Plantation Baptist Church of Dekalb, Texas

05/25/2026

John 15:9-13 9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

COMMENTARY...
9. continue ye in my love—not, “Continue to love Me,” but, “Continue in the possession and enjoyment of My love to you”; as is evident from the next words.
10. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love—the obedient spirit of true discipleship cherishing and attracting the continuance and increase of Christ’s love; and this, He adds, was the secret even of His own abiding in His Father’s love!
12. That ye love one another.
13. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends—The emphasis lies not on “friends,” but on “laying down his life” for them; that is, “One can show no greater regard for those dear to him than to give his life for them, and this is the love ye shall find in Me.”

05/25/2026

2 Samuel 11:3-4 “So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, ‘Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?’ Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house.”

Ponder This
There are three individuals sitting in the seat where you are right now: the person you are at this moment, the person you could be for God and for good, and the person you could be for evil. Now, many of us do not realize the propensity for evil that’s in our hearts. Many do not realize the depths, the depravity, to which they could go as children of God. You say, “Not me, preacher.” Are you better than David? David is one of the greatest men that ever lived, but David got casual about his walk with the Lord. He just assumed that God was going to keep on giving him victory. He let down his pursuit of the things of God and became idle and lazy. He was casual, then he was careless, and then he was compulsive.

-What can we learn from David’s example?
-How does God use accounts like David’s to keep His people from the danger of sin?

Practice This
Reflect on any areas in which you might have let down your pursuit of the things of God. Take action today to draw nearer to the Lord, confessing anything you need to confess.

(Love Worth Finding)

05/20/2026

Proverbs 29:1 “He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”

Ponder This
God gives us all spiritual direction. That is seen in the fact that He says we are, “often rebuked.” That means God speaks to us time and again. Do you know that it would be more than justice requires if God only spoke to us one time? Because we’re all sinners, God doesn’t owe us anything. But God has spoken one time, two times, three times, and over and over again. We are “often rebuked.”

God does strive, God does knock, God does rebuke, and God does call over and over again. How does He do it? One way God may speak to us is through His Holy Spirit. The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is a still small voice God has given to reprove us and bring us to Him. That longing to know God, that sensitivity to the things of God, that urge to get right with God? That's God's Holy Spirit bringing you, drawing you, and wooing you to Jesus Christ.

How have you experienced God speaking in your life?
How does this show His mercy and grace?

Practice This
Take a walk sometime this week in prayer. Rather than speaking to God continuously, spend most of this time listening to God.

(Love Worth Finding)

05/13/2026

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Ponder This
Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). The Antichrist can say the same thing. He is of his father, the devil. Just as Jesus Christ was God in human flesh, the Antichrist will be the devil in human flesh, and he will be able to say, “He who has seen me has seen my father.”

Satan desires worship, and he will receive that worship through the Antichrist. In 2 Thessalonians 2:4, the Apostle Paul tells us that the Antichrist will sit in the temple, considering himself as God. The devil has always wanted to be worshipped, and all people were made to worship. The question for us is who and what will we worship?

What are some markers that tell us what people worship in their lives?

Though you may never say you worship anything other than God, what in your life would you have the hardest time letting go of if God asked you to? What might this indicate?

Practice This
Make a list of things you consider to be of highest value in your life. Spend time reflecting on this list and seeking to submit each item before the Lord.

(Love Worth Finding)

05/09/2026

Daniel 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

Ponder This
In this text, Daniel said that God was going “to finish the transgression,” not a transgression, but the transgression. To whom was Daniel speaking? Israel. What is the transgression of Israel? It was the rejection of Israel’s Messiah. But one day, thank God, that rejection will be over. Israel’s transgression will be in the past.

Further, God's going to make an end of sins, because there can be no end of sins without Messiah. There is no forgiveness of sin apart from the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. There’s coming a time when the Jews shall turn in faith to Jesus Christ and trust Him. Romans 11:26 says, “And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob.’”

How are you comforted by the promises of God throughout Scripture?

How can you see today’s text pointing to the coming of Christ?

Practice This
Find a time today to talk with another person about the promises of God that have been fulfilled in the Bible and throughout history.

04/28/2026

04/25/2026

1 Peter 3:7
Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

Ponder This
The Bible says here, “Husbands, dwell with your wives according to understanding” or knowledge. We could translate it this way: Live together in the same house with good sense.

What does it mean to live with a car according to knowledge? You get a new automobile. What do you do? You read the manual. You see what kind of oil it takes, what kind of fuel it takes, what the air pressure in the tires needs to be. You watch the gauges, and the gauges indicate the needs of that car. If you want that car to work well, you have to understand the car. With our spouses, God’s Word is the manual. And wives (or husbands) are constantly sending signals. But many of us don’t read the manual, and we pay no attention to the signals. Many of us pay more attention to our automobiles or other possessions than we do to our spouses. This is not living together according to knowledge and understanding.

What are some things the Bible teaches about the best way to live with a spouse?

How have you seen the impact of living according to the Bible’s way in your own family situation?

(Love Worth Finding)

Practice This
Take time this week to encourage your spouse or to encourage another married couple you know.

04/15/2026

1 Corinthians 15:14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

Ponder This
I heard of a time back when haircuts were 50 cents, back in the olden days. A preacher went into the barbershop and got a haircut, and he started to pay the barber. The barber said, “No, that’s all right. You’re a pastor. I’m not going to charge you.” The pastor said, “No, I want to pay.” The barber said, “No, I will come listen to you preach, and I’ll take it out in preaching.” The pastor said, “I don’t have any 50-cent sermons.” The barber said, “That’s okay. I’ll come twice.” I want to tell you that a sermon that does not affirm the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a profitless, worthless exercise in futility.

Why are Christian preaching and the Christian faith empty if Christ has not been raised from the dead?

How would you answer another Christian who says the reality of the resurrection doesn’t matter very much?

Practice This
Journal a list of ways the resurrection impacts our lives each day as Christians and gives us hope for the future.

(Love Worth Finding)

04/14/2026

Psalm 4:1 Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.

Ponder This
Many of us want to use God like our spare tires rather than our steering wheels. We want to wait until we have spiritual blowouts and see if God will come and help us, rather than doing as Jesus taught us to do by seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. (Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.)

Why does God allow us to have problems? To cause us to do exactly what Jehoshaphat did: to seek Him!

Did you know that if we never had problems, most likely we would not seek God? When are the times you’ve grown the most? Be honest. When everything was fine? Likely, the times God was the nearest, dearest, and most real to you—the times when you agonized in prayer and found God to be faithful—were when you were going through trouble. That’s what David said: “Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress” (Psalm 4:1, KJV).

How do you relate to this picture of the spare tire versus the steering wheel? Which are you more likely to view God as in your life?

How have you seen your dependence on God grow in difficult times? What can that teach you?
Practice This

Journal about a difficult time when you grew in dependence on God. Write about the unique blessings that came out of that time.

(Love Worth Finding)

04/11/2026

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

Ponder This
We have a problem. God is holy; He’s “the just.” We are unholy; we are “the unjust.” How could God, who is holy, punish sin and love the sinner at the same time? That’s the problem that was solved by Calvary. God was, in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. Here, the doctor not only makes a house call, leaves Heaven, and comes to Earth, but the doctor Himself makes the patient well by taking the patient’s sickness. He dies: “the just for the unjust.” The judge not only adjudicates the criminal guilty, but also steps from behind the bench, stands in the place of the accused, and takes the punishment upon Himself. You’ll never understand the cross until you understand the principle of substitution. Jesus Christ died for us.

What does it mean for you that Jesus is your substitute?
Do you rely on Jesus as the perfect substitute, or are you still working to earn your own way before God? What needs to change?
Practice This
Make a list of the ways Jesus is your perfect substitute.

(Love Worth Finding)