Devotionals & Poems

Posts in category Encouragement

Psalm 23 (Part ten, His Faithfulness...

Psalm 23  (Part ten, His Faithfulness)

Continuing in verse 4 of Psalm 23 we come to the third of four powerful statements in this verse, “For you are with me”. I see this as another key to the entire Psalm, (similar to “The Lord is my shepherd”) the assurance of His presence! God knew His redeemed people would go through dark, […]

Psalm 23 (Part five, Restoration)

Psalm 23  (Part five, Restoration)

“He restores my soul” verse 3; when a sheep would fall sick, break a leg, or face some other calamity, the shepherd would be there to treat, dress the wound, and nurture that sheep back to health. God our “good shepherd” is the greatest restorer ever! From the moment our relationship with Him was broken […]

Resurrection Life

Resurrection Life

Last week we saw Jesus as the life, the restorer of the life of God to mankind because there had been a spiritual death in which we became separated from God and we needed restoration. Today we hear Jesus words “I am the resurrection and the life”, spoken in the face of the death of […]

“I am…the truth…”

“I am…the truth…”

Not only is Jesus the way to God (and heaven) as we saw last week in John 14:6, but He is also the Truth about God, of God, and from God; in verse 9 He said “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” If you really want to see and know God then […]

Our good Shepherd

Our good Shepherd

Sheep and shepherds were a big part of ancient Israel, the nation of whom God had said was “the flock of My pasture” Ezekiel 34:31, and His commitment to them through the prophet Isaiah was that He would “feed His flock like a shepherd” 40:11. Then in Psalm 100:3 they acknowledge that “we are His […]

Rise and shine

Rise and shine

“Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.” In Isaiah 60:1-3 God issues a statement that should bring a message of immediate hope and comfort to the people of Israel, as well as giving prophetic insight into the future, as these verses will be fulfilled in […]

Fruit of the Spirit (Part four)

Fruit of the Spirit  (Part four)

This is the third week we are looking at the fruit of the Holy Spirit called love, which is the first of this fruit listed in Galatians 5:22, and is also a key component in our witness for the Lord Jesus according to John 13:35. The Bible actually says in 1 John 4:8 “He who […]

Lost and found (Parables of Jesus pa...

Lost and found  (Parables of Jesus part twenty one)

In Luke 15:8-10 Jesus uses the scenario of a woman that has lost a valuable silver coin. The message in this parable is exactly the same as that of the preceding one about the lost sheep, but using a different picture, the “or” in verse 8 clearly indicating this. Such coins were “often worn in […]

The story of two houses (Parables of...

The story of two houses  (Parables of Jesus part nineteen)

In Matthew 7:24-27 and the parallel account of Luke 6:48-49 Jesus likens us to one of two houses, one built on a solid rock foundation, the other hastily, perhaps thoughtlessly, built on shifting sand. The first withstood the storm and the flood, while the second differing only in its foundation was destroyed by the same […]

A lesson from the trees (Parables of...

A lesson from the trees  (Parables of Jesus part seventeen)

Matthew 24 (along with the parallel chapters of Mark 13 and Luke 21) is one of the very important portions of Scripture dealing with the “last days” where Jesus tells us conditions and things that would be happening on earth just before and leading up to His return. He begins by predicting the destruction of […]