Monday, 23 March 2026

When Holiness Looks Like a Lamb Fresh Manna by Pastor Tim Burt

Fresh Manna with Pastor Tim Burt 
Tim Logo   A Note from Pastor Tim
Greetings and thank you for reading. I pray that Fresh Manna is a blessing to you and helps you launch your day in the Lord. If you are blessed by what you read, please share it with a friend. There is a link in this box and  at the bottom of each devotional that says:  "Forward this email to a friend." Click on it, and put in their email and it will go to them. Thanks in advance for sharing! God bless you and thanks again for reading! Forward this email to a friend

When Holiness Looks Like a Lamb

March 23, 2026
by Timothy Burt

Few verses feel as heavy to sincere believers as

Hebrews 12:14 (NLT), which says, “Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.”

We read it and immediately feel the weight of responsibility. Work at peace. Work at holiness. And because we love the Lord and care deeply about representing Him well, we often feel like the burden falls almost entirely on us. So we hold our tongue. We temper our reactions. We listen longer than feels fair. We forgive quicker than feels deserved.

Meanwhile, the world seems unbothered by restraint. Profanity is normalized. Anger is justified. Harmful behavior is excused. Right and wrong are blurred. And Christians are left quietly asking, “Why does it feel like we’re the only ones trying?”

Part of the answer is simple—and uncomfortable.

We, as followers of Jesus, are not just called to goodness; we are called to holiness. And holiness, by definition, separates us from the spirit of this age. It restrains us when others feel free. It governs our responses when others indulge theirs. It asks something of us that the world never intends to give back. But here’s where this verse presses even deeper than many of us realize. Jesus did not only teach holiness. He embodied it. And He did so not as a roaring lion—but as a lamb.

Isaiah 53:7 (NLT) says, “He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet He never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter…”

‍That should stop us.

Jesus did not correct every false accusation. He did not defend His reputation. He did not insist on fairness. He absorbed injustice for the sake of redemption. That doesn’t mean Jesus lacked wisdom or boundaries. It means there are moments when holiness does not look like self-protection—it looks like self-giving.

Sometimes obedience does not lead to relief.
Sometimes peace does not feel mutual.
Sometimes holiness costs more than we expected.

Luke 9:23 (NLT) sets the roadmap saying, “If anyone wants to be My follower, he must give up his own way, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”

‍A cross is not an inconvenience. It is an instrument of surrender.

There are moments when the most Christlike thing you can do is speak truth with grace. And there are moments—holy, refining moments—when the most Christlike thing you can do is endure wrong without retaliation. That is not weakness. That is lamb-like strength.

Christianity is the only faith where the innocent willingly suffer for the guilty.

We are not called to manufacture peace at all costs. But we are called to pursue holiness at any cost. The Lamb went first.

Galatians 5:13 (NLT) says, “For you have been called to live in freedom… but don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.”

Prayer: Dear Lord, following You is not always easy, and living holy in an unholy world often costs more than we expect. Give us wisdom to know when to speak and when to be silent, when to stand firm and when to surrender. Teach us how to pursue peace without compromising truth, and holiness without losing love. Help us remember that when obedience feels costly, we are walking in the footsteps of the Lamb, in Jesus’ name, Amen! ‍

‍
In His love,
Pastor Tim Burt
Support This Work
© 2025 Tim Burt Ministries. All rights reserved.
Change email address
You’re receiving this email because you opted in at timburt.org.
In His love,
Pastor Tim Burt
at No comments:

Friday, 20 March 2026

Vernal Grail Cup

at No comments:

God’s Covenant Love in the Middle of Our Mess Fresh Manna by Pastor Tim Burt

Fresh Manna with Pastor Tim Burt 
Tim Logo   A Note from Pastor Tim
Greetings and thank you for reading. I pray that Fresh Manna is a blessing to you and helps you launch your day in the Lord. If you are blessed by what you read, please share it with a friend. There is a link in this box and  at the bottom of each devotional that says:  "Forward this email to a friend." Click on it, and put in their email and it will go to them. Thanks in advance for sharing! God bless you and thanks again for reading! Forward this email to a friend

God’s Covenant Love in the Middle of Our Mess

March 20, 2026
by Timothy Burt

When we walk through negative circumstances, our first instinct is often to ask, “What did I do wrong?” And if we can find something we did wrong, we quietly assume something even worse — “Maybe God is upset with me. Maybe I’ve let Him down one too many times.”

That lie has whispered in countless hearts. The enemy of your soul would love nothing more than for you to interpret hardship as rejection. He wants you to confuse consequence with abandonment. He wants you to believe that because you dug the hole, God won’t climb down into it with you.

But Scripture tells a different story. Romans 8:1 (NLT) — “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” It does not say there are no consequences. It does not say we always avoid hardship. It says there is no condemnation. Condemnation is rejection. Condemnation is being cast off. And if you belong to Christ, that is never your story.

Some circumstances come from living in a fallen world. Others come from the choices of others. And yes, sometimes we create the mess ourselves. But even when we dig our own hole, God’s covenant love does not evaporate.

Psalm 103:10–11 (NLT) — “He does not punish us for all our sins; He does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For His unfailing love toward those who fear Him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.”

That is covenant language. Unfailing love. Loyal love. Faithful love. God’s covenant with you is not fragile. It does not shatter the first time you fail. It is rooted in the finished work of Christ, not your recent performance.

Think about Peter. He denied Jesus three times — publicly, fearfully — after boldly declaring loyalty. If anyone had dug his own hole, it was Peter. Yet after the resurrection, Jesus did not reject him. He restored him. He recommissioned him. He entrusted him again with, “Feed My sheep” (John 21:17, NLT).

Negative circumstances are not proof of divine abandonment. Sometimes they are the very place where God does His deepest work.

When Jonah deliberately disobeyed God and ran in the opposite direction of what God had clearly told him to do, a violent storm came upon the sea. The sailors threw him overboard, and he was swallowed by a great fish. He remained inside that fish for three days. It must have felt terrifying and hopeless. But Scripture says:

Jonah 1:17 (NLT) — “Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.”

That fish eventually spit Jonah back onto dry land, saving his life (Jonah 2:10, NLT). What looked horrific was not rejection — it was redemption. God had not abandoned him. He preserved him, corrected him, and gave him another opportunity to obey.

Hebrews 13:5 (NLT) — “For God has said, ‘I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.’”

You may have to walk through consequences. You may have to rebuild what was broken. You may have to humble yourself and make things right. But none of that means God has stepped back in disgust.

That includes mornings after bad decisions. That includes mornings after failure. That includes mornings when you realize you helped create the mess you are now in.

God’s covenant of love is still active. Still faithful. Still powerful. The hole you are in is not proof of rejection. It may very well be the place where you discover that He was holding you all along.

Lamentations 3:22–23 (NLT) — “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning.”

Hebrews 13:5 (NLT) — “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”

Prayer: Dear Lord, when circumstances feel heavy and I begin to assume You are disappointed or distant, steady my heart with Your truth. Help me to see that Your covenant love does not flicker with my failures. If I must walk through consequences, walk with me. Correct me, restore me, and remind me that You have not abandoned me. Thank You that what looks like devastation can become redemption in Your hands. Strengthen my trust in Your faithful love, in Jesus’ name, Amen! ‍

‍
In His love,
Pastor Tim Burt
Support This Work
© 2025 Tim Burt Ministries. All rights reserved.
Change email address
You’re receiving this email because you opted in at timburt.org.
In His love,
Pastor Tim Burt
at No comments:
Subscribe to: Comments (Atom)

When Holiness Looks Like a Lamb Fresh Manna by Pastor Tim Burt

Fresh Manna with Pastor Tim Burt    A Note from Pastor Tim Greetings and thank you for rea...