be done” and to let My “kingdom come” in your life and through your influence begins to change you and the world around you in ways you could never even ask or imagine! Verses to Live I love powerful imagery from everyday life. If I held a mustard seed between My thumb and My forefinger, no one in the crowd could see it because it is so small. The same is true about a little yeast. But wow! Look at how much they grow, expand, and bless. Such power and grace can flow through you to those around you because of My kingdom power at work in you! Jesus … : Do you want to understand the kingdom of God? Do you want Me to tell you what it’s like? It’s like a single mustard seed that someone took and planted in his garden. That tiny seed grew and became a tree so large that the birds could fly in and make their nests in its branches. Do you want Me to tell you what the kingdom of God is like? It’s like some yeast which a woman hid within a huge quantity of flour; soon the whole batch of dough was rising. (Luke 13:18-21) Response in Prayer Father in heaven, I want Your name to be reverenced and held as holy and precious. I long for Your kingdom to come fully in my life and through my influence on others. I want the things dear to Your heart to be honored in my life. I want to be fully conformed to the character and compassion of Jesus as I trust in You for everything important, and not so important, in my life. 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.
Delayed Truth
Have you learned this important spiritual skill? When you talk, don’t say any bad things. But say things that people need – things that will help other people become stronger. Then the things you say will help the people who listen to you. (Ephesians 4:29 ERV) When I finished it, I knew I needed to wait to print it. It was too fresh. People were too close and might be hurt if I ran it so soon after it happened. While every word of it was true, it needed to be delayed. What is the “it” I’m talking about? “It” is the article I finished the other night at 1:30 in the morning after two hours of work. While the article contained a message that needs to be heard and what is said is 100% truthful, this truth needed to be delayed. Shading the truth or telling only the partial truth is not honesty. Delayed truth is not partial truth. Telling the truth from God’s point of view means that truth should be of benefit to the hearer. Christian speech is redemptive. The motivation behind it must be to be encouraging. Our goal in communication should be to bless and build up others based on their needs and not our agenda, chip on the shoulder, sense of urgency, or insensitivity. Sometimes truth needs to be delayed until the time is right, our motivation is pure, and our purpose is redemptive. So often, many of us prattle on volunteering everything we know and everything we feel. In a world of blogs, conversations, and commentaries, God’s children need to learn there is a time to be silent and keep our mouths – and our pens and our keyboards – silent and still. “There is a time to be silent, and a time to speak.” (Ecclesiastes 3:7) We’ve got to learn to “tell the time” in our choice of words. This is not an option for us. Jesus wants us to know that we “will have to explain about every careless thing” we’ve said to others. (Matthew 12:36) Our words and how we use those words matter to others and to God. I don’t profess to be an expert on being silent – I’ve gotten myself in more than my share of messes from responding to emails too hastily and without prayerfully considering my response. I’ve said something “cute” in the banter of conversation that was at the expense of someone else who was hurt or made the butt of the joke. I often have trouble knowing when to quit talking. Hopefully I’m getting better, but I still have a long way to go. However, I do realize that I must improve in this area. I know that my speech, my email, and my writing need to be handled with more sensitivity, care, and timing. It is not God’s truth if it is not shared with concern for blessing our hearer by what is said and by when it is said. About the author: Phil Ware has authored 11 years of daily devotionals, including VerseoftheDay.com, read by 500,000 people a day. He works with churches in transition with Interim Ministry Partners and for the past 21+ years, he has been editor and president of HEARTLIGHT Magazine, author of VerseoftheDay.com, God’s Holy Fire (on the Holy Spirit), and aYearwithJesus.com. Phil has also authored four books, daily devotionals on each of the four gospels.
Servant!
Jesus recalibrated greatness and changed it from being fame and notoriety to kneeling and using a basin and towel. Over our 25 years, HEARTLIGHT.org has passed along the creative blessings of many famous authors who graciously shared their writing with our readers. This year as we celebrate “Shining the Light” for a quarter-century, we will repeat some of Phil’s previous posts over the years. We hope this focused message on Jesus calls you to deeper discipleship. A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table, or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves (Luke 22:24-27). Don’t you imagine that the Lord’s Supper those first few years after the Lord’s ascension was tough on Jesus’ apostles? After they had endured the ordeal of the Cross, experienced the surprising joy of the resurrection, and received the Great Commission during his farewell ascension, this regular reminder of their failings had to be bittersweet. The Lord’s Supper had to be sweet for them because they celebrated it on the first day of the week, Sunday, the day of Jesus’ resurrection (Acts 20:7; Luke 24:1-3). Jesus’ resurrection changed Sunday from a normal day into the Lord’s Day (Revelation 1:10). They could then view their Savior’s death through the lens of his amazing victory over Satan, sin, death, and hell. Each celebration of the Lord’s Supper meant that they could remember again all their memories of the day they first realized Jesus was alive and the victor over death. They could feel that incredible joy of the resurrection again! However, the Lord’s Supper had to be bitter in many ways, too. They were reminded of their stupid quarrels after the Lord has shared the Last Supper with them – quarreling about who would betray him and who was going to be greatest in his kingdom (John 13:1-38). They remembered the embarrassment they felt when Jesus washed their feet because each of them was too important to wash their Lord’s feet. They were haunted by the memories of their repeated sleepiness when the Lord needed a friend to stay awake with him and support him in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. They were hurt by the memories of their repeated failures to stand by Jesus on this fateful night. They recalled when they forsook him and fled during his arrest as one among them betrayed their Lord into the hands of persecutors, and later, as Peter denied him three times. In my own head, I can construct imaginary conversations that might have gone on between these apostles and their children, and in later years, possibly their grandchildren. “Surely you weren’t like those other guys, were you Papa Pete? Surely you stood by Jesus, didn’t you? You didn’t run out on him, did you? After all, you promised him! I know you must have defended him even though everybody else was chicken and ran away?” “No, I’m ashamed to say, I was no different than the rest,” Peter would have to tell his loved ones. On the resurrection side of their Lord’s cross, those closest to him also remembered things Jesus had said, things they had taken to heart but could not understand at the time, but now were clear to them after his resurrection. Having the vantage point of the empty tomb, the coming of the Spirit, and years of ministry, their hearts must have been stirred by the wonderful and powerful mystery and power of their Lord that was now fully revealed to them. They could remember their Lord’s sense of sacrificial mission: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). They could recall the Lord’s definition of greatness: “The greatest among you will be your servant” (Matthew 10:11). They could be reminded of the Lord’s clear statement of his role: “For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves” (Luke 22:27). They could still see in their memory of that night the basin and the towel as he washed their feet and told them, “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them” (John 13:15-17). For those longing to be Jesushaped like these earliest and closest followers of Christ, the words “service” and “servant” had to ring in their ears. These words shaped their lives for years ahead as they offered themselves to the work of his Kingdom. Many of them ended up giving their lives to reach and serve the lost, just as their Lord had given his life for them. Yet for Jesus to have called them – and through them, to have called us – to this kind of lifestyle shouldn’t be surprising. Those who love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, and mind, would surely have to love others (Matthew 22:36-40). The Lord’s apostles knew that the second great command could not be divorced from the first one! These commands were the balancing power behind these Christ-followers’ lives. Each of the Lord’s love commands was necessary to keep them moving to the rhythms
A Family Without Borders
These ordinary people did the extraordinary: they lived Jesus’ words into reality. Special Note: This is not a traditional Valentine’s Day post. However, it is part of the most significant gift and message of love ever given: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…” I sat in the packed and humid auditorium in Bangkok, Thailand. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I sang at the top of my lungs. The tears were not from the chicken, hot peppers, and rice I had for breakfast from a street vendor – the two orange crush sodas had taken care of that. What caused my tears, what held my heart, was the moment. We were singing, “They will know we are Christians by our love, by our love, they will know we are Christians by our love!” I sang in English. Most around me sang in Thai. People from over twelve nations were worshiping together. Each sang in her or his native language in four-part harmony. Rather than being confusing or merely noise, the singing was overwhelmingly beautiful. Even more touching, this was not a special occasion. Other than being the Lord’s Day, what made it special was that though we were different in culture and language and skin color, we were one family. We were bound together by our shared love for Jesus. The Holy Spirit made us family without borders! This experience was a mini-taste of heaven. John describes heaven in the book of Revelation with these words: After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God,who sits on the throne,and to the Lamb. All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: Amen!Praise and gloryand wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strengthbe to our God for ever and ever. Amen! (Revelation 7:9-12) Jesus challenged his first followers to take his message of hope, new life, heavenly power, and one family to the whole world. The Lord explained his plan in these words: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). This simple, but breathtakingly simple, yet inclusive, plan was used on a city level (“Jerusalem”), a regional level (“all Judea and Samaria”), as well as a whole world level (“ends of the earth”). The Lord wanted his followers to share their great news about Jesus and the kingdom of God using this strategy: Here. Near. Far. We see this plan in action as Luke traces the spread of the great news of Jesus from Jerusalem to all the areas around Judea and Samaria. Then, they reached out all over the Roman Empire. You can map the progress by the great cities of that time: The Jesus-message spread from Jerusalem to Antioch to Ephesus and then to Rome. We can become so familiar with this story that we can forget how impossible Jesus’ parting words had to seem. The Lord only had a small group from the backwaters of Galilee. These few followers watched their Lord leave them. They were not influential. They had few financial resources. They were powerless by the world’s standards. They were simple, ordinary, folks, at best! However, this little group of people knew, loved, followed, and trusted Jesus (Acts 4:13). Jesus’ resurrection inspired their hearts to embrace their Lord’s words as he left them (Acts 1:8). So, these ordinary people did the extraordinary: they lived Jesus’ words into reality. Two thousand years later, in a place so far from my earthly home, the beautiful country of Thailand, I experienced the reality of Jesus’ grand vision. I was reignited in my motivation to continue carrying out the here, near, and far plan of our Lord. My world since that experience has been both bigger and smaller because I am part of a family without borders! In a world frequently more fractured by race, political party, culture, language, country, and ethnicity, followers of Jesus have an incredible opportunity. With internet access, social media networking, and modern travel, our world is so much more accessible to us than it was to those few folks on the mountain watching Jesus return to the Father. So, dear friend in Jesus, the real question for us is whether or not we are committed to both live out the mission of Jesus (“to the ends of the earth”) and the vision of Jesus (“a great multitude…from every nation, tribe, people and language”) in our time. Yes, we must commit to this mission and go here, near, and far. Yes, we must commit to this vision and love all people in all places. Why? Two reasons crucia0l to our authenticity as followers of Jesus: “For God so loved the world…” (John 3:16). If our Father loved the people of the world so much, how can we not love them and go to them with the message of Jesus? “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). If our Father has called each of us – with all of our differences – into his family, how can we not love each one whom the Father has called into our family? Here, near, and far is our mission as we live out his vision for us to be his loving family without borders! Special thanks for the use of the Jesus related images in this series to Free Bible Images and The Lumo Project. Those pictures associated with the ministry
Get This Please!
Note from Jesus Dear Disciple, Don’t miss this truth: “The Son of Man didn’t come to ruin the lives of people, but He came to liberate them.” No matter what happens to Me on the way to the cross, I won’t use My power for Myself or My preservation even though I have the power to defend Myself and defeat every enemy I have to face. I came to liberate people. I came to liberate you! I came to liberate you from your fear about the future and your fear about your work and worship being wasted. I came to liberate you from the human principle of retaliation and the mistaken notion that violence in return for violence can bring peace. I came to liberate you from the stranglehold of demonic powers and the fear of death. I came to liberate you from having to prove you are significant, worthy, and acceptable to God. I came to liberate you from the mistaken notion that everyone will accept Me. Don’t grow angry with those who reject Me and don’t retaliate against those who push Me away. There are many others who need Me and My grace; move on from those who reject Me and My message and reach those who are seeking and searching. Once again, I remind you: “The Son of Man didn’t come to ruin the lives of people, but He came to liberate them.” Verses to Live My disciples did some dumb things out of fear and confusion. Today you see James and John wanting to do something stupid and insensitive out of confusion and fear; they wanted to destroy some people who didn’t welcome Me. Notice how I point them to the positive aspect of My mission rather than letting them become focused on their anger at those who rejected Me. My followers need to hear the same message in your day! The time approached for Him [Jesus] to be taken back up to the Father; so strong with resolve, Jesus made Jerusalem His destination. He sent some people ahead of Him into the territory of the Samaritans, a minority group at odds with the Jewish majority. He wanted His messengers to find a place for them to stay in a village along the road to Jerusalem. But because the Samaritans realized Jesus was going to Jerusalem, they refused to welcome them. James and John (outraged): Lord, do You want us to call down fire from heaven to destroy these people who have rejected You? Jesus (turning toward them and shaking His head): You just don’t get it. The Son of Man didn’t come to ruin the lives of people, but He came to liberate them. He led them on toward another village. (Luke 9:51-56) Response in Prayer Almighty God, help me remain focused on why Jesus came and why You sent Him into our world. In everything I do, including my efforts to reach and teach the lost, I want to reflect the purpose, character, and compassion of Jesus, in Whose name I offer this prayer. 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 Feb 2026
Thankfulness overcomes a sense of entitlement. It makes us humbly accept that without God’s love for us and His help, we would be nowhere. It is the Lord who sustains us daily. He enables us to live do the things we do. He is merciful and truly cares for us. Colossians 2:6-7.