THE WOMAN AT THE WELL DRINKS THE LIVING WATER
In our society today, racial-prejudice is considered totally unacceptable. Back in Jesus' time, however, it was a different story. You see, not far from where Jesus lived and ministered, there was a region called Samaria. The people who lived in Samaria were called Samaritans, and because the Samaritans were a mixed-race, the Jews tended to despise them. Another aspect of Jesus' time and culture was that women were often considered beneath men and treated as such. Now one day Jesus and the disciples were traveling through Samaria, and Jesus, being tired (don't forget He was fully human), wanted to stop to rest and get a drink. As Jesus is resting by this well, a Samaritan woman comes up to get some water, and Jesus asks her for drink. No big deal, right? Wrong. Continue reading…
THE TAX-COLLECTOR WHO CLIMBED A TREE AND CHANGED FOREVER
At some point in your life, all of you will get to experience the joy of paying taxes. As you probably know, once a year, we American workers dutifully give a percentage of our income to the U.S. government. Thankfully, our government usually only takes what it needs. Now back in the days of Jesus, there was a guy named Zacchaeus, and Zacchaeus was a tax-collector. Let's just say that Zacchaeus wasn't very well liked, because he had this nasty little habit of taking more money from people than the government really needed. In other words, he was a thief. Continue reading…
THE RADICAL CONVERSION OF SAUL
Imagine if Hitler, the Nazi leader who was responsible for the death of 6 million Jews, had a super-natural encounter with Jesus that led to his repentance and salvation. It is extremely difficult to think that someone who was so completely evil could be redeemed by the love, grace, and mercy of Christ, isn't it? Now go back about 1900 years to the 1st century A.D., when a man named Saul was ravaging the early church through an intense persecution of the followers of Jesus. Christians were literally running for their lives from this Saul guy until that fateful day he collided with a resurrected and glorified Jesus on the road to Damascus. A blinding light and the awe-and-fear inspiring voice of Christ was the catalyst for one of the most dramatic and radical conversions in the entire Bible. An evil persecutor of the church became the Apostle Paul, the first great missionary of the Gospel, the author of several books of the Bible, and a passionate lover of Jesus. Continue reading…
THE LIFE-CHANGING POWER OF A COLLISION
Have you ever collided with someone? I’m talking hard-core, head-on, did-not-see-that-coming collision. Maybe you weren’t watching where you were going in the hallway at school and ran into another person. Books and backpacks go flying and body parts smart from the pain of contact. After apologies are exchanged, you both go your separate ways, still wincing in pain and flushed with embarrassment. Collisions like this tend to be unforgettable. Why? Because colliding full-speed with another person hurts, it’s humiliating, and you most definitely learn to always watch where you’re going! Now after considering the consequences of a person-on-person collision, would you say I was crazy if I told you that we should intentionally pursue a hard-core, full-steam-ahead collision with someone? Continue reading…
Graduates: If you were to give the chapter of your life that was High School a one-word title, you might choose words like Fun, Busy, Challenging, Formative, or maybe even Awkward. Now, as you’re about to start a new chapter of life called College, I would like to save you the trouble of having to name this new chapter yourself by suggesting a name for it: OFTEN. OFTEN, you say? What kind of title is that for such an important chapter of life? Your concern is certainly fair, so let me explain. When you get to college, you should… Continue reading…
L-I-S-T-E-N and O-B-E-Y
When I was in grade school, there was this little chant that our class would say to a student who was clearly not listening. It went like this (imagine the teacher and class saying in unison): "L-I-S, T-E-N, listen _____." To be on the receiving end of that chant was one of the worst things we could all possibly imagine, so we definitely made an effort to listen to the teacher better. Why was it important to listen in class? Because the teacher was teaching us important knowledge and skills for a successful life. If we didn't listen, it only hurt us. You know, it's the same when we read God's Word, isn't it? We have to listen to what God is saying to us in order to grow closer to Him and stronger in our faith. Continue reading…
Break Out Your Inner CSI
If you've ever watched any of the CSI television shows, you know it's about crime scene investigators. These highly trained and observant individuals have the important job of thoroughly combing a crime scene for clues that will help recreate and solve the crime. Did you know that studying God's Word is very much like being a CSI? When reading the Bible, we have to slow down and observe the passage carefully, making sure we don't miss any important clues. Like a good CSI asks themselves questions about the crime scene, we must ask ourselves questions about the Bible-passage we're reading so we can better understand it. Continue reading…
Take It In Bite Size Chunks
Okay. So you've committed to getting into God's Word on a regular basis. Great! That's awesome. Get ready to be totally stoked by God as He begins to show you some pretty sweet stuff in His Word. Here's some advice to begin with: Start off with bite size chunks. No, I'm not talking about your grandmother's Christmas fruitcake. I'm talking about your Bible. Continue reading…
It Starts With Your Heart
Let's be completely honest here. It's hard to read the Bible sometimes. It can be boring and hard to understand. But we also know that reading the Bible regularly is the best way for us to connect with God and get to know Him better, so even though we struggle doing it, we keep trying. That's good and all, but sheer effort and perseverance on our part isn't going to be what gets us to begin reading God's Word on a regular basis. What it really takes is God changing our hearts and filling us with a hunger to read His Word. So how can that change take place in our hearts? Continue reading…
Read: 2 Timothy 3:10-4:8
GROWING DEEP ROOTS
Deep roots are extremely important for a tree. Why? Because roots that have grown deep into the ground give a tree strength and stability. Like an anchor that holds a ship fast during a storm, deep roots anchor a tree to the ground and keep it from blowing over in a storm. In life, we will face storms, difficult times that will challenge our faith. We will also face worldly ideas and philosophies that will challenge our Christian beliefs and convictions. That is why it is so important for our faith to be rooted deeply in God's Word and a tight relationship with Jesus. So how do we grow deep roots? I believe there are five key steps to growing deep roots: Continue reading…
Read: Matthew 13:23, Psalm 1
THE FERTILE SOIL
I grew up in Nebraska, and most of you know that Nebraska is farm country. There are cornfields everywhere. Now this may sound totally crazy to you, but those of us who grow up in farm country think there is something strangely cool about a freshly-tilled field. Dark, fertile soil, mounded in straight rows, the air filled with the smell of moist earth. Why is it cool to us? It's because we know that in a matter of weeks, that freshly-tilled field will be full of row upon row of green shoots - the beginning of a new crop. In the soft and fertile soil of that field, the roots of the new plants will grow deep and strong, drawing water and nutrients from the earth and producing a bountiful crop. Continue reading…
Read: Matthew 13:22, Mark 10:17-22, Colossians 3:1-10
THE THORNS
So chances are we've all had something that was super hard to part with when we were kids. Maybe it was an old blankie, pacifier, or teddy bear. Maybe it was a certain toy or doll. Whatever it was, the day you finally gave it up was tragic and awful, and many tears were probably shed, but you mustered your courage and let it go. Even as an adult, the rich guy you read about in this month's devotional passage still couldn't let go of something - his stuff. Jesus tells him what to do to inherit eternal life, and what happens? He goes away totally bummed out because he's unwilling to give up his riches. This dude's story is a good example of the seed that falls on thorny ground. He hears the words of Christ (the seed), but his wealth and possessions (the thorns) choked the seed before it could take root and grow. He missed out on an amazing life with Christ because he let the things of the world control him. Continue reading…
Read: Matthew 13:20-21 & James 1:1-12
THE ROCKY SOIL
My yard is full of rocks. Seriously. Large rocks, medium rocks, small rocks, tiny rocks - they all have a comfortable home in what is supposed to be my lawn. The thing that really stinks about this fact is that we're trying really hard to grow grass right now. Guess what? Grass doesn't grow very well in a yard full of rocks (I know you're completely shocked by this). So my yard is really more of a giant rock garden full of weeds. It's nice. Okay, not really. So why doesn't the grass grow well? It's because the rocks prevent the grass from putting down deep roots, and without deep roots, the grass withers and dies quickly in the hot, scorching sun. You know, the reality of the Christian life is that it can be hard. There will be times in your walk with Jesus that will be really challenging or painful. The key here though is how will you respond to those hard times? Continue reading…
Read: Matthew 13:19 & Hebrews 3:12-13
THE PATH
Have you ever been hiking or mountain biking on a trail in the woods? All around you are trees, wildflowers, poison ivy, weeds, and pretty much any other kind of plant-life you can think of. But is anything growing on the trail? No way. The ground has been packed down so hard by all the hikers and bikers, there's no chance of anything growing. Try as it might, the seed that falls on the trail just can't take root and grow. Instead it just lays there until it's been ground into dust or eaten up by birds. You know, sometimes our hearts can be like the hard-packed trail, can't they? We're so set in our ways and doing our own thing, we harden our hearts to the Word of God.
It's a commandment we all know pretty well: Love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40). The love your neighbor thing we get for the most part: We're supposed to love and serve others and put them above ourselves. But what does it mean to love your neighbor as yourself? This statement implies that in order for us to love others, we have to love ourselves too. What does it mean to love ourselves? Continue reading…
Ahhhhhh. The smell of spring is in the air, the flowers are blooming, the birds are chirping, and school's about to end! This is the time of year that all students like yourself love, because the sweet freedom of summer is knocking at your door, asking you to come out and play. But alas! There is still a month of school left, and you cannot yet accept that invitation to play. There are still papers to write, projects to be completed, and final exams to take, so with great reluctance, you tell your faithful friend summer that you'll have to take a raincheck on that play-date until school is out… Continue reading…
Let's be honest. It feels good to talk about ourselves. Because of our sinful nature, we tend to love letting others know how great and awesome we are. In other words, we like to brag about ourselves. As followers of Jesus however, we also know that boasting about ourselves is prideful and sinful. In many places throughout scripture, we are commanded to be humble, so we pray for humility and watch what we say about ourselves. So even as we strive to not boast about ourselves, let us not forget that there is one thing that we can boast about - the cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Continue reading…
Since March is the month we celebrate St. Patrick's Day, I thought it would be cool to encourage you with one of St. Patrick's most well-known prayers; but first, a history lesson: St. Patrick was a missionary who brought Christianity from Britain to Ireland in approximately 433 A.D. Because paganism was widely practiced throughout Ireland when he arrived there, St. Patrick knew that his mission would be difficult. In order to draw strength for the coming spiritual battle, legend tells us that St. Patrick wrote his most well-known prayer, which is called St. Patrick's Breast-Plate. Continue reading…
One of my favorite verses in the Scriptures is Micah 6:8. Here the prophet Micah writes this: "He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" Here God lays it out for us plain and simple: This is what I want from you. Seek justice, pursue kindness, and walk with Me in humility. Oh, and by the way, this is really good stuff… Continue reading…
One of the great things about the new year is that it's kind of like a clean slate. A "fresh start" if you will. So what do we do? We make all these "resolutions" that will make our lives better in some way. For instance, one of my resolutions is to lose weight and get back into shape. Now I know I can do it, but it's going to take effort on my part. I have to stop being lazy and exercise, and I have to be disciplined with what I eat. Continue reading…
