One Verse Devotional

Are you letting some things replace the best God has for your life?

This week, we have been looking at the book of Jeremiah. Today, Jeremiah is gonna drop a little truth bomb on us. We probably don't have a lot of "worthless wooden idols" in our house. Or do we? I know I have some electronic idols. I have some food idols. An idol is anything that can take us away from God or substitute His work in our lives. When I'm stressed, I turn to food. Idol. Or I binge watch on Netflix. Idol. Is food or Netflix bad? No. But I can turn them into an idol when I start to look to the for refreshment instead of my relationship with God. Let's evaluate our lives and see if there are any idols we need to give up.

God is giving you a future filled with Hope. Your past may be filled with mistakes and regrets. Your current reality may be uncertain and you aren't where you hoped you would be. But God has not forgotten you. He has a plan for your life. He wants to protect you from harm. He wants to give you a future. He is your Hope.

Jeremiah didn't have the easiest life. He even told God that He deceived him. Even though Jeremiah was frustrated, he knew that God's message was a fire in his bones he could not contain. I love this verse. It is a rally cry for anyone who desires to be a Light Bearer and a true follower of Jesus. The message of Jesus is like a fire we cannot control. For anyone who is serious about following Jesus, His message of Love will pour out of us.

God knows you. He loves you. He has a plan for you. We are in the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah was an Old Testament prophet who, frankly, had a pretty tough life. Yet, with all the pain he went through, we still find some of the most uplifting and encouraging verses in the Bible in His writings. Today, God wants you to know that He loves you, He knows you deeply, and He created a plan for your life before you were even born. That is how special you are to God!

Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice so we could receive the ultimate gift.

Matthew 27:50 is the verse that changed history. In this moment, Jesus took on the weight of the world. He bore the wrongdoings of every man and woman that has ever lived or ever will live. Jesus paid the sin-debt of death for all of humanity. In the beginning, God and humankind enjoyed a perfect relationship, spending everyday together. But sin changed that. God is perfect and holy, and He can not associate with sin, evil, or injustice. It is against His very nature. By our own sin, we had separated ourselves from God. And only one penalty could heal our sin-debt: death. Blood would need to be shed. It was the only way. Jesus lived a perfect life in an imperfect world. He was innocent, the one human that did not need to appease the blood-debt. But He stood in our place. He took on our debt and paid the price with His life. Now, through His death, our debt has been paid. And through His resurrection, death and hell and sin have been conquered once and for all! The gift of true Life is now available to anyone who will place their trust in Jesus, recognizing our need for a Savior who gave everything for us. If you have any questions about what this means for your life, please email me at [email protected] and let's have an honest conversation about life and faith and your future.

At the Last Supper, Jesus gave us a new command. You might remember from earlier this week that Jesus quoted the Old Testament with He was asked what the greatest commandment was. Jesus is now in the upper room with his closest disciples and gives us all a new commandment. What is this new commandment? To love one another as Jesus loves us. As we enter Easter weekend, let's remember how much Jesus gave for us because of His Love and show that same love for others that we encounter each and every day.

How can we effectively love our neighbor?

Yesterday and today, we are looking at what Jesus called the first and second greatest commandments. Jesus said "all the laws and prophets hang on these two commandments." What did he mean? Can the entire Christian life be summarized in just two commands? If we love God and love people, we would live a life full of worship and purpose!

Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind. As we look to Easter, we are looking at a verse, each day, from the last week of Jesus's life. It's funny how many times Jesus doesn't answer a direct question in the Bible. He usually answers a question with another question. He wants people to think and dive deeper. That is, until someone is trying to test Jesus. Then He doesn't mess around! Well, today's One Verse is one of those times. It is during Holy Week, the last week before Jesus goes to the cross. An "expert" in the law is trying to test Jesus, and we get to listen in and hear from Jesus as He answers the question: "Which is the greatest commandment?"

This is the start of Holy Week, which means we are less than a week away from Easter, resurrection Sunday! To prepare for Easter, we are going to look at a verse, each day, from the final week of Jesus's life here on earth. Today's One Verse takes place when Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey. The Bible tells us it caused quite a stir when Jesus entered the city. Palm leaves and branches were being thrown in the street, and people were shouting, "Hosanna!" For those who didn't understand what was happening, they had one question: Who is this? We all have one question we must answer in life: Who is Jesus? This isn't a question we only ask once, but one we continually ask ourselves throughout our lives.

When we grow close to God, He will show us the true, deep desires of our heart.