Jesus Thoughts …

  • “All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us.” (Hebrews 11:39-40, NLT)

    It’s not easy to live by faith. We live in a broken world. The weather doesn’t work right. Our bodies don’t work right. Our relationships don’t work right.

    When God sent Adam out of Eden, he told Adam that life would be hard. And it is. There’s a cosmic battle for your life going on inside of you and outside of you. You battle with your own sinful nature. You also battle against Satan himself, who wants nothing more than to “steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10, NLT). And sometimes it just gets to us. We just want to give up.

    But in Hebrews 11, God urges us to hang on because he hasn’t forgotten us and will fulfill his promises one day. He promises to give us a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11). He promises to take away our tears (Revelation 7). And he gives us multiple other promises throughout his Word.

    Hebrews 11 mentions a variety of biblical heroes who demonstrated faith in God’s promises — Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Rahab, Moses, David, Gideon, Samson, and others. Though they endured many difficulties, they kept going in their spiritual journeys.

    Hebrews 11:39-40 says, “All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us” (NLT).

    You can trust in God’s promises. Don’t give up!

    Prayer

    Lord, I trust in Your promises to me, and I hope for the day I go to my eternal home. Until then, let my life be Your message of grace and truth, and let my actions glorify Your Name. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

    Stay encouraged!

    Pastor Mike


From the Past Week …

  • Devotion for March 17, 2024

    “I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News.” (Philippians 1:12, NLT) Your witness to the world will come out of your weaknesses, not your strengths. A lot of people have it backwards: They think the world is impressed…

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  • Devotion for March 16, 2024

    “[God] comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ.” (2 Corinthians 1:4-5, NLT) When you’re…

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  • Devotion for March 15, 2024

    “We were really crushed and overwhelmed … and saw how powerless we were to help ourselves; but that was good, for then we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us, for He can even raise the dead. And He did help us.” (2 Corinthians 1:8-10, TLB) When anything painful happens…

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  • Devotion for March 14, 2024

    “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:23.) Hope is not wishful thinking, as we tend to imply when we say things like “I hope it doesn’t rain today,” or “I hope you get a perfect score!” Hope in Christ is founded firmly on the promises…

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  • Devotion for March 13, 2024

    “We have this treasure from God, but we are like clay jars that hold the treasure. This shows that the great power is from God, not from us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7, NCV) You’re always going to get discouraged when you try to be a superhero and do more than is humanly possible. You need a…

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  • Devotion for March 12, 2024

    “The Lord takes pleasure in those who … hope in his steadfast love.” (Psalm 147:11) Sometimes it’s so challenging to have hope. As we view the world around us, we can easily become despondent, calling, “Where are you, Lord?” But despite experiencing a heart that aches for a failing world, this day, and every day,…

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