Author: Tim Counts

Tim Counts is the pastor of Northshire Baptist Church in Manchester Center, Vermont and a graduate of The Master’s Seminary (M. Div). Tim serves on the Board of Directors for the Baptist Convention of New England and on the Leadership Team for Small Town Summits. He is married to his best friend Melanie, and they are the proud parents of three young children. His writing has been featured at Desiring God, The Gospel Coalition, 9Marks (and Tim Challies and TGC #RightNow trending articles), For The Church, LifeWay, The Master's Seminary Blog, The Cripplegate, The Family Research Council Blog (and the Aquila Report), The Baptist Convention of New England Blog, and on his personal blog, He Must Become Greater. Tim is a contributor to LifeWay’s “Open Windows” devotional magazine and to a devotional written by New England pastors, Awakening Hearts. Tim loves to see the power of the gospel at work as people come to know Christ as their Savior and Lord, and as believers grow in their understanding of how the gospel affects their daily lives. You can follow him on Twitter @timothycounts.
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Pastors, Pursue Your Wife!

I originally published this article at The Focused Pastor, a ministry of Focus on the Family.

The biblical call to pursue your wife

I have a confession to make. My wife is a faster runner than me. I used to run more regularly, and I ran a marathon in my twenties, so maybe that will change again at some point. But for now, when my wife and I go running together, she is always in front of me. It has become a metaphor for me: keep chasing your wife, Tim! 

Continuing to pursue your wife is good for your relationship. It is also commanded by God for every husband. In the longest passage on marriage in the New Testament, the apostle explains why every Christian husband has the life-long duty and joy of chasing after his wife’s heart, body, and soul: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her…In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies…This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each of you love his wife as himself…” (Ephesians 5:25-26, 28, 32)

Christian husbands who are trying to please God in their marriages can never let their foot off the gas when pursuing their wives, because it is one of the ways they reflect the pursuing love of Jesus. When God speaks directly to husbands in Ephesians, the command is clear: keep loving your wife, not only for the sake of your relationship, but also because “…it refers to Christ and the church.” A husband who has been truly captivated by the love of Jesus must be an incurable romantic towards his wife.

How pastors can strengthen their marriage through daily pursuit

In many ways a pastor is called to be a godly husband like any other Christian man. But in other ways, God has higher expectations. How does this requirement of a godly husband uniquely apply to pastors? It is in our God-given job description. In the character requirements of a pastor or elder in 1 Timothy 3, we see this indispensable quality in the list: “…the husband of one wife.” (1 Timothy 3:2) As has been often said, this can be understood to mean “a one-woman man.” 

In other words, he has eyes for her only. Put another way, a pastor could quote the Song of Solomon to his wife and mean it from the bottom of his heart: “You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride; you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes…How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine…” (Song of Solomon 4:9-10)

Resisting distractions in the pursuit of your wife

But if we’re honest, we don’t always feel that way about our wives. We are, after all, ordinary men whom God has called to an extraordinary task. Apart from the work of the Spirit in our lives, we can have the same selfish tendencies as any other husband. But the solution is right there in Ephesians 5: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…” I am convinced that God’s solution to a mediocre marriage is for the husband to consistently, lovingly, tenderly and yet vigorously pursue his wife.

To do what we know is best for our marriages, we have to consider why we have stopped doing the right thing in the first place. In Homer’s Odyssey, mythological Sirens were half-bird, half-woman creatures. They had beautiful voices that would hypnotize sailors, causing them to crash their boats upon the rocks. Their calls were irresistible. Odysseus, the hero, escaped the Siren’s song by tying himself to the mast of his ship. What are the siren calls in ministry that slowly veer us off course and could shipwreck our marriages? How can we tie ourselves to the mast of joyfully pursuing our wives and stay on course?

The siren call of busyness in ministry over marriage

Part of the struggle that we all experience as pastors is that our work is never done. There are always more meetings that could be held, more progress to be made in developing leaders, more people to disciple, more outreach that could be led, and more work that could be done on this Sunday’s sermon.

But the Lord calls us to be husbands first and pastors second. It’s not that being a husband and pastor are at odds with each other, but that our priorities have to be lined up with God’s priorities as seen in 1 Timothy 3:2. One day, we will retire from full-time vocational ministry. But we will never retire from strengthening our marriage as God calls us to do. Until you or your wife dies, God calls you to have your foot on the pedal of pursuing her — just as Jesus always pursues us.

We can listen to God’s call to joyfully strengthen our marriage instead of to the siren call of busyness in ministry by saying “no” or “wait” to what we can’t accomplish in a reasonable work week. 

Protect your time to strengthen your marriage

I used to push through even if it meant working an unhealthy amount of hours. God convicted me that my relationship with my wife needed to be a priority and that my kids would only be in my home for so long. I have learned the hard way that often I need to put things in my planner at the end of the work week. Some will need to wait until next week, so that I can say yes to the family God has given me. This includes making intentional time with my wife.

Pastoral ministry also gives the flexibility to enjoy small windows of time. I have found that taking advantage of those can make a big difference in marriage. In any given week I may need to go to an evening emergency counseling session. But I can also make sure that my day off includes time for my wife and that a busy week is followed by a slower one. 

One pastor that I was mentored by would go to lunch with his wife every Wednesday. That break in the workweek kept their relationship strong and reminded us all of rightly ordered priorities while she battled cancer and he pastored a busy church.  

The siren call of passivity in marriage

Being pastors does not mean that you and I are exempt from the pull to be passive in our marriages. I am astonished at how quickly I can be lulled yet again into passivity in my pursuit of my wife. I think about how beautiful she looks, but I don’t say it. Yet, I plan ahead for Elder and Deacon meetings, but I don’t plan out a date with her. 

Satan wants pastors to be passive in pursuing their wives. The devil hates it when pastors relentlessly ignore the siren call of passivity and laziness and chase their wive’s hearts. So think of fighting your natural passivity as spiritual warfare. Adam was silent while the deceiver spoke with his wife about the forbidden fruit. It turns out that all of these years later, we still can be passive in our marriages, leaving destruction behind. 

God helps you strengthen your marriage

But Jesus, the snake-crusher, can help us overcome these tendencies. We can put our wife’s needs above our own (Philippians 2:3). Look for ways to help her in the home even when you arrive home exhausted. We can pray with her regularly, even if prayer with her has been hard to fit in during other seasons. We can ask her what is going on in her heart and then listen, even when we are concerned about the latest crisis at the church. We can look for ways to include her in ministry rather than always doing ministry separately.

I have found that being realistic about our season of life in intentionally pursuing my wife has helped me long-term. With our family situation (five kids from toddlers to teenagers), an hour cuddling and talking on the couch might replace a weekly date night. But I can still fight passivity by occasionally planning a night out. I can also look for ways to get away for a few days without kids once a year. Ask God how he wants you to fight passivity in your own heart and situation, and pursue your wife.

Tie Yourself to the Mast of a Joyful Pursuit of Your Wife

Just as Odysseus tied himself to the mast of his ship to beat the sirens, part of God’s solution to pursuing your wife is by tying yourself to the mast of finding joy in your relationship with her. The Preacher in Ecclesiastes encourages husbands in this wise way of living, “Enjoy life with the wife whom you love…” (Ecclesiastes 9:9a) That joy will continue to grow as your relationship continues to grow, day-by-day and year-by-year. 

It is possible to be a busy pastor who also makes time for his wife. It is possible to struggle with passivity in marriage even while you are a dynamic leader at church, and yet grow in fighting selfishness in your marriage. Not only is it possible, it is what God calls us to. Pastors who relentlessly pursue their wives can experience God’s smile on their marriage—and often their wife’s smile, too.

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Why Pastors and Their Wives Should Go On a Couples Retreat


I first published this article at The Focused Pastor, a ministry of Focus On The Family.

A few months before our 20th wedding anniversary, I was still trying to finalize what we would do to celebrate. Every anniversary is a reason to celebrate. But we try to get away together for at least the anniversaries that end with a “5” and a “0.” I had finally figured out a budget plan. I had someone willing to preach on the Sunday near our anniversary so we could be gone over a weekend. I had a childcare plan. We just needed to confirm the destination. As my wife and I discussed this, she told me that she wanted to go to a marriage retreat that several friends were going be attending the same weekend as our anniversary.

I wasn’t excited. We are in a busy season with five kids, and I wanted some uninterrupted time to reconnect with my wife. I wanted to have some fun together. As a pastor, I wasn’t sure that sitting in a conference room with hundreds of others, including many other pastors, was my idea of a 20th anniversary celebration. I even asked her if she thought our marriage was doing ok. She explained that she just thought it would be good for us and an encouraging time together while also seeing friends. I realized that my wife doesn’t ask for much, so I said yes and registered us. I’m so glad I did.

Three reasons to attend a couples retreat

1. To grow in your marriage together

I love studying the Bible and marriage enrichment books to help me with teaching and counseling. And I love writing about marriage. But I realized after my wife’s request that a lot of that is without her. She wanted to grow and learn also, and this was an opportunity to do so in our busy schedule. Attending a marriage retreat together means you are both thinking about marriage at the same time. This gives you discussion topics to help you grow and wins to celebrate together as you reflect on God’s grace in your marriage.

I also needed the humility to realize that I still have a lot to learn. I was encouraged, helped, rebuked, and challenged by the speakers and through discussions my wife and I had. Sometimes even as pastors we are afraid of what we might find out if we dig too deep into our own marriages. But until Heaven we are never finished growing as Christians. And we are never finished growing as husbands until Jesus returns or “death do us part.” Focused time thinking about your marriage and growing together may be just what you need. It can help you continue pressing into faithfulness and a deeper love for each other—one that better reflects the love Christ has for the church (Ephesians 5:25).

It may even be that the area of growth that God has for you is in having fun together! A job hazard for pastors is that we deal with so many serious issues with week in and week out. Getting away to focus on your spouse can bring some joy back into your marriage. My wife and I laughed, strolled a new (to us) downtown while holding hands, and enjoyed a slower pace, focusing on our relationship and not our kids.

2. To be an example to your church

What I didn’t expect when I announced to my church that my wife and I would be gone the following weekend as we attended a marriage retreat, was how excited they were that we were going. They were encouraged to see their pastor and his wife investing so intentionally in their marriage. Others in our church have gone to marriage retreats since. I didn’t realize that publicly sharing something my wife and I were doing to enrich our own marriage would have a domino effect, strengthening other marriages.

Remember that some people think that attending a marriage retreat (or even a marriage class) means you have serious problems. I will never forget the lady who told me they would not attend the marriage class we were holding during Sunday School. “We’re doing pretty good right now. Who knows what we would find if we dig too deep!”

A pastor and his wife attending a couples conference or retreat takes away any stigma that some still have toward marriage enrichment. We don’t want surface-deep oneness in the marriages in our church. We want living and breathing examples to the world, the church, and families that a marriage centered on Christ is rich, satisfying, and able to overcome any obstacles that come at it. You and your wife going on a marriage getaway might be the catalyst for transformation among couples in your church.

3. To see blind spots that you are missing

When I lived in the L.A. area, I would sometimes drive down the interstate and decide to pass a vehicle. But I would first do a quick “blind spot check,” looking over my shoulder. I lost count of how many times I missed a speedy car or motorcycle that was right in my blind spot just when I thought it was safe to change lanes. The reason your Driver’s Ed teacher drilled “blind spot checks” into you is because they keep you from crashing. They help you see what you couldn’t see otherwise.

One of the benefits of attending a couples retreat is that you will think about areas of your marriage that maybe you have not talked about for a long time or thought intentionally about recently. A marriage retreat is a “blind spot check” for your most important earthly relationship.

When was the last time that you and your wife had a good, deep discussion without defensiveness about areas of your marriage like communication, roles, responsibilities, forgiveness, financial decisions, sex, or leaving a legacy? The marriage retreat we attended opened up healthy dialogue in all of these areas. We left feeling closer to each other and more unified in our direction and goals in our marriage—more zeroed in on glorifying God with our marriage—because of these discussions that we sometimes don’t dive into in the midst of day-to-day life and responsibilities.

Conclusion

Pastor, no matter how long you have been married, you have blind spots. Let a marriage retreat create space for you to be poured into, so you can see and attend to those blind spots. Use a retreat to build a healthier marriage that the whole church can look up to.

If you are not convinced yet that you should go on a couples retreat, ask your wife what she thinks about going. It may be a way to bring back some unity in ministry together rather than you going to another pastor’s conference alone. It may bring some spark back into your marriage. You might even learn something new about each other.

My wife and I went to dinner before the first session of the couples conference we attended, and ordered calamari for our appetizer. I didn’t like the idea of fried squid, but I was sure I remembered that Melanie loved it from a dinner early in our marriage. Unbeknownst to me, Melanie thought I really wanted it since I do enjoy exotic foods, so she went along with it. While we were eating our appetizer, we both commented that we didn’t really like the texture. Then we were shocked as we discovered that neither of us really wanted calamari but were trying to do what the other wanted! Apparently, we needed the communication workshop that weekend. Maybe you do too.

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Five Prayers Every Pastor Should Pray for His Church

I originally wrote this article for The Focused Pastor, a ministry of Focus on the Family.

The longer I serve in pastoral ministry, the more I see and experience the need for prayer. Just the other day, I was talking through an ongoing issue in our church culture with our Associate Pastor. We are already teaching about it on Sunday mornings and in small groups but have seen little change. But rather than continuing to strategize like I would have when I was younger, I finally shrugged and summarized, “I think we need to keep praying about this.”

It’s not that prayer is a last resort. Nor is it that we won’t continue to think deeply and consider if there’s a different angle we should come from as we lead the church toward growth in this area. It’s simply that I now realize there are some things that will never change without God changing hearts in response to prayer.

Pastoral prayer and the heart of God

Jesus taught this to the disciples, who were frustrated and baffled by a ministry situation. They had done all they could, but it just seemed they were at a dead end. They had a desperate father who needed ministry and a little boy who was extremely ill due to demonic oppression. But they also had religious leaders arguing with them (Mark 9:14). Jesus later explained to the disciples privately why their leadership was impotent: “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” (Mark 9:29)

No matter what the challenges are in your church right now, remember what Jesus told that father: “All things are possible for one who believes.” (Mark 9:23) In prayer, we believe and ask God to help our unbelief (Mark 9:24). Here are five things that will only happen in your church by prayer.

1. Pray for the lost to be saved

“Salvation belongs to the LORD.” (Jonah 2:9) The miracle of salvation is one of the things about ministry that brings us the greatest joy. Yet for most pastors, there are seasons of prayerlessness for the lost. Jesus came “to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10) So, you can expect that He wants to save people in your community. Some years we plant seeds, water, reach out to the community, and just don’t see the fruit. But praying consistently that God will save the lost reminds us that we are reliant on Him for salvation. It also gives God glory when unbelievers turn to Christ.

Sometimes, when I have noticed that I am lacking in compassion or prayer for the lost in our community, I will go write my sermon for a few hours in an area where I know a lot of unbelievers tend to gather. Your local coffee shop or library could be where God breaks your heart to pray regularly for the lost in your community. Brothers, pray for God to do the miracle of saving the lost!

2. Pray for believers to be matured

Besides evangelism, one of our primary missions in pastoral ministry is to mature the believers (Colossians 1:28). This is one reason that God gave you to your church (Ephesians 4:12)! There are truths you will mine out of Scripture this year that could be exactly what someone in your congregation needs to take that next step of faith or obedience. Yet, without prayer, it is like planting seeds every Sunday and in every counseling session and never watering them. Prayer is the water and fertilizer that God uses to bring spiritual fruit out of the preaching of the Word.

Just imagine what God could do in the hearts and lives of your congregation, if He answers your prayers for their spiritual maturity. Marriages may become joyful again, parents may get back to discipling their kids, church members may serve, people may come to church hungry to be fed. Brothers, pray for God to do the miracle of maturing the believers in your church!

3. Pray for the leadership to lead humbly

One of the dangers of our calling is that we could lead our churches (and even have growth or what appears to be success) and yet not please the Lord or reflect Him if we lack humility. “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6) One of the best ways to cultivate humility in ourselves and the leaders in our churches is through prayer. In the very act of prayer, we acknowledge that we don’t have all the answers or all the power to do what only God can do.

In my ministry, it is often after prayer that God has shown me blind spots or brought an answer to a ministry need through someone I never would have expected. Jesus could have demanded service, yet He wielded a towel and basin. We lead like Jesus if we are growing in humility. Brothers, pray for God to do the miracle of making you and your church leadership humble leaders!

4. Pray for the church to grow in joy

One of the marks of a mature church is a deep sense of joy. We can pray for God to give our churches joy. Then, when unbelievers visit, they will want this joy that the world cannot offer (Luke 2:10). We can pray for God to give our churches joy that is not surface-deep but rather deep like a glacier, because it is joy in God! We can pray that God would give our church joy that is Spirit-produced as we worship the living God on Sunday mornings together (Psalm 4:7).

One of the callings of pastoral ministry that has an apostolic pattern in Paul is to work with your church members for their joy (2 Corinthians 1:24). This is an area that my church has seen a lot of growth in over the past decade. One of my greatest joys in ministry now is to see the joyful fellowship happening during snack time on Sunday morning after worship. Change can happen through prayer. Brothers, pray for God to do the miracle of your church fellowship growing in joy!

5. Pray for the glory of God to be the goal

God’s glory is the ultimate goal of ministry (Romans 16:27). So, it is in tune with God’s purposes to spend time praying for God to be glorified in our churches.

In Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian church in Ephesians 3, he prays for supernatural strength for them to understand the depths of the love of Christ. Then he prays a prayer for God’s glory to be seen in their church through God doing more than they can imagine: “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21). What a prayer to echo for your church! Brothers, pray for the glory of God to be the goal in all things in your church!

Just as I was recently talking with our Associate Pastor about a challenge in our church and we remembered to pray about it more, we also have recently seen several direct answers to prayer. Things that seemed impossible have been accomplished by God.

What answers to prayer could you be thanking God for a few months or a year from now? Start with praying for the salvation of the lost, believers to be matured, humble leadership, joyful fellowship, and the glory of God to always be the goal!

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God’s Delight in You

This week I have enjoyed sharing a daily devotional that I originally wrote for Lifeway’s “Open Windows” devotional guide. I hope you have been encouraged in your faith by these short meditations!

Proverbs 3:12, “For the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.”

I remember it like it was yesterday. The offering plate came down my row and my 5-year-old fist held tightly onto the quarter in my pocket that my parents had given me to put into the offering. My older brother saw it all happen and reported it to my parents the second we got into the car after church. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I realize now that it was because he loved me that my father disciplined me when I got home. The next Sunday, I understood that giving was an act of worship and threw the quarter in the offering plate when it went by. Correction had done its work.

If my father had known about me holding onto the quarter and yet done nothing, that passivity would not have been an act of love. Leaving me in my selfishness may have made me more susceptible to greed later in life.

Adults don’t like discipline any more than kids, yet we are all corrected by our Heavenly Father for our own good. God always knows the discipline we need.

God’s correction in our lives through friends, family, pastors, and the prompting of the Holy Spirit is evidence of His love for us. Our Father’s correction is a sign of His delight in us.

Father, thank You for not leaving me in my sin but using Your discipline to conform me more to Jesus’ image.

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Jesus, Perfect Image of Life

This week I am sharing a daily devotional each morning that I originally wrote for Lifeway’s “Open Windows” devotional guide. I hope you are encouraged in your faith by these short meditations!

1 John 4:9, “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.”

Do you ever struggle to feel that God’s love is for you? Do you ever wonder if God is paying attention when bad things happen? Then you are human. Fighting to believe God’s love for us is part of the walk of faith that will continue until our pilgrimage to heaven is complete. It is in those moments and seasons of difficulty or doubt that the best thing for us is to look to Jesus and what He did on the cross.

“Magic Eye” pictures were all the rage in the ’90s. If you looked at a colorful design with the right squint of eye, a picture would practically pop out at you. A bunch of random geometric patterns would suddenly look like a 3D completed image. Looking at Jesus as we go through life is a little bit like that. We may not understand everything about life and God’s purpose for us now, but we will see a fuller, richer picture of life when Jesus is in view.

How was the love of God manifested to us? “God sent His only begotten Son into the world.” The greatest demonstration of God’s love is that He sent Jesus into a world that would neither recognize Him nor accept Him as the Redeemer. Still, God sent Jesus–for you.

Father, when I question Your love, point my eyes to Your only begotten Son.

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We Shall See Him

This week I am sharing a daily devotional each morning that I originally wrote for Lifeway’s “Open Windows” devotional guide. I hope you are encouraged in your faith by these short meditations!

1 John 3:2, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.”

A missionary tells the story of working with an indigenous language partner in a local tribe. They were translating 1 John. When the native understood what 1 John 3:2 was teaching, he threw down his pen and exclaimed to the missionary, “It is too much! Instead let us write, ‘We will fall down and worship at His feet!'”

That is the reaction of someone who first understands the grace of the gospel. Yes, John wants us to know we are sons and daughters of God. But there’s more. God doesn’t only want us to be in a family relationship with Him, He also wants us to be close.

God wants us so close that He sent Jesus as a man. God became human and gave Himself so we could be rescued from sin and live with Him forever.

To fit us for heaven so we can be in His very presence for eternity, He will make us like Jesus, and then we can see God as He is–His unwavering love for us, His yearning for relationship with us, and His grace-filled invitation to us to experience His presence both now and forever.

Father, thank You for the hope of my resurrection body and my eternal future in Your presence.

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To Know and to Believe

This week I am sharing a daily devotional each morning that I originally wrote for Lifeway’s “Open Windows” devotional guide. I hope you are encouraged in your faith by these short meditations!

1 John 4:16, “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”

It is one thing to know a fact, but it’s another thing entirely to believe that fact. I may know that exercise is good for me in an intellectual way. But when I get outside and go for a run, I show that I believe that exercise is good for me. Knowing I should run usually keeps me on the couch. Believing I should run has helped me to finish a marathon.

This distinction is especially important in love. A wife may know that her husband loves her because of his marriage covenant with her, but she believes it when she sees him sacrificing for her. A child may know that his mother loves him, but he believes it when she hugs him after he falls down. It’s important to know that you are married or who your mom is. Knowledge brings crucial assurance of our relationships. But believing that those relationships are good for you is necessary to feel love.

John wants the readers of 1 John to both know and believe the love that God has for them. The gospel tells us that God is love, but putting our faith in Jesus means that we believe His love is for us. Know it. Believe it. Feel it. God loves you.

Father, looking to the cross changes me. Help me to both know and believe Your great love for me.

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No Need to Change the Past

This week I am sharing a daily devotional each morning that I originally wrote for Lifeway’s “Open Windows” devotional guide. I hope you are encouraged in your faith by these short meditations!

1 Corinthians 15:8, “Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.”

The other day I came across some pictures of my daughter when she was about 6 years old, and I found myself wishing that I could hear her little girl voice and see her play dress-up again. We all have times when we wish we could relive something, stepping back in time.

Yet at other times, we wish we could roll back the clock to undo something we have done. If only we could not do that sinful action that hurt so many we care about.

The apostle Paul likely wished for both at times. On the one hand, he wished he could roll back the clock and be there when Jesus appeared to the other apostles. Yet he also wished that he could go back in time and not persecute the church. But neither was possible. And neither was needed. Paul knew he couldn’t time travel to be one of the Twelve who walked with Jesus. He also knew he couldn’t change his actions of persecuting the church before knowing Jesus. Yet the words of 1 Corinthians 15:8, in the context of the great resurrection chapter, give us hope.

The cross and resurrection don’t change the past, but they do change today and our forever. Because of the gospel, I can move forward in hope.

Father, I glorify You. Your gospel gives me forgiveness for my past and new mercies for today and tomorrow.

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The Resurrection Decimates Fear

Over the next week, I will be sharing a daily devotional that I originally wrote for Lifeway’s “Open Windows” devotional guide. I hope you are encouraged in your faith by these short meditations!

Matthew 28:10, “Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.'”

“Do not be afraid.” These are words that we see often in the Gospels. Jesus said this phrase to His disciples so many times that they must have grown to expect to hear it whenever something terrifying happened or whenever they saw His glory.

But the most enduring time that Jesus said, “Do not be afraid,” was when He said it as the resurrected Lord. The resurrection had truly changed everything, including fear. His “do not be afraid” refrain spoken to the women at the tomb that first Easter morning echoes down to us today.

No matter what it is that is causing fear in your life, the resurrection speaks hope into that situation. It reminds us that we have a risen King reigning in heaven today who cares for us in our trials. It reminds us that our final enemy, death, has become our servant that will take us into the presence of our King and into eternal joyful fellowship with the saints who have gone before us.

Truly the resurrection decimates fear. Be encouraged by the words of Jesus: “Do not be afraid.” Trust in God’s plan.

Father, thank You for these fear-destroying words from Jesus that change everything.

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He Is Still Risen!

Over the next week, I will be sharing a daily devotional that I originally wrote for Lifeway’s “Open Windows” devotional guide. I hope you are encouraged in your faith by these short meditations!

Acts 2:32, “This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.”

For some, the Monday morning after Easter can bring mixed emotions. Some may wake up with resurrection songs in their hearts. But others wake up with a bit of a low after the high of Easter morning. Back to work. Back to the doctor. Back to the same relationship problems.

However, Jesus is not only risen on Easter. He is still risen today. And that makes all of the difference in the world.

In Peter’s Pentecost sermon in Acts 2, he pointed to the confirming miracles and signs his hearers knew about. He also quoted King David’s prophecies about the Christ in Psalm 16 that Jesus fulfilled.

But the greatest proof of Jesus as Savior was that those Peter preached to had either seen Jesus raised to life or knew people who had seen Jesus alive after the resurrection. Peter didn’t hesitate to proclaim to thousands, “we all are witnesses” of Jesus’ resurrection.

The grave could not hold the Savior. Jesus had died, but as the prophecies and many eyes confirmed, He was alive again. Keep that in mind on this Monday morning.

Christ is still risen. He is still risen indeed!

Father, help me to rejoice in and believe in the resurrection of Your Son, today and every day.

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