July 31, 2025
2 Timothy 1:12 “nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day”
The Apostle Paul, writing to Timothy in today’s verse, declares that he is not ashamed. Paul was a prisoner when he penned these words, and throughout his ministry, he had been ridiculed, slandered, publicly beaten and tormented, and arrested several times. In the world and among many people, including some who identified as Christian, he was considered a scourge, a scoundrel, and an outlaw to both the Jews and the Romans. How can a person feel no shame even when they are being humiliated? How can they still hold their head high and carry on despite the whisperings behind their backs, the public accusations, and the betrayals by those they trusted? The Apostle gives us the answer, saying he knows whom he has believed. Notice he didn’t say what he believed, but who. He’s talking about Jesus Christ, who himself was mocked, ridiculed, and publicly scorned. Even His own disciples turned their backs on Him, and Peter cursed and denied that he even knew Him. Paul’s faith was anchored not in a religious system or his social standing in the community, but he was on the foundation of Christ, and on that foundation, he had a place of strength, a place of absolute confidence. He said that he was, “persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day”. Some translations have reversed this, saying Christ is able to protect what he had entrusted to us as if we are the ones in possession. And we can agree that all we have has been given to us from God. But I believe the AV (also the TLV, BBE, LSV, and others) is correct here in that He guards, protects what we have entrusted to Him. What have we entrusted to Christ? Our souls, our lives, our futures, and our hopes. Sometimes the sinner’s prayer will say, “I give You my life”. We can speak of us committing our ways, our resources, and all that we have to the Lord. The sense is that no matter what flails against us in this world, the Lord will not fail to keep eternally safe all He holds for us. No one, no system, and no demon from hell can take our life, our future, and what belongs to us because Christ holds it securely. All shame is gone because we live and operate on a higher plane, a place of communion and fellowship with Jesus Christ. Let’s keep running our race, looking unto Jesus.
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July 30, 2025
Jeremiah 9:23-24 “Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD”
God made Adam and Eve in His image, and they were completely perfect and holy. Nothing separated them from the Creator, and we have every reason to believe that, knowing God and being close to Him, they wore the glory of God like a shining garment. An example is when Moses came face to face with God, the Bible says his skin glowed so brightly that people could not look at him. But the moment that Adam and Eve did what God told them not to do, they lost a lot of things. They lost their eternal life, their wonderful garden home, and their glory. When they looked at themselves, they saw their humanness, not the radiance that had been. They sewed fig leaves to make clothes, and since that day, all humanity has tried to find a replacement glory anyway they can. If they can find it no other way, they will even resort to glorying in their sinfulness and depravity as if it is a badge of honor to be numbered with the most loathsome of sinners. Today’s verse tells us that there is a glory we can wear that is so unlike anything this world has to offer because it can only come from the Lord, the One who gave man the original glory. When we come, by faith, to the cross of Jesus, the cross becomes our glory, and all that we lost in Adam is replaced by the Man on the cross. It’s a strange thing how God uses the cross of Christ to restore our glory, but the Bible says in Galatians 6:14, “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world”. Christ is risen and now glorified forever, and we are glorified with Him. We may not appear glorious to the world, but as the Father sees us already with Him in heaven, the Bible says in Romans 8:18,” For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us”. Let’s hear the words of Daniel 12:3, “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever”.
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July 29, 2025
1 Samuel 1:13 “Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken”
Hannah was praying fervently, asking God to give her a baby boy. But her prayer was silent, as this verse tells us. Her lips moved, but she wasn’t speaking so people could hear. Eli, the priest, saw her, noted that she was inaudible, and thought she had been drinking. But the Lord heard the prayer of her heart and gave her the baby she wanted. He hears us not because we pray loudly or eloquently, but because He loves us, and knows the words that form whether we speak them or think them. This truth has become more precious to me now that I have no vocal cords and can’t speak normally. God hears the cry of our hearts and knows what we’re praying about even before our words come to us or we utter them. God is not dealing with the human race just as a group, but with us as individuals. He knows us so well that He knows the number of hairs on our heads. He knew us before we were born, even before the world was created. Every facet of our being is important to Him, and He will never stop being personally involved with us throughout eternity. No matter what you’re praying about right now, the Lord is listening. You don’t have to worry if your prayers make sense to Him, and you don’t have to be concerned about your choice of words. God knows our thoughts before we think them, and, as with Hannah, he is listening to prayers both spoken and silent. The important part for us is to keep praying, keep reaching out to Him with the faith that He is always there as He promised in 1 Peter 3:12, “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers”. It’s good to pray aloud, even at the top of our voices. But God isn’t deaf, and loud praying doesn’t get His attention more than praying like Hannah. Every atom of our body, every breath we take, every aspect of our personality, and every turn in our life’s road is known by Him. Let’s trust Him and keep praying. Psalm 116:1-2, “I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live”.
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July 28, 2025
Acts 3:8-9 “And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God”
This man was born severely handicapped. All his life, someone carried him to the door of the temple, where he sat all day begging for money to survive. But the day recorded here in Acts 3 was the start of a new life for him. The Apostles Peter and John were walking into the temple to worship when the fellow saw them and asked them for an offering. What happened next was astounding: Verses 6-7, “Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength”. Some like a quiet, meditative church atmosphere, and I certainly respect that. We can worship that way, and the Lord receives it when our hearts are turned to Him. But this man couldn’t contain himself. He had been unable to even stand all his life and lived the disgraceful life of a poor beggar. That day, that blessed day, he was delivered, and when he was able to stand up, he couldn’t stop there. Not only was he walking and praising God, but he was also jumping up and down. Imagine someone today coming into church, walking, jumping, and praising God because the Lord had done something great for them! As preacher Ballew used to say, “That’d make a freight train take a dirt road”. Totally out of the norm and out of character as it was that day at the temple gate in Acts 3. I believe God wants to use the same Word of God as He did centuries ago, but do a new thing, in a new and different way, reaching new and different people, and refreshing those who are wilted and worn. We flash back to the words of Psalm 40:3 “And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD”. That’s what happened that day in the temple: “And all the people saw him walking and praising God”. What’s wrong with an outward expression of our inward joy? It’s not worked up emotion, it’s how we express what’s turning like a dynamo inside. The Bible says in Psalms 47:1, “O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph”. Psalms 150:4, “Praise him with the timbrel and dance”. Maybe sometimes for those who were dead but Jesus raised us to life, a little bit of jumping up and down like the lame man healed at the temple gate ain’t a bad thing.
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July 27, 2025
Ephesians 6:10 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might”
Maybe you can remember the Charles Atlas advertisements in comic books many years ago. It showed a skinny boy and his girlfriend getting bullied by a bigger guy. Atlas, a famous bodybuilder, promised in this ad, “The Insult that Made a Man Out of Mac!”, that if you would order his product, you would get his seven-day path to perfect manhood, and never have to worry about bullies again. It made skinny little boys like me dream of being a powerhouse. I could never convince my parents to order Charles Atlas’s products, and I never became a bodybuilder. We need something greater than physical strength, and today’s verse tells us to be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. To be strong in the Lord is to be strong in faith, and as 2 Timothy tells us to, “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus”. How is it possible to stand firm and strong in our faith when everything all around us is shaking, blowing, flooding, changing, and becoming more frightening and stressful every day? How do we help our families and churches navigate through these times and stay on track for the Lord? We must first be assured that we are standing on the strong foundation of Jesus Christ, the chief cornerstone (1 Peter 2:6). We testify that when we put our trust in Christ alone, we are trusting the Christ, the Son of the Living God. The gates of hell can’t overcome Him. He is the devil-defeating, dead man-raising, water-walking, miracle-working Jesus of Nazareth. He is unstoppable, unshakable, unsinkable, indestructible, and undefeatable. We stand strong because Christ Jesus is why we live, how we live, and who we live for. When we trust Him, He is the anchor of our soul, and declared to be both sure and steadfast (Hebrews 6:19). We can stand steadfast, unmovable, strong, and in power because the Lord has made a way for us to get through any trial, endure any affliction, survive any change around us, triumph over any enemy, and face any circumstance. We are strong in the Lord and well equipped with the Word of God, the Holy Spirit of God, the mind of Christ, the will of the Father, the company of angels, the prayers of the saints, the love of Jesus, and unfailing grace.
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July 26, 2025
Isaiah 1:17 “Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow”
God spoke to His people through Isaiah at a time when they were backslidden and corrupt. Not only were their religious ways, including their priests and temple servants, far from God, but the way they conducted themselves and treated each other was disgraceful. God pleaded with them to return to Him in verse 18, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” promising that if they would return, He would forgive them and wash away all their sins. It speaks to us today of living a repented life: Not one where we may have repented in the past and turned to Jesus Christ and received God’s gift of salvation, because that’s the starting point of a new life. But God calls us to live a life where, daily, we follow the steps of Christ and are led by the Holy Spirit. A life where we daily turn away, repent, from wrong and embrace what’s right. In today’s verse, the Lord is urging His people to break away from their life-patterns of wrong and begin living by higher standards. Much of what we do, how we think, and the way we interpret circumstances are guided by patterns we follow both consciously and out of habit. The Holy Spirit calls us out with the Word of God and opens our understanding of God’s will for us. He convicts us when we are sensitive to Him, and by His power and our own will, we turn away from what’s wrong. It’s at that time when we need to break the old patterns and form new ones. When Jesus met Zacchaeus, Zacchaeus chose to stop the way he was living and go in another direction. Listen again to what he said to the Lord in Luke 19:8, “Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold”. He was starting a new direction, one that followed the principle of today’s verse. Doing well or obeying anything else in these verses will not save us; Only trusting Jesus Christ can do that. But how we live is important, and living God’s way isn’t complicated. We follow Christ by examining our life’s path and making good choices based on the truth of God’s Word. When the Lord makes us aware of things that are not in line with His Word, we break with the old ways and change direction towards Christ.
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July 25, 2025
Galatians 6:2 “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ”
Sometimes, God’s will, His eternal purpose, leads people into lion’s dens, fiery furnaces, and, like Joseph, into prisons. Yet in those times, He never forgets us because it is His hand that’s leading us, and He never leaves or forsakes us. We belong to Him, and He is our Father. But when we feel trapped and there seems to be no way out, when the trial seems endless and God seems a million miles away, it’s normal to get discouraged, even angry. It takes faith to remember that there will never be a circumstance that isn’t formulated into God’s good purpose for our lives, no matter how unlikely it may seem. God is always there, and He is always at work for our benefit. A part of the help He provides when we get in times of great burdens comes from others who stand with us in faith. Today’s verse tells us that the law of Christ, which is the law of love, leaps into action when we bear one another’s burdens. It’s painful to watch someone you love suffering, afflicted, or in a tremendous storm, and you know it’s beyond your means to fix everything for them. But there is comfort in knowing the Lord sees, hears, and understands what they face, and knowing that He is faithful in the storms just as He is in times of calm. We step up to help them and offer the consolation of truth that God has not abandoned them. Our words, prayers, and assistance are ways we do God’s will to encourage others in their trials. It’s part of God’s plan for the unity of His people. Personal hardships bring God’s community of believers together. It brings us out of our normal routines, and we unite in a common purpose of faith. When we feel their pain and sorrow and join in prayer to our God on their behalf, we enter into the presence of the Lord by sharing in their suffering. In our abundant freedom, our prayers often center around our personal discomforts, lists of requests for ourselves and families, and a small circle of needs and wants. That isn’t always a bad thing, but it leaves a void that can be filled by compassion and acts of kindness for others. We can’t always bring suffering people a perfect solution, but we can strengthen, encourage, and honor them. By standing with them, we are all assured that we are not alone: God is with us and the people of God are with us.
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July 24, 2025
Ephesians 2:5-7 “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”
When we were at our worst, God came to us and gave us His best. We were dead in our sins, meaning that we had no spiritual power to reach for God, no desire to repent and turn to Jesus Christ. This is the prerequisite of salvation: To be separated from God, needing His grace and mercy. Anything else, any other condition, will not open the door for God’s grace because for God to save us by His grace, there can be no ability possessed or feigned to play a part in our redemption. The pushback against salvation by grace through faith is that somehow or some way, we have to play an active role in saving ourselves. Imagine that: The human race who has no power, past, present or future, to keep from killing each other in endless wars, no power to create a world where people are free, safe, and prosperous, and no power to figure out how to defeat death, can somehow play a role in obtaining eternal life for themselves. But God brings redemption to His creation by an act of grace, undeserved, unearned favor, and not only gives us life to raise us from the dead but also gives us a position of honor and glory. He unites us as His family under the headship of Christ Jesus His Son, and together, He declares us righteous, holy, and justified as though we had never sinned! Then He promises us the best is yet to come when, through eternity, we will always enjoy the gifts of what He calls here, “The exceeding riches of his grace”. There’s been a lot written, preached, and sung about the streets of gold and other wonders of our heavenly home, but those things are just a small part of what awaits us. Remember what the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 2:9, “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him”. All of this means nothing to those who have never believed God’s Word. They are described by 1 Corinthians 2:14, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned”. But to those who are saved, it is precious.
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July 23, 2025
1 Timothy 6:12 “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses”
Several times in the scriptures, the Christian life is called a warfare. That might seem strange when some of the fruits of the Holy Spirit are love, joy, and peace. But when we trust in Jesus, our faith sets us at odds against the world, the devil, and our own flesh. There’s a struggle within us to do God’s will instead of our own. We become a target for what the Bible calls “The fiery darts of the wicked”. The Bible says that we battle like a wrestler: Ephesians 6:12, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places”. Christians are pictured like gladiator warriors in Ephesians 6:13-17, where faith is a shield, God’s Word is a sword, salvation is a helmet, and righteousness is a breastplate of armour. But today’s verse tells us we are fighting a good fight of faith, and part of our fighting is laying hold on eternal life. This doesn’t mean we are fighting to secure eternal life because that’s already done for us in the sacrifice of Christ. But it means that of all the things we can fix our attention on, and make the most important thing, eternal life is the most wonderful, the most valuable. H.A. Ironside said, “It is a poor thing to talk about having eternal life while living for the things of the world. “Lay hold on eternal life!” As I realize that my life is hid with Christ in God, I will look very lightly upon the things of this world. Knowing Him, who to know is life eternal, everything else is of little importance. Thus one may lay hold on eternal life”. We fight the good fight on our knees, praying to the Almighty Creator of all things. We fight the good fight by resisting worldly compromise, keeping our focus on the things of God. And we fight the good fight of faith by denying our selfish desires and walking in submission to our Lord and Savior. As Paul told Timothy in today’s verse, we’ve declared Christ openly, publicly before witnesses. We’ve testified to our faith by following the Lord’s example of baptism. One day soon, the battle will be over, and we will lay down our swords and shields. Until then, to the world, our flesh and the devil: It’s On!!!
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July 22, 2025
Esther 4:14 “For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
Against all odds and only by the providential hand of God, the Jewish girl Esther became the queen of Persia, wed to King Ahasuerus. When great opposition in Persia rose against the Jews to annihilate them, Esther’s uncle Mordecai spoke the words in today’s verse. He tells Esther that if she hides her heritage and refuses to speak up for her Jewish people in hopes of protecting them against people who want to kill them, then God will take things in another direction and use another method to save His people. But Mordecai tells her to consider that maybe she came to be queen because God placed her in the spot to make a difference for His people. This speaks to us that often God directs and positions us to a place, for a season, and arranges our circumstances so that we can make choices that honor Him; Choices and actions that make a difference in God’s kingdom. When it’s our turn to obey at the right time, the right place, and with His will flowing through us, and we follow through, it brings glory to God. And, on our part, we are involved in a part of God’s purpose that sets milestones in our lives. No wonder the enemy uses the persuasions of procrastination, fear, feelings of personal unworthiness, and inadequacy to tempt us to back out of those moments. He knows that once the door of opportunity has passed, we may have missed the blessing of a lifetime. In a side note, it’s interesting we’re talking about something in Israel’s history that involved Persia, known in our modern world as Iran. By the very fact that a Persian King was married to a Jewish girl and that Persia and Israel were united by that union, it all looks forward to the day when Jesus brings peace to the earth. And finally, the nations that have warred against God’s people will be joined with Israel, and all nations will know peace and prosperity. Our prayer today can be that the Holy Spirit will direct our steps and choices so that we will be ready to step up and do God’s will whenever we have the opportunity. He raises us up for times like that.
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July 21, 2025
2 Corinthians 7:5-7 “For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears. Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus; And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more”
The Bible calls the Holy Spirit the Comforter, and the word used for this in passages like John 14:16 means someone who steps up beside us to help us when we are in need. His indwelling presence brings us peace in our storms, directions for our journey, and encouragement when we are in trials. But God also uses people to help each other in tough times. In today’s verses, the Apostle Paul tells that when he was ministering in Macedonia, he was battling all kinds of opposition and inner turmoil. God, declared here as the one who comforts those who are cast down, sent Titus to comfort him. And, not only Titus, but Titus brought with him the news of other believers who were standing strong on Paul’s behalf. It’s awesome that the word used for comfort here is akin to the one describing the Holy Spirit in that it means someone who is summoned to be a helper, an encourager, and one who gives strength and consolation. It is a person, sent by God, to do the outward work of the Holy Spirit; a companion of faith and fortitude. In the story of the Good Samaritan, the Samaritan, who stepped into the ditch to help the fellow who had been beaten and robbed by thieves, was a comforter, and he put the love of God into action. Are we comforters to others? Do we pray for and look for opportunities to come alongside others who are going through trials and make ourselves available to them? We have to really use our spiritual vision to look at others while asking God to show us ways and opportunities to be a blessing to them. Let’s remember that sometimes a few words of encouragement, a smile that declares our friendship, and taking the time to listen to what they’re saying is all that’s needed. Other times, we have to take a deeper dive to be the Christ-like comforter they need. Job called his sarcastic, self-righteous friends “miserable comforters” when they came to accuse and belittle him instead of helping him. Titus was completely the opposite: He came with a spirit of compassion and strong faith to help Paul. We can apply the Lord’s words here: “Go and do likewise”.
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July 20, 2025
Mark 10:23 “And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!”
This verse is from the account of the rich young ruler who came to Jesus asking how to receive eternal life. The Bible doesn’t tell us if he was an official of the government or the Jewish religious hierarchy, but he addressed Jesus as “Good Master”, a title that no Jew would give to a religious leader because it implied deity. Our Lord asked him why he called Him good, because that was a term reserved only for God. Jesus was probing the young man, asking him to decide if he really believed that Jesus was God. But this story, recorded also by Matthew and Luke, tells us how the power of riches and possessions can keep people from salvation. We can read it in connection with the parable of the seed of the Word of God in Matthew 13:22, “He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful”. Wealth and possessions are deceptive because they put us in a never-ending cycle described in Ecclesiastes 5:10: “He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity”. They become our identity, the way we measure ourselves. The vanity, the pride of it, is that we will argue that it’s not true, that money and material things are not important to us. But like the rich young ruler, they have such a grip, such control that we can not bear to give them up and trust only Christ. It’s good to meditate on the prayer of Agur in Proverbs 30:8-9, “Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me (as in the Lord’s Prayer, our daily bread): Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain”. The rich young ruler walked away from Jesus very sad and grieved and we can see how he was trapped by his possessions, chained to them. In verse 25, Jesus said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God”. Christ used the camel, the largest animal in the area, and the eye of a needle, the smallest opening imaginable, as a humorous illustration to teach the danger of wealth and possessions.
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July 19, 2025
Romans 16:19 “For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil”
The Holy Spirit, by the pen of the Apostle Paul, says we should aim to be simple concerning evil. The Greek word translated as simple here has been rendered in some different ways, including innocent, unmixed, avoid, pure, harmless, without knowledge, and so on. But when we look at the context, it’s a different word from the one translated as simple in verse 18, “For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple”. It’s describing those who are unwise in the scriptures and in that case, simple is a negative state of mind as compared to the desirability of simple concerning evil in today’s verse. I believe the old Puritan John Trapp describes it well: “This simplicity is no disparagement, to be unskilled in the devil’s depths”. This is a nod to Revelation 2:24, “But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak”. The knowledge of darkness is a descending stairwell that takes us deeper into thoughts and patterns that feed our faithless flesh. The less we occupy ourselves with evil, the less we immerse in the knowledge of evil, and the more we remain unmixed and uncontaminated with evil, the better we are to be filled with the wisdom of that which is good. But when we are filled with the wisdom of good things, filled with the thoughts and aspirations that move us to follow Christ more steadfastly, our minds and consciousnesses are a foundation for strong, joy-filled lives. This is the idea of Romans 12:9, “Abhor (to shrink away from with disgust) that which is evil; cleave to that which is good”. When we change the channel away from the profanity and ungodliness, when we click our computers and phones away from the images and sites that are evil, and when we choose lifestyles that honor God above all else, we are taking positive steps towards victory and peace of mind. God sees our choices and fulfills His promise made in Psalms 84:11, “For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly”.
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July 18, 2025
2 Corinthians 7:10 “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death”
Conviction, brought and stirred by the Holy Spirit, brings sorrow. When we, by the Word of God, are confronted with our wrongs and we honestly acknowledge them before God, there is a change in the way we see what we’ve done, the person we are, and how we have fallen short of God’s demands. We’re not happy about it, and sorrowful, as the word used for sorrow here means to be sad and experience pain, grief, annoyance, and affliction. This is the pivot, the turning point that directs us towards God and is called here, godly sorrow. In the unsaved, it produces repentance leading to salvation, and for believers, it gets us back on track when we’ve erred. Repentance is not the substance of salvation, for that is given to us from God as a free gift when we believe in Jesus. But repentance is the condition of our hearts when we are moved by faith to receive God’s free gift. It is such an important part of who we are as believers, and I say believers because it is when we hear the Word of God and believe what it says about our sin that we are willing to turn from our sins to the Savior. The pattern is hearing the Word of God, believing what God says about our lost condition, becoming convicted by the work of the Holy Spirit, sorrowing for our sinful selves, and repenting of our wrongs by turning from them to Christ. Today’s verse says that we will never regret it, the meaning of the phrase “not to be repented of”. It brings us freedom, joy, and peace with God. Contrast that to what happens when we are confronted for our wrongs by the world: We are guilty, embarrassed, angry, defensive, resentful, and bitter. The scripture here says a worldly sorrow produces death. Instead of cleansing us, setting us free, and giving us a fresh new start, it condemns us and marks us as flawed failures. God is all about forgiving us, purging our pasts, revealing our value as children of God, and helping us turn away from all that scars and harms us, and walking with us on a better path to a better future. So, when we see our sins and errors and the Holy Spirit helps us turn toward God, it is a sweet, wonderful thing: Godly sorrow that makes us whole.
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July 17, 2025
John 9:39-41 “And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees who were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth”.
Jesus used natural blindness as a metaphor to teach about spiritual understanding. We do the same when we say, “Oh, I see”, declaring our understanding of a matter. The Lord said that He can give understanding to those who do not have it, and for those who smugly think they understand, He makes them blind. The Pharisees, so confident in their religious ways, would not admit they were blind to spiritual truth. They considered themselves spiritually superior to everyone else, and the thought that Jesus was saying they were blind was preposterous to them. They, with their plastered-on, inflated religious egos, were jeering at the Lord, mocking Him when they asked, “Are we blind also?”. Jesus answered them that if they would only admit their blindness, He would open their understanding to the truth, and they could be saved. But as long as they argued (falsely so) that they were the only ones who had a handle on spirituality, they would remain stuck in their blindness. The blindness of the scribes and Pharisees kept them from seeing that they were just as much sinners as the ones they were calling sinners. It is our sinfulness and pride that deceive our hearts and cause us to point the finger at others when we are all in the same boat. Romans 2:1,” Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things”. Those who were obvious sinners, such as the publicans, invited the Lord to come into their homes, talked with Him, and shared meals with the King of Kings. The self-righteous religious crowd considered themselves more righteous than everyone, even God in the flesh, and had nothing but hatred for the One who could, and would if they would ask, make them whole. Sadly, many today think they do not need the Savior. They are declaring that they can see on their own, and that all the talk of Jesus and truth is foolishness to them. My prayer is that they will become blind and trust Christ to give them sight.
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July 16, 2025
John 11:21 “Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died”
When Lazarus became sick and then deathly ill, his sisters, Mary and Martha, sent word to Jesus, asking Him to come and heal their brother. They knew the Lord had power over all sicknesses, and we can be sure they were on edge, hoping the Lord would show up at any second and everything would be ok. Jesus was about 20 miles away in another town, and He didn’t start towards Bethany, Lazarus’s hometown, for another two days after He got the message. When He got there, Lazarus was not only dead, but they had buried him. No doubt, Mary and Martha were upset because they had been anxiously expecting the Lord to come to the rescue until finally, in their minds, it was too late. We can hear the pain in Martha’s words to Jesus, “If You had been here, Lazarus wouldn’t have died!”. To her, it was over; Jesus didn’t get there in time. We’re often tempted to question or even become angry when God doesn’t show up at the time or in a way we hope He would. Like Martha, we’re tempted to say, “If only the Lord had answered my prayer sooner or in the way I hoped He would, then things would be different”. Martha saw the circumstances through the eyes of discouragement, disillusionment, and hopelessness instead of seeing the glorious possibilities of what Jesus can do. We think in terms of the natural and sometimes forget that our God is infinitely beyond our thoughts and delights in the unimaginable. The natural is limited, bound by the curse. But the power and glory of God are manifested in the supernatural, in His working outside the realm of what we can think or imagine. Jesus’s plan was not to rush 20 miles and perform another healing. But he planned to do something far more wonderful; His plan was to reveal Himself as the Resurrection and the Life. He planned to raise Lazarus and give hope to all believers, then and now, that death has no power over us! God wants to erase all the “If only” points of view in our lives and replace them with “With God, all things are possible”. Let’s pray big, bold prayers. Let’s expect God to be the Lord of all our circumstances, and when He doesn’t show up when we think He should or answer in the way we hoped, let’s declare His ways are best. He is a healer, but He is also the Resurrection!
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July 15, 2025
Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever”
Do you believe the Bible is the Word of God, and can you accept it as being without error? For many people, this is a dilemma. So many know so little about God’s Word that they cannot decide where they stand on the matter. Others have had their faith in God’s inerrant Word twisted by false teaching until the Bible is little more than just another religious book to them. They cannot trust its supernaturalness. But the assertion of the Bible’s inerrancy forms the foundation for what we believe to be absolute truth. It’s not just believing God exists because God doesn’t save based on our faith in His existence. The Scripture says the devils believe God exists, and this is the lie of universalism that proclaims all people have to do is admit the existence of God, and everything is fine. But here is what God declared: 1Peter 1:23, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever”. The ground of our salvation is laid out in Ephesians 2:8, ”For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God”. What we could call saving faith here is not just believing in God but believing what God said in His Word. People believe all sorts of stuff, but faith that brings us to salvation is explained in Romans 10:17, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”. Is this what you believe and is this what you teach your children to believe: that salvation comes from believing what God said about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and when you confess that you believe it, that the Almighty Maker of heaven and earth knows your faith and accounts it to you for righteousness and you are eternally saved? If so, then what you are trusting is the Word of God, and if you can trust it to save your soul, can you believe it is fully trustworthy in every other matter from Genesis to Revelation? I believe one of the traps we fall into is reading books about the Word of God instead of just reading the Word of God. It’s good to understand the history of the Bible, the history of the church, the theology and structure of Bible doctrine, and so on. But most important of all is to know the Word of God as it is written and declare we believe it, whether or not we completely understand it. Most times, faith comes first, followed by understanding.
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July 14, 2025
1 John 2:1-2 “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world”
These two verses express two things: Our goal and our reality. God is not talking to unbelievers here; He is speaking to His little children, and He tells us our goal is to live sinless. God can not set a lower bar because He calls us to holiness, to imitate the life of Christ. To choose any other goal is to open the door for compromise, and even if we open it only slightly ajar, old-time believers would warn that, “If the devil gets his foot in, he’ll scrouge his whole body in”. We can use an athletic event as a metaphor. A track coach might tell his team, “Go out there and break every State, Regional, and National record! You can do it!”. Surely no coach would say, “Well, do your best, but I know you’re going to fail. You’ll never break any records”. God is telling us to do good, turn away from wrong, and make careful, Bible-based decisions. May the Holy Spirit help us to face every day with that goal in mind. But our reality is that we will sometimes stumble, and sometimes we will fall: Faceplant in painful, awkward, and regretful ways. All of us are in the same boat. What if, as a parent, I only loved my little children and accepted them when they did everything right? What if I told them that when they messed up, “I’m going to beat the living daylights out of you and disown you”? Or if they got in trouble, I kicked them out of the house, dropped them off in the deep, dark woods somewhere, and then drove away, abandoning them all the while with my back turned to them? That would be some evil, insane parenting. God is speaking to His little children, and while He presses us to live at a high standard, He has made a provision of grace for our sins. Jesus Christ not only saved us; He continually pleads our case before our Father. As we discussed in a previous devotion, He is the propitiation for our sins, a word meaning “to cover sin” and/or to cleanse sin”. So, every day our goal is high: Sin not. But every day, we have the consolation and comfort that God has made a provision for our humanness; Jesus Christ, the righteous.
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July 13, 2025
Hebrews 9:24 “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us”
This verse contrasts Jesus and His office as our High Priest with the Jewish High Priests of the temple and their duties. Those earthly priests went into the Holiest of Holies, the most sacred place in the temple, once a year on behalf of the people. They carried some blood from the sacrifice and sprinkled it on the lid of the Ark of the Covenant, and by this act, God rolled away all the sins of Israel for a year until the next Day of Atonement. But Jesus offered Himself as an eternal sacrifice for us, and by the merits of His Sonship of God the Father, God has declared Christ to be a High Priest forever. Jesus did not enter into the Holiest of Holies of the earthly temple, but into the presence of God, bearing the token of His shed blood: The blood of the eternal sacrifice. He appeared in God’s presence not for Himself, but on our behalf, representing us. Isaiah 53:12 speaks of Christ when it says: “because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors”. Because He was numbered with us, that is, “enrolled” as one of us, He has identified Himself with us in all aspects of our nature and our life. Jesus is our intercessor, our advocate, our lawyer proclaiming our case, and our blood-covered righteousness to the Almighty Father. This should be a main item on our list of “things to be thankful for,” and give us confidence that the seated Savior at the Father’s right hand never approaches our situation with indifference or lack of understanding. Even though the scripture has revealed this wonderful truth of Jesus our mediator in so many places, believers often carry guilt and shame over sins for which they’ve already asked God to forgive them. But it’s not us pleading our case to God. Jesus is interceding on our behalf. And when we confess our sins, the Bible promises: “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. (1 John 1:9) The enemy knows that no charge (of guilt) can be laid against God’s people (Romans 8:33). But whenever he tries, Jesus, our High Priest and intercessor, is right there, taking up our case and defending us against all accusations.
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July 12, 2025
John 6:64 “But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him”
When Judas walked up to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and betrayed Him, Jesus called him “Friend” (Matthew 26:50). From our view, he was anything except a friend. In his song, “Why?”, Michael Card wrote: “Why did it have to be a friend who chose to betray the Lord? Why did he use a kiss to show them? That’s not what a kiss is for”. The call of Judas as a disciple was part of God’s plan for our redemption. Someone had to betray the Lord, and Jesus knew beforehand the one who would sell Him out. It fulfilled the prophecy of Psalms 41:9, “Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me”. In that verse, David‘s words have both a literal meaning in his own life, speaking of a betrayal by a friend, and also a prophetic meaning, looking forward to the life of our Lord. The word translated “friend” in Matthew 26:50 is “hetairos” and means: one who labors in a common field or endeavor but not necessarily for the same purpose or reason, an associate, colleague, or fellow, and a traveling companion. Other places in the Bible, close friends that are endeared and beloved to each other, as appearing in Luke 7:34, “a friend of publicans and sinners”, are designated by the word “philos” which means: dear, close, affectionate, and denoting personal attachment, as a matter of sentiment or feeling. By His words in today’s verse, Jesus knew Judas wasn’t a true friend. In our lives, God uses people who appear as “friends,” but when the truth is told, they are anything but friends. They end up betraying us, selling us out, abandoning us, or in some way affecting our lives in an unkind, uncaring way. But as Judas was used in the life of Jesus to accomplish God’s will, these people are being used to shape us, redirect us, and fulfill a purpose that is necessary in God’s plan. It’s sometimes a painful season, but it is always for our benefit. In the moment, we might feel saddened, angry, and used. But we can use Judas’ story to understand that our Father is always working everything for our good. When He uses the Judases of this world to accomplish His purpose in our lives, let’s thank Him, praise Him, and declare that God is always for us. Even the kissing, betraying Judases are working for us and serving in God’s will to get us to where our Lord knows we will be the most fruitful and blessed.
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July 11, 2025
Matthew 10:34-35 “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law”
This might seem like a strange statement from Jesus, even contradictory. After all, one of His titles is “The Prince of Peace”. The message of Christ is truly a message of peace, but it is an unfolding peace and not yet fulfilled in all its layers. One day, the whole world will know His peace. But when we are saved, the Holy Spirit takes up residence within us, and we have personal peace. We are immediately at peace with God, and by the comfort of the Spirit, we begin to be at peace in our circumstances. We learn that the Lord is now in control of our lives and the same Jesus who rebuked the storm, saying, “Peace be still”, is now Lord over whatever comes our way. But because salvation moved us from the world’s kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, we can never be at peace with this world because the world can never have peace without Jesus. The line in the sand is given by the words of Christ in Matthew 12:30, “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad (works against me)”. This division can even separate families. Sadly, a declaration of faith in Jesus Christ is almost fighting words to the world. Some people will accept you if you’re an outlaw, substance abuser, untrustworthy, and any number of things. But if you dare to declare that Jesus is your Lord, they’ll reject you, drop you like a hot potato, and some will begin a war against you. For what reason? Jesus Christ, the peaceful, harmless Savior who came to give us eternal life, is the divider of people. It’s the same as it was on the day our Lord was crucified. The people cried, “Crucify Jesus and release Barabbas, the murderer”. Jesus said in John 15:18-19, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you”. But, it’s not really that they despise the believers, as Jesus said in John 7:7, “The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil”. It’s Jesus they reject, despise, and hate.
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July 10, 2025
Hebrews 2:10 “For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings”
Just reading this verse, giving it a casual glance as we might some scriptures that are not quite as weighty, we might think that it says Christ was not perfect until He had suffered. But rightly divided, connected with what the Bible declares about Jesus Christ, we know that is not the case. The Son of God was not lacking in any aspect of His Deity. Yet as God, He could not suffer, bleed, and die, and because of that, as God, He could not satisfy the demands for our salvation. God had to become man and identify with us as the scriptures say in 1 Timothy 3:16, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh” and in Hebrews 10:5, “Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me”. The sacrifices of animals and offerings given by people could not satisfy the righteous demands of God towards sin. So, Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God only completed the redemption plan when He suffered and died. The words “perfect through sufferings” mean that it was only when God became man and suffered in our place that our Savior was able to complete His mission. The tortured, bleeding, crucified, and dying Son of God, carrying our sins, became the perfected Sacrifice. And, in that picture of God Himself taking our place as a human, we begin to glimpse the depth of today’s verse: The perfect sacrifice, offered once for all. One question that I have tried to answer for many years is this: Exactly what is the sum of all we received in the atonement? It’s a simple question, but it takes a lifetime to see, believe, and receive all the answers. Some people receive mercy, grace, and forgiveness, and there’s where they rest for their entire life. That in itself is a wonderful place to be because it assures us of eternal life with Jesus Christ. Some look deeper and open the treasure chest, receiving more and more of what has been provided for us in the atonement of Christ. If you are so inclined, I urge you to consider starting your search with the thought that what we lost in Adam, we have gained in Christ. Start by considering and trusting that when Jesus took our place, He carried more than our sins. Then look deeper.
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July 9, 2025
John 19:4 “Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him”
The Jews brought Jesus to Pilate, the Roman Governor, and demanded that he sentence Jesus Christ to be crucified. The Gospel of John tells us that three times, after questioning Jesus and examining the evidence brought against him, Pilate said he found no fault in Jesus. In 18:38, here in 19:4, and again in 19:6. If you have never given your heart to the Lord, I ask you to consider for yourself: Do you find fault in Jesus Christ? Is there something about Him, anything at all, that keeps You from trusting Him? Do you see a flaw, a discrepancy, something about His character, or something He said or stands for that makes you refuse to trust Him and turn away? I’m not asking do you find fault in religion, because in all religions, there are flaws. Christianity is no exception because it is made up of people like you and me, and people are not perfect. In the name of Christianity, people have done some horrible things. I’m not asking you about churches because churches are also about people, and they don’t always do what is right or follow the ways and Words of Christ. But if you’ve never thought much about Jesus, considered His teachings, or read His story for yourself, why not read the Book of St John and listen to the account of His life; What He did, what He said, and how He interacted with people? See if you agree with Pilate that you can find no fault in Him at all. The scriptures do not say or suggest that we place our confidence, our trust, in churches, religion, or other people. They point us to Christ and offer us the hope that when we hear His story, listen to His Words, and place our faith in His ability to forgive us and save us, then we’ve done exactly what God planned for us. When we hear the story of Jesus, how He was filled with compassion, how He loved people, and how He identified with all of us, it’s so much different from what we might think Jesus is about. It’s the story of God in a human body, reaching out to us with an invitation to know Him, speak to Him, and experience His love. The story gives us the understanding that life on this earth is short at best and is a time to prepare for the life to come. It’s a portal into eternity, and Jesus is the doorway. Jesus’ Words in John 10:9, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved”. As for me, I find no fault in Him.
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July 8, 2025
Exodus 14:13 “And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever”
The Israelites had left Egypt and were marching forward, headed to the land God promised them. But they came to the Red Sea, and Pharaoh and his army were headed towards them, intending to take them back to Egypt as slaves…again. They were trapped, or so it seemed. We read their situation in verse 10: “And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD”. It was at that moment that Moses directed their attention to God, the One who had delivered them from Egypt. Moses declared that God was going to save them and they would never see the pursuing Egyptians again. The Red Sea opened a dry path for them to cross, and when they were safely across, the waters then crashed down on the Egyptian army, destroying them. In our time of grace, we are sometimes surrounded and attacked by forces and circumstances that strike fear in us, and it looks hopeless. Our families are under attack, our children are being dealt blows of unbelief by an apostate culture, and workplaces are often minefields of antichristian ideologies and standards. It feels like we’re facing the hounds of hell with our hands tied behind our backs. But the same God who directed Moses to say, “Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord”, is eternally on heaven’s throne, and his defending, avenging power is still unstoppable. He gave us His Word and filled it with accounts such as the one above to build our faith in Him that God is for us, and who then can be against us? We can all look back on times when the Lord showed Himself strong on our behalf and delivered us. He made the impossible possible and brought us through situations where it seemed we would be destroyed. He always causes us to triumph, and like the Israelites after the Red Sea crossing, when God shows up, our enemies are no match for Him! Praise God like the Israelites, we shall see them no more! The Lord sees us where we are, He knows our needs, and He will never surrender His children into the hands of this world.
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July 7, 2025
1 Timothy 1:15 “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief”
About 40 years ago, the evangelist Maze Jackson was preaching a revival in Kingsport, and after the service, I asked him to sign a page in my Bible. He said he would if only, whenever I saw it, I would stop right then and pray for him. He then wrote today’s verse and signed his name. Today is my birthday, and I guess I’m close to the age Maze was when he jotted this verse and signed my Bible, and today, more clearly than ever, I see the truth of this declaration. The older I get and the more I read and study the scriptures, the more I see the grace of God as the main subject of its words and the more fully aware I become that it’s only by the amazing grace of God that life has any meaning at all. A few years ago, on my birthday in The Daily Devotions, I shared my life verse, the first few words of 1 Corinthians 15:10, “But by the grace of God I am what I am”. That’s the sum of who I am at 69 and the explanation of where I’ve been and where I’m headed: It’s all a journey of grace. Today’s verse reveals Christ’s purpose in His appearing as a man, and that purpose has not changed. He is still drawing people to Himself whenever the gospel is presented. It’s not about us becoming better and better, achieving some level of greatness that will ensure our names are remembered; it’s about us seeing ourselves needing a Savior and putting our trust in the One who came to save sinners. It’s startling to think that the Apostle Paul, the man God used to write much of the New Testament, saw himself as the foremost, the chief of sinners. But that’s who we are, and that’s why we need Jesus. We do not wallow in the guilt and shame of who we are as sinners, but we rejoice in who we are now as the redeemed of God. All who are unwilling or afraid to admit their sinfulness don’t know the joy of receiving the truth and being born again. I’m happy on my birthday that I’m alive and enjoying this day. But my greater happiness comes from knowing I am a child of God, and heaven is my home! I’ve had a second birthday, one of redemption.
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July 6, 2025
Hebrews 6:10 “For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister”
The scriptures tell us in Proverbs 15:3, “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good”. Whenever we do good, and especially when we do it in the name of the Lord Jesus, God takes notice. He is calling us out of this selfish, me-first world and setting us apart for His purpose: To love Him and to love each other. The Bible tells us that even the smallest things we do for others are important to the Lord as taught in Mark 9:41, “For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward”. Maybe we think the Lord’s work is doing mighty, amazing things. But if that’s the case, most of us will never reach those levels. To God, it’s not the size of the work, but it’s the condition of our hearts and our motives. If the person who sweeps the floor of the Sunday School room does it for the glory of God and is faithful in that work, it’s just as important as many of the highly visible things. Some people want the limelight. They thrive on the recognition they receive from doing things people notice. If that’s their heart, their motivation, their reward may just be the accolades they receive in this life. But today’s verse tells us that God remembers our work and labor of love when we walk in ministry, doing good in His name. Maybe we can make it a daily point to begin each day with a prayer like this: “Lord, show me someone today that I can encourage and be a blessing. Give me open doors and opportunities to do good in Your name. Open my eyes of understanding so I can see each opportunity as an opportunity to minister”. It’s the small things: Holding a door for someone, a greeting of kindness, a phone call to someone we know is going through a trial, or a visit to someone who is sick or shut-in. God sees us and remembers. Don’t worry about not having the big stuff to do. If we are faithful in the small things, God will move us to other places where He wants us. Let it be your ministry of service, the ministry of small but important things.
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July 5, 2025
Lamentations 3:22-23 “It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness”
Do you ever wish you could do things over and have a new, fresh start? That’s what the Lord was offering to Israel in today’s verses. They had made many bad choices, followed after false gods, and ignored God’s warnings. They were suffering the consequences of their decisions, and it was a painful time. But the Lord reminded them of how much He cared for them with the words, “the LORD’S mercies”, meaning His steadfast love. Even though they were being corrected for their rebellion against Him, He would never destroy them. Every day was a new day of new mercy and compassion, an opportunity to restart and do right before God. We have all sinned and come short of God’s will for us. We have all, like a bunch of stubborn sheep, wandered in our own ways, ignoring the Lord’s Word. We have all made bad choices and suffered the consequences of those decisions. But God remains faithfully determined to forgive us, bless us, restore us, and give us a fresh new start. Maybe we get stuck remembering all the ways we messed up. We might live with a heavy load of regrets, shame, and even self-loathing. Or, we might try to get peace from those bad memories by hardening ourselves and trying to convince ourselves that’s just how life is. But there’s a better way, a way of peace and joy. We can run to Jesus and trust in His complete forgiveness and mercy. He will totally forgive us of our wrongs and give us a brand-new start. He will justify us, a word that means He will never remember our past against us, and He will teach us to forgive ourselves and put it all away. People may never forget the path we walked, but God will. People may try to goad us into living in the past, but God never will. Every morning when we wake up, we can say, “Thank You Jesus, for this new day. I will rejoice and be glad in it. Thank You for a new start, a life reset. Help me live this day loving You and loving others. Give me the grace to make good decisions, choices that honor You and that bring blessings to me and my family”. God is not holding our past against us, but He is encouraging us to receive His offer to start anew. He declares a new day, one of goodness and grace.
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July 4, 2025
John 8:36 “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed”
Let freedom ring! This line is from the patriotic song, “America” (My Country, ‘Tis of Thee), written by Samuel Francis Smith in 1831. We celebrate our nation today and the freedoms we have, remembering that our freedom was not free but paid for by the great sacrifices of others. Shame on those who would take this nation for granted and act as if it means nothing to be free, as if what we have in the USA is common or unwanted. Shame on those who carry on as if we should be ashamed of who we are as Americans and live sniveling and apologizing for our citizenship in this amazing country. If they don’t like it here, they should self-deport. Let them go somewhere they think is better, and we who love it here would be glad to see them go. Because, why should they remain here, enjoying freedom and opportunity yet hating and despising it, saying they are miserable? But there is a different kind of freedom declared in today’s verse, the freedom that comes from the salvation of Jesus Christ. To the Jews, Jesus was telling them He would set them free from the great burden of trying to keep the Law of Moses. To all of us, He is saying He will set us free from the power and penalty of sin. Nothing or no one else can do that. But, by the grace and mercy of God, those who put their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior are completely set free from sin. Romans 8:2, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death”. Those who are trapped in addictions and suffering from the fallout of their bad choices, He declares, there is freedom. We are free from the darkness of unbelief, and now we walk in the light of truth. We are delivered, set free from the lies of the enemy, the flesh, and the devil. And, we have been set free from the curse caused by the fall of Adam, our federal head. As a part of this freedom, one day soon, the entire creation will be free from the curse. So, today, believers can celebrate freedom from both perspectives: We can salute the American flag and rejoice in our great freedoms. Hot Dogs, hamburgers, and watermelon for everyone. We can also bow our heads and bend our knees to the Lord, Jesus Christ, and say, “Thank You for setting us eternally free”.
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July 3, 2025
Luke 8:15 “But that (seed) on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience”
My dad had a Gravely cultivator, and he was proud of it. It was a unique, strong, walk-behind rotary tiller that could break new ground for a garden and then, with several passes, break the soil into fine bits like a lettuce bed. As I remember, he would start it by wrapping a leather strap around the flywheel, closing the choke, and pulling hard on the strap. He also had a sickle-bar attachment for it that could mow weeds like a small bushhog. It was the tool that made for fine gardening. Dad and Mom would carefully work the garden, and Mom would can as many as a hundred cans of green beans a year in quart Mason jars because the soil they tended was good and produced well. That’s what today’s verse is speaking about, using the good soil of a garden as a metaphor for our hearts. When we hear the Word of God, it’s like a seed that’s planted into our hearts, and even though the seed of God’s Word is perfect and powerful, the outcome of what happens to the seed depends upon the condition of our hearts. Just as a garden needs to be cleared of stones, weeds, insects, and other things that can keep the seeds from sprouting, growing, and producing a crop, our hearts need help. The Bible says in Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”. The same Word of God that is seed to produce God’s will in us is also a hammer that breaks the rocks of pride and stubbornness, an herbicide that destroys the weeds of unbelief and false teaching, and an insecticide that kills the bugs of sin. And, the Word of God is a rake that levels our heart’s soil and prepares it for more of God’s seed. The Word of God is water that soaks our dry, thirsty hearts and the fertilizer that gives strength for our growth and maturity until we produce the fruit that honors God and brings us joy. It takes time because it’s a process, as the scriptures here say we, “Bring forth fruit with patience”. We might have a root of bitterness, a stump of some old leftover sin, or a place of a poisoned past that has to be cleared out, but God’s Word will not fail. We will bear good fruit if we will keep honoring God, submitting and opening ourselves to the Holy Spirit’s cleansing, and standing in agreement with the truth. Our prayer is, “Lord, help me to have an honest, good-ground heart”.
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July 2, 2025
Romans 13:1-2 “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation”
The “higher powers” reference here is not referring to the spiritual power of God but to earthly governance, and God is telling us to put ourselves in subjection to governing authorities. When Jesus was here, He did not rebel against or resist the Roman rule, even though that’s what His followers wanted Him to do. He didn’t preach against the Roman Empire even though it was a pagan, idol-worshipping, corrupt, wicked, and immoral rule. Instead, He preached against the false religion of the Jews and offered hope. Take note of God’s Words in today’s verses: “For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God”. Often, it is not evident that God is working through leaders who are far from His truth. But even though we can’t see it at the moment, He is. The resistance we’re watching play out nowadays is not of God because the scriptures plainly declare: “Whosoever therefore resisteth the power (sets themselves against governing authority), resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation”. We may not like the ruling authority, but if we resist and the word means “to set oneself in opposition”, we are setting ourselves against God and will be judged by Him that rebellion. God is not blind or confused about what happens on this earth, and He is not going to allow the perversion of justice and wicked laws and the governing rule of humanity to continue forever. All governments are corrupt and immoral, some more so than others. Our best scriptural course of action in times of our nation’s waywardness is to fall on our faces before the God of heaven and earth and implore Him to intervene, not rioting in the streets, calling for insurrection. Just as God promises to bring judgment against those who resist authority, He will always bless those who live in obedience to His Word. Titus 3, paraphrased, tells us to remember to willingly place ourselves under the authority of governing laws and obey them. We shouldn’t curse anyone or be quarrelsome, but be gentle and courteous to everyone. Depending on which news or social media influencers people listen to, it can be easy to get riled and angry at current events and the actions (or inactions) of those in authority. But God sees it all and nothing takes Him by surprise. His plans are right on track, and He has already determined the outcome.
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July 1, 2025
Luke 5:4-5 “Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught (A great haul of fish). And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.”
At that moment, Simon Peter had a choice to make. He, a seasoned, experienced fisherman, had fished all night but caught no fish, meaning that the timing for catching fish was wrong. He could have chosen to ignore the Lord’s Word, for after all, Jesus had been raised as a carpenter, not a fisherman. Or, he could obey the Word of Christ. He chose to obey as the Bible tells us, he said, “Nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net”. Maybe everything inside him was screaming, “This is a waste of time and energy because the fish are nowhere to be found today.” But when he obeyed Jesus’ words, the Bible says, in verses 6-7, “And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink”. This miracle changed Peter’s life because the Lord told him, “From henceforth thou shalt catch men”. When we make our life’s choices based on God’s Word, it not only changes us, it brings us into agreement with what God says, and we reap the benefits of obedience. The more of God’s Word we have in our thoughts and embedded deep within us, the easier it is to follow its truths. When we say we build our lives on Jesus, that’s what we mean. We stay close to Him in our everyday walk by praying, meditating on Him, and learning to lean on the Holy Spirit. That’s what the scriptures call abiding in Him. And, a part of the abiding is reading His Word and allowing the truth of the Word to become our compass, our map. The Lord is ready to help us in everything we do, every decision we make, and every situation we are in. His Word is filled with promises and directions that will lead us in a way of peace, blessings, and success. Like Peter, we might feel like we know what to do, or not do, and that our wisdom is well-founded. But if we say, “Nevertheless, upon Your Word Lord, I will make my choices, act, and trust You for the outcome”, God will bless our obedience.
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