(My tips are at the end) Nothing has changed my life more than God’s Word and a desire to know Him better through it. Peter tells us it is how we grow: “Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word,Continue reading “How to study the Word to find HOPE”
Author Archives: Kim Jaggers
It’s ALL TRUE! He is RISEN!
The ground shook.The angel appeared.The stone rolled away.The soldiers fell like dead men. The grave empty.Death defeated!The Way Made!Victory complete. JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD AND DEFEATED SIN AND DEATH! This changed everything! When Christians say, “He is Risen”, it’s not that we are saying Christianity is useful. We are saying that it is TRUE!Continue reading “It’s ALL TRUE! He is RISEN!”
Silence. And you don’t understand…
Silence. That day after the Savior had died. The pounding of the nails,the jeers of the crowd,His cries of pain. Now Silent. His body in the tomb. What now? They surely longed to hear His comforting voice. But Silence. They had left jobs, families, everything to follow Him. Now what? Silence. Nothing.But.Silence. Confused, afraid, everyContinue reading “Silence. And you don’t understand…”
Knowing Who He is and what He did…Isn’t Enough.
Those two criminals.Bleeding.Bruised.Guilty. In the Savior’s final moments, one criminal hung on each side of Him. Those two represent all of us. We are each likeoneor the otherof them. It’s no accident, this true picture. There they were.So close to Jesus.Can you imagine? They both knew who He was.But only one of them would beContinue reading “Knowing Who He is and what He did…Isn’t Enough.”
Good Friday. How could this be good?
The picture is horrific. Our eyes want to turn away. We know. We’ve heard the story. We’ve been told, it’s not about bunnies but about a bloody cross. That day, that Good Friday, that day that looked anything but “good” – that day everything changed. Early in the morning on the day Jesus would beContinue reading “Good Friday. How could this be good?”
Maundy Thursday
No Other Way THURSDAY The day before Jesus would die. The precious Messiah bends down to wash His disciple’s feet then takes the bread and the cup of Passover with the men in the upper room… knowing, full well, He would soon be their perfect Lamb. The Lamb. The Perfect Lamb… soon it would beContinue reading “Maundy Thursday”
He Waited on that Wednesday
Silent Wednesday. It’s what some scholars call this day of Holy Week. Jesus had spent Tuesday preaching and warning, being aggressively challenged by the religious leaders. But then there is Wednesday.Silent Wednesday. Waiting Wednesday. Jesus knew what was coming. He watched his friend, Judas, slip away to make a deal to betray him. Mary hadContinue reading “He Waited on that Wednesday”
Tuesday of Holy Week. All She Had.
Jesus spends most of Tuesday of Holy Week teaching and being questioned by the religious leaders in order that they might trap Him somehow. Were they jealous of His following? Did they feel threatened by the authority with which He taught? Or did they reason, if they could trip Him up, they might surely proveContinue reading “Tuesday of Holy Week. All She Had.”
Hope. But not in the way they were thinking.
I wonder about that morning after Jesus had rode in on the donkey, after the crowd had cheered and waved palm branches…I wonder, did He look around at His disciples? I wonder, as the disciples still celebrated over breakfast, did he wonder if they remembered what He had told them just a few days before?Continue reading “Hope. But not in the way they were thinking.”
Palm Sunday. It makes no sense.
With smiles on their faces and exuberant expectation, the crowds waved the palm branches shouting, “Hosanna” which literally means, “Save Please!” and then, just a while later, that same crowd would scream, “Crucify Him!” And we question, how could they so quickly change? How could they question the famous one, the Miracle Maker, who hadContinue reading “Palm Sunday. It makes no sense.”
A Sovereign Delay
I can only imagine the spiritual battle being waged in the heavenlies as Jesus headed toward Jerusalem and what we call the Triumphal Entry and Holy Week. Surely, the demons seethed and swarmed. And while we prepare our hearts to celebrate the fact that Satan and his minions were eternally defeated with the blood-bought, death-defeatingContinue reading “A Sovereign Delay”
After he came down out of that tree…
Before the Triumphal Entry and all that (we call) Easter week would bring, before the Parable of the Ten Minas (that we will discuss tomorrow), Jesus sees Zacchaeus up in that tree. If you grew up in church, you probably know that Sunday School song. If you’ve studied the passage, you probably remember Zacchaeus wasContinue reading “After he came down out of that tree…”
Felix’s Last Chance?
The past few days, I’ve written a lot about asking God to help us identify sin, flee from it and rejoice in His forgiveness. But the vast majority of those around us rarely give this a thought. So many, who hold on to this world, think they have many, many chances left to think aboutContinue reading “Felix’s Last Chance?”
Did you fall to sin yesterday?
Did you blow it yesterday? Did sin raise it’s ugly head in you again? Did something you thought you had mastered, master you? Didn’t we just talk about fearing God yesterday on this page? Are you disappointed in yourself? Friend, it’s a great date for a clean slate. And this day IS a clean slate,Continue reading “Did you fall to sin yesterday?”
“Who said anything about safe?”
What an amazingly MERCIFUL God we serve! Indeed, He is so good and faithful to forgive our sins when we confess and turn from them. He even says, He remembers them no more (Heb 8:12) and that causes my heart to love Him even more. What RIVERS of grace! But as we remember His amazingContinue reading ““Who said anything about safe?””
Help to prepare our hearts for Easter
Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” (1 Cor 3:16-17) If you are a Christian, you (fill in your name)Continue reading “Help to prepare our hearts for Easter”
Ridiculous Grace AND Hard Truth
He came for the messed up sinner. I think a lot about that as Easter approaches in just a couple of weeks. We love that He ran after the prodigal, ate with the tax collectors, and stepped in to prevent the stoning of the woman caught in adultery. We love that He left the 99Continue reading “Ridiculous Grace AND Hard Truth”
Hard days? Hold on…
Jesus takes Peter, James and John up on a mountaintop to pray. And then this happens… “As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening. And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease whichContinue reading “Hard days? Hold on…”
Don’t be taken down by a desire to be lifted up!
I love how the Bible sugarcoats everything and only tells the simple, pretty stories. Except it doesn’t. The Bible is real. God shows us the proclivity of humans to see Him do amazing things and then turn right around and blow it. After Lot and his two daughters had been supernaturally rescued from Sodom andContinue reading “Don’t be taken down by a desire to be lifted up!”
I’ve doubted even after seeing God’s faithfulness.
If only…my happiness wasn’t so closely tied to whether my blessings outweigh my burdens on any given day. If only…I could be more self controlled and gentle and not mess up again today. If only…I could always walk in truth and not fall once more to the lies of the enemy. If only…my hope neverContinue reading “I’ve doubted even after seeing God’s faithfulness.”