Devotionals & Poems

Posts in category Hope

Troubled or thankful

Troubled or thankful

Are you troubled and cast down in your mind and spirit? Has the darkness and gloom of this present world around us engulfed you in its hopelessness? Is the turmoil of society troubling you? Are you cast down because you are going through a time of personal difficulty like feeling rejected by one that was […]

Watchful and ready (Parables of Jesu...

Watchful and ready  (Parables of Jesus, part Thirty-seven)

Our focus of attention in Mark13:32-40 is drawn once again to being watchful and prepared for the return of Jesus. Since several parables focus in this area it underlines the importance of the message. Here Jesus speaks about a man going abroad who committed his business affairs into the hands of his servants during his […]

Be prepared (Parables of Jesus part ...

Be prepared  (Parables of Jesus part thirty-two)

In Matthew 25:1-13 we have recorded one of Jesus well known parables. Keep in mind that a parable is a story of earthly activity with a spiritual meaning, and all the details which are part of the earthly side of the story need not necessarily apply to the central theme, which in this parable is […]

Never give up (Parables of Jesus par...

Never give up  (Parables of Jesus part twenty six)

In Luke 18:1-8 Jesus “spoke a parable to them that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.” In Luke’s account this is recorded on the heels of Jesus teaching about His return and the conditions on earth leading up to it, thus we can take encouragement to remain steadfast and not become disheartened […]

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 […]

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 […]

Hidden treasure (Parables of Jesus p...

Hidden treasure  (Parables of Jesus part fifteen)

In Matthew 13:44-46 Jesus gives us two examples in parable illustrating the superior value of the kingdom of heaven. In verse 44 He likens “the kingdom of heaven (to) treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys […]

Faithfulness (Parables of Jesus part...

Faithfulness  (Parables of Jesus part eleven)

In Matthew 25:14-30 is one of Jesus “the kingdom of heaven is like” parables. Here He tells the story of a wealthy householder with several servants; calling them, he put them in charge of his affairs while he himself went to a distant country, possibly to conduct some sort of business. They were not all […]

The world way (Parables of Jesus par...

The world way  (Parables of Jesus part ten)

In Luke 12:13-21 Jesus responding to one that wanted Him to settle a family feud over an inheritance, uses a parable showing the futility of covetousness for earthly treasure. The story is about a business man (in this case a farmer) whose business was prospering and his desire was to get bigger and bigger, to […]

“Growing seed” (Parables of Jesus pa...

“Growing seed”  (Parables of Jesus part six)

God has so arranged it that the natural and spiritual work parallel to each other. With the people of Israel being very familiar with the process of agriculture and livestock, Jesus often used parables from these to teach the spiritual truths of the kingdom of God. In Mark 4:26-29 He speaks of one scattering or […]