Promise for Today - More Like Jesus

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 

Matthew 11:28-29 (NIV)

Gentleness is important for so many reasons. It defuses conflict. It disarms critics. It’s persuasive. It’s attractive. It communicates love. Most importantly, gentleness makes you more like Jesus. 

Do you feel weary and burdened today? Do you want to find rest and be at peace instead? Rest and peace come from being like Jesus—from being gentle.

You can’t just walk out your door and force yourself to be gentle. Gentleness needs to be an “inside job.” It should be the fruit of God’s Spirit in you. Jesus is gentle, and when you walk alongside him, you’ll learn to be gentle too.

For decades, I’ve prayed the same prayer almost every day: “Lord, help me to treat people the way Jesus would.” Why? Because I am not by nature a gentle person. So I have to let God produce gentleness in my life.

Here are three simple ways for you to practice gentleness with God’s help this week:

1. When somebody serves you, be understanding, not demanding.
Then next time you’re in a long line at a government office or coffee shop, be considerate—be understanding—of the person who eventually helps you.

2. When somebody disagrees with you, be tender without surrender.
You’ll never get your point across by being cross. You don’t have to back down from God’s truth, but you can treat people with gentleness and respect.

3. When somebody disappoints you, be gentle, not judgmental.
The Message paraphrase says it like this: “Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).

As you walk alongside Jesus and put these things into practice every day, you’ll find yourself becoming gentler and more like Jesus.

Talk It Over

A yoke is a harness that is put on an animal to pull a plow. Why does Jesus’ yoke bring rest, not burdens?

Have you ever used the excuse that you’re “just not a gentle person”? What other learned traits do we sometimes treat like they are inherent?

How have you seen a difference in your life, including becoming gentler, since you became a follower of Jesus and received the Holy Spirit? If you’re not a believer, consider taking that step today.

Gentleness is a benefit of your relationship with Jesus.
Gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit, an overflow of God’s Spirit in you. You can’t be gentle without the power of the Holy Spirit. And you don’t receive the power of the Holy Spirit until you surrender your life to Jesus. If you’re ready to take that step, pray this prayer:

Dear God, 

           I know I’m a sinner, and I ask for your forgiveness. I believe Jesus Christ is your Son. I believe that he died for my sin and that you raised him to life. I want to trust him as my Savior and follow him as Lord from this day forward. I am not by nature a gentle person. Help me learn to walk with Jesus and let your Holy Spirit make me gentle like him. Guide my life and help me to do your will. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

- by Pastor Rick

Lent - Day Two - God is Not Distant

Lent Devotions from Concordia University 2025
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Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.' All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 'Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel' (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Matthew 1:18-25

Many would say that if there is a God, He is merely a spectator who does not interact with this world. In the birth of Jesus, we see the very opposite to be true. God Himself comes into this world. He takes on our flesh. Not only does He interact with this world, but He intervenes on behalf of His creation. He is born into this world to “save His people from their sins.” And God continues to interact and intervene in our lives, for our benefit, by the work of the Holy Spirit, and with the power of His Word.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, be at work in our lives. Encourage our faith, speak Your truth, and open our eyes to see all You are doing. Amen.

Picking Fruit

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Galatians 5:22-23, NLT

When I purchase fruit from the grocery store, the produce manager hates to see me coming. I look at the top AND bottom of the strawberry container. I open the blueberry container and touch the blueberries to see if they're mushy. I don't like mushy... I don't just grab the first bag of grapes closest to me, nor am I indiscriminate about the rest of the fruit I choose. I have no problem opening a bag of grapes to check the contents (and then closing them again when I'm finished looking - very important). I check carefully for bruising on apples, for ripened plums, etc. I am a "fruit inspector" when it comes to paying the price for fruit. I want to know it's good before I spend my hard-earned money on it.

Oh, that I would be that diligent with the fruits of the Holy Spirit! Jesus already paid a GREAT price for them to be produced in our lives, why would we refuse to pick them up? They're ALL good.

Prayer:

Father,
          Help us to understand the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. May the seeds for all be planted in the good soil of our hearts. We want love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control to be working and evident in our lives. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Paraclete

If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

John 14:15-18 NKJV

I honestly don't know how people do life without Christ. There are days life is great, but then there are those other days... The ones that turn into weeks. Months. Seasons. Sometimes really LOOOOOOOOOONNNNNGGGGGGGG seasons. Can you relate? It's too hard without Someone to walk with us.

It's during those times especially that I am so thankful for my Paraclete. No, not parakeet. Paraclete - the Greek word meaning Counselor, Comforter, Encourager, Advocate, Helper. The same Helper Jesus prayed the Father would send to us. The Holy Spirit. The often ignored Third Part of the Holy Trinity. The One who is ALL those things to us. Counselor, Comforter, Encourager, Advocate, Helper, the Spirit of Truth providing guidance in EVERY season of our lives.

Never alone. Never abandoned. Never without help. Thank You, God.

Prayer:

Father,
            Thank You for sending the Holy Spirit to abide with us forever. To guide us into all Truth, to testify to us of the hope we have in Christ Jesus. To bring to our remembrance all that You have taught us. Fine-tune our hearts to hear and quickly respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Lent - Day Thirty-Five - The Promised Holy Spirit

Lent Devotions from Concordia University 2024

26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 
John 14:26

As the last days of Jesus’ earthly ministry approach, imagine for a moment what this journey is about to be like for Jesus’ disciples. They have spent the last three years of their lives following Jesus. They have seen miracle after miracle with their own eyes. They have sat at his feet to take in all of his teachings. They have broken bread with him, eating meal after meal together. They walked where he walked, and followed wherever his voice led them. Now that is all going to drastically change.

He is leaving, but he promises that he will not leave them as orphans. He promises that the Father will be with them, and that he will be in them. He promises to give them another helper, another advocate… the Holy Spirit.

We did not walk the Jerusalem roads with Jesus, but his promise is for us as well. While we may often feel quite alone, Jesus promises that he has not left us as orphans. He dwells in us. We, too, have been given the helper, the Holy Spirit. This Spirit is at work in us to create and sustain faith. The Holy Spirit continues to work in us while we wait for our Lord’s return. This Holy Spirit is sent to teach us all things and recall for us all that our Lord has taught. The Spirit teaches us our Lord’s commands, cultivates a love for those commands, and produces a desire to keep them. The Holy Spirit nurtures us to love our Lord and treasure his word. We have an advocate who stands before the Father on our behalf. We have a helper who works faith and the fruit of faith in us. Thanks be to God.

Prayer: 

Holy Spirit, 

                 I am thankful for Your presence in my life. Draw me ever closer to my Lord and Savior. Direct me according to His will. Comfort me in all temptation and defend me from all error. Amen.

Reading Further - John 14:15-31

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.

25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, 31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.

An Understanding

However, there is in humans a Spirit, the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding.
Job 32:8 GWT

The breath of the Almighty within humans - within us - what a powerful statement that is!

Consider it was the breath/Spirit of God that blew across the deep in Genesis 1. 

It was God's breath in Ezekiel's vision of the valley of dry bones that resurrected an army.

It is God's Spirit that not only gives us life, but also sustains us.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV reads, All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

THAT Spirit - the breath of the Almighty - is who lives inside of us! As we take in more and more of His Word, we are better able to understand His will and purpose for us in today's world. We have an understanding with the Almighty - a work to do until He comes to take us home. 

Prayer:

Father,

           Thank You for Your Holy Spirit, Your living breath to guide us and sustain us. Renew our souls and reignite our passion for Your Word. Holy Spirit, breathe new life into us. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Kindness

Since God chose you to be the holy people He loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
Colossians 3:12 NLT

It's not a suggestion. He didn't say 'maybe'. He didn't say 'perhaps'. It's not contingent upon whether or not we feel like it. No, God chose us, therefore we MUST...

Don't confuse being nice with being kind. Nice is being polite. You don't have to like someone to be nice to them. But I believe you have to care in order to be kind.

Social media is causing us to be more socially inept than socially adept. I don't have to rehash any of the awful posts or tweets or IGs in an effort to support that statement. You know them. However, there are some good ones, as well. People who start campaigns for Random Acts of Kindness. Houses built for those who have lost theirs in a natural disaster. Supplies bought and delivered following a hurricane, earthquake, flood, tsunami, or some other disaster du jour, just to name a few.

 
It's about how we choose to live our lives - for the Lord or not. Yes, it's really that simple.

If we choose for the Lord, then we have the Holy Spirit to guide us into all Truth (John 16:13). When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, He changes us. According to Galatians 5:22-23a, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, KINDNESS, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. The way I see it, love, joy, peace, and patience are what cause KINDNESS to grow within us. Just like a garden needs to be cultivated in order to produce, we need to cultivate the fruits of the Holy Spirit so they will grow and live Lord-large in us. And we must be intentional about it.

When we are tempted to be less than kind, let's take a breath and remember that God provides His strength to help us walk in His ways. Galatians 5:24-25, And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Prayer:

Father,
          Show us how best to cultivate the fruit You have placed in our lives. Help us to be Your ambassadors for love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Live large in us so that the world sees You when they look at us. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

How to Know What's Going On

He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth.
Luke 1:15c

At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me? When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy."
Luke 1:41-44 NKJV

Elizabeth knew about Mary's pregnancy before Mary told her, even though Mary had only been pregnant for days (see Luke 1:39). How did she know? She surely wasn't showing - there was no baby bump in that short amount of time. If we look back, we know the angel, Gabriel, told Zechariah the priest that his son would be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. When Mary greeted Elizabeth, John, the baby, leaped within her and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. (Remember, John was already filled with the Holy Spirit.)  The Holy Spirit revealed it to both John and his mother. Mary knew because the Holy Spirit had overshadowed her.

How can we know the mysteries of Scripture unless they are revealed to us? How can they be revealed to us unless the Holy Spirit does the revealing? John 16:13 NKJV tells us, However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. We must know God's Word to be able to fulfill our purpose in being here. We must receive the Holy Spirit to be able to know the depth and mysteries in God's Word. It's how we can know what's going on... 

Prayer:

Father,

          Thank You for sending Your Son to provide our salvation and redemption. Thank You for sending the Holy Spirit to lead us into all Truth; past, present and future. Reveal Yourself to us, Lord, so that we may know the Truth and the Truth will set us free. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Firepower

Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.
Acts 2:2-4 NLT

Have you ever thought about what it must have been like when the fire of the Holy Spirit came roaring into that room? Talk about your life-changing experiences! The power of the Holy Spirit on Peter enabled him to take to the streets and witness so powerfully that about 3,000 people were baptized and added to the church THAT DAY! The same Peter who - out of fear - had denied Christ three times...

Firepower is defined by the MacMillan dictionary as "the weapons available to use against an enemy." And that is just what the Holy Spirit does in our lives when we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit! He gives us the weapons to use against the enemy of our soul so that we are victorious in our walk with Christ. Have you received this power? 

Prayer:

Father,
We pray for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Your people! And we pray as Paul prayed in Ephesians 3:17a-10 that being rooted and established in love, we may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that we may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Leaky *

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.
John 14:26 NASB

I heard it pointed out today that the Holy Spirit is our helper, not our "doer."  It caught my attention. I had to research that thought, which took me to the following article by Erwin Lutzer, who wrote it for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. It wasn't where I was going with it, but it's a great article and someone else may need to read this.

Let's read what Mr. Lutzer has to say:* 

Jesus’ invitation at the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles: “On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him'” (John 7:37-39).

Jesus likened the gift of the Holy Spirit to a well of living water, which He said would spring up within us and lead to eternal life. Like water to parched ground, the Holy Spirit offers refreshment and help to our weary souls. Jesus offers this water in abundance to all who are thirsty and willing to come to Him and drink.

Jesus promised not merely a stream, but streams. All who drink would have their own artesian well within them. He calls with a loud voice to all who are weary of empty religion, to all who are weary of worldly pursuits. 

This gift of the Spirit is given to the thirsty: “If anyone is thirsty.” Those who are spiritually thirsty know the difference between being satisfied with God and being satisfied with the empty watering holes of the world. Tragically, some think they are not thirsty because they eke out a bit of satisfaction from the stagnant streams of sensuality and personal ambition. They do not know that they were born with a raging thirst that only Jesus can satisfy.

The woman who encountered Christ at the well had been married five times and was now living with a sixth man who was not her husband. She could neither depend on a husband nor her friends for comfort and hope. But Christ offered her living water that would spring up to eternal life (John 4:14). She would have inner resources that would bring cleansing to her troubled conscience and help her cope with the pain of her failed marital relationships.

Jesus introduced the ministry of the Holy Spirit to His disciples before His death. They had come to depend on Jesus for everything, and when He announced that He was leaving them, they felt abandoned. Jesus would not be with them to answer their questions, to teach them or to offer solutions to the challenges of their daily lives. They had come to love Him deeply and His absence would be keenly felt.

Jesus gave them this reassurance: “And I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper that He may abide with you forever … I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you” (John 14:18). The disciples would not be orphaned; in fact, thanks to the gift of the Spirit, Jesus in effect promised, “I’ll be closer to you than I’ve ever been before.” That promise was fulfilled by the gift of the Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity.

What is your need today? Is it for companionship? The Holy Spirit is with you. Is it for comfort? The Holy Spirit stands ready to help. Do you need an advocate? He is ready to plead your case. And, if your sorrow is so deep that you do not know how to pray, the Holy Spirit will intercede with groaning that is too deep for words (Romans 8:26).
Many Christians entertain false ideas about the Holy Spirit. For example, there are those who think that the Spirit indwells only some Christians but not others. Be assured that all Christians are indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9, 1 Corinthians 6:19). The indwelling Spirit seals us until the day of redemption and is a guarantee that we are God’s children, assuring us that we will be taken safely to Heaven (Ephesians 1:14, 5:30). However, we will not experience the Spirit’s life and power if we grieve Him with sin that we are neither willing to confess nor forsake.

Although all believers are indwelt by the Spirit, not all believers are filled with the Spirit. To be filled with the Spirit means that we are experiencing the Holy Spirit’s gentle guidance and control in our lives. To be filled with the Spirit means that the Spirit is reproducing His fruit within us. We should never think that the filling of the Spirit is just for those Christians who are the spiritually elite. I like to tell people that the Spirit is not just given to those who “have it all together” but to the rest of us so that we might be able to “get it all together.” The filling of the Spirit is for the most discouraged, failing Christian, but in order for us to enjoy the Spirit’s ministry, we must meet some basic conditions.

We are warned to keep our temple clean through confession of sin and submission to God (1 Corinthians 6:19). Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and He wants the key to the hidden closets of our hearts. We must not grieve the Spirit by allowing conditions to develop in our hearts that force the Holy Spirit to coexist with unconfessed sin. No one can exaggerate the suffering the Holy Spirit experiences when living in a temple that is unclean. He is grieved because He loves us and knows the damage sin does in our lives. When He is grieved, He does not feel at home in our hearts; His ministry to us is quenched.

To experience the Spirit’s fullness we also need faith. A preacher of another era, F.B. Meyer, told how desperately he sought the filling of the Holy Spirit. He knew he was indwelt by the Spirit, but he could not seem to receive the Spirit’s help for ministry. He said he left a meeting and was walking wearily through the night praying, seeking what he lacked. He said, “Lord, if there is anyone who needs the filling of the Spirit it is I. But I am too tired, too nervously run down to agonize; too weary to tarry, and yet I need the Spirit’s refreshment so desperately.”

Then he said it was as if he heard a voice saying, “As you took forgiveness from the hand of the dying Christ, so you may take the refreshment of the Spirit from the hands of the ascended Christ.” Then in simple faith, he said, “I then took for the first time and have been taking ever since.” We receive the benefits of the cross by faith; we also receive the benefits of the ascension by faith, namely, the fullness of the Spirit.

Don’t think that the Holy Spirit needs to be coaxed to control us. He desires to control us, for that is why He indwells us! He longs to reproduce the life of God within us; He wants to create a holy dwelling place within our souls. There is no reluctance on His part, but there is reluctance on our part because of our unwillingness to part with our sin.
Years ago when archaeologists entered the pyramids, they discovered grain that was 4,000 years old. Yet, incredibly, when they planted it, it grew! The life was present during those centuries, but it did not have the proper conditions to sprout. In warm sunshine and moist soil, the hard shell softened and the life began to grow. When the water of the Spirit and the sunshine of God’s Word combine in our lives, the result is that the life of the Spirit begins to become active within us.

Today the Holy Spirit invites us, saying in effect, “I will develop a sensitive relationship with you; I will help you to walk; I will help you to cope; I will help you through your trial; I will refresh your spirit.” This invitation is for all who have come to know Christ personally. Are you willing? The Spirit is!

No one who has ever walked through a desert says, “One good drink of water is enough for the week!” No, when you are trekking through the desert you need water daily, hourly. When D.L. Moody was asked why he had to be filled with the Spirit so often he said simply, “Because I leak.”

How often do we have to drink of the Spirit? As often as we thirst; as often as we have a need; as often as we leak. Let us come to Christ, not with a cup but with a bucket—believing that He will give us the refreshment He promised.

*Article by Erwin Lutzer

Prayer:

Father,
           Thank You for sending Your Holy Spirit to comfort and to guide us and to help us remember what Jesus said. We cannot do life without Your help. Fill us, Holy Spirit. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Without Help

If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
John 14:15-18 NKJV

I honestly don't know how people do life without Christ. There are days life is great, but then there are those other days... The ones that turn into weeks. Months. Seasons. Sometimes really LOOOOOOOOOONNNNNGGGGGGGG seasons. Can you relate? It's too hard without Someone to walk with us. 

It's during those times especially that I am so thankful for my Paraclete. No, not parakeet. Paraclete - the Greek word meaning Counselor, Comforter, Encourager, Advocate, Helper. The same Helper Jesus prayed the Father would send to us. The Holy Spirit. The often ignored Third Part of the Holy Trinity. The One who is ALL those things to us. Counselor, Comforter, Encourager, Advocate, Helper, the Spirit of Truth providing guidance in every season of our lives. 

Never alone. Never abandoned. Never without help. Thank You, God.

Prayer:

Father,
         Thank You for sending the Holy Spirit to abide with us forever. To guide us into all Truth, to testify to us of the hope we have in Christ Jesus. To bring to our remembrance all that You have taught us. Fine tune our hearts to hear and quickly respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen