Just a Minute!

Do you want to know how you can make a difference in this world?

The short book of Jude offers a simple answer: “Be merciful to those who doubt”.

You don’t have to go very far to find someone living in doubt

• about the love of God
• the forgiveness of sins
• the assurance of salvation
• who they are or where they are going.

As humans, we all carry doubts.

When you meet someone filled with doubts, show them mercy.

Why?

Because God showed you mercy.

You may be doubting the love of God right now or fearful of God’s punishment.

If so, recognize this. God is rich in mercy.

Don’t be ashamed or afraid to bring those worries and fears to God. When you do, you will discover that God is merciful to those who doubt.

Categories: Grace Love

It wasn’t the religiously correct, but Jesus did it anyway.

He ate dinner with Matthew, the tax collector, at Matthew’s house. And there were other tax collectors and sinners there as well.

The religious leaders were up in arms and they asked Jesus’s disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

Jesus caught wind of their question and gave an answer that left them scratching their heads.

“…go and learn what this means. I desire mercy, not sacrifice, for I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners”

The self-righteous are too good for mercy, but not sinners. And that’s who Jesus came to save.

What about you. Would Jesus do the religiously incorrect thing and have dinner at your house?

Categories: Grace Love

God has an exclusive invitation just for you.

It reads…approach the throne of grace with confidence so that you may receive mercy and find grace to help you in your time of need.

Did you hear that?

You can walk into the presence of God with confidence, even when your life is at its messiest.

So go in. There is nothing to fear. God isn’t going judge you, condemn you or punish you.

Jesus turned all of that away from you and took it upon himself at the cross.

The throne of grace…that’s where you belong

The invitation is there and the blood of Jesus gives you the confidence to accept.

Be bold and courageous. Go in and you will receive mercy and find grace to help you in your time of need.

Categories: Grace Love

Jesus was on the road to Jerusalem and a big crowd was following along.

There were two blind men sitting by the roadside and they heard that Jesus was passing by. 

This was their chance. Together, they cried out, "Lord, have mercy on us."

The crowd tried to silence these two, but they cried out even more, "Lord, have mercy on us!"

And Jesus stopped.

It was that word mercy that reached His heart and Jesus moved by these two blind men reached out and touched their eyes and immediately they could see.

And as Matthew wrote, they followed the Savior.

God is rich in mercy and he is there for you in your time of need.

Cry out to him. You won’t be disappointed.

Categories: Grace Love

Here is a trustworthy saying, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

For Paul, who described himself as the chief of sinners, this was good news.

His sins were big. He persecuted the church and blasphemed God’s name.

You can't do worse than that.

But when he met Jesus he discovered something unexpected. God is rich in mercy.

Listen to the words he wrote to Timothy, “I was shown mercy.”

You may feel right now like you are the chief of sinners and that your sins have put you beyond the reach of God’s mercy.

If so, let Paul’s story ease your mind. He shared it for your benefit

So that you can say just as he did

“I was shown mercy.”

Categories: Grace Love

My first years in ministry, I worked one on one with many believers. The pain and heartache in their lives was overwhelming. And I decided I didn’t want that kind of hurt in my life.

So I figured out that if I never let any one get too close to me, I would be okay. But I was’t.

That defense mechanisms couldn’t protect me from the pain of loneliness and isolation.

But that’s not the case with the love of God. His love guards our hearts and minds. Otherwise, fear, doubt, guilt and shame would take their toll.

Life is filled with trials and tribulations and Jesus said they would come.

But in him we have someone who is bigger than our problems, who guards and protects us.

This is his nature. Jesus is love, and love always protects.

Categories: Love Jesus Christ

In 2011, the Dallas Mavericks won the world championship in basketball.

No one thought they would win. But they won, and they won big. And the city of Dallas threw a parade to celebrate.

Thousands of fans lined the streets to share in the victory the players won. And for the city of Dallas, it was a magical time of rejoicing

But it doesn’t compare at all to the rejoicing that took place when truth won out in your life.

Think about the day you responded to the Gospel.

You were

• set free from sin and death,
• made alive together with Christ
• you were cleansed and made right with God.
• you were lost, and then you were found.

And according to Jesus, this great work of truth in your life was cause for celebration in heaven.

Categories: Heaven Salvation

You probably know people who love to brag and boast.

They talk about their accomplishments, the stuff they have, and who they know as if they are better than everyone else.

They think of themselves “more highly than they ought” as Paul would say. And they make you feel “little” in their presence.

But not God. He does not brag or boast.

He could. I mean he spoke and the world came into existence. He conquered sin and death. And who are we by comparison.

Yet, God is ever mindful of us.

Think about that for just a minute.

He does not humiliate you or put you down.

No, in His love and grace, he draws you near and calls you His own.

That’s God. That’s love, a love that never brags or boasts.

Categories: Love

What is God like?

If you’re like me you‘ve thought of him as mean and judgmental or way too demanding.

Maybe you pictured him as that ogre who is always angry and disgusted with you.

That’s what sin wants you to think about God. But none of it is true.

God is love and each aspect of the Gospel story shouts this glorious truth. And It is God’s love that gives rise to our faith – that desire to receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior.

If you’ve never received Jesus Christ, I encourage you to open your heart to his love.

And here’s the good news, to all who receive him, he gives the right to become children of God.

And receiving Christ is the first step in knowing that God is love.

Categories: Salvation Love Forgiveness/Repentance

Do you know that God wants you to experience his love more than anything else in life.

So much so, he moved Paul to pen this incredible prayer that’s recorded for us in Ephesians 3

“I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ; and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

Let me encourage you to adopt this passage as your personal prayer.

I guarantee that if you do, God will answer in ways that far exceed anything you could ask or imagine.

Categories: Love Grace God's Will