A Fresh Start

In today’s devotion, we look at two men from the Bible. Two men with great potential, but with extremely different last chapters of their lives. 

Sampson: a man with tremendous potential, but something happened that hurt him deeply and filled him with bitterness. That bitterness led him down the road of self-destruction (Read Judges, chapters 14 – 16). 

It’s been said that life is five percent what happens to us, and ninety-five percent how we respond to those things. All of us have potential to live productive and fulfilling lives for the cause of Christ. It’s what we do with the incidents that come our way, the negative experiences, the pain, or the hurt, that can write the final chapters of our lives. We can choose to be driven by bitterness, fear, anger, or guilt, or we can receive the forgiveness offered by the Lord and start anew with a fresh start. Psalm 32:1 says, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.”

Simon Peter: He denied Jesus three times. A personal failure. He heard the rooster crow. He was devastated and wept bitterly. But a rooster’s crow gives hope because that call means morning has come. It’s a new day. It’s a new beginning. The best chapter of Peter’s life was one of faith, hope, love, and restoration (John 21). He went on to serve the Lord faithfully until the end of his life. 

May I suggest you choose the path of Simon Peter. Deal with your failures and move on. Accept the forgiveness from a God of mercy and grace. Become all you were destined to be. COCK-A-DOODLE-DO – It’s a new day! 

The Pastor’s Pocket

Pastor Bruce Freeman

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thank You

Image
Hello everyone, Pastor Bruce here with an important announcement regarding our daily devotionals known as “The Pastor’s Pocket.” After today, these will be discontinued.   I am so thankful to each of you who have enjoyed reading these devotionals and I trust the Lord has encouraged you through each one. I challenge you, as Peter does, to “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).   It is my desire that you will continue in your own personal study of the word of God. Learn the Word, Love the Word, Live the Word!   There may come a time when I can write these again, but for now, I will devote my time to other areas of ministry and ways to serve Him! “To HIM be all the glory both now and forever. AMEN!”   The Pastor’s Pocket Pastor Bruce Freeman
Read more

From Christmas to Calvary

Image
Matthew 16:21, “From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.”   From His birth to His death, Jesus suffered. In the scripture verse for today, Christ is preparing His disciples for the suffering. He was about to endure the final stages of His ministry on earth. He describes how He will suffer, how He will die, and then be raised on the third day. All of this was the Father’s plan for our redemption, our salvation. For that plan to be carried out, Jesus had to enter the world. His entrance came through a lowly manger in Bethlehem.   The sufferings of Christ begin with His birth. Jesus left the glories of heaven and subjected Himself to the limitations of time and space. He confined Himself to a body for the first time. If baby Jesus bit His tongue, He experienced pain. He got thirsty for the first time. He experienced h
Read more

Not Home Yet

Image
 As Christians, we’re destined for something much better than what this world has to offer!  As the old song says, “This world is not my home, I’m just a passin’ through, my treasure is laid up somewhere beyond the blue…And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.” The Bible tells us our time on earth is brief (Psalm 103:15 / James 4:4).  If we’ve trusted Jesus as our Savior, our eternal home is heaven.  Therefore we are seen as pilgrims just passing through here.  We are aliens, strangers to this present, evil world system. Isn’t it silly? We spend so much time trying to “have it all” here and now, when in reality we already have it all “in Christ”.  Abundant life that Jesus told us about doesn’t have anything to do with having an abundance of things.  It has to do with the quality of life we possess with all the spiritual riches that come from knowing Christ. God warns us not to love this world.  We must never get too attached to “stuff”.  The fact is; we will suffer rejection, ex
Read more