Hope

March 28, 2026

Grandma Without Fear

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 (NIV) I remember years ago when we were coming up the fishing trail, bringing our well-caught deserved river salmon home. I was with my grandmother, and there were two other children who were ages seven and nine. I was nine years of age. For some reason our dogs did not go with us that night. That night we met a bear on the trail! […]
March 27, 2026

Why Should I Be Afraid?

“And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.” Luke 12:7 (NLT) As a child and teenager, I used to think that God was distant—that He created this world and left. My mom started going to a church in our community, and it was quite obvious that there was a change in her life. She shared with us that she had become a Christian. I didn’t understand what that meant, but I did see the change in her life. She wanted to know […]
March 21, 2026

Faith

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV) Scripture teaches us that no man has ever seen God. The only person to ever come close to seeing God that I read about in the Bible is Moses. And he only saw the back of God, not His face. God told Moses specifically how to approach Him. God said, “Stand in the cleft of the rock” and “you will see my back, but my face must not be seen” (Exodus 33:17-23). God told Moses in that encounter that no one had […]
March 20, 2026

Still a Chance

“Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.’ ” Luke 23:42-43 (NIV) I remember visiting a home where the husband was dying from cancer. I asked if it was okay for me to go and see him in his room. The wife agreed. I entered the room, and you could tell that he did not have many days left. I asked him if he knew Jesus Christ, and he said he did not know. I told him who Jesus is, and […]
March 19, 2026

Power in Reserve

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13 (NKJV) I like my truck—it’s a blue 2007 4×4 Chevrolet Avalanche. There’s a bit of rust, a few years and a few miles on it, but it runs good and gets me around. When I’m cruising at normal speed on a flat highway, the 5.3-liter motor runs easily on four cylinders (using less gas). That’s great as long as I’m not hauling a heavy load, trying to climb a steep hill, pulling a big old flat-deck trailer, trying to pass a semi-trailer—or all of the above (at the […]
March 17, 2026

Once Not a People

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” 1 Peter 2:9-10 (NIV) I grew up near Williams Lake, B.C., on a small reserve called Sugar Cane. I have many sweet memories of playing in the beautiful surroundings of my childhood home. When I started attending the Day School on […]
March 14, 2026

Gospel Freedom—“Cast it off”

“And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.” Mark 10:49-50 (KJV) Life is unfair and hard at times. Unforeseen events, pain and tragedy seem to confront us. Events can prevent us from continual spiritual growth and happiness in our Christian life. Blind Bartimaeus begged daily in order to survive. During this time in history, such disabilities were often considered a death sentence. As a result, Bartimaeus was likely hopeless and […]
March 13, 2026

Never Hopeless

“The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in Him!’ ” Lamentations 3:22-23 (NLT) The Bible is not clear as to the author of the book of Lamentations but, regardless of who wrote it, it appears to be someone who was in deep distress, particularly over the fact that Jerusalem was being destroyed by the Babylonians. Imagine having your country and people in ruin! It is a terrible loss and the person who […]
March 11, 2026

Strengthen That Which Remains

“Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.” Revelation 3:2 (KJV) In Revelation 3, Jesus gave the church in Sardis a warning to repent and turn back to God. It sounds as if most of the believers in the church had become spiritually weak. But there is hope! . . . although death is mentioned, the possibility for renewal remains. Some people have a life motto. My own motto is the title of this devotional. In our little village, language is what kept our people […]