Rex Jennings

20 m

In Touch Daily Devotional

The Missionary Question
How can you participate in God's work of reaching the lost with the good news of Christ?
February 16, 2025

Romans 10:11-15

11 For the Scripture says, ``WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED."
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him;
13 for ``WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED."
14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?
15 How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ``HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!"

In Romans 10, Paul asked a series of questionswe can sum up this way: How will the world hear about Jesus if you do nothing? God uses Christians to spread the word that salvation is available to all. He put us in families and neighborhoods so we’ll build community and share the love of Jesus with those around us. But some believers are called to carry the gospel farther than others. Those who stay are to offer prayer and resources for those who travel.
Have you ever thought, Mission work isn’t where my heart is? Every believer is called to missions as either a goer or a sender, whether the call comes in a dramatic way or is seen more as a biblical principle to be followed (Mark 16:15-16 15 And He said to them, ``Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
16 ``He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.) Christians who share, go, and send are often excited about God’s message for unbelievers—and it’s possible for you to be enthusiastic, too, even if you never physically leave the place where you live.
Ask the Lord, “How can I be a full participant in Your mission to get the gospel out to a world that’s in desperate need of it?” If you aren’t called to go, then choose to be a sender. Offer your prayers, your support, and anything else that will help to put others on the mission field to share the good news of Christ. In Him, everything and everyone has a purpose—and nothing goes to waste.

26 m

Love Worth Finding Daily Devotional

February 16, 2025 – When You Can’t Even Pray Romans 8:26-27 Sermon: 2061 Turning Hurts into Hallelujahs, Part 2

Pray Over This

“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” Romans 8:26-27

Ponder This

The Holy Spirit comes alongside us in our sorrow. Have you ever hurt so bad you couldn’t even pray? I have. All you can do is groan. But the Holy Spirit says, “I will groan with you; I will pray for you; and I will intercede for you before the Father.” Both the Holy Spirit and Jesus intercede for us before the Father.
There is the guilt we exhibit, and there is the grace we enjoy, but there are still groans that we endure: the groaning of creation, the groaning of the Christian, and thank God, the groaning of the Holy Spirit. His groans remind us we are not alone, but they also comfort us as He takes our needs to the Father even when we don’t know what to say. Because of the Holy Spirit, every hurt can turn into a hallelujah, every tear into a pearl, every midnight into a sunrise, and every Calvary to a resurrection.
• When have you been speechless in grief? Where did you turn in that time?
• When has the Holy Spirit been a comforter to you? How can you remind yourself to go to God in your grief?
Practice This
Share with God the grief you have been carrying. Ask the Holy Spirit to move in your heart and comfort you.

38 m

God’s Horseback Gospel

Feb 16

"Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of His saints." (Psalm 116:15) Lord, prepare us for the day when we pass into Your presence, in Jesus' name. Please check out today's poem, "Bart," and the daily 'Pass the Reins" devotional at: https://www.godshorsebackgospe....l.com/daily-poem/bar Thanks, and God bless your day. (Please share.)

1 d

In Touch Daily Devotional

Our Missionary Calling
The Holy Spirit calls and empowers us to share our faith in Christ.
February 15, 2025

Acts 13:1-4

1 Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
2 While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ``Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."
3 Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

To understand God’s view of mission work, let’s look at today’s passage. Paul and Barnabas set the standard when they obeyed God’s call to go forth, and some in the local body of believers prayed over the men and sent them on their journey. They carried out the work for the same reasons that apply today:
• The spiritual condition of mankind. Romans 1:21-32 (21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,
23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.
25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural,
27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,
29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips,
30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,
31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful;
32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.) describes this sinful world. Unchecked sin leads people down a slippery slope toward even greater brokenness, lost relationships, suffering, and heartache.
• God’s spiritual provision. The Father responded with grace to mankind’s plight: He sent His only Son Jesus Christ to save the world. On the cross, Christ bore the sin of every person. Those who believe in the Savior are forgiven of all their transgressions, and they will spend eternity with the Lord.
• The commission from Jesus Christ. Acts 1:8 (but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." ) says that we receive the Holy Spirit so we may bear effective witness to those who need salvation.
It is not merely a suggestion but a command that we share the good news and make disciples (Matthew 28:19 ``Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,). Believers living in God’s will are to be involved in missionary work. Some will go and some will send, but all are called to spread the gospel.

1 d

Love Worth Finding Daily Devotional

February 15, 2025 – Why Must We Endure Suffering? Romans 8:22-23 Sermon: 2061 Turning Hurts into Hallelujahs, Part 2

Pray Over This

“For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” Romans 8:22-23

Ponder This

Aren’t you glad God gives you a fever when you have an infection? If you didn’t have a fever, you wouldn’t know you had an infection. The fever is a symptom of a deeper problem. The groaning of creation is like this. Look around at the world today. God didn’t make the world this way; He made the world perfect. But we see a world that is marred and scarred, and all of creation is groaning. Things die and decay; this is a part of their nature now. That groaning is the symptom of the deeper problem of sin in our world.
We also experience this. Your body is not yet redeemed. Your spirit is redeemed, but your body is not yet redeemed. You are not immune to suffering. If you think giving your heart to Jesus means suffering is all behind you, I’m sorry to tell you that’s wrong.
Do you know why we have so much suffering in the world today? We live in a cursed creation. Everybody experiences grief at some point. But with every sorrow and heartache, we look to God and know He did not make it this way, and He is making all things new again.
• What are some of the hardest things you have gone through in life? How have you tried to handle suffering on your own?
• How are you encouraged to know God is making all things new again? What are some of the broken things you long for Him to make new?
Practice This
Make a list of things you long to see in Heaven and of the brokenness you long to see removed from the Earth.