Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us… (Heb. 12:1) I spent a lot of time in a graveyard as a boy. On Thursday …
Tag: forgiveness
God’s Grace Can Heal Your Heart
Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice... (Eph. 4:31) Let me call her Eleanor. She was in her seventies. I visited her every month. We would read scripture, pray, share communion together, and then she would launch into bitterly complaining about her mother. During …
Into the Hands of Jesus
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. (1 Cor. 15:20) When my father died, my stepmother gave his body to medical science. A year later his ashes were returned and we set a burial date. We had the internment service, a lovely reception, …
Seek the Living Jesus
The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but then the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.’ (Lk. 24:5) It is Easter morning. Some women have gone to Jesus’ tomb to anoint His body. As they …
Sharing the Love of Jesus
Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. (1 Pt. 4:8) He was a difficult man. Everywhere he went he was disruptive and disrespectful. People tried to avoid him. One day he burst into my office and said, “Today I’m going to tell you my story.” I didn’t know …
A Dinner Party With Jesus
So, if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. (Jn. 13:13) At the service when we would remember Jesus’ last night alive on this earth, we followed His command to wash each other’s feet. I would always set-up the washing-party with words like these: “We …
Without Forgiveness, Love Dies
Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. (Heb. 9:22) I’d been a jerk towards my wife. Even though I wanted to rationalize my actions and justify my words, I knew I had to humble myself and finally say, “I’m …
Jesus’ Living Water
Come see a man who told me everything I have ever done! (Jn. 4:29) The woman had been married five times. She was currently living with a man without being married. Did her neighbors talk about her, judge her, and condemn her? Did she feel marked, shunned, and ostracized? One day she meets a …
Compassion, Acceptance, Understanding, Forgiveness
For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. (Mt. 7:3) My mother had been ill for a long time. When I became worried that she could die with only a minor cold, I decided to visit her so that we could …
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Feeling Worthy
When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, ‘He is worthy of having you do this for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who builds our synagogue for us.’ And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to …