As a minister I believe the only true way to study is to look at verses in the context of which they were written. These HJD messages and the scriptures are done for that purpose. Each verse listed is a link to the whole chapter. Simply click on the verse and you will be taken to the whole chapter for further reading. I chose the translation “The Message” as it is in the language of today so we can relate. I encourage you to study with passion each verse in many translations. Enjoy and I pray this blesses you over and over.
Love, Perry
January 4th, 2026
Happy Jesus Day!
The Mission Of Love!
When she asked me about Happy Jesus Day tears filled my eyes, and a lump formed in my throat. As she hugged me she said “I didn’t mean to upset you”. I explained the burden that weighs on me. The burden that comes with this mission. A mission that others have felt, which weighed heavy on them as well. To teach LOVE. Pure… unfiltered…compassionate… love. Not just to those around us, but to the world. To teach the true meaning of the heart of Jesus. A heart that loved everyone without judgement. A heart that saw more potential in a prostitute, than in a religious leader. A spirit that looked past the behavior and saw the heart. I think of all the hatred I see daily. Hatred for the gay community. Hatred for differing political parties. Hatred for those that may be of a different race. Hatred for anyone that believes different than we do. We live in a world were everyone is more concerned with themselves, than with others. A world where we have bombs pointed at the next guy, with bombs. A world where everyone carries a gun, with the thought of having to kill another soul. The message of our Savior is more about love… than about being right. To learn the heart of Christ, means to learn to put our hatred and weapons down and become as one. One with each other. One with the world around us. One with the spirit of God. You may say I’m a dreamer. So be it! I will be happy to carry that burden!
I Love You!
Perry
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
“Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own.
You didn’t think, did you, that just by pointing your finger at others you would distract God from seeing all your misdoings and from coming down on you hard? Or did you think that because he’s such a nice God, he’d let you off the hook? Better think this one through from the beginning. God is kind, but he’s not soft. In kindness he takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life-change.
If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both.
Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.
If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care—then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.