Martin Luther wrote, “Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in spring-time.” At the end of every winter, we witness a miracle—life coming from death. Bare branches form green leaves, brown grass turns into a lovely meadow as spring blooms in dazzling beauty. The warm breezes whisper, “Come alive!” The evidence of resurrection happens before our eyes every year. Spring never fails to produce new life, springing forth from what was dead. It’s the perfect setting for Easter—the season we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus – the hope of the…
“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation…” Hebrews 2:3
Throughout the Bible, we find many references to things that we should not neglect or forget. These are precious things that we need to pay close attention to, and we should value them.
The most important thing we need to guard is our salvation. Jesus purchased it through a cruel death on Calvary, and it is a precious gift that we need to hold close to our heart.
One way that salvation is neglected is when we do not keep our hearts pure before God. Of course we will make mistakes, but we need to repent quickly and ask the Lord’s help to avoid that temptation in the future. Our salvation is worth guarding!
Prayer: Thank You, Lord, for the gift of salvation. Remind me every day of how precious it is, and help me to value it.
Devotion by Liane Grant
When my husband and I decided to move our family from Oregon to Utah, it was quite a change. I didn’t expect the long winters or the hot summers, but Utah was—and still is—a beautiful place. After living there for three years, I began working as a substitute teacher in several school districts. One of the things I was often complimented on was how peaceful I seemed, even while dealing with challenging students. Don’t get me wrong—I love teaching kids—but this job was not always easy. Teachers and faculty would say, “You have such a calming spirit.” What they didn’t realize was that it wasn’t me, but the Holy Spirit in me, keeping me steady. Substitute teaching comes with many challenges, but how you respond makes all the difference. There’s a Bible verse where people recognized that the disciples had been with Jesus because of how they carried themselves: “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13 (NKJV) As followers of Christ, we are His representatives on this earth. Jesus died, was buried, and rose again—and…
The Lord is my strength and my song; he has given me victory. (Exodus 15:2, NLT) Miriam picked up her hem as she sprinted ahead. Her heartbeat quickened; her breath came in short gasps as she forged forward. Fear taunted as her hair whipped around her face. She had to keep focused on moving forward. She clutched at her heart. It was beating so fast she thought it might come out of her chest! She stole a cloaked glance behind her and gasped to catch her breath, realizing what was happening! A twitch pulled her lips into a small smile.…
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” — Ephesians 4:32 (NIV) We have all been wronged at some point and felt the desire to get even. But what is forgiveness? In the Bible, forgiveness means releasing charges against someone—letting go and canceling a debt. It is not an easy thing to do. A person may feel ready to forgive, but true forgiveness involves certain important elements. First, forgiveness must be a choice. It must be voluntary, not forced. It must be intentional—a decision to let go of pain. And it is often a process that takes time. What we want to avoid is allowing unforgiveness to grow into anger, bitterness, hatred, or a desire for revenge. Bitterness, in particular, can become a poison to our souls. It can lead us into sin and cause us to fall out of alignment with God and His blessings. God calls us to forgive others just as He has forgiven us. However, forgiveness does not mean we condone the wrongdoing, pretend it never happened, or allow others to continue hurting us. Instead, forgiveness frees us. It releases us from anger and bitterness, allowing God…
I’m okay, we often tell ourselves, but are we? We tend to put on a fake facade when we come to church because we don’t want people to see who we really are. After all, we have a reputation to uphold. We want others to see us as being all put together, a perfectly wrapped package with a beautifully tied bow. Inside, however, we are lying to ourselves and to others. Nor are we being truthful with God about our struggles. We’re not telling God that we’re hurting, struggling, and that the battle we’re fighting is becoming too much for us. We do not admit to God that we’re fighting so much and feel we’re one step away from waving the white flag of surrender. Instead of giving the battle to God, we continue to fight alone, knowing that the end will only mean a casualty—our casualty. Once again, the enemy wins because we are more worried about how people see us than we are about admitting we are struggling. We put on the fake facade of “I’m okay” and refuse to give the battle to God, even though He said it was His (II Chronicles 20:15). At some point,…