RSS

Author Archives: John D. Willome

Unknown's avatar

About John D. Willome

I post a blog of daily devotions that are my prayer journals based on scripture.

Psalm 19

02 Oct

Psalm 19

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

1 The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
    The skies display his craftsmanship.
2 Day after day they continue to speak;
    night after night they make him known.
3 They speak without a sound or word;
    their voice is never heard.
4 Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
    and their words to all the world.

God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.
5 It bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding.
    It rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race.
6 The sun rises at one end of the heavens
    and follows its course to the other end.
    Nothing can hide from its heat.

7 The instructions of the Lord are perfect,
    reviving the soul.
The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy,
    making wise the simple.
8 The commandments of the Lord are right,
    bringing joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are clear,
    giving insight for living.
9 Reverence for the Lord is pure,
    lasting forever.
The laws of the Lord are true;
    each one is fair.
10 They are more desirable than gold,
    even the finest gold.
They are sweeter than honey,
    even honey dripping from the comb.
11 They are a warning to your servant,
    a great reward for those who obey them.

12 How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart?
    Cleanse me from these hidden faults.
13 Keep your servant from deliberate sins!
    Don’t let them control me.
Then I will be free of guilt
    and innocent of great sin.

14 May the words of my mouth
    and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing to you,
    O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Dear God, so verses 8-11 are the psalm for the day for the Catholic church. I don’t normally pay attention to the psalm of the day too much, but they caught my eye today. Seeing the stuff about your laws I immediately wondered if they were from Psalm 119. Then I saw they were actually from Psalm 19, which David wrote.

I just stopped to read this psalm out loud, and it was, frankly, beautiful. The poetry is beautiful. The way he runs the theme “this gives this” in verses 7-11 is artful. The description of your glory through describing the audible silence of your creation in verses 1-6 moved me. And the idea of not sinning intentionally so I can have a clear heart and cleansing me of my hidden sins hit home. David had some game when it came to poetry and psalm writing. I wonder what his poetry scroll looked like. I can’t imagine how many were never published.

I guess I need to talk about this really quick. I had a dream last night about which I can’t remember the details, but I know at one point someone was trying to sell me a pill that would cause me to hate. They were literally selling hate and they told me I’d love it. Appalled, I woke up soon after that and as I thought about it I wondered if that isn’t what I’m sold by a lot of media and politicians every day. It might not be in pill form, but it’s right there. So many people want me to hate something or someone. And then they want me to stew on that hate so I will become addicted to it. And hate is addictive. It makes you feel so good and superior in the moment, but like a drug it leaves you feeling empty afterward. And you feel a little guilty about having hated, just like you feel a little guilty about having done the drug. So you go to the first thing you can think of. No, it’s not repentance and creating a clean heart with me. It’s to hate again. To stoke the fire. The fire drowns out the guilt, just like the drug does. And then the cycle repeats.

Father, I guess this does tie back to this psalm. The sins I commit intentionally and the unknown sins that are cluttering my heart must be stopped. I must love my neighbor. I must worship you. I must love my enemies. I must care as much or more about them as I do my own family and friends. I’ll confess that I am overwhelmed and tired right now. It’s been a hectic few weeks, and I don’t see a break on the horizon. Help me, Father, to get my feet under me, worship you and love others, keep sin far from me through being so busy worshipping you and loving others that I don’t have time to purposely or accidentally sin, and then accomplish exactly what you need me to accomplish. Do it all through me, but not for me. Do it for you and your glory, not mine. May I decrease and you increase.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on October 2, 2025 in Psalms

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Luke 9:57-62

01 Oct

57 As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

58 But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”

59 He said to another person, “Come, follow me.”

The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.”

60 But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead! Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.”

61 Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.”

62 But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”

Luke 9:57-62

Dear God, Luke is painting an interesting picture of Jesus. He is going out of his way to show us that Jesus wasn’t just building a movement driven by crowd size. He wasn’t looking for strength in numbers. He wasn’t looking for majority rule or power. He was seemingly trying to capture the whole heart of those who wanted to follow him. I’ll confess that I really don’t understand the last two except that maybe you knew something about their situations that seemed to make these excuses and not legitimate requests. I mean, you chastised the Pharisees at one point for keeping people from caring for their parents (Mark 7:9-13).

There were several times when it seems like you/Jesus were intentionally thinning the herd of who was following you. You were not only intentionally making the gate narrower, but you were then adding a filter to the gate to limit those who could go in. I think you were raising the standard and saying, “I want quality over quantity. I want people who are all in with me.”

Father, I am as all-in with you as I know to be. But you know my heart is heavy about some work challenges this morning. This isn’t necessarily going along with this passage, but I need your help this morning. I need you to speak to me, Holy Spirit. I need your guidance. I need your wisdom. I need to somehow maneuver through this situation in a loving, constructive way where everyone wins. But I don’t know how to do it on my own. I need you. I need divine inspiration. Oh, and let me stop and thank you for something that I think I took for granted last night. I was at an event where someone said some very nice things about me and the work that I do to a group of people, and they told me later that they just felt inspired by you to say them publicly. So maybe I should actually believe her, believe you were encouraging me last night even though I didn’t have ears to hear it, and now as I sit here and try to lean into you, you are reminding me of it and just asking me to lean into you more. So I trust you, Lord. I trust you, my Triune God. Thank you for being in my life.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on October 1, 2025 in Luke

 

Tags: , , , ,

“Proud Corazon” by Anthony Gonzalez

30 Sep

Say that I’m crazy or call me a fool
But last night, it seemed that I dreamed about you

When I opened my mouth, what came out was a song
And you knew every word and we all sang along

To a melody played on the strings of our souls
And a rhythm that rattled us down to the bone

Our love for each other will live on forever
In every beat of my proud corazón

Our love for each other will live on forever
In every beat of my proud corazón

¡Ay mi familia! ¡Oiga mi gente!
Canten a coro, let it be known
Our love for each other will live on forever
In every beat of my proud corazón

¡Ay mi familia! ¡Oiga mi gente!
Canten a coro, let it be known
Our love for each other will live on forever
In every beat of my proud corazón

Written by Adrian Molina (lyrics) and Germaine Franco (composer)

Dear God, I was playing this song for some extended family last night and I had it going in my head when I woke up this morning. I thought I would sit in my sadness with it a while and bring that sadness to you. You said that those who mourn would be comforted. Please comfort me now.

I have a couple of family relationships that are completely broken and it hurts. It is a hole in my heart. Sometimes, like even right now, it brings tears to my eyes. But I’ve accepted that maybe, at least for now, this is the path you have for all of us so that you can get us to the place you want us to be. I don’t want to get in the way of your plan for them or for me just because I selfishly want them back in my life. No one ever said (besides prosperity gospel preachers) that my life wouldn’t have pain. In fact, Jesus started off the beatitudes with being poor in spirit and mourning. He knew we would experience that.

And now that I’m sitting here in this sadness, I am thinking about the sadness in Ukraine over people being randomly killed by rockets being indiscriminately fired at them. Their family. I think about those is Palestine and Israel who have experienced incredible pain and loss. I think about the families here being separated by immigration rules that need reformed. I think about the pain of people who have family members with addiction issues. Parents who are fighting and don’t love each other. Parents who are drug-addicted and CPS is having to intervene. Yes, there is a lot of mourning out there. Yes, there is a lot of pain. Yes, there is a lot of those who are poor in spirit.

So I go to this song. It’s from the movie Coco. And I’ll say up front that the theology presented in Coco is not good, but I don’t really care about that in this moment. The movie is beautiful. As this song wraps up the movie, and as I listened to it last night, the part about dreaming really hit me. There are two people about whom you give me dreams. I’ll say the dreams are from you anyway. Even though our relationship is completely fractured, every time I dream of them they are good dreams. They are dreams filled with love and mercy. Forgiveness. Repentance. Hugs. Tears. I usually wake up from those dreams with tears in my eyes. I’m grateful for those dreams. Thank you for them.

Father, I pray for restoration of the relationships that are possible on this side of life. It’s too short to reject family love. But regardless, for the people who have loss through death and the people who will not see the restoration of relationship on this side of life, I pray for an eternity that, within your will, will be spent together worshipping and serving you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on September 30, 2025 in Hymns and Songs

 

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

John 1:43-51

29 Sep

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Come, follow me.” 44 Philip was from Bethsaida, Andrew and Peter’s hometown.

45 Philip went to look for Nathanael and told him, “We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.”

46 “Nazareth!” exclaimed Nathanael. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

“Come and see for yourself,” Philip replied.

47 As they approached, Jesus said, “Now here is a genuine son of Israel—a man of complete integrity.”

48 “How do you know about me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus replied, “I could see you under the fig tree before Philip found you.”

49 Then Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God—the King of Israel!”

50 Jesus asked him, “Do you believe this just because I told you I had seen you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” 51 Then he said, “I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth.”

John 1:43-51

Dear God, okay, the first time I read this I thought, “Oh, how I would love to get that compliment from Jesus: A man of complete integrity.” I read one translation that said, “There is n duplicity in him.” I love that. I would love for you to be able to say there is no duplicity in me. But then I reread the story and I noticed that Nathanael is certainly flawed. Just his supremacist attitude towards Nazareth. That shows he has a bit of an attitude born out of insecurity.

I just looked it up and found that John is the only one who tells us about Nathanael. He doesn’t eventually become one of the 12. Unless Nathanael went by a different name. This story and the one in John 21 where Jesus appears to the disciples after the resurrection are the only references to him in the entire Bible. So I guess we have John to thank for helping us know both Nicodemus and Nathanael. It would be interesting to see which biblical characters John tells us about that the others omit.

But going back to my initial thing about integrity and duplicity, this is a reminder that those aren’t enough. I can have these things and still have a hard, unloving heart. In fact, they can work against me if I rely too much on them and not on you. They need to be an integral part of my life. They are an important part of my life. But I can’t build my whole life on it because, well, if I have not love then I am nothing.

Father, I’m grateful for who I am, but I can also definitely see where those shortcomings are. Well, at least some of them. I know I have some shortcomings to which I am blind. Forgive me. Love others through me. Be glorified through me. Forgive me for my superior attitude sometimes. I worship and praise you.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on September 29, 2025 in John

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

“These Days” by Jeremy Camp

28 Sep

“These Days” by Jeremy Camp

These days, my heart’s always on the run
These days, the world’s spinning out of control, oh
These days are fast and they’re furious
Feels like the worst is ahead of us, oh, oh

Sometimes it’s hard to feel at home, but

I believe that you and I
Are in the right place, at the right time
God called us by name
And He doesn’t make mistakes
I know we were born to shine bright
In a dark world that needed some light
Don’t have to be afraid
Maybe we were made for these days
Maybe we were made for these days

What if the beauty isn’t crushed?
It just needs the hope that’s inside of us, oh, oh
What if it’s more than a destiny?
What if we’re part of a masterpiece? Oh, oh

Until our Father brings us home

I believe that you and I
Are in the right place, at the right time
God called us by name
And He doesn’t make mistakes
I know we were born to shine bright
In a dark world that needed some light
Don’t have to be afraid
Maybe we were made for these days
Maybe we were made (for these days!)

‘Cause staying when it gets hard
To love with open arms
It’s something to embrace
Maybe we were made for these days

I believe that you and I
Are in the right place, at the right time
God called us by name
And He doesn’t make mistakes
I know we were born to shine bright
In a dark world that needed some light
Don’t have to be afraid
Maybe we were made for these days
Maybe we were made (for these days)

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Paul T. Duncan / Jeremy Thomas Camp / Emily Weisband / Jordan Douglas Sapp

Dear God, I woke up with this song in my head this morning. I have no idea why. It was incredibly random, and I don’t think I heard it yesterday or recently. I don’t know why it was festering in there. So I went and looked it up. I’ve listened to it several time while I was showering and getting ready to teach a Sunday school class for some friends this morning. And now I’m going to just pray about it a little and see what you might have for me through the words of these song writers.

These days, my heart’s always on the run
These days, the world’s spinning out of control, oh
These days are fast and they’re furious
Feels like the worst is ahead of us, oh, oh

I have to say that the second line of the first verse made me bristle a little. Only because I think every generations feels like theirs is the craziest, most out of control. I know some people who look back longingly at the 90s or 80, before cell phones. Others look back at the 60s and before cable TV. Other look back to the 30s and 40s when all we had was radio, although the people that remember that are getting fewer and fewer. There are whole political campaigns about returning to a previous time when things were better. But the people who lived in the 80s longed for the 60s. The people who lived in the 60s thought things were out of control and longed for the 40s. You get the idea. I’d wager I could go back to 1800 and find people who felt like the world was just getting more and more out of control. In 1000 and 1100. In Jesus’s day. I mean, even the Old and New Testaments talk about trying times. No, this is just our time, but it’s nothing that is beyond you. It’s nothing you haven’t seen coming. Is it more than we can handle? Maybe. Maybe our technology is exacerbating it all a little. Or maybe it’s just amplifying what’s been there all along.

Real quick on the last line of this first verse, I don’t like the idea that the worst is ahead of us. I mean, it very well may be, but what is the worst? My death? Okay. So be it. What is the worst? People starving and not knowing where they will get their next meal? People in danger in a war zone or living in a violent home? Drug addiction? Yes, these are all awful. But they aren’t new. Maybe what the worst that he’s feeling int his song is just the division and animosity between people. I heard a young man say the other day that the five people you keep closest to you is very important in influencing who we are. It was another way of saying what I’ve heard said and repeated myself that we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with. The trick with all of this media at our fingertips is that we are allowing a lot of deviant people into our sphere of influence and we don’t even realize we are doing it. It’s the slow drip that imperceptibly fills our bucket without us realizing it.

What if the beauty isn’t crushed?
It just needs the hope that’s inside of us, oh, oh
What if it’s more than a destiny?
What if we’re part of a masterpiece? Oh, oh

And here he brings the hope that comes from the first verse. And this is the answer you’ve had for the world since the beginning. You’ve called us to be your hope to the world, but it has to start inside of me. You have to be my hope. You have to be the source of my peace. You have to be the source of my mercy and love. You have to be the source of my motivation. I’m fascinated to see how your plan comes together for this world. It feels to me sometimes like you set it all in motion and we’ve been doing a fairly good job of mucking it up. But there is this thing you’ve offered us here on earth called forgiveness. It brings with is mercy and grace. It’s just about the most powerful thing we can then turn and offer the world. And it starts with your mercy and grace, your forgiveness of us. All we have to do is come to you, repent, and ask. But it’s not over at that point. The only way we get to accepting that forgiveness from you is to walk through the narrow gate and take the road less traveled. I think what’s frustrated me most about being an adult Christian is how many people I’ve invited to walk that road with me but they just won’t do it.

I believe that you and I
Are in the right place, at the right time
God called us by name
And He doesn’t make mistakes
I know we were born to shine bright
In a dark world that needed some light
Don’t have to be afraid
Maybe we were made for these days
Maybe we were made (for these days)

We are your Plan A, and you don’t have a Plan B this side of death. We carry you into this world. Will we do it well? Will I do it well? I’m grieved by what I see around me, Father. I’m grieved by the suffering of people in my immediate sphere, in the sphere of my community and country, and in the sphere of the world. And I cannot fix it all. But I’m not alone. I do, however, have a responsibility to do what you’ve called me to today. So this morning, as I prepare to teach a Sunday school class to a group that are mainly senior citizens, help me to take them a message you have for them. Love them through me. Encourage them. We have some relatives coming today. Help me to love them and receive your love from them. Be glorified through me, Father. Help me to bring at least one more person with me through the narrow gate today.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on September 28, 2025 in Hymns and Songs

 

Tags: , ,

Luke 9:43b-45

27 Sep

While everyone was marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, 44 “Listen to me and remember what I say. The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies.” 45 But they didn’t know what he meant. Its significance was hidden from them, so they couldn’t understand it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.

Luke 9:43b-45

Dear God, I’ve heard of the phrase “willful ignorance,” but it’s interesting that you were willfully keeping the disciples ignorant.

I’m trying to set the scene in my mind. In this chapter alone we’ve had:

  • Jesus sending out the 12.
  • Herod’s confusion.
  • Jesus receiving the 12 back and then promising them rest.
  • Jesus changing course and feeding the 5,000.
  • Jesus, Peter, and “who do you say that I am?”
  • Jesus predicting his death #1 (verse 22).
  • Jesus challenging the crowd to take up their cross.
  • The Transfiguration.
  • Healing the demon-possessed boy.

And now we get betrayal/death prediction #2 in verse 44. So the disciples are trying to make sense of a lot of things. Being so powerful when they were sent out. The miracle of feeding 5,000 with food left over. Jesus predicting his death. The transfiguration. One more healing. And then this thing about being betrayed.

I can’t tell you how much better these stories of the disciples being inadequate make me feel. I feel so ignorant and foolish sometimes. I feel overwhelmed by my situation. I feel like I am missing opportunities or things I should know or understand. I feel like I’m presented with situations and don’t know the right thing to say or do. I feel all of that. But stories like this help me to appreciate how hard it can be to know and understand what’s going on. And there are many times when, in the moment, I remember to pray to you while I’m in the midst of a struggle or difficult situation, asking you to give me the right words to say or things to do.

Father, I’m just going to trust you. Work through me. Love through me. Live through me. And Holy Spirit, please keep me from straying too far off the path. “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.” But in this case, it’s not even me wandering. It’s just me not seeing or perceiving. It brings me back to this passage from Isaiah 6:

9 And he said, “Yes, go, and say to this people,

‘Listen carefully, but do not understand.
    Watch closely, but learn nothing.’
10 Harden the hearts of these people.
    Plug their ears and shut their eyes.
That way, they will not see with their eyes,
    nor hear with their ears,
nor understand with their hearts
    and turn to me for healing.”

Please don’t harden my heart, plug my ears, or shut my eyes. If you’re doing it to protect me or others from me, then fine. Isolate me and keep me as ignorant as you want. But I pray that my heart will be such that when you are keeping me ignorant it is because my ignorant heart would make a mistake out of it’s pursuit of you and not because you simply can’t trust me to do the right thing. Holy Spirit, help me to do the right thing.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on September 27, 2025 in Luke

 

Tags: , , , ,

Luke 9:10-17

26 Sep

10 When the apostles returned, they told Jesus everything they had done. Then he slipped quietly away with them toward the town of Bethsaida. 11 But the crowds found out where he was going, and they followed him. He welcomed them and taught them about the Kingdom of God, and he healed those who were sick.

12 Late in the afternoon the twelve disciples came to him and said, “Send the crowds away to the nearby villages and farms, so they can find food and lodging for the night. There is nothing to eat here in this remote place.”

13 But Jesus said, “You feed them.”

“But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Or are you expecting us to go and buy enough food for this whole crowd?” 14 For there were about 5,000 men there.

Jesus replied, “Tell them to sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 So the people all sat down. 16 Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. 17 They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers!

Luke 9:10-17

Dear God, the Catholic daily readings skipped to the story of Peter proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah starting in verse 18, but since I touched on that yesterday I wanted to stick with what was next in the text, and that’s the feeding of the 5,000. I noticed these things before, but I think it’s a good reminder for me.

First, Jesus intended for them to have some R&R after their big adventure out healing people and casting out demons. But the crowds wouldn’t let it happen so Jesus pivoted because he loved them. The interesting thing is that it upset the disciples. They wanted their downtime. They wanted their little break. They wanted to stop and revel in their success just a little longer. But you had some work for them to do.

Then, they had just done all these miracles, but they were still doubtful they could feed the people that were there. I guess this was a miracle that was simply outside their paradigm for miracles. They’d seen Jesus heal people and even resurrect people. They’d seen him cast out demons. So they had a paradigm for that. But they didn’t have a paradigm for food mysteriously multiplying so they hadn’t even considered it was possible.

It makes me think of when I read the story of Hezekiah and the Assyrians in 2 Kings 19. Even as the reader I found myself wondering how Isaiah’s prophecy could possibly come true. Then you did something to the Assyrians that was completely outside of what was within my paradigm. I took that story at the time and leaned into it with a challenge I was facing at work. We were looking at starting a capital campaign and I was dreading raising the money. After reading that story, I felt like you told me, “Don’t worry about the money.” And three years later, I haven’t had to worry about the money. You’ve been amazing as we’ve raised it.

Father, guide me. Lead me. Reveal yourself to me. I have some mountains in front of me that seem impossible to move. They mostly related to family relationships. But I ask that you come in and redeem all of us from our sin. Pay the ransom with your blood and resurrection power so that we might be drawn closer to you through the pain we have experienced and/or caused. Be glorified in our lives. Be glorified in my life. Be glorified in this world through me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on September 26, 2025 in Luke

 

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Luke 9:7-9

25 Sep

7 When Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, heard about everything Jesus was doing, he was puzzled. Some were saying that John the Baptist had been raised from the dead. 8 Others thought Jesus was Elijah or one of the other prophets risen from the dead.

9 “I beheaded John,” Herod said, “so who is this man about whom I hear such stories?” And he kept trying to see him.

Luke 9:7-9

Dear God, Jesus does this interesting dance with Herod in Luke’s gospel. He knows he needs to die. I probably knew John the Baptist needed to die. He didn’t make a move to save John. He doesn’t make a move to confront Herod. But one of the women supporting him financially is married to someone in Herod’s court (Joanna from Luke 8:3). Later he will egg Herod on in Luke 13:31-32, call him a fox, and dare Herod to kill him. Interestingly, Herod, like Pilate, will live in infamy throughout time. He has a legacy few get. It’s not a good legacy. He married his brother’s wife. He killed John the Baptist. He was complicit in killing Jesus. He had issues.

As I read this passage this morning, I wondered why none of the things the people thought Jesus might be was “the Messiah.” John the Baptist raised from the dead? They were alive at the same time. Elijah? Well, okay. But I guess that also goes back to what Jesus asked the disciples later in this chapter after they feed the 5,000, “Who do people say that I am?” They replied the same things the people are telling Herod. It’s Peter in Luke 9:20 that calls him the Messiah. That’s a whole different label. I wonder if Jesus wasn’t confrontational or macho enough for the people’s definition of what the Messiah would be.

Father, I guess what I’m getting from this passage this morning is that I often don’t know the right thing to do. I don’t know if I should be confrontational in one situation. I don’t know if I should be nurturing and merciful in another. I don’t know if I should help and intervene or let someone struggle. I don’t know if I should hire this person or that person. I don’t know if I should ask this person or that person for money. It’s quite amazing, actually, how much ignorance I have as I make my way through the day. So for the people I encounter today. The people who are on my heart as I sit and pray right now. The family members who are struggling. The family members needing healing. The friends needing the same. The families our agency serves. The leaders of our community and nation. The leaders of the world. I simply pray that your kingdom will come and your will will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Use me however you will, and keep me from accidentally getting in your way.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on September 25, 2025 in Luke

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Luke 9:1-6

24 Sep

9 One day Jesus called together his twelve disciples and gave them power and authority to cast out all demons and to heal all diseases. 2 Then he sent them out to tell everyone about the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 “Take nothing for your journey,” he instructed them. “Don’t take a walking stick, a traveler’s bag, food, money, or even a change of clothes. 4 Wherever you go, stay in the same house until you leave town. 5 And if a town refuses to welcome you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate.”

6 So they began their circuit of the villages, preaching the Good News and healing the sick.

Luke 9:1-6

Dear God, it’s interesting to me to see what the Catholic and some Protestant churches use for scriptures of the day. In this case, as they work through Luke, they skipped a lot of verses in Luke 8 that included some of Jesus miracles and went to this sending out of the twelve. I wonder what was behind that decision.

As I read today’s Gospel reading, I thought about Judas. Who was he in this moment? What was his mindset, and was it really that different from Peter’s, John’s, or any of the others? He probably felt like he had found the Messiah and was ready to go. His ultimate goal was probably revolution. That was probably all of their mindsets. So as he was given this great power by Jesus, went out with his partner to minister and call people to the Messiah, and experienced the positive things that came from healing and casting out demons, I’m sure he started to get more and more excited about this.

Now, he had his failings too. John tells us in John 12:6 that he stole money from the group’s common purse. It’s interesting that Jesus didn’t stop that from happening or confront him about it. But it’s also an indication that this wasn’t necessarily a holy calling that Judas felt.

Father, I don’t know really where I’m going with this except to say that I need to check my heart. In my job, in my volunteer work in the community, or in my relationships with others, how much am I out for myself and how much is surrendered service to you? I’d be an absolute liar if I said that I am not in any of it for myself at all. But what I need to do is make sure that I try to identify my selfishness and then not let it fester. When I see it I need to repent of it. I don’t want anything I do to be about my self-preservation or selfish wants. I want to simply love you and worship you. If I serve someone, I want it to be out of devotion to you. If I go to work I want it to be out of devotion and service to you. If there is a decision in front of me that will cost me something I want, but it is part of bringing your kingdom to earth and your will being done then I want to make the decision for your kingdom and will without a second thought. So search my heart, Holy Spirit. Search my heart, Jesus. Search my heart, Father. Reveal to me the things for which I need to repent, give me the courage and strength to repent, and then renew a right spirit within me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on September 24, 2025 in Luke

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

Luke 8:19-21

23 Sep

19 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they couldn’t get to him because of the crowd. 20 Someone told Jesus, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, and they want to see you.”

21 Jesus replied, “My mother and my brothers are all those who hear God’s word and obey it.”

Luke 8:19-21

Dear God, family is interesting. My wife and I were just praying together and some of the prayers were for family members. In fact, most of the prayers were for family members. There’s just something about these people who are blood-related to us that makes us care that little bit more.

It’s interesting how Jesus seems to turn that on its head a little. Here, he diminishes that special relationship he has with his relatives, even his mother, by equating them to everyone around him. In Luke 14:26 he says, “26If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.” In Luke 12:51-53 he says:

51 Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to divide people against each other! 52 From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against—or two in favor and three against.

53 ‘Father will be divided against son
    and son against father;
mother against daughter
    and daughter against mother;
and mother-in-law against daughter-in-law
    and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’”

I don’t think I’ve ever thought about these passages in relation to each other before, but it’s certainly interesting to see our love and compassion for our relatives and yet how much Jesus is warning us that we might have to let them go because of our love for you.

Father, I have all sorts of relatives rolling through my head right now. They have myriad needs. Some are doing great. Some have physical maladies. Some are struggling emotionally. Some are facing huge mountains. Some love me. Some hate me. Some don’t care about me one way or another. But I love all of them. I care about all of them. Please be there for each of them today. Call each of them closer to you in the midst of their struggles. And be here for me today. Call me closer to you in the midst of my struggles. Help me to be the man you need me to be in every way. And do it all for your glory.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
1 Comment

Posted by on September 23, 2025 in Luke

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

← Older posts
Newer posts →