Understanding human mortality: the long journey home
Are you a pastor or church leader looking for a bit of inspiration to start off your Monday? The...
Perspectives on grief during Lent
Grief is a terrible, personal experience—everybody goes through it at some point in their...
Hope amidst sorrow: death, funerals, and the power of the Gospel
It's been a difficult autumn at my church—in the last few weeks, three members of our...
Dressed for the wedding
Today's devotional fits well with yesterday's post about funerals and the Gospel. It's from...
Today's devotional: never alone
In today's Slice of Infinity devotional, Rachel Tulloch writes about the crushing power of...
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Accidentally on Purpose - #5865
Knocked from his horse, blinded, totally dependent - that's what it took to get Saul to turn to Jesus. It takes much the same for many of us to finally get us to come to Jesus in total dependency; getting knocked off our high horse, facing a situation we can't handle, we can't fix, we can't solve. If you've hit something that hurts, or something has hit you, it may very well be the way God is using to get your attention.
http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-hard-times/accidentally-on-purpose-5865
Deep Holes, Beautiful Discoveries - #5835
When things collapse you can see the faithfulness and love and power of your Lord in ways that we can only see when we're desperate and beyond what we can fix, what we can handle. This season when things are caving in can be a season of life-changing discovery, as well. You can't make the hole in your life go away, but you can go through it to discover beauty that you could never see any other way.
http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-hard-times/deep-holes-beautiful-discoveries-...
Caught Unprepared - #5825
You can reject Jesus simply by doing nothing. And believing in Him means you've told Him that you are placing your total trust in Him to be your Rescuer from your sin.
http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-most-important-relationship/caught-unprepare...
The Shadow that Scares Us - #5798
If you don't belong to Jesus, death is a monster that should be feared. If you do belong to Him, then death becomes just a shadow because death is now your doorway to all that heaven offers you.
http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-hard-times/the-shadow-that-scares-us-5798
The Unprepared Nightmare - #5768
For you, for me, there will come a day when God will say, "This very night, this very day your life will be demanded from you." Only He knows when your appointment with Him is. And it can't be rescheduled, it can't be cancelled, or it can't be postponed.
http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-hindrances/the-unprepared-nightmare-5768
The Monster In Your Closet - #5720
Your sins have been paid for. You don't ever have to pay for them if you give yourself to Jesus. And death will be just your graduation to eternal life in heaven. But if you have never totally trusted Jesus as your Savior from your sin, you have no hope of heaven.
http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-hard-times/the-monster-in-your-closet-5720
The Painful Road to Beauty - #5719
Any person you know who reflects the radiance and the beauty of a life filled with God, I can guarantee you they have gotten that way, not primarily through their good times but through their great pain and struggle of the stripping processes of God.
http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-hard-times/the-painful-road-to-beauty-5719
Declaring Bankruptcy - Finding Hope - #5705
There's only one road to that spiritual rescue: declaring your spiritual bankruptcy. Admitting there's nothing you can do to pay the debt for the sinning you've done. And that means the surrender of all of our religious pride, of any hope we've been putting in our religion, our church, our Christianness.
http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-most-important-relationship/declaring-bankru...
Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc. - You're in the Picture! - #5696
Many people see Jesus dying on that cross but they don't reach out to Him to be their Savior from their sin. You can reject Him aggressively like that one man, or passively just by simply failing to grab this Rescuer who's come for you. And that may be you at Jesus' cross. You've never really placed your trust in Him as your only hope for getting to heaven.
http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-most-important-relationship/you-are-in-the-p...
Precious in the Bible: Psalm 116:15
This verse describes the death of a believer as an event "precious" to God--that is, it's an event of great importance that He takes careful note of. Death for a believer is not the end; it's the beginning of a new life with God.
http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20116:15&version=NIV