Category Archives: Outreach

Holy Tuesday, April 12, 2022

1 It was two days before the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a cunning way to arrest Jesus and kill Him. 2 “Not during the festival,” they said, “so that there won’t be a riot among the people.”

3 While He was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He was reclining at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured it on His head. 4 But some were expressing indignation to one another: “Why has this perfume been wasted? 5 For this perfume might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor. And they began to scold her.

6 Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. Why are you bothering her? She has done a noble thing for me. 7 You always have the poor with you, and you can do what is good for them whenever you want, but you do not always have Me. 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body in advance for burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”

Mark 14:1-9 (CSB)

It is Tuesday. Jesus is two days from His arrest, three days from His body being beaten and nailed to a cross, and five days from returning the borrowed tomb. And where do we find Jesus? He is reclining at the dinner table with friends, having His body prepared for burial, while His enemies dream up a CIA-style plan to take His life. Did you catch the irony? Jesus’ enemies are dreaming up a plan to take His life, but His body is already being prepared for burial!

Let us take a look at these two seemingly-contradictory scenes. Mark begins by laying out how secretive the chief priests and scribes were being in concocting a plan to arrest and kill Jesus (vv. 1-2). Picture your favorite spy movie: plans being drawn up, people training and being put in place, equipment being ordered, and every detail planned to a “T”. The perfect plan is put in place and…BOOM! The trap is laid, and the person gets caught. Of course, several things go wrong in the mean-time with the main character nearly being killed three or four times.

The difference here is that the main character is the One being sought and is completely innocent of any wrongdoing. The chief priests and the scribes know this because they do not want to put their plan in action during the festival “so that there won’t be a riot among the people” (v. 2). Very cunning indeed….

Now that we know what is going on behind the scenes, let us see what was happening in the foreground. Jesus is at Simon the leper’s house and is enjoying a meal among friends. Mary, Martha, Lazarus, Simon, and His disciples are there (John 12:1-3). They are reclining at the table when, all of a sudden, Mary pulls out a vial of pure nard, breaks it open, and pours it on Jesus’ head and feet (v. 3). She begins to wipe His feet with her hair (John 12:3).

The perfume she anoints Jesus with would have cost her a year’s worth of wages. It was expensive, pure, and left a wonderful fragrance all throughout the house. Everything about this scene exclaims Mary’s humility, devotion, and worship in the presence of the King of kings. Each time we encounter Mary in the Scriptures, we find her at the feet of Jesus (Luke 10:38–42; John 11:31–32; 12:1–8). What a great example Mary leaves for believers! Unfortunately, her example did not rub off on everybody.

In verse 4, we find some of the people “indignant” with Mary’s “wasted” charity. John tells us the main instigator is Judas (John 12:4), and John 12:6 tells us that Judas “didn’t say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. He was in charge of the money-bag and would steal part of what was put in it.” Much like us, Judas’s temptation did not start with betraying the Son of God but with little compromises and sins. For him, it started with taking a little money off the top here and there. His love of money began to grow to the point he was upset when he lost a chance to steal more (vv. 4-5). Eventually, his love of money would lead him to betray the Son of God (Mark 14:10).

We know that “the love of money is A root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:10). I add emphasis to the word “a” because there are several roots of evil. Galatians 5:19-21 give us a glimpse of these, saying that “the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar.” Each of us are affected by one or more of them.

Yes, we are all affected by one or more of the works of the flesh, but look at how Jesus brings these seemingly, contradictory scenes together. He says, “Leave her alone! Why are you bothering her…? …[y]ou always have the poor with you…you do not always have Me” (vv. 6-7). In a few simple words, Jesus rebukes the evil, praises Mary’s worship of Him, and puts the entire situation into the correct perspective! He explains that Mary has her priorities straight – the poor will always be here to be ministered to, but Jesus is about to fulfill His mission and ascend back to the Father.

You see, Jesus had but one mission when coming to earth, and that was to save us from our sins. In verse 8, Jesus says, “she has done what she could; she has anointed my body in advance for burial.” Although the chief priests and scribes are plotting ways to kill Him, and others arguing over a lost opportunity to steal, Jesus is singularly focused on His upcoming death, burial, and resurrection.

The completion of Jesus’s mission on earth is but a couple of days away, but YOU need to understand that YOU – saving your soul – is His mission!

We are all sinners (Romans 3:23) and have all earned death because of that sin, but “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). All you have to do is call on His Name today to be saved: “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

Whether you are a chief priest, a scribe, or a Judas, you WILL BE SAVED and enjoy Him forever if only you will repent of your sin and believe in Him! “Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13)!

If you are a Mary, remain at the feet of Jesus, rest in Him, and enjoy Him forever!

Holy Monday, April 11, 2022

12 Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those who were selling doves. 13 “It is written,” He said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a ‘den of robbers.’”

14 The blind and the lame came to Him at the temple, and He healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things He did and the children shouting in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant. 16 “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked Him.

“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,

                “‘From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise’?”

17 And He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where He spent the night.

Matthew 21:12-17 (NIV84)

Jerusalem was a busy place. Thousands had traveled there to celebrate Passover. The city had overflowed into the surrounding communities, and, again, there was no room at the inn. Jesus left the city at night and stayed in Bethany. But, in the morning, he returned to everyone’s focus, the Temple.

The Temple of God in Jerusalem was high and lifted-up, literally. It stood on a hill, and, as you approached it’s walls, you went up. As you entered each court you went up. The highest place was the Holy of Holies, the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle where God’s presence appeared. There, one could find peace and forgiveness and hope. But, unfortunately, that was not what Jesus found when He entered the temple that day.

He found a marketplace where they were changing money and selling animals intended for sacrifice, not realizing the perfect sacrifice had just entered the Temple. What was Jesus’ reaction?

So He made a whip out of cords and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.

John 2:15 (NIV84)

Jesus was indignant. His Father’s house was to be a place of prayer and worship, and they had turned it into a den of thieves. In His righteous anger, He kicked them all out. Then, He continued ministering to those in need. He healed the blind and lame who came to Him while the praise of the children rang out saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David”.

We no longer have the Temple in Jerusalem. It was destroyed nearly 2000 years ago, but we still have Jesus. And we have His church, the body of Christ, who meets to pray and worship and serve. But what about the temple? Well, it has become new – in fact, we are the temple.

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?

1 Corinthians 3:16 (NIV84)

How does that make you feel? Is God’s temple in you a house of prayer? Were you aware that God’s Spirit lives in you?

As we approach Easter, it is a good time to consider God’s temple in us. Maybe, there are some things that need to be driven out. Or, maybe, someOne is to be let in.

From the first dramatic demonstrations of Jesus’ miracle-working power, the crowds wanted to take Him by force and make Him king (John 6:15). Their intent, of course, was for Him to be a king of their own liking who would fulfill their own aspirations of deliverance from the yoke of Rome. But the Lord consistently refused to be that kind of king and perform that kind of deliverance. His coronation processional into Jerusalem the day before was marked by simplicity rather than pomp – humility rather than splendor. He was not accompanied by influential dignitaries and a powerful army but by unarmed, powerless nobodies, just as He had predicted.

18 “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn Him to death 19 and will turn Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day He will be raised to life!”

Matthew 20:18-19 (NIV84)

Jesus did not come as a military, economic, political, or social savior from injustice and oppression. These are not man’s greatest problem; our greatest problem is sin. Jesus came as the spiritual Savior from sin and death.

He would soon demonstrate that “He had come not to reign but to die, not to be crowned but to be crucified, and not for the purpose of delivering Israel from the power of Rome but of delivering all men from the power of sin.”[1]

His second coming will deal with all those other problems, but, before He comes as King of kings and Lord of lords, He had to come as Savior.

So, I leave you on this Monday of Holy Week to consider something for yourself: is He my Savior?

[1] John F. MacArthur Jr., Matthew, Volume 3, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1988), 266.

Palm Sunday, April 10, 2022

1 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

  5    “Say to the daughter of Zion,
       ‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”

6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Matthew 21:1-11

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

2 Corinthians 5:21

20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

Revelation 3:20

It’s Palm Sunday – the anniversary of what is known as Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This is how Jesus’ last week on earth began, with people shouting “Hosanna!” and praising Him while celebrating His entrance into Jerusalem. The city streets were packed and overwhelmed with crowds of people waiting for His arrival.

This is usually the way that Holy Week (Palm Sunday through Easter) goes for the Church. For most of my lifetime and many years prior to it, it has been the busiest time for churches – Palm Sunday, Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. Easter Sunday, in a typical year, would see crowds cheerfully gathering in church buildings, dressed in bright, pastel colors, and joyfully singing and celebrating the Resurrection. But this past year has been anything but typical.

2020 saw church buildings empty or nearly empty on Easter Sunday. At Christ Community, we gathered in the rain with services led under the front porch and people praising through cracked windows or huddled under umbrellas; it was the best we could do to gather (separately) at the beginning of the pandemic. We then hurried home in fearful anticipation of the coming storms that knocked out power for many and damaged homes for others. It did not feel like Easter. But, maybe, that was what we needed to truly grasp what it means to cry “hosanna” to the King Jesus as we await His second coming!

This may seem overly simplistic, but we have had a unique opportunity to truly grasp the need for Easter, and, specifically on this Palm Sunday, to live out this out. “Hosanna” is an Aramaic cry/shout of praise. It means “Help! I pray!” or “Save! I pray!”. Somewhere through the passage of time, that cry for help or salvation became a cry that meant “praise be to God!” Think about it: God’s people cried out to Him for help and salvation, He helped/saved them time and again, and they praised Him out of a spirit of thanksgiving. This happened enough in their history that it formed part of their culture so that their cries for help transformed into shouts of praise.

That is what we needed for Easter 2020 and every other day, week, and year of our lives. It is what we need today.

If we have learned anything this past year, it is that life is precious, and that time spent together is too. We cannot look to Capital Hill for salvation or trust in a stimulus. We need to look to the hill called Golgotha – the place of the skull where the celebrated King died for in our place. We need to trust in the Savior who answered the cries of “Help us, we pray! Save us!” in the form of “Hosanna!”, even when the people knew not what they were saying. After all, He knows what we need, and only He can carry us through because He has been through it Himself.

God is clear in His Word that He has made a Way for us (John 14:6) so that we can be saved from our sins. If we trust in Him as Savior, He takes our sins and trades it for His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). That is quite a trade off!

There is perhaps no greater image for God inviting us to Himself than that of Him standing at a door and knocking (Revelation 3:20), especially coming out of a year when many of us have neither visited others nor received visitors ourselves. But, our whole lives have been interrupted by a virus, we need to rejoice in the fact that Christ is, in fact, immune – it cannot kill Him because He has already died and risen from the grave!

So, on this Palm Sunday, I invite you to look toward the coming of the King. This time, He will not be riding a donkey into a crowded street. No, this time, He will come in all His glory and resurrected divine splendor and bring His people home. But there is good news for us even while we wait: He has promised that He is with us “always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). And “He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:24).

Cry out to Him – “Hosanna!” Call upon His name and pour out your heart saying “Help me, I pray! Save me!” And know that He hears you and will save all who cry out to Him (Romans 10:13).

Hosanna!

Holy Week 2022

We are happy to be able to provide Bible readings and devotions for Holy Week in conjunction with Christ Community Church in Grenada, MS!

Click on the link for each day below to access them:

Palm Sunday, April 10, 2022

Holy Monday, April 11, 2022

Holy Tuesday, April 12, 2022

Holy (or Spy) Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Maundy Thursday, April 14, 2022

Good Friday, April 15, 2022

Black Saturday, April 16, 2022

For the Kiddos – The Resurrection Story told by a kid for kids!

Refresh & Restore — March 3, 2022

13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.[1]

Colossians 1:13-24

Greetings Sojourners!

This week’s devotion is going to look a bit different.

The passage you see above is the end of the one we’ve been studying and the one we will be studying over the next few weeks. The focus of both is Jesus, the “beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (vv. 13-14).

Since the subject is Jesus – God in flesh, the King of kings and Lord of lords, I want to spend a little more time on the devotion that was meant to go out today.

In the meantime, take a look at this video that creatively shares the gospel – the Story:

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Col 1:13–23.

Christmas to Calvary – Reading Guide

Christmas is a time when we are able to remember hope, peace, joy, and salvation — to focus on the One who is the brings those things to us.

We want to give you the opportunity to look at the whole Story of Jesus – not just the divine swaddled baby in the manger, but the young boy who taught the teachers in the temple, the man who served rather than being served, and the Savior who died and rose again “in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4 ESV). There are twenty-four chapters in Luke’s gospel, and, between December 1 and Christmas Eve, we have time to look at the full account of Jesus’ life – and thereby hope for ours as well.

This reading guide is an opportunity to spend time reading God’s Word, singing His praises, and meditating on the Gift – Jesus Christ. You can access the reading guide below, free of charge:

Download a reading guide formatted for phone and tablet, or download a reading guide formatted to be printed on 8.5″x11″ paper!

Or you can access an audio version of each day’s reading (from December 1-25) here:

"Kept Through the Trial: Jesus's Letter to the Church at Philadelphia" (The KING is Coming) – Refresh & Restore | A JustKeithHarris.com Podcast

📖 Revelation 3:7–13We’re back!After a few months off, The King is Coming returns in 2026 with one of the most encouraging letters in Revelation — Jesus’s message to the faithful church in Philadelphia. In a world filled with opposition and weakness, Jesus opens a door no one can shut.In this episode, Keith Harris and Jamie Harrison explore:✔️ Jesus’s identity as the Holy One, the True One — God Himself✔️ What the “key of David” means and how Jesus alone opens and shuts✔️ The debated phrase “I will keep you from the hour of trial” — and how to read it biblically✔️ Why “little power” doesn’t disqualify faithfulness✔️ How being kept through the trial glorifies Christ’s strength in us✔️ What it means to be a pillar in God’s presence foreverThis church had no rebuke — only encouragement. And Jesus’s call still stands today: “Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.” (Revelation 3:11, ESV)🔗 Missed earlier episodes in the series? You can click here to catch up and listen from the beginning.✍️ If you’d like to see a written version of this podcast, complete with footnotes and cross-references, you can find it here.
  1. "Kept Through the Trial: Jesus's Letter to the Church at Philadelphia" (The KING is Coming)
  2. Christ Has Come: The Promised King & His Gift of Love" (Advent 2025)
  3. Christ Has Come: The Promised King & His Gift of Peace (Advent 2025)
  4. Christ Has Come: The Promised King & His Gift of PEACE (Advent 2025)
  5. Christ Has Come: The Promised King & His Gift of HOPE (Advent 2025)

If you would like to sign-up to receive weekly devotions and other content, enter your email address and click the “subscribe” link below.

Daily Readings:

  • December 23 — Luke 23

  • Christmas Eve, December 24 — Luke 24

  • Christmas Day, December 25 — “He is Here”

Refresh & Restore — November 4, 2021

…but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect….[1]

1 Peter 3:15

"Kept Through the Trial: Jesus's Letter to the Church at Philadelphia" (The KING is Coming) – Refresh & Restore | A JustKeithHarris.com Podcast

📖 Revelation 3:7–13We’re back!After a few months off, The King is Coming returns in 2026 with one of the most encouraging letters in Revelation — Jesus’s message to the faithful church in Philadelphia. In a world filled with opposition and weakness, Jesus opens a door no one can shut.In this episode, Keith Harris and Jamie Harrison explore:✔️ Jesus’s identity as the Holy One, the True One — God Himself✔️ What the “key of David” means and how Jesus alone opens and shuts✔️ The debated phrase “I will keep you from the hour of trial” — and how to read it biblically✔️ Why “little power” doesn’t disqualify faithfulness✔️ How being kept through the trial glorifies Christ’s strength in us✔️ What it means to be a pillar in God’s presence foreverThis church had no rebuke — only encouragement. And Jesus’s call still stands today: “Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.” (Revelation 3:11, ESV)🔗 Missed earlier episodes in the series? You can click here to catch up and listen from the beginning.✍️ If you’d like to see a written version of this podcast, complete with footnotes and cross-references, you can find it here.
  1. "Kept Through the Trial: Jesus's Letter to the Church at Philadelphia" (The KING is Coming)
  2. Christ Has Come: The Promised King & His Gift of Love" (Advent 2025)
  3. Christ Has Come: The Promised King & His Gift of Peace (Advent 2025)
  4. Christ Has Come: The Promised King & His Gift of PEACE (Advent 2025)
  5. Christ Has Come: The Promised King & His Gift of HOPE (Advent 2025)

Greetings, Sojourner!

I’m excited to share this week’s devotion with you because it was written by one of my friends and former students, Reid Viner!

He originally wrote this as a profile essay in his English Comp class. It is a profile of Christianity and reads like the appeal of an apologist making a defense for the hope he finds in Christ and in His Word. I am thankful for his heart to share Christ, especially using his platform as a student, and wanted to share it with y’all today!

In a world where people fight to convert other people to their religion, one religion stands out the most: Christianity. 

     Christianity is a religion that wants people to know that what Jesus has done is true and available for them. There’s a great narrative in Acts 3 where Peter and John meet this poor man who has been paralyzed his entire life while they are on the way to the temple. He is looking for money, but they don’t have any. This guy is being passed over again and again. Some are likely casually tossing money his way. But Peter and John stop and get his attention – again, they do not have the money he needs – to share with him something money can’t buy. Peter says, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you”, and then tells the man that he has been healed by “Jesus Christ of Nazareth” – to “rise up and walk” (Acts 3:6)! Had they given him money, he would have still been paralyzed, but he offered the man Jesus. That same Jesus is what Christians want others to know about their faith.

The Uniqueness of Christianity

     Christianity’s fundamental aspect of faith being Who that faith is in. Ultimately, the object of worship is more important than the act – which is how worship is inspired in the first place. The Who for Christians is Jesus. And the worship is inspired by what He has done and is doing (which is called the gospel, a word meaning to tell the good news). Basically, the gospel of Jesus Christ is that He is fully God yet also fully man; He came to dwell among us to bring us to Him rather than us seek to work our way to Him; He lived a perfect life in order to sacrifice Himself to pay for our sins; He made that sacrifice willingly to be our propitiation (fancy word that means He bore our sin to give us His favor), and He rose from the grave, living forevermore. So, Jesus – who He is and what He has done/is doing – Himself is that most fundamental aspect of faith.

     Christianity is quite a unique religion, and I believe that the Bible speaks to what is most unique about Christianity. The Bible teaches about Jesus being Emmanuel – a word meaning God with us. John 1:14 and 2 Corinthians 5:21 speak to this beautifully. In John, we see God coming as a human to dwell among mankind. The 2 Corinthians passage tells us why: “for our sake”. He came to dwell among men because men needed Him to make a way to heaven. He traded His sinless life for the sinful life of any and all who would believe in Him. He would trade His righteousness for our shame – and our death.

     This is different from other religions. Here is an analogy I have heard used to explain all world religions. Life is a journey up a steep mountain. The mountain represents all the insurmountable tasks we need to complete to make our way to the positive option of an afterlife. Failure to make it up the mountain leads to the negative option. Basically, all religions would be summed up as journeying up the mountain, overcoming obstacles and trials, to make one’s way to heaven. Yet the Bible teaches us that what is known as Christianity is unique because our God – who Christians believe to be the one and only true God – came down the mountain in the person of Jesus to carry those who trust in Him up the mountain. He overcomes the obstacles. His strength defeats the trials. He just chooses to share the victory with those He saves and loves.

Christianity & Societal Issues

     All religions have their thoughts on societal issues, but Christianity’s are pretty interesting. And rather than looking at ways how Christianity has renounced issues surrounding societal issues, I would like to look at what God intended in the first place. All the way back in the beginning of what we know of as time, God created a man named Adam. He made him in His own image. And He noticed that Adam was alone. Deciding that it was “not good that the man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18), God sought to make him a helper. 

The first companions were animals, but, other than keeping Adam busy naming them, they were not suitable. God had a better plan. Rather than starting from scratch like He did with Adam, He put Adam to sleep, took one of His ribs, and formed the woman who would be named Eve. Adam was impressed. He immediately responded in gladness that she was “bone of [his] bone” and “flesh of [his] flesh” (Genesis 2:23). And in that act of creation, God set the precedent for marriage. Man would “leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). Some people want this to be ambiguous, but it is right there on page three (at least in my copy) of the Bible: one man and one woman to become one flesh. 

The so-called “societal issues” become issues where people try to take different paths than God originally intended. So, let us briefly look at (they all really require longer, more personal conversations) these issues.

Premarital sex, what the Bible calls fornication, takes issue with the “one flesh” aspect of marriage. Sexual intimacy between a man and a woman is a deeper level of intimacy than casual relationships can bear. Think about how complicated sex makes things between people who are not ready for the level of commitment needed to accompany sex. This goes against the original design, and trouble follows. Teen pregnancy would be another result of this. I struggle with the wording of this because pregnancy is supposed to be a joyous thing. Why is it not a source of joy in this situation but instead is a source of stress and, sometimes, causes people to despair? It is because the casual “one flesh” produced a blessing that the people were not equipped or ready to receive. Kids are not ready to raise kids. Deviating from God’s plan takes that which was meant to be a blessing and makes the baby feel like a burden. It messes with His original design. 

Now, we move on to the “issues” dealing with marriage. Rather than heap on verses that some use to condemn, let me move on to another passage that shows us God’s design. In Ephesians 5:32, Paul says that marriage is a “mystery” that “refers to Christ and the Church”, meaning that marriage is supposed to be a picture of God and His Church. What if God were to respond to His Bride, the Church, with divorce the first time we messed up? Then, He would not be the God that He says He is from the beginning – that He is “slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression” (Numbers 14:18). So, our willingness to divorce (Malachi 2:16) rather than reconcile (and, yes, there are extenuating circumstances in which divorce is allowed – see Mark 10:1-12 for context and the following quote) is because of our own “hardness of heart”. Ultimately, Christians believe the God who reconciled His enemies to Himself to become a part of His church (Romans 10:10) – a part of His bride – wants to see that reconciliation in the lives of His church.

As far as intermarriage (people of different religions marrying each other), this largely is the scope of Old Testament passages prohibiting marrying people outside of the nation of Israel. These were not racial prohibitions but religious. The best example of the issues that can come from marrying people of a different faith (other than the logical reality that opposing religions are not compatible) is Solomon. God gave Solomon great wisdom and riches, but He also warned Solomon about the consequences of sin and serving/worshiping other gods (1 Kings 9:6). Solomon then entered into a multitude – I think 700 wives and 300 concubines makes multitude a bit of an understatement – of marriage relationships. The result was that “his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God” (1 Kings 11:4). I think a divided heart speaks for itself. 

Wrapping Up

To get back to the essence of what I want to say here, it is important to understand that God – the Creator of everything – has a distinct plan for how things work best. Any time we deviate from that is sin, and “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). 

     Lots of religions nowadays require you to be perfect, no room for sin, but that’s how Christianity is different. Now it is going to come down to how we define “Christian” to answer this. If by Christian we mean those who are born again (John 3) or made alive in Christ (Ephesians 2), then Hell is off the table. Paul clearly says in Romans 8:1 that “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”. Jesus died in our place and rose from the grave, and all who have faith in Him are covered by His sacrifice because He has “forgiven us all our trespasses, by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us” by “nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:13-14). Jesus Himself says in John 10:28 that those who are His – those He has given “eternal life” – “will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of [His] hand”. On the other hand, there is nothing about the label of Christianity that protects against sin. One cannot invoke the name or be a registered evangelical Christian and get into heaven. God is checking whether or not we have been covered by His blood, not checking membership cards. 
To get back to the essence of what I want to say here, Christians believe that it is important to understand that God – the Creator of everything – has a distinct plan for how things work best. Any time we deviate from that is sin, and “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). We can look at all the ways we sin and heap condemnation, or we can point people to the Savior who “shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Everyone who “calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13).

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Pe 3:15.

Refresh & Restore — October 14, 2021

"Kept Through the Trial: Jesus's Letter to the Church at Philadelphia" (The KING is Coming) – Refresh & Restore | A JustKeithHarris.com Podcast

📖 Revelation 3:7–13We’re back!After a few months off, The King is Coming returns in 2026 with one of the most encouraging letters in Revelation — Jesus’s message to the faithful church in Philadelphia. In a world filled with opposition and weakness, Jesus opens a door no one can shut.In this episode, Keith Harris and Jamie Harrison explore:✔️ Jesus’s identity as the Holy One, the True One — God Himself✔️ What the “key of David” means and how Jesus alone opens and shuts✔️ The debated phrase “I will keep you from the hour of trial” — and how to read it biblically✔️ Why “little power” doesn’t disqualify faithfulness✔️ How being kept through the trial glorifies Christ’s strength in us✔️ What it means to be a pillar in God’s presence foreverThis church had no rebuke — only encouragement. And Jesus’s call still stands today: “Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.” (Revelation 3:11, ESV)🔗 Missed earlier episodes in the series? You can click here to catch up and listen from the beginning.✍️ If you’d like to see a written version of this podcast, complete with footnotes and cross-references, you can find it here.
  1. "Kept Through the Trial: Jesus's Letter to the Church at Philadelphia" (The KING is Coming)
  2. Christ Has Come: The Promised King & His Gift of Love" (Advent 2025)
  3. Christ Has Come: The Promised King & His Gift of Peace (Advent 2025)
  4. Christ Has Come: The Promised King & His Gift of PEACE (Advent 2025)
  5. Christ Has Come: The Promised King & His Gift of HOPE (Advent 2025)

1 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?

5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” 20 and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 21 So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.[1]

1 Corinthians 3:1-23

Greetings, Sojourner!

Our But GOD series is about to come to a close next week. It has been good for us to look at how God interjects Himself into our lives, our timelines, to change our futures as only He can.

If we are saved, it is only because He brought us from death to life. We can look back on our lives and see how we were once following after the course of this world and spiritually dead but God made us alive and gave us eternal life (Ephesians 2:4, Romans 6:23). Had God not interrupted our life with His grace, mercy, and love, we would still be dead and without hope.

If we are followers of God, there have been (and will be more and more in the future) situations that are difficult. There have been and will be battles, sorrows, tribulations, trials, and even suffering. But God stays true to Himself and His promises to care for those who are His (Nahum 1:7).

Yet with all the but God moments in our lives, we seem to suffer from spiritual amnesia. We allow good times and seeming successes to fool ourselves into thinking that we got here because of our own efforts – our own steam. In our amnesia, we re-write our history to make ourselves the hero. Sometimes, our re-writing the narrative makes others the heroes of our spiritual journey, but, while God definitely does use His people to meet the needs of others and point people to Him, there is no hope in human effort unless God interjects Himself and His power into the situation.

Paul, Apollos, or Jesus?

As I write this, it is Columbus Day – or Indigenous Peoples Day – or maybe it is the day we are supposed to remember that the Vikings landed centuries before Columbus sailed the ocean blue in fourteen-hundred-ninety-two (and that the Native Americans were, well, already native). There seems to be a discrepancy in who we attribute this holiday to or what we are supposed to be remembering. But where are those protesting the wrong attribution by going to work?!?!

Today’s passage shows that there were people whose testimonies (church word meant to describe one’s personal testimony regarding how they once were lost sinners but God saved them) had attribution problems, too. Rather than sharing what God had done in their lives, they argued over the celebrity preachers of their day – Apollos or Paul.

Thankfully, Paul sets a good precedent for us in that he seeks only to glorify Jesus and the work done by His Spirit to bring people to the Father! Paul genuinely believed what he wrote to the church at Galatia: “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14). He reminds the Corinthian church of their spiritual immaturity (vv. 1-2) and highlights that their problems are not spiritual but merely human (vv. 3-4).

I love the way that Paul explains it and the way his questions show how ridiculous it is to even consider himself or Apollos in regard to salvation (v. 5): “What then is Apollos? What is Paul?” He then answers his rhetorical questions: they are just servants (v. 5) and nothing compared to Christ (v. 7).

When the church at Corinth had testimony issues, Paul chose to remind them more about what Jesus had done than his meager efforts in serving Christ and spreading His gospel. He does not defend his efforts. He also does not diminish Apollos’ work, either. He simply seeks to magnify Jesus. One of them planted the gospel through preaching, sure. The other watered the seed through additional preaching and discipleship, absolutely.  But the only sure thing in the entire equation – the Son’s Light to the sowing and watering – is that “God gave the growth” (v. 6).

He continues on to discuss the work of Christ in making believers His temple and how that temple is built up through the effort of God’s servants, yet the attribution remains consistent – followers of Christ carry out the mission He has given (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:8) but God alone saves, God alone brings people from death to life, God alone blesses the work and grows believers into the image of His Son (Romans 12:2).

What About Us?

It would be easy to turn this around and make it all about us – our problems, our difficulties, our spiritual mistakes and foolishness, but I want to zero in on what Paul shared with the Corinthians: “but God gave the growth”.

As you look at your life and think through your testimony, to whom can you attribute the spiritual growth in your life?

Maybe you look back at your life and you find a string of your own efforts and failures instead of seeing the hand of God working things out. You may even find that you do not have a testimony because you might not be saved (born again, regenerated). In that case, rejoice because the seed of the gospel has been planted. Someone preached and you heard. Hopefully, you feel God’s Spirit convicting your heart of sin and drawing you to His grace, mercy, and love through what God has done for you in Jesus. If that is the case, all you must do is “confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead” and “you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Once a lost sinner cries out to God, praying for Him to save them, their testimony begins with that but God moment.

Maybe you are saved, but you have found yourself caught up in what you have done or what others have done. We must remember that, just as our works cannot save ourselves, our works and efforts cannot save others. We cannot follow after celebrity and find the same solace as following Christ. We cannot celebrate plans and methods over trusting in God to complete His saving work as only He can because even the best of human wisdom – as much as we might try to redeem it – is “folly with God” (v. 19). Rather than boast in men, let us boast in Christ and what He has done, and, when we see God’s people doing God’s work, let us rejoice in Him all the more that He is working through His people – that those who once were dead in their trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1) are now living and working through the new life that God gave them through Christ (Ephesians 2:8-10)!

So, this week as you go through life, be thankful for the work of the Apolloses, Pauls, and Cephases in your life. Be thankful for those who pointed you to Christ. There are more in my life than I could hope to mention. But they do not want their names listed here. Many of them have gone on from this world and are worshiping the Savior they pointed me toward in their lives.

Hopefully, you will get to plant the seed of the gospel in some lives this week or get to water some that have been planted by others. Most importantly, I hope we get the opportunity to point some people to Jesus who is so wonderful that those who find Him forget about us entirely.

As for me, I hope to be like this quote from Count Nikolaus Zinzendorf – who I know nothing of save this quote: “Preach the gospel, die, and be forgotten”. Forgotten because I pale in comparison to the One I seek to point to. Yet remembered by Him when I come into His Kingdom because He “loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20)!

Hallelujah, and Amen!

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Co 3:1–23.

Refresh & Restore — October 7, 2021

20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.[1]

Romans 6:20-23

"Kept Through the Trial: Jesus's Letter to the Church at Philadelphia" (The KING is Coming) – Refresh & Restore | A JustKeithHarris.com Podcast

📖 Revelation 3:7–13We’re back!After a few months off, The King is Coming returns in 2026 with one of the most encouraging letters in Revelation — Jesus’s message to the faithful church in Philadelphia. In a world filled with opposition and weakness, Jesus opens a door no one can shut.In this episode, Keith Harris and Jamie Harrison explore:✔️ Jesus’s identity as the Holy One, the True One — God Himself✔️ What the “key of David” means and how Jesus alone opens and shuts✔️ The debated phrase “I will keep you from the hour of trial” — and how to read it biblically✔️ Why “little power” doesn’t disqualify faithfulness✔️ How being kept through the trial glorifies Christ’s strength in us✔️ What it means to be a pillar in God’s presence foreverThis church had no rebuke — only encouragement. And Jesus’s call still stands today: “Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.” (Revelation 3:11, ESV)🔗 Missed earlier episodes in the series? You can click here to catch up and listen from the beginning.✍️ If you’d like to see a written version of this podcast, complete with footnotes and cross-references, you can find it here.
  1. "Kept Through the Trial: Jesus's Letter to the Church at Philadelphia" (The KING is Coming)
  2. Christ Has Come: The Promised King & His Gift of Love" (Advent 2025)
  3. Christ Has Come: The Promised King & His Gift of Peace (Advent 2025)
  4. Christ Has Come: The Promised King & His Gift of PEACE (Advent 2025)
  5. Christ Has Come: The Promised King & His Gift of HOPE (Advent 2025)

Greetings, Sojourner!

Check out this week’s devotion from Jamie Harrison. Jamie has been working behind the scenes with all of the writings and projects you see here on the website (editing, proofreading, encouraging, exhorting), and I was finally able to coax him into writing. He also joined in for a conversation in the podcast (link above)!

I’ve been to a lot of funerals in my lifetime. While the principal at Charleston Middle School, I attended funerals for two of my students; I’ve been to several friends’ and mentors’ funerals; and I’ve been to several family members funerals.

Most recently, I attended the funeral of one of my former basketball players. Listening to family members weeping for lost loved ones, preachers doing their best to give comfort, and many, many stories about how “good of a person” they were has driven me to my knees pondering what really is important in this life. Is it being a good person? Is it being financially stable? What about being known by everyone? Or is there something greater? What will have an eternal impact on me, you, and those we come into contact with?

The answers to these questions start in Genesis 2. God tells Adam, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die” (Gen. 2:16-17). In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve do exactly what God warned Adam not to do. Immediately, their eyes were opened to good and evil, and they realized they were naked (Gen. 3:6-7).

In verse 3:8, they hear the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden, and they hide from Him. You read that right: God Himself used to come down for walks in the garden with His creation! We used to have direct access to the King of kings and Lord of lords! What an amazing picture of our Father! BUT we did what we do best by totally screwing it up. Instead of walking with the Father, we chose to walk away and try things on our own. We figured we must know better than God and caused a rift between Him and us. That rift could only be temporarily fixed through blood sacrifices in the Old Testament, with God Himself performing the first one to cover Adam and Eve’s nakedness (sin) in Genesis 3:21.

Fast forward to today where each and every one of us is born into sin, and “death spread to all people, because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12). Everyone has sinned against a holy and perfect God. Our reward for that sin is death. The part we sometimes miss is that, yes, this is an earthly death, but also a spiritual death. And there are no more stories of God walking with Adam and Eve after they are removed from the garden (Gen. 3:23).

This leads us back to our verses for today. Look back at Romans 6:20-21. The spiritual death we are born into causes us to literally become “slaves to sin”. We don’t like to look at it in that context, but we all know how hard it is to walk away from sin. That slavery leads to rotten fruit being produced by the sinner. In other words, a trail of bad choices: constant anger, sexual sin, deceitfulness, envy, gossiping, slander, arrogance, etc. (cf. Rom. 1:29-31, Gal. 5:19-21). Verse 21 tells us “the outcome of those things is death”. To put it plainly, every person on the face of the earth has a rift between them and God due to their sin. That sin earns all of us an eternity separated from God in hell.

Verse 23 drives the point home by telling us that “the wages of sin is death”. How long would we work for a company that, instead of a paycheck, gave us a free vacation for eternity…in hell?! I can imagine a game show host saying, “Tell them what they’ve won Johnny,” and Johnny saying (loud and proud), “you’ve won a vacation that is sure to keep you warm, tormented, and separated from the God of the universe for all eternity!” When put like that, I don’t know many people that would be interested. But that is exactly what is meant by the “wages of sin”. We did it to ourselves, and we make choices each day that drive ourselves further and further from God.

BUT this is when it gets good! This is where God’s BUT comes in. We all know the word “but” cancels out everything that was said before it. Can you imagine how much more powerful GOD’S BUT is?! “The wages of sin is death, BUT the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (v. 23). Yes, we have earned death. Yes, we will receive our due reward of death. Yes, we deserve every bit of that because of our sin, BUT GOD offers life instead!

Who else but a holy, perfect, righteous, unblemished, sinless, matchless, and indescribable God could offer us such a gift? Matthew Henry put it like this:

“There is no proportion between the glory of heaven and our obedience; we must thank God, and not ourselves, if ever we get to heaven. And this gift is through Jesus Christ our Lord. It is Christ that purchased it, prepared it, prepares us for it, preserves us to it; he is the Alpha and Omega, All in all in our salvation.”

What a gift it is! And this gift is free, unmerited, and available to all. I always think back to Christmas morning and all the gifts under the tree. I didn’t do anything to deserve them (honestly, I deserved coal…every year). Those gifts were freely given by my parents because I was their son. Matthew 7:9-11 says,

“Who among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him?”

But God’s gift is eternally better than any wrapped under a tree.

I challenge you to take some time and read Romans 8:31-39. This passage spells out the gift provided by our Father in heaven. Verse 32 says, “He did not even spare his own Son but offered him up for us all”. Verses 38-39 explain (very thoroughly) that NOTHING can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Galatians 4:1-7 illustrates this point even further calling those that have a relationship with Christ “sons” and not “slaves” and verse 5 telling us that we “receive adoption as sons”. THAT’S GOOD NEWS!!

Let’s circle back to where we began. We know, based on scripture, that everyone will die. We also know that we will spend eternity in hell if we do not have a relationship with Christ. This means that you don’t become an angel when you die (saved or unsaved). Only being adopted as a son/daughter of almighty God will bring you into His family forever.

If you are reading this and know that you don’t have a RELATIONSHIP with Christ, it’s not too late. Romans 10:9 says, “if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved”. Right here, right now, IT IS TIME!

In the introduction, I asked several questions: Is being a good person important? Is being financially stable important? Is being known by everyone important? Or is there something greater? Is there something that will have an eternal impact on me/you and those we come into contact with?

The answer is YES, there is something greater. There is something that will have an eternal impact on myself/yourself and those we come into contact with. Verse 22 tells us that, “but now, since you have been set free from sin and have become enslaved to God, you have your fruit, which results in sanctification-and the outcome is eternal life!” Once we are adopted as sons/daughters, the Spirit of almighty God abides within us and begins to produce fruit.

Galatians 5:22-23 says,

“but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things.”

As these fruits become more prevalent in our lives, more and more people will be drawn to the love of Christ. My prayer is that each of us will become broken and poured out to the Spirit and allow Him to lead us.

As I think back on all the funerals I’ve been to, there is one question that keeps playing over and over in my mind: “Did I love them enough to share Christ with them?” Friends, if we truly love our family, friends, and those around us, we would be quick to share the love of Christ with them and a little less quick to share the latest gossip, financial tips, etc. with them. Penn Jillette, of the magician duo Penn & Teller and self-professing athiest, said it this way:

“If you believe that there’s a heaven and a hell, and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life, and you think that it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward—and atheists who think people shouldn’t proselytize and who say just leave me alone and keep your religion to yourself—how much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?”

Let’s not wait until a funeral to pretend our loved ones are angels in heaven and that “God needed them more than we did”. Let’s share that love with them HERE and NOW. After all, what better story to tell than a story of BUT GOD!

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ro 6:20–23.

The Mighty Hand of God

Twice this week, I have been taken aback by something my son has done.

He has always wanted to seem bigger and older than he is, which is typical of little boys. He has never liked having to hold someone’s hand whether it be to cross the road or to help him walk when he was first learning. He places a high value on being independent – on showing he can do [whatever] all by himself. Yet twice this week, he has reached up and wanted to hold my hand.

Both times were identical in circumstances. Both times were in Buccees (once going on vacation and the second on the return trip). Now, if you have ever been in Buccees – at least all of the times I have been – it is crowded and busy and loud and boisterous. Picture a gas station with the energy and chaos of a toddler. It is almost too much for me, and, apparently, it was too much for him because he reached up to hold my hand.

Don’t get me wrong here: I was glad to be needed, glad to be a comfort to him. But it threw me nonetheless because my little, independent-not-scared-of-things-he-should-be son was unnerved and a bit frightened. I tried to ask him if he was okay, but he didn’t want to talk. I tried to tell him it was okay to be nervous – that I myself was nervous, too. Both times, his response was the same: “I just want you to hold my hand”. Both times my response was merely quiet contemplation.

Today, we just walked around Buccees hand-in-hand. He slowly came out of his shell and was pointing to this and that as we navigated the crowd to walk where he wanted to walk and look at what he wanted to look. While we were walking, I saw something that filled my eyes with tears then and does now even as I type. I saw the same event between father and son taking place in a different perspective.

The dad was likely in his late fifties or early sixties, dressed as dads of that era do all Americana on vacation. That was not different as I was sporting my generation’s dad travel gear. What was different was that he was holding the hand of his grown son – every bit my age with special needs. They were talking about how Buccees was too much for the son but how everything was okay because daddy was there. And, sure enough, as long as he was holding his daddy’s hand, all was right and all of the frightening and alarming and anxious events taking place around droned out because he had his daddy’s hand in his.

What a beautiful picture. What a sobering and humbling reality.

See, the other dad surely knew what I did – that there was nothing magical about our hands, that there were dangers that we are not enough to battle against as much as we would try. That’s why I tried to talk to my son both times, to help him more that I felt my hand could accomplish on its own. But there is a hand that is stronger than ours.

I have been thinking of 1 Peter 5:6-7 ever since we left Buccees:

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you.

The “mighty hand of God” is a symbol of His strength and His power. That strength and power protects His children, but it also disciplines. It chides against enemies but also chastens His children. It is a hand of unimaginable strength, but it is also gentle and loving.

The same hands that formed Adam from dust and Eve from a rib are the same hands that can strike down mountains and nations.

They are the same hands that became small when He came as an infant. They are the same hands that did hard labor as a carpenter.

They are the same hands that were strong enough to carry our cross and bold enough to take the nails in crucifixion.

They are the same hands that eternally bear scars from those nails.

And they are the same hands that will one day wipe away the last tears from our eyes.

Things are often overwhelming, and life is hard. Some things are more than we can bear. Our Father knows that. He does not seek to beat us down but that we would humble ourselves, repent and cry out to Him to be lifted up.

The picture of 1 Peter 5:6-7 is the same that I saw in Buccees, a Father reaching down to His children to lift them up when the world is too much. And, thankfully, I can share with my son about the “mighty hand of God” to carry Him through when my own hands are too weak for the task.

Maybe things are too much for you right now. Maybe you feel like there is nowhere to turn or no one to turn to, but let me assure you there is a hand that will reach down and can pull you out of death and give you life. If you would humble yourself and come to Him, He will lift you up because “He cares for you”. And His hands are strong enough to care for “all your anxieties”.

That’s good news.