1 Thessalonians
is a letter to the church from Paul, Silvanus and Timothy.  Paul and his companions begin the first chapter by giving thanks for these brothers for their submissiveness toward Christ in their "work of faith, labor of love and steadfastness of hope" and telling them that he remembers them in prayers. These brothers, Paul says were "loved by God and chosen by God" and that was made evident by their full conviction after hearing the gospel and responding to the power of the Holy Spirit. These men also saw the example of Paul who lived his life for the Lord like an open book. 

The gospel they heard was that Christ Jesus died for their sins. The gospel is the good news that God offered up Jesus, His own Son, so sinners might be saved from His wrath. The Thessalonians knew they were sinners chasing idols. Therefore, they turned from sin, turned to God in faith, and received forgiveness and deliverance.  Following Christ would bring persecution yet the Thessalonians responded with joy.  Paul noted that their changed lives were leaving a mark on others so that more were receiving the good news. Evident to all was the fact that these men, after receiving the gospel, turned from the things that were enslaving them and immediately began serving God. 

-From 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

John 5:18-47


Jesus says He is equal with God. For the Jewish rulers of His day, this was blasphemy. Instead of receiving Him, they sought to shut Him up. They were embarrassed and angry that this unspectacular Jewish man from Galilee claimed He had the authority of God.  This man who made them examine their hearts was not the long-awaited Jewish Messiah they envisioned.

Many to this day refuse Jesus as Lord. They refuse His deity, denying His authority as Ruler over all the earth. Many prefer to see Him as a harmless man, perhaps a wise prophet, or miracle worker, a martyr, maybe even an angel but certainly not parallel with God. They will not admit He is the God-Man, equal to Him in power, in works, in holiness and in judgment. Jesus tells us plainly in His Word who He is. It will be on us if we call Him a liar.

Yes, unbelief will find us face to face with Him at the great white throne judgment. That day is coming when both the living and the dead will be held accountable for their choice. Did they chose Him or refuse Him as Lord? A verdict will be had.

Such joy and celebration there is in an innocent verdict! That can be ours today if we turn to Jesus and trust in Him as our Savior. He being without sin, laid down His life bearing the punishment for our sin so those of us who trust Him can be free from the penalty we deserved. What sorrow and waste for those who refuse Him as their Lord.

Jesus said to the Jewish leaders who rejected Him, "I have come in my Father's name and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you; Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?" 

John 5:1-18

Jesus healed the paralytic on the Sabbath day by saying to him, "Get up, take up your bed, and walk." At once the man was healed. Later Jesus saw him a second time and said, "See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you." The Jews were following Jesus, persecuting him for breaking their man-made laws like healing someone on the Sabbath. They were so hardened to what Jesus was doing and who He was that they were out to kill him for speaking the truth and doing the work of His Father. 

It is God who opens the eyes and it is God who makes wisdom penetrate the soul. Those who reject him are like hardened clay that will not soak up water. But for those who receive Him, He causes their heart to be like fertile moist soil. The seed of life is planted and they grow up strong and confident in the one who tends to them and they bear fruit for Him. 

John 4:46-54

Where do we turn when we are desperate? Who do we turn to? When storms blow in and darkness surrounds us holding us down so we can't escape, when the explosion of thunder assaults our calm booming in our ear while wind out of nowhere whips us around, our day to day routine is replaced with crisis. Jolted and gripped by the sudden onslaught of our new reality, we are left helpless. The storm is unapologetic, bringing us to our knees, destroying the world we know and sometimes even the ones we love.

We cry out to God for mercy which sounds like, "Please, God. Help!" We are powerless to stop the storms of life, but we know if He will, He is the only one who can. We may not have turned to Him when life was good, but now that we are desperate, we know He is the only one who can bring order back. 

For the father in Capernaum who had a son that was deathly ill, there was urgent desperation when he sought out Jesus. Like many at that time he sought Jesus only to get a miracle. More than anything else, he wanted his son to live. Despite his weak faith, Jesus had compassion for him. Instead of going to his son as the father requested, Jesus simply said to him, "Your son will live." The father then returned home and found his son had been made well. When he asked what time his son began recovering, it corresponded with the time that Jesus spoke to him. The father's faith grew from that moment and his entire household believed in Jesus. 

For this father, Jesus not only showed him mercy, but showed him grace by healing his son and then giving him stronger faith.  For those of us who question as we face an uncertain future, or for those of us who have experienced the cold bite that takes and doesn't give back, know this; Jesus Christ is more when we now have less. If we turn to Him for our rescue (because He is God,) He is rich in mercy and He has the power to cause the sun to push the storm away giving us hope.

Sometimes though, He allows us to undergo the storm and it rages on and seems like more than we can bear. Yet, when we turn around and put our trust in Jesus as our Savior, He never lets the storm destroy us. By His grace, He gives us His Holy Spirit which is our ever present help in time of need. We will never face storms alone.



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Morning for the mourning, 
Is a heavy fog of blue,
That shrouds the light,
And corrupts the sight,
Diminishing our whole view.

Mourning in the morning, 
Is a heaviness like lead,
That suffocates, 
Locking into place,
Drawing us back into bed.

For those of us downcast,
Look up, arise and know,
There is meaning yet,
God did not forget,
Through trials true faith can grow.

There's hope in the morning.
That replenishes our soul.
Christ knows our pain;
His death, not in vain.
Through mourning we are made whole.

Christ rose up in the morning,
This was God's plan all along,
Conquered the grave
For our souls to save,
His victory, Heaven's song.
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-Jennifer Szczyrbak

Just outside the small town of Sychar, whose name means, "town of the tomb" was the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Later, Joseph was buried there. One hundred yards away from Joseph's tomb was Jacob's well. 

Jacob built his well never knowing the significance the story of it would have on future generations. The depth of the well was over one hundred feet and it's water quenched the thirst of many weary souls. Yet, no visiter was more significant than the one who came to the well on the same day as an outcasted Samaritan woman.   

He was weary after walking all day long and when he came to the well, he stopped and rested on its edge. After some time this Jewish man saw a Samaritan woman coming with a jar to draw water. In those days Jews and Samaritans did not deal hospitably with each other, but this Jewish man did not adhere to the bias of the people. Breaking a cultural rule, he spoke to the woman (Jewish men were not to speak to a woman in public and especially were to avoid women with a bad reputation such as she had.) He said to her, "Give me a drink." 

This interaction startled her. How is it that this Jewish man would speak to her, seeking a favor from her? Who was this man? 

He said, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." She questioned him. How can you give water when you have nothing to draw water with? Besides, this well is very deep. "Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock." 

The man responded, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

"Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water," she responded. He then confounded her by telling her to "Go, call your husband, and come here." Wondering why he would say that she responded, "I have no husband," to which he replied, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband'' for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true." She may have felt shame at that moment as he uncovered the truth. She knew there was no way this stranger could know these things about her without having some sort of supernatural ability? Probing him she said, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet." He went on to explain to her that someday those who truly perceived would know when the Messiah had come and would worship Him in spirit and in truth. 

The woman wanted to show her agreement said, "I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things." He said to her, "I who speak to you am he." The woman was shaken. She was speaking to the long-awaited Savior...even more so, He was speaking to her! She left her jar at the well and hurried into town. Not wasting time, she told everyone she could that, Jesus Christ, the Messiah had come and that He knew everything about her. He knew she was a sinner and despite that, he regarded her and forgave her. This is the sign of a true believer; one who the people do not regard, yet who God chooses to become one of His own and who will leave everything behind to tell others about Him. 
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John 3:22-36 

"He must increase, but I must decrease." Unlike mere man, Jesus has no limits. These words spoken by John the Baptist teach us that Jesus came with divine authority over everything.  Jesus being from above was above everything. Being sent from God as the Son of God, Jesus had first hand witness to God, He was one with God, He had unlimited access to the Holy Spirit and God granted Him supremacy. After preparing the people for the Lord's arrival, John stepped back and pointed them to Jesus. 

Between the rising of the sun and its setting, time is quickly slipping away. People need to hear the saving news of Jesus. Who will tell them? Let us like John, prepare people for the arrival of Jesus, the King. He is coming back! As John did, let us too step back and give the glory to Jesus.

Our sins have separated us from God, yet God loved us so much that He gave us Jesus, His only Son, to die in our place so that we might live. Our story is just a tiny fragment in the big picture. It is God's story, much more than our story, that all need to hear so that they might come to saving faith. 

John 3:16-21

Into the darkened world, 
The light of Christ shines bright.
God's only Son Jesus,
Atonement for our plight.
God so loved the world,
Where wickedness had spread, 
Evil men loved darkness,
Their unbelief condemned.
Stepping into the light,
Are those who trust the One;
The lifted up Savior,
Through whom all good was done.

​-Jennifer Szczyrbak 

John 3:1-14

Jesus did not say, "Unless one is religious he cannot see the kingdom of God." He said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus was learning that these two things were very different. 

Being religious means following rules in order to gain a higher standing. Through religion there is a distinction between good men and bad men. But Being born again means there is no longer any difference between men because all have sinned and fallen short in the eyes of God. Believing this truth humbles you to submit yourself to Jesus Christ, the only one that is good and the only one that can give you right standing before God. Instead of boasting in what we do, those who are born again boast in what Jesus did.  

John 2:23-25

..."Many believed in His name when they saw the signs that He was doing. But Jesus did not entrust Himself to them, because He knew all people."

Yes, He knows the hearts of all people. He knows the hearts of those of us who seem excited about Him, but when sent out to do His will, we are immediately consumed by outside factors and lose sight of Him. He knows the hearts of those of us who respond to Him, yet do not go any deeper and fall away because we never build a relationship with Him through prayer and time in His Word. He knows the hearts of those of us who begin to follow Him, but then surround ourselves with people who are opposed to Him and influence us to turn away from Him. Jesus knows those of us who hear His voice and drop what we are doing to pursue Him with everything we have.  

Jesus knows our hearts. Because Jesus knows my heart, can I say with assurance that He would entrust Himself to me? Let us take this as a challenge to follow Him at any cost and really get to know Him.