David’s prayers in the Psalms are simple and direct. He prays exactly how he feels, whether it’s through joy, comfort, praise, sorrow, anger, confession, abandonment, fear, or whatever else was on his heart, he prayed to the Lord simply and direct. David had an intimate relationship with the God of heaven so much so, that his heart heard Him say, ‘Come and talk with me.’ Several other translations say, ‘Seek My face.’ David was constantly seeking to be with his God in prayer that when he heard ‘Come and talk with me’, he was always ready to say, ‘LORD, I am coming.’
We may all not sense God speaking in our hearts as David but all of us can develop the characteristic of seeking God’s face. Seeking His face is nothing more than having a deeper desire for intimate fellowship with your creator. The more we desire Him, the more we will be aware of His desire for us. God also desires to be with us intimately. This is often missed by our routine repetitive early morning prayers and out the door we go. God is inviting us to seek His face to come and talk with Him. Talking with someone is to have a conversation. Speaking and listening. Taking time to listen to God is just as important as telling Him all your problems.
Listen closely to what God is saying to you through the Holy Spirit in prayer. You may never hear God speak audibly to you in prayer, I never have, but I’ve felt His presence and direction many times through prayer as I seek His face. God desires to have that intimate fellowship with us through prayer. He is saying, ‘Come and talk with me.’ May we have the same desire by seeking His face and be ready to say, ‘LORD, I am coming.’
Today April 22 the world celebrates Earth Day. The theme for Earth Day 2025 is ‘Our Power, Our Planet.’ (1) I think God would have something to say about that. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” (Gen.1:1 kjv) Based on that first verse of the Bible, I would say it looks like the planet is His. We are held as stewards of the planet to care for what He has given us. There have been many accomplishments over the years from Earth Day’s influence. “For 55 years, Earth Day has led the world in educating and mobilizing the public to take action to address critically important environmental issues. We are global advocates for the health of the planet, calling for the protection of our air, oceans, soil, ecosystems, wildlife, and human health.” (2) The focus of recent Earth Days has been on renewable sources of energy and this year is no exception. “This Earth Day 2025, let us commit to harnessing renewable energy to build a healthy, sustainable, equitable and prosperous future for all, let us commit to Renewable Energy Now.” (2)
The movement flaunts the power of the people over the years in the successes to date. “The strength of this movement lies in its grassroots nature, and our power as individuals. This people-powered revolution demonstrates that when we unite our voices and actions, we can overcome even the most recalcitrant systems and create a cleaner, more equitable energy future for all.” (2)
People united for a common cause are usually very successful and hard to stop. So, credit is given where credit is due. But let’s not stop there. Let credit be given to the God of heaven who gives us the power, the knowledge, and the wisdom in maintaining what He has created and graciously given us to manage. He is the creator and sustainer of the earth and the universe. May we remember in our efforts this Earth Day, it is His Power, His Planet.
“Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.’ And Jesus replied, ‘I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.’” Luke 23:42-43 NLT
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Are you an occasional church attender? Yesterday was an occasion to attend a church service on Easter Sunday, more accurately described as Resurrection Day! Occasional church goers make their way through those sacred doors for special occasions. Christmas and Easter being the most common. There are baptisms, marriage ceremonies, special music events, and funerals which also persuade people to walk into a church building. But of all the occasions that get you to go to church, Resurrection Day may be the most important, even more than Christmas.
My Pastor is of the opinion that Easter is the most important date on the Christian calendar. To quote him, “…. the Gospels and most of the other writings in the New Testament focus more on Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection and its results for mankind than Jesus’ birth.” I must say I agree. Of course, Jesus needed to be born first. But as my Pastor said, “Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection provides the completion of God’s promise of restoration through sins forgiveness and new life in Christ, while Jesus’ birth began the fulfillment of God’s promise of redemption.”
God’s promise of restoring us and providing the way of salvation comes through the forgiveness of our sins made possible by Christ’s death on the cross. One thief on the cross recognized who Jesus was and his need of forgiveness and salvation, and Jesus responded, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Lk.23:43 nlt) The other thief chose to ignore the holy one of God providing salvation for him to accept.
If you happen to be one of the occasional church attenders yesterday on Easter, I pray you didn’t leave ignoring the way of salvation. It is too important to wait until Christmas or worse yet, for your own funeral.
“Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.” Mark 6:34 NLT
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This week in our study of the book of Mark we see Jesus as the good shepherd. Leading His disciples to a place of rest which they all desperately needed, Jesus is met by people who had followed Him around the Sea of Galilee to be near Him. Jesus didn’t get upset that His plans were ruined but looked on the people with compassion. He saw them for who they were, sheep without a shepherd.
Our story begins with the disciples returning from their preaching tour Jesus had sent them on. Jesus, naturally, would want a full report of their mission. Recapping their tour of duty was met with constant interruption that Jesus finally said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” (Mk.6:31 nlt) The Bible says the disruptions made it impossible even for them to eat. What is needed most after a long time spent on the road in your job is a good meal when you arrive home. Jesus knew this and suggested they get away from the crowds. “So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone.” (Mk.6:32 nlt)
Their destination was the northeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee near the city of Bethsaida. Their departure didn’t stop the people from following Him. They took the long route walking eight miles along the shore arriving before Jesus who was cutting across the lake which was only four miles. It is possible the disciples’ boat incurred headwinds slowing them down, and it could have been the people were in a hurry not to let Jesus get away from them. Jesus met them as He came to shore with His disciples. Seeing the size of the crowd, the Bible says, “(Jesus) had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.” (Mk.6:34 nlt) The rest and quiet time they were anticipating would have to wait, the sheep need a shepherd.
Jesus was teaching well into the late afternoon when His disciples came to Him saying, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy something to eat.” (Mk.6:35-36 nlt) Jesus was aware of the hour and it was now time to turn His teaching specifically to the disciples. He told them to give them something to eat. The disciples gave Jesus a logical answer back up by numbers that it would take eight months of wages to feed such a crowd, also calculating the size of the crowd. The Lord was about to test their faith and teach them valuable truths about Himself. ‘“How much bread do you have?’ he asked. ‘Go and find out.’ They came back and reported, ‘We have five loaves of bread and two fish.” (Mk.6:38 nlt) Then Jesus told them to have the people sit down, it’s supper time!
It would do us well to picture the scene of this miraculous feeding of this large group of people. Jesus instructs the people to sit in groups on the green grass. The place is on the northeast shore of the Sea of Galilee. The grass is green signifying it is in the spring after the late winter and early spring rains. Grass in that area becomes dry and brown during the hot summer months. Having them sit down in groups of fifties and hundreds shows an orderly process. Our Lord always does everything in an orderly fashion. It would be smart for us to follow His example in all our endeavors. Jewish festivals in the day used a symmetrical seating of 50 semi-circles of 100 people for easy food distribution. So, this wasn’t uncommon. The Greek word used for ‘groups’ is prasia meaning ‘a garden bed or plot.’ The Wycliffe Bible Commentary describes the place as, ‘a picturesque scene, like beds of flowers with the different colors from all the clothing sitting in groups that can be seen from a distance.’ Yes, Jesus certainly does things in order and in splendid color.
“Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. He also divided the fish for everyone to share.” (Mk.6:41 nlt) In the preceding verse the words ‘took’ ‘looked’ ‘blessed’ and ‘break’ or ‘breaking’, are in a simple past tense in the Greek, whereas ‘gave’ is in the imperfect tense meaning ‘kept giving’ as in our text. Here is the miracle occurring. Jesus kept on giving the bread and fish and kept on giving until everyone had something to eat and were satisfied. There were also leftovers which Jesus had the disciples gather up. Twelve baskets in fact, one for each disciple so no one would miss out on their teacher’s lessons.
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They learned Jesus is the good shepherd who feeds His sheep. Jesus taught them He was able to feed thousands of people with five loaves and two fishes. The major lesson here is He can supply every need for His sheep. This miracle fulfilled prophecies from the Old Testament concerning the Messiah shepherd. Ezekiel 34:23 says, “And I will set over them one shepherd, my servant David. He will feed them and be a shepherd to them.” (nlt) Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah who was to come. And Isaiah the prophet wrote, “On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine— the best of meats and the finest of wines.” (Is.45:6 niv)
Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and the shepherd who feeds His sheep, protects His sheep and died for His sheep. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.” (Jn.10:11 nlt) The gospel of Jesus Christ is the good news about the good shepherd who came and laid down His life in order that we may have eternal life by believing in His name. Yes, it’s supper time!
The United States’ New Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) released its latest savings report of $155 billion as of April 14, 2025. It is a ‘Combination of asset sales, contract/lease cancellations and renegotiations, fraud and improper payment deletion, grant cancellations, interest savings, programmatic changes, regulatory savings, and workforce reductions.” (1) Living in a fallen world, it should come as no surprise that there would be fraud and inefficiency in those who are to uphold the law. Government, their institutions, their departments, and each agency is run by people, fallen people living in our sin sick world. No government is a machine that is not accountable to its citizens. There needs to be justice.
There is plenty of controversy and political wrangling over some of the cuts made by DOGE in the list above. But it is safe to say there were people with good intentions who approved the money for special programs but then saw an opportunity to siphon money out to non-essential areas, even lining their own pockets. Which brings me to my main point. These tactics damage the credibility and integrity of the government but more specifically, it hurts the people who work in government, both the guilty and the innocent.
For Christians working in government, now is the time for them to show grace to those impacted by the uncovering of the abuse of power over the years. Perhaps they find themselves being caught in the game of politics participating in the expansion of irrelevant programs passed off as essential, or under the guise of something else. King Solomon knew a lot about politics, government, and money. He wrote, “A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is his delight.” (Pr.11:1 esv) The Lord expects honesty and justice within the governments on the earth. All authority comes from Him and He delegates it to those He chooses. Those in positions of leadership in the government are accountable to its citizens and to God. It’s a good thing to make the country more efficient and get rid of fraud, but a better thing to change hearts and minds of those who are using ‘a false balance.’
“Two-thirds of Americans say they believe Jesus physically rose from the dead, with nearly half of Americans saying they “strongly” believe in the historical event that forms the core of Easter, according to a Lifeway Research survey.” (1)
I suppose the above statement could be considered good news that over half the people in the United States believe Jesus rose from the dead. But the bad new is 113 million people in America do not believe in the resurrection of Christ. Even among some Christians today, the resurrection is not fully embraced of actually occurring. What many fail to realize, even a few Christians, is that without Jesus’ resurrection there is no hope for any of us. The apostle Paul wrote, “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.” (1Cor.15:17 niv) If we are still in our sins there is no resurrection for us and we are dead, to remain dead, and sure of a Christless eternity.
We are all sons and daughters of Adam with our sin nature punishable by death, physically and spiritually, but Paul continues to write, “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” (1Cor.15:20-22 niv) We are made alive through Jesus’ resurrection. Our salvation and eternal life demand that Jesus both died and rose from the dead. Don’t celebrate an incomplete Easter. We are made alive in Christ because of His resurrection, our only hope.
Books have had a tremendous impact throughout history. Individually, multiple lives have changed from reading a book. Societies have been formed based on some writings from influential people. Educational institutions have thousands upon thousands of books covering every facet of education. Public and school libraries place books of all categories on their shelves for the information seeker, the knowledge and self-help seeker, the avid reader, and for those looking for sure enjoyment. In one way or another, each book will influence the reader if read carefully seeking the author’s intent.
The Bible is no different. It will influence you and have the biggest effect on your life than any other book. Dr. Charles C. Ryrie lists five affects’ that God’s Word has on those who read it with the proper intent.
1. The Word affects the mind. “O LORD, listen to my cry; give me the discerning mind you promised.” (Ps.119:169 nlt) Asking God to give you a discerning mind is guaranteed because He promises to do so. As we read Scripture, we will develop a desire to know more and understand more.
2. The Word affects the mouth. “Let praise flow from my lips, for you have taught me your decrees. Let my tongue sing about your word, for all your commands are right.” (Ps.119:171-172 nlt) Understanding that all God’s ordinances are just and right will result in praise to Him.
3. The Word affects the will. “Give me a helping hand, for I have chosen to follow your commandments.” (Ps.119:173 nlt) Realizing God’s commands are right; we choose to follow them.
4. The Word affects the emotions. “O LORD, I have longed for your rescue, and your instructions are my delight.” (Ps.119:174 nlt) We can’t help but be emotional when God rescues from the darkness of sin within us.
5. The Word affects the conscience. “I have wandered away like a lost sheep; come and find me, for I have not forgotten your commands.” (Ps.119:176 nlt) As we read the Bible and begin to understand it there will be a growing knowledge of how far we drift away on the daily basis. We ask the Lord, our shepherd to come and find us and bring us back into the fold.
The Bible’s affect will change your life and encourage you daily. It is the most influential book ever written. Other books have the potential to change your present life, but only God’s Word can change your present life and change your future destiny in eternity. It’s time to take it off the shelf and read it.
“Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, ‘Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink!’ For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” John 4:37-38 NLT
It is springtime in Pennsylvania, and I once again started my weekly chore of mowing our lawn. I couldn’t help but notice the brown patches still part of our lawn from last year’s drought. In fact, we are not totally out of the woods yet, needing a few more healthy rain events. Water is essential for growth and life itself. The rain we had caused the grass to grow in areas not severely affected by lack of rain last summer. But much more water and sun are needed to bring the entire lawn back to complete health.
Our spiritual lives can become dry as a drought driven patch of grass. Just as water is essential for our very lives, so is the spiritual water Jesus offers us essential for our spiritual lives. We first need it to save our souls from spiritual death to eternal life. As Jesus told the woman at the well, “But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” (Jn.4:14 nlt) Jesus is the spiritual water we need for salvation and eternal life. He offers it to us freely. Jesus is authorized to do so for He paved the way by dying on the cross for our sins recognized this Good Friday and rising from the dead on Easter morning to secure our eternal life.
Spiritual water is also needed for our souls to be refreshed daily by Jesus through prayer and reading His Word. As Christians our eternal home may be secured, but we still need daily spiritual water to help us grow, be fruitful, and not become a dried-up patch of grass. It is easy to develop a thirst for the things of the world, but soon we find out it never satisfies, yet we keep drinking from the fountain without quenching our souls. The Lord Jesus has the water to guarantee our salvation and to quench our thirsty souls. Why not take a drink from Jesus’ fountain today.
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.” Matthew 23:37 NLT
Have you thought about the thoughts Jesus has about you? He does have thoughts about each of us. Jesus knows what we think about Him, good and bad. You may say, ‘how could we have bad thoughts about Jesus?’ Well, there are several ways. Using Jesus’ name in a way that doesn’t praise Him but expresses your anger is one way. Finding His Words in the New Testament as subject to debate or not believing them casts doubt if you really believe who He is. That would be a bad thought. Perhaps avoiding conversations about Him among friends as to not come across ‘as one of those.’ And yes, many of us do have good endearing thoughts about the one who saved us from our sins.
Jesus thinks about us all the time. There is never a moment we are not on His mind. We know this from the example He left us in His thoughts for the people of Jerusalem. Jesus rode into the city that first Palm Sunday under a huge fanfare but it wasn’t genuine for most of them. He was concerned for the people of the city for their lack of understanding who He was. After rebuking the Pharisees once again Jesus cried out, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.” (Mt.23:37 nlt) Even though Israel was wrong about so many things including the ancient prophets, Jesus wanted to shelter, protect them, and save them. But as Jesus said, they wouldn’t let Him.
Let us rest assured Jesus thinks about us the same way. His concern for us is the same as it was for the people of Jerusalem. Even if we have blasphemed Him and have no regard for His Word or those who preach it. Even if we constantly are going our own way and doing our own thing because it feels right, Jesus’ thoughts are the same towards us, to gather us as a hen protects her chicks. Why don’t we let Him carry out His thoughts about us once again this week to shelter, protect, and save us for we were also on His mind that first Good Friday on the cross at Calvary.
“The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ‘Hosanna in the highest heaven!’” Matthew 21:9 NIV
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This week we enter Holy Week (Passion Week) as is referred to by Christians across the world. It starts with the celebration of Palm Sunday when Christ made His triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem. Perhaps you attended services yesterday where this was the sermon for the week. It began with a light of freedom on Sunday for the followers of Jesus who laid down palm branches before Him as He rode into Jerusalem. It ended in darkness for those followers who were looking for a king to overthrow Rome and grant them independence and economic freedom. But that is not the whole story and Jesus came to earth.
The story begins in the gospel of John chapter 1 where it says, “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it……The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.” (Jn.1:4-5, 9-11 niv) John wrote the ‘true light’ was coming into the world to give us light in this dark world. All of us in the world have scales of darkness over our eyes because of sin. We can only see darkness around us in this world in which we live controlled by the evil one. Jesus came as the light of the world to remove the scales from our eyes, taking us from darkness into the light and granting us salvation through His death, burial, and resurrection.
The crowd laying down their cloaks and palm branches had it half right when they shouted, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David.’ Jesus is the Son of David who came in the name of the Lord, but He came to save mankind from the darkness of sin, not freedom from evil governments and the darkness of the world. We live in a dark world, but every Christian has the light of Christ within them to display before others and to lead us in the direction He wants us to go.
Word for the Soul 