Hope, a Heart for the Military, & Loyalty to Christ

New devotion on hope

Jack Countryman, vice president and publisher emeritus at Thomas Nelson, hopes his new devotional book will inspire Christians to find their hope in Jesus and develop better devotional habits.

Countryman said the events of the past two years inspired him to explore the Scriptures to design a devotional about the hope Christ offers.

The resulting devotional, “The Power of Hope: 100 Devotionals to Build Your Faith,” explores the topic by giving examples of more than 50 people from the Bible whose lives were changed after God demonstrated His hope to them.

Mentioned more than 190 times throughout the Scriptures, the theme of God’s hope is presented through the lives of biblical figures like Noah and Paul.

Countryman, who is 92 years old, has written 35 books during his career. Many of them have been popular devotionals selling more than 27 million copies.

A heart for the military

Jared and Jennifer Huntley had a heart for military personnel long before they launched Pillar Church of Washington, D.C. Jared had served in the Army and knows firsthand how difficult it can be to navigate the unique challenges of the military culture—especially without Christ.

Now the couple is discipling and equipping military personnel and their families to follow Christ, share the gospel and be missionaries if they are moved to other bases or deployed. Jared says to him, it’s a “great way to accomplish the Great Commission.”

“They’re already transient,” he said. “If the government is already moving these people all around all over the place naturally, why not … see that as an opportunity to say, ‘Let’s disciple these families and then they’re going to take the gospel with them everywhere.’”

The Huntleys pray God will continue to help them have favor on military bases as they serve.

Good News for Today is made possible through our friends at The Voice of the Martyrs, a nonprofit organization that serves persecuted Christians around the world. Founded in 1967 by Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, VOM is dedicated to inspiring believers to deepen their commitment to Christ and to fulfill His Great Commission — no matter the cost. Find out more and sign up for their free monthly magazine at vom.org/goodnews.

Being loyal to Jesus

In a Bible Study posted on Baptist Press, the reader is asked to look within to see if they find loyalty or betrayal toward Christ.

We encounter it in nearly every area of life. We sometimes see it in ourselves. In a study of John 13 we’ll encounter Judas, but we’ll also see Jesus. We’ll have the opportunity to rekindle our own loyalty to Jesus as we seek to live life connected to Him.

We don’t have to be named Judas to be disloyal to Jesus. We only have to be sinners. And we are. This passage should cause our hearts to break for Judas, and it should cause us to look for the loose threads of disloyalty in our own lives.

Find more stories at BaptistPress.com.