Don’t Make Holy Days Harmful!
Note from Jesus Dear Disciple, Having lived among you, I know the challenges and temptations of human flesh (Hebrews 4:15). Something that troubles Me, however, is how the devil can get good, decent, God-loving people so worked up over religious rules that they actually turn the Father’s gift of rest into an excuse to beat people up with religious traditions. Your desire to honor Us — Father, Son, and Spirit — is praiseworthy. However, if you distort that desire to honor Us so that you can make yourself look more holy, your desire can become despicably hurtful. Too much of My earthly ministry was spent dealing with critics who did not think I honored the Sabbath. They wasted precious time debating Me and trying to trap Me — time that could have been used blessing people whose needs were largely forgotten and neglected by them and their religious leaders. Sadly, this kind of thing is sometimes true in your own day. Please don’t turn holy days and special buildings into an excuse for neglecting people and bringing harm to those I have made in My image. Verses to Live The Father gave you the concept of Sabbath to bless you, to bless those who work for you, to bless those who work with you, and to bless your neighbors. He wanted to bless you with a respite from your normal activities and commitments. He wanted you to be nourished by time with family and friends who share your faith. He wanted this to be a time for you to be restored by sacred grace — for you to have true shalom. To distort this Sabbath principle into a legalistic set of rules that prevent helping your brother and sister in need or that place unreasonable burdens or restrictions on them actually brings harm and does evil. So take warning from the two events from My life in the verses below. Notice especially My questions in bold below. The answer to those questions is obvious from what I did for the man with the deformed hand! One Sabbath Day, some Pharisees confronted Jesus again. This time, they saw the disciples picking some grain as they walked through the fields. The disciples would de-husk the grain by rubbing the kernels in their hands, and then they would eat it raw. Pharisees: Don’t You know the sacred law says You can’t harvest and mill grain on the Sabbath Day — the day on which all work is forbidden? Why do You think You can ignore the sacred law? Jesus: Speaking of the sacred law, haven’t you ever read about the time when David and his companions were hungry? Don’t you remember how he went into the house of God and took the sacred bread of the presence — which, you may recall, only the priests were lawfully permitted to eat? Remember that he not only ate it, but he also gave it to his companions? Likewise, the Son of Man has authority over the Sabbath. On another Sabbath, Jesus entered the synagogue and taught there. In the congregation was a man who had a deformed right hand. The religious scholars and Pharisees watched Jesus; they suspected that He might try to perform a healing on that day, which they would use as evidence to convict Him of Sabbath-breaking. Jesus knew about their plan, and He told the man with the deformed hand to come and stand in front of everyone. The man did so. Then Jesus spoke directly to the religious scholars and Pharisees. Jesus: Here’s a question for you: On the Sabbath Day, is it lawful to do good or to do harm? Is it lawful to save life or to destroy it? He turned His gaze to each of them, one at a time. Then He spoke to the man. Jesus: Stretch your hand out. As the man did, his deformed hand was made normal again. This made the Pharisees and religious scholars furious. They began discussing together what they would do to Jesus. (Luke 6:1-11) Response in Prayer O Father, help me honor You and the gift of sabbath rest that You have given to me. Help me to do good, not harm, on all days — especially on days that I set aside as holy days given especially to family, faith, and fellowship with those who love You. 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.
Let Me Decide!
Note from Jesus Dear Precious Disciple, Satan uses a very effective form of temptation on many of you who are My followers. He gets you to avoid looking at your own personal weaknesses and tempts you to focus on other people’s faults. Before long, you find others you don’t think measure up and aren’t as fruitful as you think they should be. You can grow angry because you are discouraged by those who claim to follow Me and yet live showing no loyalty to Me at all in their lifestyles. You are frustrated because unbelievers point to the hypocrites in My churches and use them to bolster their claim that Christianity doesn’t really matter. There can be times when you wish someone would just run out all the “fake followers” so there wouldn’t be so much spiritual drag on your worship, mission, and influence. Please remember that I warned you in several of My parables that many would claim to be My followers while their lives revealed something very different. Some among you are new disciples and don’t fully know My way and need time to mature. Others are weak and succumb to temptation easily, but they truly love Me and need help to grow stronger and have someone walk alongside them. Even some hypocrites have good hearts; they just haven’t surrendered all of that heart to My lordship and need to be challenged to love Me with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. Please hear the two-part warning in the parable below. First, My church, My people, My spiritual family on earth does not exist in a vacuum. Satan and his demonic forces wage war against Me, My people, and My church. My enemy plants fake believers in the middle of true believers. He does so to drag you down and discourage you so that he can diminish your spiritual passion. The evil one longs to give ammunition to your critics and discourage those trying to decide whether or not to follow Me. Don’t let this situation discourage you. Instead, use this knowledge to help those who are not faithfully following Me to come to full faith in Me and to follow Me as their Lord and Savior. Second, you should not try to decide who is a true disciple and who is a fake disciple. It’s My job to expose what is false and what is genuine. Please don’t destroy My church by ripping up someone who is precious to Me. Let Me handle discerning between good fruit and bad fruit. Most of this I will do at the end of time. I will do this with My angels — the heavenly messengers. In the meantime, let’s work together on you. Let’s be honest about where you are in your spiritual journey. Are you fully following Me? Do you struggle being a new disciple? Do you have periods when you are weak? Do you catch yourself being hypocritical in what you say you believe and what you actually live? Do you find yourself being cynical about the faithfulness of other believers? Whatever is holding you back, please, let’s work on it together as we journey through the New Testament this year! Remember, I long to help you “shine like the sun in the Father’s Kingdom”! Verses to Live In this parable, faithful disciples are described as “good seeds,” and the unfaithful are “weeds.” You — and everyone else — get to decide what you will be — weeds or seeds. As you undoubtedly know, the initial decision to be faithful frequently is not enough. Most people need frequent recommitment and the help and encouragement of others. Don’t automatically categorize others who are not completely faithful to Me as being among the “weeds.” Rather, you may be able to provide just the help and encouragement that they need, while at the same time being careful not to become one of the weeds yourself. Jesus told them another parable. Jesus: The kingdom of heaven is like this: Once there was a farmer who sowed good seeds in his field. While the farmer’s workers were sleeping, his enemy crept into the field and sowed weeds among all the wheat seeds. Then he snuck away again. Eventually the crops grew — wheat, but also weeds. So the farmer’s workers said to him, “Sir, why didn’t you sow good seeds in your field? Where did these weeds come from?” “My enemy must have done this,” replied the farmer. “Should we go pull up all the weeds?” asked his workers. “No,” said the farmer. “It’s too risky. As you pull up the weeds, you would probably pull up some wheat as well. We’ll let them both grow until harvest time. I will tell the harvesters to collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned, and only then to harvest the wheat and bring it to my barn. … Then Jesus left the crowds and returned to … [the] house. His disciples followed Him. Disciples: Explain to us the story You told about the weeds. Jesus: The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world; the good seed represents the children of the Kingdom. The weeds— who do you think the weeds are? They are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who threw the weeds among the wheat is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the workers are God’s heavenly messengers. In the parable, I told you the weeds would be pulled up and burned — well, that is how it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send His messengers out into the world, and they will root out from His kingdom everything that is poisonous, ugly, and malicious, and everyone who does evil. They will throw all that wickedness into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. And the righteous will
Why Won’t They Believe?
Note from Jesus Dear Disciple, Some of you will be frustrated and hurt because people you know and love will choose not to believe in Me as Savior. Some will talk about intellectual doubts. Others will talk about life’s hurts and will wonder where We — Father, Son, and Spirit — were in the middle of their hurts. Some will say they have a hard time believing something they think the Bible says because they view it as a book of myths and superstitions. Others will see Christians who are weak and stumble, or who are hypocrites, and say they want no part of a religion like that. Some will say they just can’t believe in the miracles and My resurrection that they read about in Scripture. These reactions and feelings that you find frustrating and sometimes heartbreaking are not new. I faced the same thing. As you read about the events below, remember that I had done two “nature altering” miracles — I fed more than 5,000 people with just 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish as well as walked on the water to the disciples in their boat caught in a storm on the Sea of Galilee. Most of the people in the area knew of at least one of these miracles — that’s why they were back trying to get something else from Me. Many of them were also puzzling over the possibility of another miracle: How had I crossed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee to be with My disciples without a boat? But before they would do the one thing I told them truly was “God’s work” — to believe in Me as the One the Father had sent, they wanted another miracle to show I was someone special. In other words, they saw or heard about the great works I had done, but refused to believe until they received the miracle they wanted from Me. My precious disciple, please hear Me: Some people don’t believe because they won’t believe. Another miracle wouldn’t have convinced most of the skeptics in the crowd you read about below. They were there for what they could get for free, not because they saw the sign that I had done and realized that it pointed to My identity as the Son of God. No one wants people saved more than We (Father, Son, and Spirit) do. No one’s heart breaks more than Our heart at the refusal of people to believe. I left the Father to share grace, offer hope, and bring true life to the people of your world. Some, however, refuse to receive that grace. Don’t burn up all your time and energy trying to convince people who refuse to believe. But don’t give up on them. Invite the Spirit to work on their hearts and in their circumstances. Live before them in a way that is good, gracious, and genuine. However, My dear disciple, please realize that you cannot make them believe, and I won’t force them to believe. Faith has to be chosen freely to be faith; do not use force or coercion on anyone, or it is not genuine faith! As much as you want someone to believe, you do not have the power to make it happen. Give that work over to the Spirit. Be ready as you look for the opportunity when the Spirit prompts you to reach out to that person you want to believe. A lot of folks in my day didn’t believe in Me until after My death, burial, and resurrection. Others didn’t believe until their lives came crashing down around them and they realized they needed help bigger than their circumstances. So be a real friend and a genuinely loved one of the people you want to believe. Be faithful and patient in loving them, but not pushing them or annoying them. Look for that moment of grace orchestrated by the Holy Spirit. Then, share your story of grace and let them know about Me. Remember what your “work” truly is. You must truly believe. You must trust that I AM the Son of God, your Savior and Lord, and then live that faith graciously before others. Your faith guarantees that your life is bound up with Me for eternity. It also gives you the best opportunity to make a difference in the lives of those you love. Verses to Live As you read today’s verses, remember what I told people was the true work that God wanted them to do: believe in Me! Please remember, if people you know and love are looking for a sign before they believe in Me — like the people in the verses below — then you and your faithfulness to Me may be the sign that they most need. Then, be patient… faithful… gracious… and ready to share your love and My grace with those you want to see come to faith. The following day [after Jesus had walked on the water] some people gathered on the other side of the sea and saw that only one boat had been there; they were perplexed. They remembered seeing the disciples getting into the boat without Jesus. Other boats were arriving from Tiberias near the grassy area where the Lord offered thanks and passed out bread. When this crowd could not find Him or His disciples, they boarded their small boats and crossed the sea to Capernaum looking for Him. When they found Jesus across the sea, they questioned Him. Crowd: Teacher, when did You arrive at Capernaum? Jesus: I tell you the truth — you are tracking Me down because I fed you, not because you saw signs from God. Don’t spend your life chasing food that spoils and rots. Instead, seek the food that lasts into all the ages and comes from the Son of Man, the One on Whom God the Father has placed His seal. Crowd: What do we have to do to accomplish
The Greatest Treasure
Note from Jesus Dear Beloved of the Father, You are a child of God; so I want to open your heart to hear two incredible truths found below in two simple stories that I told long ago. Truth One: You are the Father’s treasure! Yes, I know that is not normally how the two stories below are read, but I want you to think about it for a minute. There is a truth that you must not miss behind this understanding of these stories. The Father sent Me, His greatest gift, to pay the price to ransom you back to Us. You are Our treasure — Our discovered treasure and Our searched for treasure. I was the willing purchase price paid to buy you back from sin and death. Truth Two: The kingdom is the greatest treasure you can ever find. For some, it will seem like an accidental and great discovery as in the first story — almost like the treasure found them! The key, however, is that when you have “accidentally” discovered this treasure, then you should be willing to give up everything else to make it your own! Others, as in the second story, will find the treasure of the kingdom because they have longed to find it and have searched far and wide to find it. Again, the key is that having found it, they rejoice in giving up everything else to make this treasure of the kingdom their own! Notice the truth that ties these two understandings together: true treasure is worth any price necessary. That is true with the ultimate price I paid in coming to redeem you. It is also true for the price you must be ready to pay for the kingdom if you are willing to follow Me! Verses to Live What is your greatest treasure? I made clear that you are My treasure when I left the Father’s side and came to give My life to buy you out of slavery to sin and death and to reclaim you as a child of God. Will you choose to see My way, My kingdom, as your greatest treasure? Jesus: The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that is hidden in a field. A crafty man found the treasure buried there and buried it again so no one would know where it was. Thrilled, he went off and sold everything he had, and then he came back and bought the field with the hidden treasure part of the bargain. Or the kingdom of heaven is like a jeweler on the lookout for the finest pearls. When he found a pearl more beautiful and valuable than any jewel he had ever seen, the jeweler sold all he had and bought that pearl, his pearl of great price. (Matthew 13:44-46) Response in Prayer O Father, all I can think about in response to these stories is Your great love that sent Jesus to ransom me and Jesus’ great love to come and pay the price for my sin. The words to the old hymn speak the emotions of my heart in response to this great love: Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.* May the lordship of Jesus and the kingdom of heaven rule my heart just as the sacrifice of Jesus has captured my heart and made me Your child. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. * From Isaac Watts’ hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” 1707. ‘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.
The ARC of My Grace
Note from Jesus Dear Child of God, Many people in your world view My ministry as little more than a traveling miracle show. Many people during My time on earth viewed it in the same way. Nevertheless, I refused to be a traveling miracle show. I refused to do things simply to impress people or just to prove to them how powerful I am. If you remember My temptations by Satan in the wilderness, I refused to do miracles for My own good, for My own reputation, or for proof of God’s approval and presence in My ministry. I refused these shortcuts to winning people’s hearts. Instead, I chose to win the hearts of people through My earthly ministry to them and My going to the cross for them — and that includes you! If you look at most of My miracles for people, they follow a similar pattern. You can call it the ARC of grace: Acceptance of the person with his or her needs. Relationship established with that person through kind words or physical touch. Community restored to that person so she or he could re-enter life that is full and good. Remember yesterday? We looked at the time when I cast many demons out of Battalion. Now compare how I did that miracle with the miracles I do in the verses below. Sure, you can talk about My great power if that is your focus. I have power over demons. I have power over disease. I have power over death. And yes, you can focus on My power — but that is only part of the point I want you to grasp today. Today’s point is as simple as it is personal; My love and My power are personal. I have the power to restore you! Yes, people — the crowd, the many, the lost — all matter to Me. Each person matters to Me — the hopeless and uncontrollable man called Battalion, the good and influential man named Jairus, and the outcast woman who was considered unclean. Each — let your heart settle on that word — each matters to Me! Each! So My miracle for each of these people follows this ARC of My grace. Notice how the woman was healed in the verses below. She was physically healed as soon as she touched Me. She could have left with her miracle for her physical condition, but how would she have known she was loved and accepted — that she mattered to God even when she was still sick? How would she have known that what she did was no cause for her to be ashamed and no offense to God? How would the community around her have known she was healed and should be welcomed back into daily fellowship in the neighborhood, the market, and the synagogue? She needed the full ARC of my grace — acceptance, relationship, and community — to fully restore her in every way. Now notice Jairus and his dying daughter. Here was a moment for Me to capture the goodwill of many people, especially people of position and influence. Jairus, unlike the woman, had many people surrounding him and supporting him. A miracle for his daughter could have raised My standing in the community. But remember, I didn’t do miracles for Me! I did them because people needed to experience the ARC of My grace! So notice carefully what I did. When Jairus was told that his daughter was dead, I encouraged him to believe. Then I did something that seems crazy to folks who want to make My ministry into a traveling miracle show. I put everyone out of the house so I could go inside and personally minister to Jairus, his wife, and his dead daughter. Notice how personal I was with what I did. I took the girl’s hand — I was willing to become ceremonially unclean when I touched her. I wanted there to be more than just acceptance of Jairus and his family even though he represented a group largely opposed to Me. I wanted to establish physical contact, build a true relationship, with this girl and her family. Finally, after instructing her to get up, I gave the simple command that seems so strangely ordinary: give her something to eat. Let’s have table fellowship and re-establish community and restore the life of this family which was now whole. Dear child of God, please understand something very important. Miracles are only for a moment. Sooner or later each person on earth will run out of miracles to keep their bodies whole and alive! Yes, miracles are very important to you. I get that. But please understand something even more significant: you are more important to Me than miracles. I want you to experience the ARC of My grace and to pass it along to others: Accept others where they are in their messes, agonies, and problems, but don’t leave them there. Establish relationship by being personally involved with them — don’t just throw money at their problems and abandon them. Connect with them through talk and touch to help them know they are loved. Help restore them to community — help them reconnect to life with other people who will walk beside them and include them in the life of My family. As much as you may want a miracle, I can assure you that a miracle is for just a moment in the grand scheme of time. The ARC of grace gives people true life — life that matters now and life that lasts long after miracles no longer matter. Verses to Live Read through this story several times while seeing yourself as different people in the story. Notice how My grace impacts each person in a different way. Now try to share that ARC of grace with others! When Jesus and His disciples crossed the lake, another crowd was waiting to welcome Him. A man made his way through the crowd.
A Tale of Two Powers
Note from Jesus Dear Precious Child of God, Two powers — God and Satan — are at war over your eternal destiny. The story below illustrates the different goals of these two powers. No matter how alluring temptation may seem to you, the ultimate goal of the tempter — Satan, the evil deceiver, the devil, the evil one — and all the forces of hell can be seen from the condition of the man called Battalion. When you meet the man identified as Battalion, the forces of evil are literally hell-bent on his destruction. This devastation is Satan’s intent for you. However, the ultimate goal of your Father in heaven is for you to be in your right mind, for you to be learning from Me how to have purpose for your life, and for you to live out that purpose in your daily life. Notice the ways Battalion is described at the beginning of the events recorded in the verses below: He is isolated — actually driven into isolation by the demonic powers that control him. He is filled with destructive power. He is naked. He lives and sleeps in a cemetery — the place of the dead. He is uncontrollable. He has lost his sense of self-identity — he doesn’t even know his real name. He is aware of all of these problems in himself. However, as much as this man is in bondage to demonic powers, notice this one truth: he can still come to Me and fall at My feet despite the power of the demons in him wanting to be rid of Me! I AM more powerful than all of these demons. So notice what I do to bless this man despite the demons trying to use My identity to gain power over Me and send Me away. I deliver him from the demonic powers oppressing him. I return this man to a normal life and a right mind. I welcome the man into My fellowship and friendship. I send the man out on a mission to share his good news and My story of grace. Satan’s goal for you is clear: he wants to do with you what he did with Battalion. He wants to introduce hell on earth into your life. His temptations may look enticing. There may be no apparent signs of Satan’s destructive and evil intent in these temptations — at least not at first. But behind each temptation, there are traps designed to enslave you. I can help you break your bondage to these traps, although you are much better off if you avoid the traps all together! I have a goal for you. I want you to be My disciple. I want you to sit by Me and learn the way of true life from Me. I want to defeat the powers that desire to hold you in bondage and enslave you to self-destruction. I want you in your right mind — in control of your life and your decisions. I want you to find your purpose in Me. I want you to have a positive and influential relationship with your family and friends. But you have to choose Me… you must call out to Me for help… and you must ask Me to take control of your life and be willing for Me to do so! Not everyone will be happy if you choose Me. Some prefer to live out-of-control lives rather than to yield their lives to Me. In addition, the lure for you to go into a life under Satan’s control — to have that uncontrollable power at work in you — is just as destructive as it is strong. You must recognize that you cannot defeat the power of evil on your own. However, I can defeat it. In fact, I have defeated it through My death and resurrection. Do not despair in the face of great evil. Cry out to Me. Trust Me. Follow Me. Learn from Me. Share your story about Me with others. And when you do, you can know this: I will never leave you or forsake you. Verses to Live Notice how the “friends” of Battalion react when he is set free of the demonic spirits. They order Me to leave after I have liberated him and put him in his right mind. They cannot deal with Me. They don’t know what to do with a power they cannot control or understand. So rather than inviting Me into their small little world, they ask Me to leave. What about you? Will you ask Me into your world or order Me to leave? When they [Jesus and His disciples] get to the other side of the lake, in the Gerasene country opposite Galilee, a man from the city is waiting for Jesus when He steps out of the boat. The man is full of demonic spirits. He’s been running around for a long time stark naked, and he’s homeless, sleeping among the dead in a cemetery. This man has on many occasions been tied up and chained and kept under guard, but each time he has broken free and the demonic power has driven him back into remote places away from human contact. Jesus commands the demonic force to leave him. The man looks at Jesus and starts screaming. He falls down in front of Jesus. Possessed Man (shouting): Don’t torment me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God! Why are You here? Jesus (calmly and simply): What’s your name? Possessed Man: Battalion. He says this because an army of demons is inside of him. The demons start begging Jesus not to send them into the bottomless pit. They plead instead to enter into a herd of pigs feeding on a steep hillside near the shore. Jesus gives them permission to do so. Suddenly the man is liberated from the demons, but the pigs — they stampede, squealing down the hill and into the lake where they drown themselves. The
Questions You Need to Ask!
Note from Jesus Dear Friend, How’s your boat? No, I’m not talking about a literal boat you may own. I’m talking about the things in your life that furnish you security, a sense of safety, identity, order, or purpose. So let Me ask you again. How’s your boat? Are your investments up or down? Do you own your stuff or does your stuff own you? Has the job or person you trusted for security let you down? Are you working madly to keep your body and your appearance looking young and vibrant while fearing that aging is stealing away your identity and usefulness? Is your family all that you hoped it would be? Have your achievements brought you joy and a sense of fulfillment, or do you feel as if you have to accomplish more to be significant? Your boat is whatever you have used as your sense of safety, security, identity, order, or purpose. So how’s your boat? Here’s the truth: Sooner or later, something much bigger than you, something you can’t control, is going to rock your boat! So what are you going to do then? How are you going to face the raging storms of life if you are depending on a fragile and temporal boat? Today’s verses speak directly to one of life’s harshest truths: no mortal can protect or even navigate his or her boat in the face of life’s raging realities. Many who claim to follow Me have had Me along as a sleeping passenger, a mere mascot, someone to talk to through some of the minor squalls of life when they needed something fixed. They never really have given Me control of their boat. They’ve never handed Me control of the sails and rudder. Then when life’s storms hit, they want to know why I’ve let the troubles of life threaten them. So when the next storm hits and rocks your boat and scares you down to the depths of your soul, what are you going to do? I hope it will be this: I hope you will wake Me from being your sleeping mascot. I hope you will ask Me for help. And most of all, I hope when it is all done, you will ask the questions My disciples did when the storm rocked their boat: Who is this man? How can He command wind and water so they do what He says? Then, I hope you will make Me your boat and not just your mascot! Better yet, why not make Me your boat, your Master, your Lord, today… before the next storm hits and the waves pound and the wind blows? Verses to Live As you read today’s verses, ask yourself, “What is my boat?” Answer as honestly as you can. Then invite Me to be more than your passenger or your mascot; ask Me to be your Boat — to provide you security, direction, and your future. Picture this: One day Jesus and His disciples get into a boat. Jesus: Let’s cross the lake. So they push off from shore and begin sailing to the far side. As they progress across the lake, Jesus falls sound asleep. Soon a raging storm blows in. The waves wash over the sides of the boat, and the boat starts filling up with water. Every second the situation becomes more dangerous. The disciples shake Jesus and wake Him. Disciples (shouting): Master! Master! We’re all going to die! Jesus wakes up and tells the wind to stop whipping them around, and He tells the furious waves to calm down. They do just that. Then Jesus turns to the disciples. Jesus: What happened to your faith? The disciples had been terrified during the storm, but now they’re afraid in another way. They turn to each other and start whispering, chattering, and wondering. Disciples: Who is this man? How can He command wind and water so they do what He says? (Luke 8:22-25) Response in Prayer Lord Jesus, forgive me for making other things in my life my basis of security. I want You to be Lord of my life and the basis of my security. Please help me as I make You my Boat! 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.
My True Family
Note from Jesus Dear Child of God, There is so much talk in your world about community. I understand that you want to find a place where you can be close to other people and be yourself. You want people around you who understand you and support you. I know that many folks today don’t like the word church, so community is a nice, safe, nondescript word to use for a gathering of My followers. Yet something precious is lost when My followers are reduced just to being a community. Let Me explain. There are two powerful, dynamic, living images I have given you for My church: My body and My family. I don’t ever talk about a member of the church — in fact nowhere does the Bible use that term. You, however, are a member of My body — a vital body part that the rest of My body needs to function fully as My presence in and to the world! Just as there is no perfect human body, the church as My body will not be perfect. A community can have folks come and go, wander in or wander off. However, this is not true with My body. When a member of a body is hurt, there is pain and impairment to the whole body! When a member of a body is missing, there’s been an amputation. You’re a connected part of Me! You matter. You are much more important than a member of a community or organization! You are also a member of My family. Yes, I know some of you come from messed up families, and sometimes family analogies can be hard for you to hear because of your negative experiences with your family. My spiritual family on earth is far from perfect — a lot like your human family. But I promise you, My family has a future that is so wonderful it is even hard for you to imagine. All those hurtful family connections are caught up in the grace of My presence and perfected. A family — especially My family — is something far more precious than a community. Our Father — your Father — loves you so desperately that He sent Me to bring you into a relationship with Him. I AM your older Brother. I came to rescue and redeem you and restore you to Our family (Hebrews 2:14-18). I paid the ultimate price to buy you out of slavery to sin and death and bring you to the Father and to Our family. So you are far more precious than a member of a community — you are My blood-bought family. The people around you are flawed just as you are flawed. But remember, they are blood-bought family. So when you hear Me teach, I don’t invite you to become part of a community: I call you to be My disciple — a follower who obeys and becomes a vital part of My family as we do the will of the Father. Hear clearly what I say: Anyone who does the will of My Father in heaven is My mother and brother and sister. (Matthew 12:50) When you hear Me teach, pray, or talk with My followers, notice the language I use: it is the language of family. God is your Father. You are brothers and sisters. Yes, community is a nice word, but I call you to something deeper — something you crave and need. I call you family because you are! Verses to Live I AM the Lord, the Christ, the Messiah and Savior. I am also your older Brother Who loves you so much that I left the security of My heavenly home to come to you. I love you so much that I gave up My intimate participation with the Father and the Spirit in Our heavenly glory so that I could bring you home to real, forever, family. So come, follow Me, and let’s walk together in the way and will of the Father as family. While Jesus was speaking to the crowd, His mother and brothers came up and wanted to speak to Him. Someone in the Crowd: Your mother and brothers are waiting outside to speak to You. Jesus: Who is My mother? And who are My brothers? (pointing to His disciples) These are My mother and brothers. Anyone who does the will of My Father in heaven is My mother and brother and sister. (Matthew 12:46-50) Response in Prayer O Father in heaven, You are holy. Without Your grace, I have no chance to be holy. And because of Jesus’ love and sacrifice, I come to You as Your beloved child. I am thankful for Your grace, Your love, Your mercy, and my adoption into Your family. I ask for the Holy Spirit to be poured out into my life so that I can be conformed to Your will and love my brothers and sisters, Your children, just as much as my older Brother Jesus does. I ask this in His name. 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.
Do More than Roll Your Eyes!
Note from Jesus Dear Beloved, Some of you roll your eyes or quickly speed-read past any biblical discussion of demons because you think that this kind of thing doesn’t apply to your “modern and enlightened” world today. But please do more than roll your eyes at the talk about demons below. Remember what the apostle Paul said: Finally, brothers and sisters, draw your strength and might from God. Put on the full armor of God to protect yourselves from the devil and his evil schemes. We’re not waging war against enemies of flesh and blood alone. No, this fight is against tyrants, against authorities, against supernatural powers and demon princes that slither in the darkness of this world, and against wicked spiritual armies that lurk about in heavenly places. And this is why you need to be head-to-toe in the full armor of God: so you can resist during these evil days and be fully prepared to hold your ground. (Ephesians 6:10-13) I came to defeat the evil one and his “wicked spiritual armies” of dark demonic forces. I want to free you from their influence and lead you past their temptations. So rather than ignoring or fearing these powers, please understand what I said to my disciples when I was on earth. I have power over demons because I am superior to them in every way — holiness, power, and authority (Luke 11:17-22; Colossians 1:15-20). I am in no way subject to these evil powers. I do not get my power from them. I am not helped by them. I am even hated by them. They oppose Me and all who belong to Me, but they do not have the final word or authority over Me or those who follow Me! I AM the true “man of power” like I talk about in the story below. I am “stronger and better” than the prince of demons and all his powers arrayed against me. So you need to choose which side of this holy war you are going to take: My side or the side of evil. There is really no middle ground or no other choice. You need to be very clear about this. Following Me is not just about ridding yourself of what is bad in your life — it is not merely adhering to a good list of “DOs and DON’Ts”! A good, clean, and ordered life sounds very good to most religionists, even to a lot of do-gooders and humanists. Yet notice what can happen to this kind of person in the scripture below: the demonic influence can slip back in and greatly corrupt the life of such a person who is not filled with My Spirit. I AM challenging you to do more than just trying to be a good person. I want you to be My person. I call you to follow Me and let Me be your Lord. Yes, you will do good things. More than that, you will bring God’s kingdom to earth. You will bring God’s goodness, justice, and mercy to a world corrupted by human ego, self-will, arrogance, and other evil influences of the devil (Ephesians 2:1-7). Your world is in a spiritual war. You have to choose a side. Despite all the talk in your world about being nice, the real question is whether or not you are My disciple. I endured the cross for you. I left the tomb in triumph despite all the forces of hell wanting to keep me captive. Therefore, I remind you of two truths: I conquered death to give you life — unlike Satan who wants to deceive, manipulate, and destroy you. If you follow Me, you will share in My victory over sin, death, evil, and hell! So do more than roll your eyes at the talk about the devil and demons: choose to follow Me and find life and victory! Verses to Live Talking about demons is always challenging. Having authority over them makes people afraid. But make no mistake about the truth: I have defeated the power of demons. I have the authority to defeat evil, demonic forces, and Satan, and I did! I demonstrated this victory when I walked on earth as God in human flesh and then overcame the worst that Satan could do to Me. Picture this: Jesus is exorcising a demon that has long kept a man from speaking. When the demon is expelled, the man starts talking and the people are amazed. But then controversy erupts. Some People: Do you know why He can cast out demons? It’s because He’s in league with the demon prince, Beelzebul. Other people want to see more, so they challenge Jesus to give them another miraculous sign. Jesus knows what they’re thinking. Jesus: People, be logical. If a kingdom is divided against itself, it will collapse. If a ruling family is divided against itself, it will fall apart. So if Satan’s kingdom is divided against itself, won’t his whole enterprise collapse? Does it make any sense to say I’m casting out demons by Beelzebul? Besides, if you’re saying it takes satanic power to cast out Satan, by whose power do your own exorcists work? If you condemn Me for an exorcism, you’ll have to condemn them. But if I by the power of God cast out demonic spirits, then face this fact: the kingdom of God is here, just as I’ve been saying. When a man of power with his full array of weapons guards his own palace, everything inside is secure. But when a new man who is stronger and better armed attacks the palace, the old ruler will be overcome, his weapons and trusted defenses will be removed, and his treasures will be plundered. Can you see that I’m asking you to choose whose side you’re on — working with Me or fighting against Me. When a demonic spirit is expelled from someone, he wanders through waterless wastelands seeking rest. But there is no rest for
The One?
Note from Jesus Dear Disciple, Doubt! Even the best people have periods of doubt. My cousin John the Baptist was in prison awaiting certain death at the hands of Herod. John’s prophecies about Me were bold. His proclamation of repentance and practice of baptism were powerful. His willingness to give up his popularity and point people to Me was incredibly courageous and humble. However, even John had his lingering doubts. Why? Why would someone so bold, powerful, courageous, and humble have doubts? Think about it. Courage is boldness in the face of danger and doubt. Faith is trust that risks everything in the face of uncertainty and danger. You will have doubts — sometimes deep doubts just like John faced. John was wanting to know with certainty that he had not wasted his life as he approached his death. So he asked, “Are You the Promised One, or shall we keep looking for someone else?” As I said while on earth, “Listen, there is no human being greater than this man, John the Baptist.” Yet John had doubts as he faced his own martyrdom because My work didn’t seem to match his understanding of My role. You have been born of God into My kingdom. In this way, you are greater than John (Luke 7:28). Still you will have doubts, and they will find their gravity in the same two places John’s doubts found theirs: First, life is hard and can rattle you to your soul. The world may not appreciate the truth of the life you live to honor the Father. John’s passionate and faithful proclamation of truth landed him in Herod’s jail and ultimately led to his martyrdom. The world’s brutal treatment of God’s people can lead to times of doubt in their hearts. Second, you have certain expectations of Me that sometimes don’t seem to line up with your reality. Even in those times when I appear to be distant and unconcerned, please remember that I will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5-6; Romans 8:32-39). In your doubt, remember what I helped John the Baptist do: he got a fuller picture of Who I AM. In your life, I will help you in a similar way through a deeper look at Scripture, My promises, the Holy Spirit dwelling in you, and the people of faith who have come before you and those who support you now. My hope is for you to have a deep understanding of My grace and to have a faith that can hang onto hope through life’s storms when things don’t seem to line up with your expectations of the Father’s promises. Remember, doubt is part of living life in a tough world. The greatest heroes in Scripture had their moments of doubt. Yet hanging onto faith, looking at great examples of faith in Scripture, and using Scripture to get a fuller view of Me will help you be faithful… even to the point of death. Courageous faith is choosing to believe in the face of uncertainty and difficulties. Verses to Live The following passage from Luke’s Gospel recounts the events when John’s disciples came with his question about Me. Notice that My answer wasn’t just a bunch of words; my answer to John’s disciples included actions. These actions were specific types of miracles: miracles that Isaiah had prophesied the Messiah would perform — prophecies John knew. So My explanation about fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecies about the Messiah made clear to John that I AM indeed the Messiah! News of Jesus spread across the whole province of Judea and beyond to the surrounding regions. When these reports reached John’s disciples, they brought news to John himself, who was known for his preaching and ritual cleansing. John sent two of his disciples to ask the Lord, “Are You the Promised One, or shall we keep looking for someone else?” They came to Jesus and asked their question exactly as directed by John the Baptist. Before He answered John’s messengers, Jesus cured many from various diseases, health conditions, and evil spirits. He even caused many blind people to regain their sight. Jesus (to John’s disciples): Go and tell John what you’ve witnessed with your own eyes and ears: the blind are seeing again, the lame are walking again, the lepers are clean again, the deaf hear again, the dead live again, and good news is preached to the poor. Whoever is not offended by Me is blessed indeed. When John’s messengers left, Jesus talked to the crowds about John. Jesus: When you went out into the wilderness to see John, what were you expecting? A reed shaking in the wind? What were you looking for? A man in expensive clothing? Look, if you were looking for fancy clothes and luxurious living, you went to the wrong place — you should have gone to the kings’ courts, not to the wilderness! What were you seeking? A prophet? Ah yes, that’s what John is, and even more than a prophet. The prophet Malachi was talking about John when he wrote, I will send My messenger before You, to clear Your path in front of You. Listen, there is no human being greater than this man, John the Baptist. Yet even the least significant person in the coming kingdom of God is greater than John. The common people and tax collectors heard God’s own wisdom in Jesus’ assessment of John because they had been ritually cleansed through baptism by John. But the Pharisees and religious scholars hardened their hearts and turned their backs on God’s purposes for them because they had refused John’s baptism. Jesus: The people of this generation — what are they like? To what can they be compared? I’ll tell you: they’re like spoiled kids sitting in the marketplace playing games, calling out: We played the pipes for you, but you didn’t dance to our tune! We cried like mourners, but you didn’t cry with us! You can’t win with this generation. John