May 18, 2024

Matthew 19:29

29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.

We talk a lot at Hope Church about the proper motivation for serving God, and we should. It’s crucial that love of God and knowing the love from God motivate our service to God. But it’s also possible for love to be enhanced by a gift. Every birthday, my wife shows her love with a thoughtful gift. I love those gifts because they are chosen for me and because I love the giver.

In this verse, God makes it clear that we do have to give things up to follow Him. It’s possible we will have to give up everything. It is necessary that we be willing to give everything up. But in return we get Him. Because He is so good, we can trust Him to give us what we need, and to reward those who seek Him lavishly. What else would a good Father do?

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach my heart to value the real gift you’ve given: Yourself.

May 17, 2024

John 14:26

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.

After the Resurrection, Jesus’ disciples had to be thrilled. Their leader had conquered the grave! What could possibly stop them now from taking the Kingdom to every nation in the world? Jesus gave them the command to do just that, then He left. He’s gone and 2,000 years later, we have the exact same job. How do we do it?

Remember the power He has given us to do the impossible. He hasn’t left us alone, He has sent the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, to dwell in our hearts. Far from leaving us, God is now inside us, reminding and teaching us all that Jesus said to us. We are sent to change the world and God Himself is with us every step, every breath, every thought. In Jesus God came close, but with the Spirit, He’s made us His home.

Prayer prompt: Lord, convince me of the power you have given your people by giving us the Helper so we will work with joy and confidence!

May 16, 2024

John 3:30

30 He must increase, but I must decrease.

This seems like a really simple verse, but take a minute to look at what it’s really saying. John the Baptist, Christ’s herald and cousin, said Jesus must increase and John must decrease. Isn’t the point of joining up with a movement to increase? Follow Marie Kondo to more space and contentment, follow John Maxwell to more productivity, follow Dave Ramsey to debt-free living! Why would following Jesus lead to decrease?

Again, read it carefully. I must decrease. The way of following Jesus leads to calling God God and calling yourself His creature and His servant. It’s good because that’s what He is and that’s who we are, but can you see how it’s a decrease from our normal opinion of ourselves? Let the humility of John lead you to anxiety-free, humble acceptance of God’s place and His love.

Prayer prompt: Lord, give me the blessing of humility so I can trust you to run things and work for your Kingdom and not mine.

May 15, 2024

James 4:14

14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

Mist does just about one thing: it disappears. It gets burned away with the sun or blown away with the breeze. Why would James say that about us? Aren’t we God’s people? Don’t most of these God Time posts make us feel special and loved? 

That’s just it, you are a mist that is incredibly loved, emphatically loved. But you are still a mist. We have both accept the love and lay down any pretension to being God, being like God, or even just lower case g gods who go about doing our own thing. Look up from your own life, short and fading, and worship the one who will never diminish.

Prayer prompt: Lord, help me to enjoy knowing that you are God and I am your creation.

May 14, 2024

Luke 4:42-43

42 And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, 43 but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.”

Purpose is a tricky word. We all need to have meaning in our lives, it’s why the incredibly wealthy keep working, why Manning or Brady played so long. There has to be a ‘why’ down at the bottom of all our effort because we are meaning-making beings. What was Jesus’ purpose? 

As followers of Jesus, we have to do what He did and adopt His purposes as our own where we can. It is not for us to die for the sins of the world, but we are to take up our cross and sacrifice that others may know God’s love. We can’t preach or heal like He could, but we are to take the good news of the Kingdom to other towns also. Have you committed yourself to the work you’ve been given? What small first or next step can you take today?

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me to see and get excited about the purpose you’ve made me for.

May 13, 2024

Romans 8:33

33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.

If you stop to think about it, how much of your daily activity is devoted to making sure you’re really somebody? We have these ideas of success that are somewhere out there in the world. If we can just take some real steps towards more money, more respect, more power, more attractiveness, more expertise then today can be a success and one day we will really have it. We can finally be there. We can finally be done, just, good, full. 

That will never work. It is only God who justifies; only He can say you are good, only He can make you full. If, through Jesus, God says you are good, what idea in yourself, your parents, or the world can tell you otherwise? Who? Who can bring any charge against you if God says you’re free? Go to Him and start putting your effort into enjoying His grace and glorifying His name.

Prayer prompt: Lord, please help me to believe that you have really made me free.

May 11, 2024

1 Peter 2:9

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Some bible verses are so full, each phrase is worth taking your time over. Peter is calling us a chosen, holy, royal priesthood. He is calling us God’s possession. He says we get to feel the excellency of moving out of darkness into God’s marvelous, glowing presence. Then He tells us what we are supposed to do with all of this overflowing joy and honor: proclaim.

The verse turns on that idea of being a link. A priest is a link between God and the rest of humanity. We are a link because we are both God’s people and just plain regular people. We can take what we’ve been given and show it, proclaim it, to those around us and bring them into that same joy. Today, commit to being someone’s link to Jesus.

Prayer prompt: Lord, please make me a link between you and the world. Show me someone today I can tell about you.

May 10, 2024

Psalm 150:6

6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.

Breathe in, breathe out. Have you ever thanked God for the breath He gives you? God is the Author of life, Creator of heaven of earth. He designed our bodies and created the atmosphere that we breathe. He gives us life, yet how often do we praise Him for what He’s done for us? Even more so, how often do we praise Him simply because of who He is?

The rest of Psalm 150 says to praise God “in his sanctuary” and “in his mighty heavens”, to praise Him for “his mighty deeds” and “according to his great excellence”, to praise Him with “lute and harp” and “tambourine and dance.” It doesn’t matter where you are, who you are, or what musical talent you may or may not have. If you have breath, praise Him for how great and good He is!

Written by Kyle Tucker

Prayer prompt: Lord, help me to praise You for how wonderful and awesome You are!

May 9, 2024

Genesis 50:20 

20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

How can evil be good? Is it possible for God to take what is one thing and make it into its opposite? Is it like a Judo master who take attacks and turn them back against their attackers? Is it like a miracle where water turns to wine? We step into some heavy mystery here. 

This verse was the response of a man who had spent decades as a prisoner and slave after his brothers sold him. God then used this man to provide food for all of Egypt and Canaan during a 7 year famine, raising the man to be #2 in all of Egypt. It is a dangerous game to try and figure out how God will turn evil to good, but today, look at Joseph and remember that He can.

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me about your size and your wisdom so I can trust even when I can’t understand.

May 8, 2024

Genesis 25:29-34

29 Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. 30 And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.) 31 Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” 32 Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” 33 Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

It is possible to make any deal. If someone is desperate enough or foolish enough, you can even sell your birthright for a bowl of lentil soup. It’s worth taking a minute to think about that. Before we are too hard on Esau, what will you give up for small, perishable pleasures? 

In Jesus, we are adopted into God’s family and have the pleasure of His presence, the joy of working hard for a cause that won’t perish, and the community of His people. What does it take for you to turn your back on all that and go your own way? A little money? A little lust? A little pride? Try to find the soup you keep selling it all for and ask someone to pray with you about it.

Prayer Prompt: Lord, please show me some of the places I sell you out for small pleasures. 

May 7, 2024

John 1:4

4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

In any buddy movie, if they are ever laid out at a pool or beach, inevitably one will look at the other, drop his sunglasses down his nose, and say, “This is the life.” When you go to those places, you can feel the same thing for about 45 minutes. Then you need to find a bathroom, or the sun is too hot, or the sand starts to itch, or more likely, the children need 5,000 things. 

In Jesus, we are promised both life and light. When Jesus gives life, He gives it to the full. Not just continuing existence, the bible teaches that everyone will exist forever. He wants to give you life, help you really start living, sort of like that tired phrase. He wants to show you what life really is, what you were made for. And He isn’t a guide like the hotel employee who shows you to your room then, hopefully, leaves. That life is in Him. Are you looking to Jesus and your relationship to Him to find your life?

Prayer prompt: Lord, please show me the real life that can only be found in you.

May 6, 2024

Galatians 2:20 

20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Is there something you would leave everything for? Imagine what it would have to be, like a letter confirming you are the heir to a vast fortune, or the only true heir to a throne and a kingdom in some paradise far away. What would that feel like? It would take a minute to confirm it, and believe it, but then how quickly would the new better life wash away the old?

The Gospel story is one of God leading you from a dungeon into light, then into full understanding of His glorious love, to share in His presence and joy forever. We fail to enjoy that when we go back to old ways of thinking and living. Paul, the writer of Galatians, saw clearly that his old life was over, crucified with Jesus, and now a new life with Jesus has begun. Do you have that life in Jesus? Why go back to anything else?

Prayer prompt: Lord, remind me of the promises, blessings, and hope so that I live for your Kingdom.

May 4, 2024

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

I can’t imagine how someone could achieve the goal of praying without ceasing. It seems like prayer would get in the way of the million other things you need to think about in a day. And yet, here is the command: pray without ceasing. What do we do with a burden like that?

Reading the whole sentence is helpful here. Right before we are commanded to pray all the time, we are told to rejoice always and to give thanks in all circumstances. It is somehow possible to experience God’s presence in such a way that you rejoice and give thanks always. We know God is in control of everything from the horrible to the sublime. As we speak to Him, we can look up and see Him in all His grandeur and know, by Jesus, that we can rejoice. Why not speak to Him without ceasing? Wouldn’t you want that all the time?

Prayer prompt: Lord, help me to think, all day today, about what I am thankful for so I will rejoice always!

May 3, 2024

2 Timothy 1:12b

… I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.

There are two things to see and feel in this verse. Start with the fear of losing what has been entrusted to you. The first things that come to mind are our kids, spouse, job, house, stuff, and cars. Of course we feel the fear of losing those things. But this verse is focused on Paul’s ministry. He fears that the people he is leading to Jesus will fall away or that the Kingdom work he’s done won’t last.

Then comes the relief: God is big enough to guard what He gives us until He brings us home. What are the things you’ve done for the Kingdom? It can feel like a house of cards that keeps falling. Why not just quit? Spend time this morning resolving to go all out for the Kingdom because you can trust God to protect what He entrusts.

Prayer prompt: Lord, let me focus on your strength and trust you to guard what you have entrusted to me.

May 2, 2024

Genesis 1:1

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

What is standing against you today? Is there some big dream you had for your life, some amazing vision of a better world that you were going to make a reality? That kind of thing gets squeezed out of us pretty early. We fail at small things and never seem to attempt the big ones. As soon as school is out and you step into the real world horrible things like debt, ineffectiveness, and apathy drain motivation. It seems like the world is only fine with us moving in one direction: a slow slide toward feebleness. 

But that’s a lie. This world is broken, no doubt, and there are people who want you to quit working for the Kingdom. That’s when you have to remember, this world isn’t their’s. This world is God’s. He made it, He owns it, He rules it. Start today by knowing, deep down, that this is God’s world. Working with Him and for His glory is always worth it. Commit to hope today.

Prayer prompt: Lord, give me the faith to see you behind, above, and beyond my enemies.

May 1, 2024

Philippians 1:6

6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

As soon as something godly starts to happen in your life, watch out. If you’re like me, a little increase in discipline or patience, even love, is often followed by a big flop. Maybe you finally see some growth in love and share about Jesus with a coworker. It feels like you’re walking on air as you sing praise to God! Then you get home and start yelling at your kids. How are we supposed to grow when it seems like failure and sin are constantly with us?

Remember who is right beside us helping us. The God who spoke and saw worlds jump into existence has promised that He will finish what He started. Life is littered with projects begun and abandoned, but not for God. Dunked in grace, covered in love, forgiven because of Jesus, we will keep walking and He will bring His good work in us to completion.

Prayer prompt: Lord, I will keep walking because I know you will finish what you start.

April 30, 2024

1 John 4:18

18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

Is fear a good thing or a bad thing? Like pain or anxiety, God has given us fear as a natural reaction to something we should watch out for. While we don’t want to feel fear, it would be far worse if we didn’t have the capacity. Driving, skiing, and buffets are all much safer with a healthy sense of fear.

In this verse, we see how fear and love interact. Think of God’s love, the love that came down to earth, then went down to death, to bring us from death up to His presence. While it is wisdom to feel God’s holiness and grandeur as beyond our understanding, His love should stop us from feeling a fear to approach Him every minute of everyday. Enjoy His perfect love today!

Prayer prompt: Lord, bring me into the bliss of trembling at your majesty and still walking with confidence into your presence.

April 29, 2024

2 Corinthians 9:8

8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

I often think about the room in Gene Wilder’s Willy Wonka Factory that is made completely from the most delicious sweets. If you think too long, it gets a little gross. I’m sure you would get sticky and the sweets would get dusty or dirty or people sweat on them. But if you just let it exist as an ideal, it’s magical and attractive. Why doesn’t an all powerful God give us goodies like that? 

Each word in this verse should go off like a bomb, shaking that question to pieces. Grace from God will abound, pour out, roll over like a wave, so that being totally sufficient, having everything you need, at all times, you can really get to work. Not only has He, the Supreme God, rolled all our needs to dust under His overwhelming provision, He’s also given us a wonderful task and purpose! What more could we want?

Prayer prompt: Lord, please make me always dependent on and expectant of Your abounding Grace!

April 27, 2024

Joshua 1:6-7

6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.

Is Christianity a manly religion? I think it may have entered into some people’s heads to regard the faith as something women teach to children. Some see it like a nursery rhyme to instruct good boys and girls on the benefits of cleanliness or obedience. Helpful, maybe, but many see Christianity as something we set down when we get old enough to become our own people.

But of course not. Our faith has conquered nations and the hearts of people small and great. Our faith is one that slays dragons and upends unjust social systems. Your faith will compel you to walk endless distances and climb mountains to the clouds in order to remake the world in the way God wants it. Are you ready to be strong and courageous?

Prayer prompt: Lord, equip me with courage and strength to work for Your Kingdom today.

April 26, 2024

Zephaniah 3:17

17 The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

I understand that God loves me, but does He like me? Every Christian starts with grace then quickly moves back to works. In grace we trust that God gives us His love, but with works, we have to earn it. Since I still sin, can I go back to God? Is turning from my sin a good idea if God is going to greet me with frowns and whips?

Look at Zephaniah 3:17. How is it possible that any God would treat His creation like that? God is with you, in your midst. He is mighty to save you. He will rejoice over you with gladness and quiet your excuses and your self-justification with His love. He will make the universe ring with His loud singing. Let each of those phrases land in your heart today. God loves you because He is so so good.

Prayer prompt: Lord, I want to turn from my sin and embrace the love you have for me.