Category: From Pastor

This week’s devotions are based on Week 7 of “How Would You Answer?  Does Jesus care? (WATCH HERE)

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John 17:9–11 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one. 

Everyone wants security somewhere.

People look for safety in success, relationships, money, reputation, health, or control. Yet all of those things can change quickly. Circumstances shift. People disappoint us. Strength fades. Life becomes uncertain.

In John 17:11, Jesus prays, “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name.”

This prayer reveals something beautiful about God’s care. Jesus does not simply save His people and leave them on their own. He puts the protection of the Father’s name over them.

The disciples were about to face fear, confusion, persecution, and failure. Jesus knew Peter would deny Him. He knew the disciples would scatter. Yet He still prayed for them. He still claimed them as His own.

That is grace.

The phrase “protect them by the power of your name” carries deep meaning. In Scripture, God’s name represents His character, authority, faithfulness, and covenant love. To be kept in God’s name means we are held by all that God is.

Think about the comfort of belonging. A child feels secure when they know they belong to a loving family. In the gospel, God places His name on His people. Isaiah 43:1 says, “I have summoned you by name; you are mine.”

That means you are not spiritually forgotten or abandoned. You belong to the Father.

This does not mean life becomes easy. Jesus does not pray for His disciples to be removed from the world. He prays for them to be protected within it. God’s care is often shown not by removing hardship, but by sustaining us through it.

Psalm 121 says, “The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” Romans 8 reminds us that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Sometimes believers feel weak and wonder whether they can hold onto God. The good news of John 17 is that our ultimate security does not depend on our grip on God, but His grip on us.

Jesus keeps His people.

This truth gives peace in anxious moments. When fear rises, when failure weighs heavily, when life feels unstable, remember whose name is over you. You are held by the faithful love of God.

And because we belong to Him, we can live courageously. We do not have to live controlled by fear or driven by the need to protect our own image. We are already secure in Christ.

Today, rest in this promise: God does not just know your name. He gives you His.

Reflect: Where are you most tempted to look for security apart from God? How does knowing you belong to the Father change the way you face fear and uncertainty?

Prayer: Holy Father, thank You for keeping us in Your name. Thank You that our security rests not in our strength, but in Your faithfulness. Help us trust Your care when life feels uncertain. Remind us that we belong to You and that nothing can separate us from Your love in Christ. Give us peace, courage, and confidence as we walk with You today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

This week’s devotions are based on Week 7 of “How Would You Answer?  Does Jesus care? (WATCH HERE)

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John 17:6–8 6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.

One of the deepest questions people ask is not simply whether God exists, but what God is actually like.

Is He distant or near? Harsh or compassionate? Disappointed or patient? Interested in our lives or indifferent to our struggles?

Jesus answers those questions in John 17 when He says to the Father, “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me.”

Jesus came to make the Father known.

Many people carry distorted pictures of God. Some see Him as impossible to please. Others imagine Him as detached from human suffering. Some fear Him but do not know His love. Others believe God tolerates them but could never truly delight in them.

Jesus corrects those false pictures.

When we look at Jesus, we see the heart of the Father. John 1:18 says, “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son… has made him known.” Jesus is not hiding the Father from us. He is revealing Him to us.

Look at Jesus throughout the Gospels. He welcomes children. He touches lepers. He forgives sinners. He weeps with grieving friends. He feeds hungry crowds. He washes the disciples’ feet. He prays for weak followers who are about to fail Him.

This is what God is like.

The cross itself reveals the Father’s heart most clearly. God did not stand far away from human pain. He entered it through Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:19 says, “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ.”

Sometimes our experiences with people shape how we think about God. An absent father may make it difficult to trust God’s presence. Harsh criticism may make it hard to believe God is gracious. Rejection may make us fear abandonment.

But Jesus invites us to define God by His revelation, not by our wounds.

If you want to know whether God cares, look at Jesus.

Jesus shows us that God is holy, but also compassionate. Powerful, but also personal. Exalted, but also near to the brokenhearted.

This truth also changes how we represent God to others. People often form impressions about God based on the lives of Christians. That is a sobering responsibility. We are called to reflect the character of Christ through patience, humility, compassion, forgiveness, and truth.

Today, spend time looking at Jesus. Read the Gospels slowly. Watch how He treats people. Listen to His words. Let Him shape your understanding of the Father’s heart.

God’s care has a face, and His name is Jesus.

Reflect: What false ideas about God do you sometimes struggle with? How does Jesus help you better understand the Father’s heart?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for revealing the Father to us. Thank You that we do not have to guess what God is like because we see His heart in You. Heal the distorted pictures of God we carry and help us trust Your love more deeply. Teach us to reflect Your compassion and grace to others each day. In Your name, Amen.

This week’s devotions are based on Week 7 of “How Would You Answer?  Does Jesus care? (WATCH HERE)

John 17:4-5 I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. 

Few things in life feel completely finished.

There are unfinished projects around our homes, unfinished goals in our careers, unfinished conversations in relationships, and unfinished struggles in our hearts. Many people quietly carry the exhausting feeling that they are never enough. Never good enough. Never spiritual enough. Never successful enough.

Into that weariness, Jesus says something beautiful in John 17:4: “I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.”

Hours before the cross, Jesus speaks with confidence about completing the Father’s mission. The cross is so certain that He can already speak of the work as finished. Soon, in John 19:30, Jesus will cry out, “It is finished.”

This is one of the greatest expressions of God’s care. Jesus did not abandon the mission when it became painful. He completed the work necessary for our salvation.

The gospel is not built on what we finish for God. It is built on what Christ finished for us.

That matters because many people live like their relationship with God depends on constant performance. They believe God loves them more when they succeed spiritually and less when they fail. But the finished work of Jesus reminds us that our hope rests in His obedience, not ours.

Ephesians 2:8–9 says we are saved by grace through faith, “not by works, so that no one can boast.” Salvation is not earned. It is given. Jesus finished what we never could.

That does not mean our Christian life no longer matters. God’s love changes us. Grace transforms us. But we obey from acceptance, not for acceptance. We serve God because we belong to Him already.

There is deep freedom in this truth. We no longer have to live under the crushing pressure of trying to prove ourselves worthy of God’s love. Christ has already done the work.

Think about how comforting it is when someone follows through on a promise. Trust grows when people remain faithful even when things become difficult. Jesus remained faithful all the way to the cross. His love did not stop when sacrifice became costly.

Hebrews 12:2 says Jesus endured the cross “for the joy set before him.” That joy included redeeming and rescuing His people. Jesus saw the cost and still chose obedience because of His love for us.

When guilt rises or fear whispers that you are not enough, remember the cross. Remember the empty tomb. Remember the words of Jesus: “It is finished.”

You are not saved by unfinished human effort. You are held by the finished work of Christ.

Reflect: In what ways do you still try to “earn” God’s love or approval? How would your daily life change if you truly rested in Christ’s finished work?

Prayer: Father, thank You that Jesus completed the work of salvation for us. Forgive us for the times we try to carry burdens You never asked us to carry. Help us rest in the grace of Christ instead of striving to prove ourselves worthy. Let the finished work of Jesus bring peace, freedom, and confidence to our hearts today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

John 17:1-3 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

 

There is something powerful about knowing someone chose to come for you.

Most people can remember moments when others stayed distant. Maybe it was a difficult season when people disappeared. Maybe it was a struggle no one seemed to notice. Maybe it was a pain others did not want to enter. Human love often has limits. People care until it becomes inconvenient, uncomfortable, or costly.

That is why the opening of Jesus’ prayer in John 17 is so meaningful.

Jesus says, “Father, the hour has come.” In the Gospel of John, “the hour” points to the cross. Jesus knows betrayal is coming. He knows suffering is coming. He knows death is near. Yet He does not pull away from His mission. Instead, He moves toward it.

Then Jesus says the Father gave Him authority “that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.” Jesus came for a purpose. He came to give life.

That means Christianity begins not with humanity searching for God, but with God coming for humanity.

Jesus did not come merely to inspire us or improve us. He came to rescue us. He came because sin separated us from God and we could not bridge the gap ourselves. Romans 5:8 says, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Before we cleaned ourselves up, before we figured life out, before we even knew how deeply we needed Him, Jesus came for us.

Sometimes people question whether God cares because life still hurts. But John 17 reminds us that God’s care is not proven by an easy life. It is proven by the coming of Christ. God loved us enough to enter our broken world personally.

Think about how comforting it is when someone simply shows up. In moments of grief or fear, people rarely remember every word spoken. They remember who came. They remember who stayed. Presence communicates love.

Jesus did more than send encouragement from heaven. He came personally into our suffering. Jesus understands grief, exhaustion, temptation, rejection, betrayal, and sorrow. He came close enough to carry our pain.

You are not forgotten. You are not abandoned. You are not invisible to God. The Son of God came for you personally.

Because Jesus came for us, we are called to move toward others with compassion, show up for hurting people, listen patiently, and enter difficult spaces with love.

Today, remember this simple truth: God’s care did not stay distant. It came near to us in Jesus.

Reflect: Where in your life do you most need to remember that Jesus came personally for you? How can you reflect Christ’s compassionate presence to someone else this week?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for coming into our world and into our brokenness. Thank You for loving us enough to move toward us instead of away from us. Help us rest in the truth that we are seen, known, and loved by You. Teach us to reflect Your compassion by showing up for others with grace and kindness. In Your name, Amen.

This year as we mark 250 years of God’s grace to the United States of America, we also remember the sacrifice that many have made to give us the blessings and freedoms we enjoy today.  The cost has been great but the blessings have been infinite.

158 years ago, on the very first National Decoration Day, President James Garfield made this statement to those gathered at Arlington Cemetery: For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue. For the noblest man that lives, there still remains a conflict. He must still withstand the assaults of time and fortune, must still be assailed with temptations, before which lofty natures have fallen; but with these the conflict ended, the victory was won, when death stamped on them the great seal of heroic character, and closed a record which years can never blot. (James Garfield, May 30, 1868)

We are forever grateful for the selfless sacrifice that soldiers gave to carry out the missions to which they were assigned and to protect the freedoms they treasured for future generations to enjoy.  To honor their sacrifice is to honor the freedoms we have been given in our country without abusing them or using them to impinge on the freedoms of others.  To honor their sacrifice is to never take our country for granted, but take time to remember our past, its failures and successes, to repent of our national sins that have created discord and division, to understand and protect the moral fabric which truly protects life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, to encourage values of hard work, personal responsibility, and excellence that allow our country to prosper as well as stand ready to help others less fortunate than we. 

We live in memory of many military giants who traversed the fields at Gettysburg, navigated the trenches of Europe, stormed the beaches of Normandy, slugged through the marshes in Vietnam, walked the roads in Afghanistan, traveled the convoys in Iraq, and engaged in many other points of combat around the world.  Many of those that perished were young men and women who lost the life they had and the life yet to be lived.  All who perish leave behind parents who grieve, spouses who live alone, children who miss a parent, and friends and fellow soldiers who feel the empty hole in their hearts.

A day of remembrance doesn’t fill the hole these men and women have left, but I pray it gives pause to give significance to the sacrifice they made.

I am forever grateful for those who serve in our armed forces, men and women, who stand ready, stand proud, and stand strong to give me and my family the blessing of peace and freedom to enjoy today.  Thank you.  I and our nation are forever grateful for the sacrifice you have made.  You are a gift from God.

^{Psalm 118:29} Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Apply: In grateful reflection and prayer, watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6OS-gR-zqI

 

Prayer: God of all nations and ruler of all.  We give you thanks for the nation in which we live and for the freedoms which we enjoy.  May we use this gift to not just preserve the freedom of our country, but to proclaim and preserve the freedom of forgiveness which you have given to us through the ultimate sacrifice of your son, Jesus Christ.  In his name we pray. AMEN.