Overwhelming Love

Monday, July 13, 2026

So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? "You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. "If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. John 13:12-14

Show Overwhelming Love  
Have you ever felt the overwhelming love of God? When we feel God’s overwhelming love in our life there is nothing like it.  It consumes and burns up every thread of discord, every worry, every fear, every wrong deed done, every sin. If you have ever known the overwhelming love of God before then you know what I am talking about.  Sometimes we may not feel it when things are hard, but He never takes His overwhelming love from us, as people might. His love is unconditional and covers everything.  It is the overwhelming love of God that allows us to come to the cross and be washed in the blood. There is no spiritual relationship without cleansing, so without this privilege we could not have a relationship with almighty God. 

In this passage we see a beautiful story of humility as Jesus washes the disciples’ feet.  Humility is the beginning of holiness as Jesus modeled for us over and over again in His time here on earth. Overwhelming love will also bring us to humility as we realize just how small we are in the grand scheme of things when overwhelmed by love.

God’s love for us is a gift, not something we have to earn.  You can do all you can to get right with God – but you still have to humble yourself and let Him wash your feet. He alone can cleanse us from our sin and wipe out our transgressions.  And while we can do nothing to earn it, we do have to receive it.  You cannot get a gift from someone unless you actually receive it.  The same is true with love. As humans, many of us have felt the heartbreak of loving someone only to not have that love returned - a very painful experience. God loves us and has so many good things for us but we will never have the benefit of His overwhelming love if we don’t receive it. 

For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. John 13:15

Jesus spent this time with His disciples, knowing He would be crucified soon, so that we would have this example of how to love others.  He exampled a never-ending, tolerant, unexpected, humble, and overwhelming love.  All these things are things we are to show to others if we are going to love people like Jesus loved people.  The last act of Jesus here on earth was the overwhelming love He showed as He gave His life for our salvation.  

Who can you overwhelm with love? It is our responsibility as His children to take this gift He has given us and pass it on to as many people as we can. I believe there is not a person on the face of this earth who does not truly want to be overwhelmed with love. They may say they don’t, and they may act out unkindly towards others, but most of the time that is a cry for someone to care about them. It is cliché but so true that what the world needs now – most of all – is love - the overwhelming love of our Heavenly Father, and we are His tools to spread this love to others. 

Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.  Proverbs 10:12 

Come and See: Encounters With Jesus “The Offended”

Come and See: Encounters With Jesus
“The Offended”
Matthew 9:9-13 (CSB)

 

Key Truth: All are invited to come and see the truth found in Jesus.

Main Question: How does encountering Jesus change how we respond to offense? 

1. Matthew’s calling. (vs. 9)

- Christian discipleship is not simply adherence to a religious system or set of doctrinal beliefs, but a whole-hearted surrender to a living Savior.

 

2. The Pharisee’s offense. (vs. 10-11)

 

3. Jesus’ response. (vs. 12-13)

After the Message: 

Read Matthew 9:9-13. How do you respond when you are offended? Do you place your offense in light of Jesus’ call to follow Him? Who would you invite to a “Come and See” party?   

Seek Him With Your Whole Heart

Thursday, July 9, 2026

For I know the plans I have for you — this is the Lord’s declaration — plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. You will call to me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. I will be found by you — this is the Lord’s declaration…  Jeremiah 29:10-14 CSB

Seek Him With Your Whole Heart

In the scripture above, the prophet Jeremiah’s letter to the Jews tells them of a future and a hope they can cling to. It was many generations before Christ’s birth and the Jews turned away from God and turned to idols, leading to their exile. They were seeking the wrong things in the wrong places. Their exile was over now and the prophet Jeremiah gives them some good news - For I know the plans I have for you — this is the Lord’s declaration — plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. You will call to me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. I will be found by you — this is the Lord’s declaration… 

Jeremiah was telling them that God had good plans for them and that instead of looking for wrong things in wrong places that would never fill them, they could seek Him to find what they needed. The same is true for us today. We will only end up exiled  when we seek something besides God to fill the hole in our lives. But He promises that when we truly seek Him with our whole hearts, we will always find Him. He doesn’t hide or make it hard. He is right there waiting. When we have been seeking the wrong things, we can turn to him, seek him with our whole hearts, and find the fulfillment we seek. 

We are all seeking something. It may be popularity, wealth, or love. It may be happiness, satisfaction, or the perfect job, car, spouse, or children. All these things are good gifts from the Lord as long as He remains on the throne of our hearts. But for many, they will never find what they are looking for because they are looking in the wrong place. We will never find the right thing in the wrong place. We will always find the wrong thing in the wrong place like the Israelites. The void we want filled, the hole in our heart we want patched, the loneliness we want to vanish, the loss we want erased – nothing on this earth will help any of this. Jesus is the only one who can give us what we want and need.

The Israelites were worshipping idols and looking in all the wrong places for fulfillment.  What are you seeking and worshipping today? Are you willing to seek him with your whole heart - getting rid of the idols and wrong things you have been seeking to find what only Jesus can give you? 

We Reflect What We Behold

 Wednesday, July 8, 2026

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. Exodus 34: 29-30

We Reflect What We Behold

You know when someone is really, really happy because you can see it all over their face.  They literally glow.  It comes from the inside and radiates off their cheeks.  There are many things in life that can make us glow, like love, family, and health. But nothing makes us glow like being close to God.  

Moses had the unique opportunity of speaking with God face to face on more than one occasion.  When God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses, Moses was with God for 40 days and 40 nights on Mt. Sinai.  When he came down the mountain, he was glowing so much that Aaron and all the Israelites were afraid to get close to him.  

Anyone who experiences the Lord will be changed – and they will reflect the glory of God.  Moses’ 40 days and 40 nights in the very presence of God changed him.  He was never the same after that experience.  Neither can we be the same after an encounter with God, and everyone should be able to notice – like the glow on Moses’ face.  If we want to experience transformation, we have to position ourselves for it. If we seek the Lord and position ourselves in his presence we will be transformed because whatever we behold, we will reflect. 

Whatever we seek we will focus on, and whatever we focus on will be reflected in our face and in our lives. What we position ourselves in front of we absorb and it changes us. What do you want to absorb? What do you want to infiltrate your life? Your heart? Your family? What do you behold? It is a weighty thought that we should pay great attention to because when we seek what the would has to offer, it is a dead end street. The more we feed ourselves with the world the more we will desire the world. The more we feed ourselves the things of the spirit the more we will desire the things of the spirit. 

It is a vicious cycle. What we behold we will become and, if it is the wrong thing, what we become will consume us from the inside out. But when we behold Jesus we will be transformed into his image. When we spend time with the Lord it shows all over us. It shows on our faces - our countenance. It shows in our actions and in our words. And when we have that intimacy with God, we have pure, unfiltered worship and adoration for Him. Unveiled - no barriers. Authentic worship. 

When we can see His glory - with unveiled hearts - he will be the object of our affections as he deserves. Abiding in Him gives us the reflection that we need to reflect to the rest of the world. When we abide in him we see His glory and it shines through us to those around us. We reflect his glory to them. 

Today, will those you come into contact with see the glow of God on your face? Will it be evident to them that you have been with God?  

 

A New Heart

Tuesday, July 7, 2026

A New Heart – Ezekiel 36:26-27 Submitted by Kay Crumley

We often think of the Old Testament Prophets as hard to read and understand. Ezekiel was a prophet who wrote while Israel was in captivity and prophesied about their release from captivity. He was a most interesting character and did several very dramatic things directed by God to demonstrate the point God was leading him to make to the people. He not only spoke and wrote, but also demonstrated by actively living out the message from God.  

A great deal of his message had to do with renewal. The verses below show his prophesy of God giving His people a new heart. The nation of Israel had become so acclimated to the culture of the Babylonians that they were worshiping idols, living immoral lives, and had abandoned the Laws of Moses.  

We read in verse 25 God’s words spoken through Ezekiel; Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. Becoming clean again, pure in God’s eyes, was not something they could do for themselves any more than it is something we can do today. We are only clean, forgiven by the sacrifice of Jesus because of God’s grace.  

Verses 26 – 27 promise that cleansing will be deeper than just outward appearance but will be cleansing of our heart. We will have a new perspective. Our devotion will return to the one True God, and we will desire to serve Him by obeying Him. 

26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will place my Spirit within you and cause you to follow my statutes and carefully observemy ordinances. – CSB 

Below is the same passage in New Living Translation. The heart of stone is the stubborn heart that is replaced with a tender, responsive heart. Then we will follow His decrees/laws as we obey Him. 

26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations. – NLT 

Jesus referenced this passage in John 2 and Paul spoke of believers as being new creations in 2 Corinthians. God promised to ‘place my spirit within you’. Jesus promised an Advocate, a Helper who would come to live in the heart of the believer, that is the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit cannot dwell in the old heart; it is a filthy place, devoid of all good, and full of enmity to God. His very first operation upon our nature is to pull down the old house and build Himself a new one, that He may be able to inhabit us consistently with His Holy Spiritual nature.” (Spurgeon) 

We have been given a new heart where the Holy Spirit lives to guide, teach, correct, intercede, and sanctify us to be instruments of God as we share Him with the world around us. Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:19 asks believers this question; Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own. We are no longer free to sin but free from the power of sin. We have been bought by the blood of Jesus and have a new heart that yearns to obey Him.   

What Are You Seeking?

Monday, July 6, 2026

And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them.  And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.  And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”  Mark 2:2-5

What Are You Seeking?

We are all seeking something – 

To be loved

To not be lonely

To be recognized 

To be wanted

To be heard 

To be seen

To feel worthy

To feel valued

To know happiness

To feel secure

We are all seeking something that can only be found in one place, yet even when we know where to find what we seek, we all turn to something or someone else that seems quicker. We want instant relief from pain, loneliness, rejection, loss, and all the other “normal” afflictions that come with life on this broken planet. 

Yesterday in our “Come and See: Encounters with Jesus” series we heard the story of a man and his friends who were seeking. They knew that Jesus was the only one who had what they were seeking, and they took radical steps of faith to get to Jesus in a crowded house. 

Jesus was at a house in Capernaum, a packed house.  So many people were there that day that no one else could get in. The friends of a paralyzed man heard that Jesus was back, and they wanted desperately to take their friend so that Jesus could heal him. They were so desperate that they realized the only way they were going to get their friend in front of Jesus was to cut a hole in the roof of a perfect stranger’s house.  And they did it. When Jesus looks up and sees the hole and sees the four men lowering the paralyzed man down, He was impressed. He was impressed with the friends and how they had so much faith for Him to heal their friend, and how they were so willing to take extreme measures for this guy – because of faith. 

Faith led his friends to do something radical – not sensible to others, but radical. An act of faith with no proof that this was going to work, but they had heard about the Messiah. They believed Jesus would heal their friend. This man and his friends were seeking that day. They were seeking physical healing, but Jesus gave him physical and spiritual healing.  When we come to Jesus, surrendered in faith, we may have our prayers answered if it is the right time, but we will always walk away with a spiritual healing as well. Jesus’ grace meets our faith just as it did this man and his friends. He forgave the paralytic of his sin and heals his issue. 

People may not understand your faith. Risk is usually involved with radical faith, and they won’t understand your faith in the light of the risk involved. Because of the faith of the 5 in this story he did something radical that changed their lives forever, and it is still changing lives for generations to come. He continually forms us and changes us when we seek him and surrender. 

How does seeking Jesus help to answer our deepest needs and questions in life? 

We can always find something or someone to in this world to mimic the fulfillment we seek but it never lasts. Most times it makes us feel worse, walking away with more holes in our heart than we began with. 

Jesus is the only answer for every need and question we will ever have. He is the way, the truth, and the life… Jesus told him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

Jesus fulfills our very deepest need, which is to be saved from our sin. Then he takes care of our other needs and questions we lay before him. He wants us to have radical faith and trust him. There is no thing and no person that will ever truly fulfill our deepest needs and answer our deepest questions. Anything or anyone we trust other than him will let us down every time. 

 

Who or what are you seeking? What is your greatest need? Will you turn to Jesus and trust in Him? 

Come and See: Encounters With Jesus “The Seeker”

 

Come and See: Encounters With Jesus
“The Seeker”
Mark 2:1-12 (CSB)

 

Key Truth: All are invited to come and see the truth found in Jesus.

Main Question: How does seeking Jesus help to answer our deepest needs and questions in life? 

1.        The need.  (vs. 1-4)

2.        The controversy. (vs. 5-9)

3.        The response. (vs. 10-12)

After the Message: 
Read Mark 2:1-12. Who or what are you seeking? What is your greatest need? Will you turn to Jesus and trust in Him? 

The Lies We Believe About Ourselves

Friday, July 3, 2026

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10

The Lies We Believe About Ourselves

What do you believe about yourself? If we are honest, most of us don’t believe good things about ourselves. We see our flaws when we look in the mirror. Our mistakes and poor choices scream louder than the right actions we take and good choices we make.  Satan loves for us to believe lies about ourselves and he knows that it is our tendency to see the bad over the good when we are examining ourselves. If we believe we are unworthy, or too far gone, or that God would never see us as valuable or lovable or good enough then we are debilitated in our work for the Kingdom of God. If we believe these lies about ourselves, then we don’t believe that we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. 

We are created in his image and created especially for good works that God planned for our lives before we were even born. When we stay stuck in the lie that we are unworthy or don’t measure up, we cannot step into the promise that we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.  God has a special calling on all of our lives. He has good works that he has planned for us to do that are for the Kingdom of God and his glory. When we don’t step into that calling because we don’t believe we are worthy, we miss the amazing blessing of serving him and living in the fulfillment of God’s plan for our lives. We are given an identity in him, complete with divine purpose for his good works that glorify him and point others to him. 

All of us have flaws and faults. No one is perfect and many of the temptations we experience and even fall to is what many others are experiencing as well. There is not a single sin that Jesus cannot free you from or that will make Him love you less. Satan tries to break us down into believing we are not usable and that will keep us from being obedient to God. 

We are his workmanship, created with gifts, purpose, and the power of the Holy Spirit to spread the gospel story to a lost and dying world. He gives us everything we need to step out in obedience to fulfill his calling on our lives. We are an individual as well as part of the unified body of Christ, where we all play an important part. Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function… Romans 12:4  Each part is just as important as the next one. 

Freedom comes when we replace Satan’s lies with God’s truth. We do not overcome lies by trying harder; we overcome them by believing what God has already said about us.

Today, identify one lie you've been believing about yourself. Then find the truth God says in His Word and hold onto it. God's truth always leads toward conviction, hope, restoration, and life. Satan’s voice leads toward shame, fear, and despair. The truth is not found in your failures, your insecurities, or your circumstances. The truth is found in Christ.