Category: Devotional Thought

Let’s face it.  Yes, you’ve tried. But you’ve failed. You might as well be realistic. Someone else can do the clean and jerk and those dead lifts. You’re not cut out to be a weightlifter.

There are other weights that you can’t lift either. That bothers you even more.

You feel bad about it, but you can’t make your grandmother’s pain go away. Nor can you take away the disappointment you see when you tell your family you have to work late. And you can’t dissolve the guilt you feel because of the stupid wrongs you’ve committed.

The good news is you know someone who can do that! No one makes him lift the burden. He does it willingly. No one else can do it. He is the only one. His name is Jesus.

Jesus lifts the weight none of us can. On the first Easter morning he showed his power over death. He rose from the dead. Now that’s real power-lifting!

The grave was not stronger than Jesus. Even the huge stone that sealed its entrance was no match for his angels.

Jesus does still more. He lifts the burden of sin from us because of his death on the cross. He also removes the guilt of sin that weighs so heavily on our consciences.

Because of Jesus’ victory, we may be confident the penalty for sins is lifted. All those who trust in him will live forever with him.

He can be your personal weightlifter too.

Pastor

Dan did what any logical six-year-old would do: He decided to run away from home.

Dan’s dad had brought his laptop home from work. He put it on the kitchen table and specifically told him and his brother to stay away from it. While the two boys were playing that afternoon, they started running around the table. Dan’s hand caught the cord. SMASH! The laptop was broken.

Dan will never forget the mixture of fear and shame he felt, thinking about having to face his father. He decided to run rather than face him. He packed his bags and went out the front door. He thought his relationship with his dad had been broken with the laptop.

Chances are, we can relate to this story. Whether on purpose or by accident, we all have done things that fill us with a gloomy mixture of fear and shame. We may wonder how anyone could ever fix what we have done wrong.

Sin has a bitter way of making us feel terrible.

When Dan’s dad got home and saw what he had done, he was let down. But when he saw Dan standing with his backpack in the front yard, he comforted him. He told him the laptop could be fixed, and that he loved Dan. He brought Dan back inside and helped him unpack his backpack.

Dan knew his dad loved him. That day he began to realize how much.

The Lord wants us to know the same applies to us, even when we do wrong. The sinful things we do that seem “unfixable” were dealt with on the cross by Jesus Christ. He really “fixes” sin. He paid for it with his life. He forgives it.

Be assured that your Father in heaven loves you. The Bible tells us, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

Bring your “backpacks of guilt” to the cross of Christ. Unpack them with the certain love of your Father in heaven. Never doubt that your Father loves you.

Pastor

Would you be comfortable in a room with someone who knows all your secrets? Probably not. We don’t want people to know us completely. They will know our weaknesses and perhaps take advantage of us.

Everyone seems to collect our personal information. Huge databases track our every purchase and preference. This is a marketer’s dream and a consumer’s nightmare.

The Bible tells us that our creator God knows us intimately. Great King David of long ago recognized that God knew everything about him.

King David wrote, “O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar . . . . You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely” (Psalm 139:1-4).

God knows us better than we know ourselves. “Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered” (Matthew 10:30).

God is more than a supercomputer with a high-tech database. He is a personal God who wants to have a personal relationship with each of us.

Is that a threat or a comfort to you? Remember that God is perfect. You can’t hide from him.

Despite all that God knows about us, he still loves us. He doesn’t use what he knows to exploit us. He uses his knowledge of our weakness and failings to draw us closer to himself.

You are so available to God that he sent his only Son, Jesus, to die for you.

You don’t need to fear difficult trials and personal needs. God invites you into his gracious presence.

Because Jesus became your brother, you can approach God as your heavenly Father.  He invites you to love him as he loves you.

Get to know his love each Sunday.  That is what makes his knowledge of your secrets comforting and encouraging.

Pastor

When Pete told his good friend Brian that God makes everything work together for his good, Brian could hardly believe his ears.

Pete was a walking calamity. He could hardly get through a day at work without breaking something or tripping over his own feet.

“You’ve got to be kidding!” Brian replied. “How can God neutralize all the foul-ups you’ve caused, let alone turn them into good?”

Pete knew he had trouble walking and chewing gum, but he really liked Brian, so he tried to explain.

“I don’t understand it either, Brian,” Pete began. “All I know is what God tells me, and what he says is: ‘We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him’ (Romans 8:28). It’s not that I have done everything to deserve it. It’s that God loves me.”

Brian laughed. “That’s for sure, Pete. What you deserve from God isn’t called love.”

The two guys went on talking and ribbing each other, but that night Brian couldn’t get Pete’s words out of his brain: “God works for those who love him.”

Could it be that God really loved Pete? Why? And, if God loved Pete, could he love Brian?

The pastor wasn’t much help for Pete when he dragged Brian into the pastor’s office on Saturday afternoon. “How do you explain a love that causes God to sacrifice his only Son for a sinner like Pete — or a skeptic like you, Brian?” the pastor asked.

“God isn’t like people,” the pastor went on. “He’s a whole lot smarter, and stronger. And he is a lot more loving.”

As they walked back to their car, Brian said, “You are a special guy, Pete. I’ve never met anyone more accident-prone than you. If God can make all your goofs turn out good, then he must be really strong and wise.”

“Better than that, Brian,” Peter replied. “God makes everything turn out good for me because Jesus loves me. Even if I don’t understand it, God will make it all work out in the end. And he loves you too.”

Pastor

Is Christmas frustrating you? You don’t have all the ingredients you need for your cookies. Your gift list still has items that need to be purchased. And that one string of lights that doesn’t work bugs you every time you look at your tree.

Just a couple days left, and you know the parking lots will be congested, the stores will be crowded, and long lines will be the norm at the checkout counters.

Where is the joy? Where is the spirit of helpfulness and giving? Where is the peace?

You might be inclined to believe that the Grinch (the devil) has stolen your Christmas.  You might even feel guilty because you let him.

That’s a misconception. The joyful words of God’s angels are as true now as when they were first spoken: “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).

“A Savior has been born to you.” Think about what that means.

“A Savior has been born to you.” He is the Savior from the chaos, from the Grinch, and from your guilt.

“A Savior has been born to you.”  He is the Savior who gives forgiveness from all sin. The Savior who gives peace with God. The Savior who gives eternal life in heaven.

“A Savior has been born to you.” He is the Savior who has lived for you, suffered and died for you.

We’ve called the devil the Grinch. Actually, he’s even much worse. He is real and so is the unending pain of hell. But the Savior who is the “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6b) makes the difference.

This Savior is Jesus! He is the babe lying in a manger. He came to take your place so you may enjoy his place — heaven.

You have wonderful opportunities this week to learn more about him. Take advantage of them.

Pastor