Category: Devotional Thought

What shall we do for excitement this weekend?

The search for a thrill can become an addiction. Once you’ve been there, done that, it’s no big deal anymore. There has to be a faster rollercoaster, a computer game with better graphics, a different golf course, a better car, a new hairstyle and color. It’s an obsession.

The never-ending search for a thrill, like any addiction, can destroy a life. What do you do when the excitement of using marijuana wears off? Go on to harder stuff — and ultimately death. What do you do when your marriage is boring? Have an affair — and remove all trust.

We have been programmed to believe that anything not new or unique must be boring and irrelevant. First it’s bungy-jumping, then hang-gliding, then parachuting, then . . .

It’s not what we do, but what we are that makes life routine. We seek out the newest thrill, but we ourselves are the same old people, just as selfish, just as greedy, just as lazy, just as frustrated, just as confused, just as hard to live with, just as guilty, just as afraid, just as insecure.

It would be exciting to be really changed, really different, really new — from the inside out. New cosmetics won’t do it. A new soft drink or restaurant or climate won’t do it.

We’re routine because of who we are. What can fill this emptiness inside that we haven’t been able to fill, no matter how many things we’ve tried? Who can satisfy our souls, cleanse our hearts, end our anxiety?

Jesus Christ can.

He is not new, but he makes all things new. He has not changed in two millennia, but he changes lives every day.

Life’s greatest thrill is to know Jesus Christ as the Savior.

Pastor R.

A man was eating at a Chinese restaurant. His fortune cookie read, “True love is a lot like ghosts. Everybody talks about it, but few people have really seen it.”

Most people believe God is to be a loving God. He is! The Bible declares, “God is love” (1 John 4:16).

But we must not equate love with tolerance. It is not loving for parents to let their small children play with electricity. It is not loving for God to let us believe falsehoods. In both cases something must be done.

Loving parents correct and discipline their children as necessary. A loving God teaches us in his Word the truths he wants us to know. If we reject those truths, we bring the consequences on ourselves.

In his Word, for instance, God tells us that he loves us so much “that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

There is only one way that leads to eternal life in heaven. That is through faith in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior from sin. Anything less, or anything more, distorts God’s truths.

It makes a tremendous difference what we believe. If we believe we are heading east when we are driving west, we will not get to our destination.

The truth that nourishes our souls is that Jesus is the only way to heaven. Other paths may be interesting. We may even be sentimentally attached to them. Unfortunately, they are all dead ends.

Rejoice in God’s gift of eternal life through his Son. Then you won’t have to worry about ghosts.

Pastor R.

Perfection is almost always absent in our imperfect world. Take your pen or pencil and draw a circle. Probably not too good. Now try to trace a perfect circle around a penny. Still not perfect.

This simple circle exercise shows how hard it is to achieve perfection. Yet we strive for it — the perfect job, the perfect family, the perfect life.

By whose standards are we measuring our perfections? Most likely we are using the standards of the world around us. Yet they change from generation to generation.

Carrying our human standards over into the spiritual realm produces confusion. Many people try to earn God’s forgiveness by living good lives and doing good things. They compare themselves with others and think they are not so bad.

How does God feel? Will he be satisfied? What does he say? “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy” (Leviticus 19:2).

We’ll never meet that standard. Our imperfections cannot satisfy the perfect requirements of a holy God.

How then can we be saved? Certainly not by our own actions or moral character. Fortunately, God has a better way.

“When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy” (Titus 3:4,5).

God credits the perfection of his Son Jesus Christ to us because of his mercy. Believing this truth gives us its benefits.

So free yourself from the nagging doubts of wondering if you have done enough to go to heaven. From God’s Word learn to enjoy life in the perfect circle of God’s sacrifice.

Pastor R.

“Why don’t you join us? I think you’ll enjoy it!” Those were the words Karl heard from the high school football coach when he noticed Karl hadn’t tried out for the team. Karl had a lineman’s size and had played organized football since 5th grade.

Karl’s family had recently moved from another state, so he didn’t know anyone. He knew he should be on the football team, but he didn’t feel like he belonged. He was afraid.

Karl’s fears were real, but now as an adult he realizes they were unfounded.

Sometimes when it comes to attending church, people have similar fears. “I don’t know anyone.” “I don’t think I will fit in.” Yes, sometimes even, “I’m not good enough.” Deep down inside we may know that it will be good for us and our family to go to church, but . . .

The truth of the matter is: The church is for everyone! It’s not just for perfect people. If it were, even the pastor would be excluded!

Remember how Jesus reached out to the thief on the cross? When Jesus saw the faith of this criminal, he comforted him with the greatest news ears can hear, “Today, you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

Paradise, God’s gift of heaven, is also reserved for you. It has been reserved by the shed blood of our Savior from sin, Jesus Christ. No matter who you are, this gift is yours through faith in Christ!

The church is a hospital for sin-sick souls. It is a health club for strengthening our faith. It is also a place for singles to meet, for children to learn, and where families can grow together. The church is for you.

Pastor R.

Bob stood in the cold rain watching the truck tow away his car. He thought back to the start of the day. If he’d known this would be “one of those days,” he would have stayed in bed.

Since his wife was in the hospital, Bob had gotten the children fed and ready for school by himself. The breakfast table had been a clutter of incomplete homework and a battlefield of tantrums. When the school bus started honking out front, the kids left in a hurry, and little Monica forgot her lunch.

By the time Bob delivered the lunch to her school, he was late for work and missed appointments with two important clients. The boss was upset with him all day.

Now in the growing darkness, with the rain coming in sheets, Bob couldn’t get his car started. What more could possibly go wrong?

As the tow truck drove away to the repair shop, Bob thought to himself, “I wish I could take my life somewhere and have it fixed.”

Has your life ever taken that turn from bad to worse? Does it seem that things go wrong more often than they go right? Have you longed for answers in time of crisis?

In the Bible we read, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). He wants us to come to him in times of distress. He has promised to hear us and help us.

Do you have a sickness to overcome, homework to supervise, appointments to keep, stacks of bills to pay, a car that needs repair? Look to your Lord. “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). He cares for us like a compassionate and loving father.

Our Lord welcomes us just the way we are.  He knows that without Jesus, the problems of this world seem overwhelming. But for many, church is like a repair shop for people’s lives.

God’s message for you is one of love and forgiveness.  Especially when it seems like everything is going wrong, he wants you to know about the repair work he can do in your life.

Pastor R.