Be encourage with biblical encouragement and inspiration from Pastor Kevin Berry. Receive leadership tips to succeed in your work or daily life, follow along with daily devotionals, and receive practical steps to walk out your Christian life.
Dear Friend,
I’ve noticed something about God that greatly impacts you! There are two things He loves to do—interrupt and invite. First, He will interrupt you and get your attention, then He will invite you to be part of something that is bigger than you… something He is already doing that He wants you to be part of! Watch how He does this and get prepared for a divine interruption in your life that is about to change everything for you.
Moses was out doing his thing, taking care of his father-in-law’s sheep when he was interrupted by God’s voice calling to him from a burning bush!
Then the Lord told him, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt.
I have heard the cries of their distress… So I have come down to rescue them.
Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh.” – Exodus 3:7-8, 10
So the Lord saw what was happening. He heard their cries. He came down to rescue, but then looked at Moses and said, “Go!” It seems that whenever the Lord is about to do something big on the earth, He follows this plan: Interrupt, and then invite my children to be part of what I’m about to do! He could do it on His own, but He invites us!
God didn’t need Noah to build a boat. He could have just said, “Let there be boat!” and there it would be. Instead, He interrupted whatever Noah had going on that day, told Noah about His plans for the earth, and invited Noah to start building. What an amazing thought—God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, is inviting you to be part of what He is doing in these last days!
I don’t know what your plans are this summer, but expect them to get interrupted! Expect that God is going to shake up your summer plans and invite you to be part of something big that He is about to do! God is birthing something at Mount Hope Church. There is expansion in our number of churches and in the communities God has called us to disciple. There is something new God is doing at Gilead Healing Center. We are seeing more healings and more people equipped to minister!
Love ya,
Pastor Kevin Berry
We have started a new series, Mark: The Good News about Jesus. It’s a verse-by-verse study of the gospel of Mark. What is the book of Mark about? The first sentence declares it when Mark said, “This is the Goods News about Jesus!”
Do you remember Pig Pen from the Snoopy cartoons? Everywhere he went, there was a cloud around him. He always left something behind. In the book of Mark, we discover that everywhere Jesus went, He too left something—a cloud of Good News! In this rapid-fire motion picture, we see people baptized, healed, given hope, and set free.
Here’s the thing I want you to catch as we study Mark together—what Jesus did for them, He can do for you! Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Everything we see in this book—the compassion, the power displayed, the miracles and healings—should all ignite you with hope for the current circumstances you face.
This study of the life of Jesus will be life-changing for you! The same Jesus that walked the dusty streets of Jerusalem and transformed so many people’s lives, is the same Jesus that brings about transformation in your life and our entire community. Join us as we dive into the book of Mark and you’ll never be the same again!
Love ya,
Pastor Kevin Berry
Today’s reading from The One Year Bible:
Before there was the feeding of the thousands with just a little bit of bread and fish, we see Elisha feeding a hundred people, and what he had was just not enough to go around… or was it? Today we take a look at what really matters when you face a moment in which you just don’t have enough. Maybe for you, it’s just not enough patience, emotional energy, heart to keep in the fight, knowledge, or strength. Whatever it is for you, I want you to hear this today: What matters most is not what you see. What matters most is not even the facts that are staring you in the face. What matters most will always be what the Lord has said!
If the Lord says, “Everyone will eat, and there will even be some left over,” then that is what is going to happen! If the Lord says, “You are going to get through what you are going through,” then you are going to make it! So take a break from what you have been looking at for a while and take a gaze at what the Lord has said! What is the first word He spoke to you? Stick with it! He has not changed His mind about you or His plans for you!
The Lord will work out his plans for my life. – Psalms 138:8
The Lord promises to perfect, to complete, to work out everything that concerns you! He will work out what you can’t work out. He will complete what you can’t complete on your own. He is painting a masterpiece out of your life—one brush stroke at a time!
Thanks for joining me for these three days! I’ll see you tomorrow as we continue the verse-by-verse study of the book of Mark!
Today’s reading from The One Year Bible:
We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.
– Proverbs 16:9
Every day, the Lord gives you the opportunity to make decisions. I want to remind you today that it’s not the giant decisions that really set the course for your life. Most often, it’s the small, seemingly insignificant decisions that will make such a profound difference.
The Lord makes you this amazing promise—He will determine your steps. We make our plans, but He is both determining and directing your steps, all with the purpose of keeping you right in the middle of His great plan for your life. What I have found is that the way the Lord often directs me into His plan is by leading me to make small, but life-changing, decisions.
The decision to work out, to read a book for an hour a day, to always start your day with the Lord, to write a thank you note daily, to intentionally choose a thankful attitude… these decisions may not seem big to some, but they can make such a significant difference in your life.
The decision I made to serve in the youth ministry at Mount Hope Church would set in motion the ministry journey of the rest of my life. Over 32 years ago, I made a decision to go on a double date with Renee and our friends, Mark and Kim Bender. It seemed small at the time. Little did I know that this girl who was way out of my league would become my wife! And now we have Sarah, three grandchildren that we adore, and a wonderful son in-law, John Kessler! One seemingly small decision resulted in so much good.
So this Mother’s Day, the Lord put in my heart a small decision to purchase a box for my mom… an empty box. It didn’t seem like the greatest Mother’s Day gift. But here’s the thing, I’m supposed to fill that box once a week with a note that encourages her and speaks to who she is in Christ. My mom has poured encouragement in me my entire life, and the Lord wants me to lavish her with His thoughts about her. It may seem like a small decision to buy a box and put notes in it once a week… but I think it has the power to do something really big!
What seemingly small thing is the Lord nudging you to do?
Today’s reading from The One Year Bible:
This is the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.
– Mark 1:1
In journalism, there is something called burying the lead. It’s the mistake a journalist makes when they take the main thing they want to communicate and bury it behind too many details. I love the fact that Mark is like an amazing journalist who gets right to the point! It’s like he’s saying, “Hey, I’m writing a book and here’s what it is all about—The Good News about Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God.”
Mark purposefully calls Jesus, “the Messiah, the Son of God.” The Good News about Jesus is who He is! He is the chosen one, the anointed one, the King that has come! He is the Son of God. He was there at creation, but more than being there, He was there creating with the Father. When Jesus walked the streets in human form, He did what He had always done – He made things. This same Jesus made Adam, made blind eyes see, made the deaf to hear, made the lame to walk, made the water turn into wine, made the fish and bread multiply, made the dead come back to life, made the fig tree dry up, made the sea go calm, made the leper clean… He is the Maker!
Here is some Good News for you about Jesus—He is with you! He is for you! He is doing what He always has done. He’s making something out of nothing. He’s making the impossible possible for you! He’s making a way when you didn’t think there was a way!
This evening, I’ll go home and meet my dad at my house. He’s bringing his tools to build a dock for a little pond in my back yard. He’s going to do what my dad has always done—he’s going to help. He’s going to make what I don’t know how to make. He’s going to help me.
When you get home this evening, your heavenly Father is there. He’s there to do what He has always done—He’s going to help you! He’s going to make something happen that you don’t know how to make happen. In fact, He’s with you right now! Now that’s some Good News!
Thanks for joining me for a time of fasting and prayer for the first three days of this month! I look forward to this adventure of discovering even more GOOD NEWS with you throughout our study of Mark.
“But I am trusting in you, O Lord, saying, ‘You are my God!’ My future is in your hands.”
– Psalms 31:15
I used to sing a song back in the day –
“He’s got the whole world in His hands, He’s got the whole world in His hands.
He’s got the whole world in His hands. He’s got the whole world in His hands.”
It’s an amazing thing to think about the God of the universe holding the entire world in His hands. Those are some big hands!
But it’s much more personal when you realize that the God of the universe holds not just the world, but your future, in His hands. He has good plans for you and your family! There is no better place that your future could be than in the hands of the God who made the heavens and the earth. The Bible tells us that God’s strong hand takes hold of our hands and He leads us into a glorious future!
“Yet I still belong to you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny. ” – Psalms 73:23-24
One night a house caught fire and a young boy was forced to make his way to the roof. The father stood on the ground below with outstretched arms, calling to his son, “Jump! I’ll catch you.” All the boy could see were flames, smoke, and blackness. Of course he was afraid and yelled, “But, Daddy, I can’t see you.” The father replied, “But I can see you and that’s all that matters.”
When we personally choose to take the hand of our heavenly Father, that is the first and most important thing we can do for our family. When that connection is strong, then we can take the hands of those we love and help lead them toward the safety of the Father.
There are times when things happen that should never happen. Often during these times, it’s hard to see things clearly. These are the times when we need to say, “Lord, I’m trusting in you. I don’t see how this can work out, but you are my God and my future is in your hands. So I jump into your arms, trusting you to catch me and care for me.”
Rejoice in the Lord your God! For the rain He sends demonstrates His faithfulness.
– Joel 2:23
The land was barren, no food for the animals or the people… yet. Then the Lord sent rain! I love that the people didn’t wait to praise God when they had food again, when there was fruit growing on the trees, when their gardens were full of food. They praised God for rain! They knew that the rain was the beginning of the restoration and healing of their land.
If you can learn to praise God for the little things in life,
then you can make it through the big things in life.
Stop right now and thank God for some of the “little things” in your life as it relates to your family – the little signs of His favor, the little acts of kindness from a spouse or child, maybe a little bit of growth in your finances, the little things that your kids are doing right. The little things are like a raindrop, a sign that everything will be okay. The little things remind you that God is still looking out for your good!
And now, I challenge you to demonstrate some of these little things to others in your family. Perhaps it’s blowing a kiss from across the room or cooking a favorite meal. Maybe it’s a single rose delivered without special occasion, or even emptying or loading the dishwasher. Small acts of kindness can go a long way! Instead of wishing others would do things to make your day better, ask yourself in the morning how you can make your spouse’s or your child’s day better. What is just one little thing you can do? Then do it… consistently and with love… and be encouraged that the Lord takes notice, too.
Prayer: “Father, give me eyes to see the little things – the little signs of your favor today – in my family, marriage, finances, and health. My heart leaps for joy because each little sign of your favor is a like a rain drop, the beginning of good, and more good, in my life and in my family. And help me to serve my family by doing the little, yet meaningful things that will be a blessing to them today. Thank you for being so good to me! Amen.”
We’ve all met someone—a waitress, store clerk, coworker, or friend—who was lacking in people skills. In fact, if you’re honest you probably have had your own moments when you lacked a bit of people skills yourself. Jesus scolded His disciples because of their poor people skills:
Some people brought their children to Jesus so that He could place His hands on them and pray for them. His disciples told the people to stop bothering him. But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and don’t try to stop them! People who are like these children belong to God’s kingdom.”
– Matthew 19:13-14
Can you imagine being one of those parents? You’d have been wondering what the matter was with those disciples! They needed to get some people skills! I think Jesus was thinking the same thing. He recognized the value in those precious children and reminded us that we can often learn from their child-like faith.
The fact is that Jesus came to earth for people, lived a sinless life for people, died on the cross for people, rose from the dead for people, and lives this day to intercede with God for people. People matter to God, and how we treat people matters to God as well. Let’s start within our own families – the people God placed into our lives by design!
There was a mother who read her daughter a story every night and then stayed with her until she fell asleep. One particular night it was very stormy and the gusty winds and heavy rain frightened the little girl. However, the mother was feeling ill that evening and couldn’t read the story and sit until her daughter fell asleep. She said, “Don’t worry. Jesus will be here with you.” Her daughter’s reply was priceless. She answered, “But mommy, I need Jesus with the skin on.”
That is what you get to be every day to your family – Jesus with skin on. Every day you get the opportunity to represent Jesus to those He loves and cares for so deeply.
How can you love your family the way Jesus does?
-Pastor Kevin Berry
Prayer: “Father, please help me to develop a deeper love for my family. Work in my heart through your Holy Spirit and grant me grace to grow in the area of my people skills. I want to be “Jesus with skin on” to everyone I meet, but most importantly, I want to start at home. Help me to love others the way you do. Amen.”
“This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.”
– Genesis 2:24
What does it mean for a husband to join to, or cleave to, his wife? It means to catch by pursuit. This sounds like hunting or fishing to me. The problem is, once the game is caught, the hunt is over. Guys, hear me – we are always supposed to pursue the heart of our wife and it’s a pursuit that doesn’t stop.
Bishop Larry Jackson shared with a group of pastors something I’ve seen for years. Here is the progression. First, a man pursues the woman that he wants to be his wife. He calls her, writes her notes, goes to see her, spends hours upon hours talking to her. Then once you have the big day and are married, the guy stops the pursuit. After he “caught” her, then the man stops pursuing her heart and starts pursuing her body. Then he starts to pursue a career more than his wife.
What if, instead of that, we never stop pursuing the heart of our wife? What if we keep doing the things that won her heart in the first place? If you will put the same energy into pursuing your wife’s heart that you did before you were married, you just might find yourself walking in the kind of marriage you really want to have.
God’s Word declares that the marriage relationship is pictured like the relationship that Jesus has with the Church. He is the groom and we are the bride. Look at how He pursued you! Take notice of the extravagant measures He took to win your heart. Do you see Him laying down His life for you? Do you see how He is more concerned with what He gives than what He gets? How He serves more than He is being served? Let’s think deeply about this… then let’s determine, with the Lord’s help, we will love that way. ☺
-Pastor Kevin Berry