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Author Archives: John D. Willome

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About John D. Willome

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

Letter to the Church in Thyatira – Revelation 2:18-29

08 Jul

18 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Thyatira. This is the message from the Son of God, whose eyes are like flames of fire, whose feet are like polished bronze:

19 “I know all the things you do. I have seen your love, your faith, your service, and your patient endurance. And I can see your constant improvement in all these things.

20 “But I have this complaint against you. You are permitting that woman—that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet—to lead my servants astray. She teaches them to commit sexual sin and to eat food offered to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to turn away from her immorality.

22 “Therefore, I will throw her on a bed of suffering, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer greatly unless they repent and turn away from her evil deeds. 23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches out the thoughts and intentions of every person. And I will give to each of you whatever you deserve.

24 “But I also have a message for the rest of you in Thyatira who have not followed this false teaching (‘deeper truths,’ as they call them—depths of Satan, actually). I will ask nothing more of you 25 except that you hold tightly to what you have until I come. 26 To all who are victorious, who obey me to the very end,

To them I will give authority over all the nations.
27 They will rule the nations with an iron rod
    and smash them like clay pots.

28 They will have the same authority I received from my Father, and I will also give them the morning star!

29 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.

Revelation 2:18-29

Dear God, this is interesting. Two churches in a row have the same sin: allowing sexual immorality and eating food sacrificed to idols. In this case, it appears the sexual immorality is heterosexual-based (adultery with the woman as described in verse 22) as opposed to a vague sexual immorality at the church in Pergamum from yesterday.

I was talking with a friend last night about sexual immorality. And I know I’ve said this before (I think I said it yesterday too), but I think we don’t raise the standard high enough. It’s a little like the Republican Party in the United States wanting power to the local government as long as local is defined at the level of government at which they have the power (and I say this as a moderate Republican). In this case, we want you to banish sexual immorality and we want to banish it from our midst as long as it is the sexual immorality that is just below the rung on the ladder at which we are being sexually immoral.

But I like this encouragement to the faithful that is written here. You see them. You see their faithfulness to you and your teaching: love, service, faith, and patient endurance (verse 19). And you circle back around to them at the end in verses 24 and 25.

Father, last night was everything I could have hoped it would be with the men in the CMLS class. And it wasn’t me. It was you. And I don’t have numbers I can walk around today and pump my chest about. That’s good. But I did get an affirmation in that I heard at least one man praying quietly along with me while I prayed a prayer for them to accept your gift and follow you. It touched me so much. I didn’t feel euphoric. I just felt happy for them. But I also know it’s only the beginning of the journey for them. It’s like when I drop a big fundraising mailing at work. With your grace and people responding to the mailing, getting it in the mail is only the beginning. It’s the follow-up where the real work lies. The men who prayed last night, and even those who didn’t, have long roads ahead of them. Help them to take it one step at a time, and help all of the teachers to guide them in that life that fill find them being everything the faithful people of Thyatira were.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 8, 2025 in Revelation

 

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Letter to the Church in Pergamum – Revelation 2:12-17

07 Jul

12 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Pergamum. This is the message from the one with the sharp two-edged sword:

13 “I know that you live in the city where Satan has his throne, yet you have remained loyal to me. You refused to deny me even when Antipas, my faithful witness, was martyred among you there in Satan’s city.

14 “But I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you whose teaching is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin. 15 In a similar way, you have some Nicolaitans among you who follow the same teaching. 16 Repent of your sin, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

17 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it.

Revelation 2:12-17

Dear God, I might as well go there with this passage. What is sexual sin? Where are the lines?

I think a lot of people in the American church right now would go straight to homosexuality or any LGBTQ issues and start there. But I want to start on the other end of the spectrum. This makes me think of the part of the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus says things like, “You have heard it said…, but I say…” That’s where he raised the bar on murder, adultery, and some other things. So I want to go to all of us and say, “You have heard it said do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman for that is detestable, but I say do not look at a woman in lust, subject your mind to sexual situations outside of your marriage, or sexually bond yourself to anyone who isn’t your spouse.” I have a friend who was living with her now husband for years and welcomed in a church that would never have welcomed an LGBTQ couple. Was their standard too high or too low? And how do we treat that couple who is living together outside of marriage? Do we love or reject? This passage can be a hard teaching.

Our society has gotten to the point where even the most conservative people have accepted an entire range of sexual activity. I’m thinking about a pastor friend who told me his local church was wanting to leave its denominational affiliation because of its open stance towards LGBTQ issues. His reply was, okay, we can talk about it, but we will also need to talk about all of the other sexual sins the Bible outlines. Do you really want to have that conversation? And while it was good to point out that hypocrisy on the part of his church, it is telling that the people backed down and decided to not have the conversation at all rather than give up the sin they liked.

Father, I am not holy in this area. My thoughts are not always pure. I don’t always keep myself from seeing content I shouldn’t see. There are television shows I love that display immoral sexual behavior and I partake willingly. So, I’m not picking up any stones to throw. I guess what I’m challenging myself and anyone else to do is just go to the fringe sexual activity and start with my judgments there, but start with the highest bar Jesus would set and start there. I’ll confess to you that I am still perplexed over a same sex monogamous relationship and if it is truly wrong, but I do believe that any monogamous sexual relationship, whether it be heterosexual or homosexual, is difficult to do well. And I do think homosexual relationships are complicated to do in a relationally, spiritually healthy way. I just don’t know that it’s impossible or that it’s something that is denied grace if it is wrong. But again, it’s not about them right now. It’s about me. I’m heterosexual. I am happily married. Help me to keep myself pure and love my wife how you designed me to love her.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 7, 2025 in Revelation

 

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Jesus, Son of David, Have Mercy on Me

06 Jul

Dear God, I’ve done something wholly unique this week. In planning for the talk tomorrow night, I basically wrote out a speech. I will likely take this and turn it into an outline because I don’t normally read from text, but this felt so important and out of my comfort zone, I wanted to take this approach instead. Here is what I wrote. I offer it to you as my offering:

Given the tragedy of last weekend in Kerrville [about 30 miles from where we live], I want to start with something a little different.

In 1871, there was a man named Horatio Spafford. He was a wealthy attorney and real estate investor who had put a lot of his fortune into real estate along lake Michigan in Chicago. He was also a faithful Christian and active member of the Presbyterian church. He had a wife and four daughters. That year there was the great Chicago fire that burned much of the city including Horatio’s real estate fortune.

Two years later, Horatio decided the family needed a trip abroad so he put his wife and daughters on a boat to England and he stayed behind to finish some business, planning to join them soon. Tragically, the ship his family was on struck another vessel out at sea and sank in 12 minutes. From his family, only his wife survived. He lost all of his children just two years after most of his fortune. It was similar to Job losing his fortune and then losing his children.

His wife cabled him from England with the message, “Saved alone. What shall I do?”

He rushed to be with his wife as soon as he could which meant sailing across the Atlantic himself. During the voyage, the captain of the ship went to Horatio and told him they were at the spot where his family’s boat had sunk. Horatio went up on deck, looked out at the ocean and was inspired to write these words:

When peace like a river attendeth my way

When sorrows like sea billows roll

Whatever my lot thou hast taught me to say

It is well, it is well with my soul

We sang this in church Sunday, and it brought tears to my eyes. I cannot imagine the pain felt by those who have lost their children and family. I’ve not experienced that. But I have experienced pain to the point of desperation. I have been devastated.

David had been Devastated too. He wrote songs of lament when Jonathan and Saul were killed. He did the same for Joab. You can be sure he wrote a lot of poetry and songs while he was running for Saul over all of that time. Our lives will not be perfect, but God is our rock. But he ultimately wanted to show us how it was done.

So God did this amazing, miraculous thing for us. He came down and was born to a virgin. He grew up in a poor family. They all spent the first few years of his life running from Herod, moving as far away as Egypt before hearing from an angel it was safe to go home. And this Jesus grew up, taught a bunch of things that were shocking to everyone, including his closest disciples, allowed himself to be killed, rose again from the dead, and then ascended to heaven to rule with God, sending his Holy Spirit to be here with us until our death or his return, whichever comes first.

Now, to quote a pastor in Atlanta I heard once, I can understand why it would be hard for you to believe all of that. I can understand some of you looking at the virgin birth, the miracles, and the resurrection from the dead and saying, “No way am I buying that.” I get that doubt. But what I don’t get is why you wouldn’t WANT the Jesus of the Bible to be true. Not maybe what Christians in your life have told you about Jesus or shown you about Jesus through the way they live, but about the actual Jesus we learn about in the Bible. There is no reason all of us shouldn’t WANT Jesus to be true.

There are a lot of us that left God or never wanted anything to do with God because of the “hypocrites” we saw who said they believed in him but were awful or judgmental. Over the last 2,000 years, there have been a lot of people who did a lot of awful things in Jesus’s name. I don’t need to list the things. Y’all could probably give me a huge list if we had the time, but here’s how I heard someone describe the difference between who Jesus was and what he taught and some of his followers and how they have lived out their faith:

Bach wrote the “Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major.” People who understand music theory will tell you it is a genius piece of music. The music dances around the notes and starts to lead you to a note your ear wants to hear but then it leads you away again. It’s beautiful. So I heard this man describe it this way one time. He decided to take cello lessons for three days and then play the “Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major.” He then played a recording for the crowd of him playing the piece. It was not good. You could hear a few of the notes, but they were not put together in a way that was even close to what Bach wrote. And if you were to only know Bach’s piece from what this man played you would have no idea the genius that was in the “Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major.” There would be no way to.

This is the problem with a lot of Christendom now. The people who claim Jesus as Lord do not understand the piece, have not spent the time with the piece to learn it, and play it so poorly it hurts not only the ears but the soul.

So let me tell you a story that exemplifies the beauty of Jesus. It ties together his commands to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. It explains what it looks like to forgive as you have received forgiveness. It exhibits God’s call to accept his grace and then go and sin no more.

John 8:2-11 (page1042)

2 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. 3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” 6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.

7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”

11 She said, “No one, Lord.”

And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

This is what Jesus taught us. This is who Jesus is. He didn’t come to give everyone a free pass. He also didn’t come to condemn the world. He came to save the world.

Last week, D.J. did a great job of bringing in John 3:17 with John 3:16 (page 1034). Most of us have heard John 3:16 before: “For God so loved the world the he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” But here’s verse 17 right after it: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

God WANTS you. He WANTS relationship with you. And the message Jesus preached when he walked around saying the people needed to repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand was not, “You best be believing in me or you’re going to go to hell.” What he was saying was, “God wants to be in your life. God wants the best for you. God loves you. All he wants you to do is love him back and then love everyone around you as much as you possibly can regardless of what it costs you.”

But it starts with surrender.

Matthew 16:24-25 (page 950)

24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 

And how did Jesus teach us to live? Most of it is written in the Sermon on the Mount—Jesus’s stump speech—recorded in Matthew 5-7:

  1. Beattitudes: Be merciful and a peacemaker and prepared to be persecuted for such outlandish thinking.
  2. Represent me proudly, regardless of what it costs you.
  3. I didn’t come here to get rid of the law and give everyone a free pass:
    1. You’ve heard it said don’t murder, but let me raise the bar.
    1. You’ve heard it said don’t commit adultery, but let me raise the bar.
    1. You’ve heard it said love neighbors and hate enemies, but let me raise the bar.
  4. Give to the needy.
  5. Pray (Lord’s Prayer) regularly.
  6. Don’t be selfish
  7. Don’t worry
  8. Don’t judge others
  9. Ask for things, but subject your prayers to God’s will (see “It is Well with my Soul”)
  10. ALL IS WRAPPED UP IN Matthew 7:12 (page 937): “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

So are you ready? In Acts 26:12-14, Paul describes Jesus stopping him while he was going from town to town arresting and persecuting Christians saying, “It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” Are you ready for a different life? Are you ready for a way of living that brings good fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control? Or do you want to keep doing it your way? It’s your choice.

Jesus tells you he wants you. He knows your sins. He knows every one of them. He knows every one of my sins too.

There is a T.V. Show called Ted Lasso. And in that show, there is a scene where a person gets mad at a relative and goes through a series of “Thank you” for this and “F*** you” for that. Over and over. Thank you for … and F*** you for … I woke up the next day thinking I was going to write out my own thank you/f*** you list for a couple of people, and I felt the Holy Spirit tell me, “No. First, you don’t need to see your thank you/f*** you list for them written in black and white. That will not be helpful. Second, don’t forget God has a thank you/f*** you list for you too, and you are adding to it every day. Don’t think it’s not there. The good news is, He cannot see it through Jesus’s blood. But if He can have that much grace for you, how much grace can you have for them.

Next week, I’ll be talking about where we go from here and the first steps to living a life that studies how to play the genius way of life Jesus tried to teach us. But tonight, I just want to ask if you’re ready to put your stake in the ground and accept Jesus’s invitation to be in relationship with him. Maybe it’s a first time decision. Maybe it’s a rededication to living the life he’s calling you to live. Buy you are deciding right here, on July 7, 2025, that you are ready to be the man God is calling you to be for your wife (or if you’re single, your future wife), your children and future children, and your community. But mainly, and here’s the big secret, you’re doing it because the God of the universe loves you and you can’t wait to thank him for that love, for that forgiveness, and for that freedom from the sin.

So let’s pray. [After prayer] while our heads are down and eyes are closed, and my head is down and my eyes are closed too—this is just between you and God—it’s important to not just think this in your head but to actually make a physical gesture saying this will be the start of a new day for you. So just raise your palms to heaven, even as they are in your lap or laying on the table in front of you. Raise your palms to heaven and pray with me, “Jesus, thank you. I accept your gift. I accept your death and resurrection for my sin. I am so sorry for my sin. I need you. I need your forgiveness. I need you to be reconciled to the Father. Thank you for this. And now please send me your Holy Spirit to be in me, guide me, teach me, comfort me, and express your love for me. I will learn to live the life you’re calling me to live. I will learn to worship you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. I will learn what it truly means to love my neighbor, including my enemies, as myself. It will be a long journey, but I have nowhere else to go. You are my God and my savior. Thank you for loving and forgiving me.”

We pray this to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

Amen

Next week, I’ll spend my time talking about where to go from here. How do we learn how to live this amazing life Jesus brought to us from the Father?

 
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Posted by on July 6, 2025 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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Letter to the Church in Smyrna – Revelation 2:8-11

05 Jul

8 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Smyrna. This is the message from the one who is the First and the Last, who was dead but is now alive:

9 “I know about your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich! I know the blasphemy of those opposing you. They say they are Jews, but they are not, because their synagogue belongs to Satan. 10 Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you. You will suffer for ten days. But if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life.

11 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. Whoever is victorious will not be harmed by the second death.

Revelation 2:8-11

Dear God, I guess this is a good letter? (He says with a questioning, high-pitched voice) You seem to be pleased with them. They seem to be faithful in their theology and living by your teachings even when those who say they represent you persecute them. If I were them, I think I would rather not know the 10 days of suffering are coming. I mean, I suppose once the 10 days arrives it will be good to know there is an end to it one way or another, but in that moment that would be very scary.

There are two things that really sit with me here. First, there were people there who were deluded into thinking they were right but were persecuting the church in Smyrna while you were happy with them. In fact, Jesus called the self-righteous persecutors minions of Satan. Oh my! I’m sure that would devastate them to know that. I’m sure they woke up in the morning thinking they were right and wanting to do the right thing. I’m sure they thought the church in Smyrna was dangerous and their enemy. They had no idea. Oh, how I hope that’s not me in this present age.

Second, there are Christians out there whose agenda I oppose. They think I am wrong and some have gotten angry with me. I think they are wrong and there have been times when I have been angry with them. Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit–My Triune God–please tell me how I’m wrong. I won’t say “if” I’m wrong because I am sure I am not correct about everything. But let me know “how” I am wrong. I don’t mind having people I oppose or even standing up to them, but I certainly don’t want to oppose you or stand up to you. You are God. You are right. If we are in conflict then I am the one who is wrong. Show me how I’m wrong.

Father, you keep me on a need-to-know basis and I very rarely need to know. I think I prefer that. There is sorrow in my life. Right now, as I sit here on the morning of July 5, there are parents and family members who are devastated by the loss of life and missing children in the floods in Kerrville, about 25 miles from me. This will be a sorrow that will stay with those who lose someone for the rest of their lives. July 4, 2025, will live in infamy for this area. It’s tragic. But I’m grateful I didn’t know my sorrow was coming in all of those years that lead up to it. I’m grateful these families didn’t know this was coming either. It’s like the Garth Brooks song “The Dance.” To quote the chorus: “And now, I’m glad I didn’t know the way it all would end. The way it all would go. Our lives are better left to chance. I could have missed the pain, but I’d have had to miss the dance.” I will stay on this dance floor as long as you let me, Father. Help me to be a source of love and comfort to everyone around me, even those who I oppose or who oppose me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 5, 2025 in Revelation

 

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Letter to the Church at Ephesus – Revelation 2:1-7

04 Jul

2 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands:

2 “I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. 3 You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.

4 “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! 5 Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. 6 But this is in your favor: You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just as I do.

7 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God.

Revelation 2:1-7

Dear God, let me start by saying I’m concerned about friends along the Guadalupe River right now. I have a coworker, and we cannot contact her or her family. We are worried about them. I am thinking of the camps along the river that are full of kids this time of year. I am thinking about the people who just live there. Please take care of them. Please wrap them up and keep them safe. Please, Father, please take care of my friend and her family. She is absolutely one of the best and sweetest people I know. Lord, have mercy. Jesus, have mercy. Holy Spirit, have mercy.

Regarding this letter to the church at Ephesus, when I read it this morning, it made me wonder what you would have to say to me. What have I done right? What am I doing wrong? For Ephesus, their actions were good:

  • Hard work.
  • Patient endurance.
  • Rejection of evil people.
  • Discerning who is a false apostle and rejecting.
  • Patiently suffered for Jesus.

That’s a good list. If I were them, I would cut the conversation off there, take my report card, and go. But you didn’t stop there: “But I have this complaint against you…”

  • Don’t love God/Jesus/Holy Spirit like they used to.
  • Don’t love each other like they used to.

They used to do all of their good things as a fruit of what came from worshipping you. But they had started doing the work without you. It made me think about just treating my faith more like a philosophy of how to live a human life. Kind of a perspective of, “This is how I’m supposed to live and act, so I’ll live and act this way.” But what I noticed this morning is that they are simply missing the two great commandments. Love you and love each other. Instead, there seems to be a selfishness about their actions. Are they suffering persecution for their own glory in some weird way? Are they getting their ego stroked through it?

It seems like when selfishness creeps in we just don’t have the capacity to love you and love those around us like we should, or even at all. We start getting concerned about our rights. Then we eventually start to fight for ourselves instead of for others. We stop sacrificing for others and start to expect others to sacrifice for us.

Father, I think this will be a convicting series. What will you have to tell me through these letters? I’m going to start a spreadsheet that I’ll put into these journals at the end to list the compliments and the concerns you give to each church. Perhaps there is something I can use in my personal life that will help me to be the salt in the world you are calling me to be. Lord, have mercy. Jesus, have mercy. Holy Spirit, have mercy.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 4, 2025 in Revelation

 

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Revelation

03 Jul

Dear God, I have a question: Should I care about Revelation? If so, what should I care about? I was listening to a video by N.T. Wright last night, and…well, let me back up really quickly.

Monday night at the Christian Men’s Life Skills Bible study, the ice-breaker question was, “If you could ask God one question, what would it be?” Several people asked about the end times and Revelation. One of the leaders got up and started talking a lot about the end times possibly being now. I remained silent throughout the discussion, but then when I got up and had my turn to talk to start my Bible study on David’s ascent to the throne over all of Israel I found myself telling the men, “I don’t care about Revelation.” The same leader who talked about end times also made a great statement when he was asked for his question of you. He basically said, “I don’t have any questions of God. My job is just to serve him.” I wholeheartedly agree, so I leaned into that. I told them that, for me, I don’t care about the end times because you have given me work to do today. I also try not to care about what’s in it for me because I “consider my life worth nothing to me.” (Acts 20:24) Then I went into your exchange with Job in Job 38-42. I found my voice getting really passionate about it as I said it all. I could feel it happening in real time. I thought I hadn’t been that animated during most of the Samuel/Saul/Jonathan/David stuff, but I apparently had something to say about this. It was interesting.

Fast forward to last night, and I am listening to the N.T. Wright talk. Someone had put up a video comparing his theology on this issue with John MacArthur’s. MacArthur has a much more rapture/tribulation/second coming view of the end. First, isn’t it fascinating to see how we can read the same things and disagree?

One thing Wright said that I’d never heard before in a second video I listened to was that the imagery John used in Revelation was commonly understood by readers of the day and that the whole part about you winning and Jesus on the throne has already happened. All we are waiting for is your second coming, but even that won’t be something where we are taken away from earth. You will return to earth and rule here. We will meet you in the sky because people go out to greet their king, but then we will return with you to earth.

So back to my initial question. And I really mean this. Am I missing something that you want to use to develop me by ignoring Revelation. The thoughts that are coming to me right now is that I am missing the warnings to the churches. Those are important for anyone to heed. It makes me wonder if John were writing Revelation today, what would your words be to the church in the United States? What would it be to the different denominations? What would it be to me?

Father, I think over the next few days I am going to go to the parts of Revelation that are the letters to the churches. I want to see what you said to them and what I need to understand from them. Oh, how I love you. Oh, how I love to sit and do things like this with you. When I sat down this morning, I had zero idea what I would pray about, and then I let your Holy Spirit guide me into this wonderful thought process and discussion with you. Help me to not become so into it that I lose my salt for the earth. And thank you for teaching me new skills for this Christian Men’s Life Skills class. You are stretching me and growing me through it. Thank you for stretching me and growing me in such a gentle and delightful way. And thank you, Father, for the good news for a couple of relatives yesterday. And for good news for other prayers as well. I don’t thank you enough for the answers to prayers. But I am grateful for your movement in my life and in the lives around me. Thank you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 3, 2025 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories, Revelation

 

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Quote from Trevor Hudson

02 Jul

“Jesus proclaimed the availability of another kind of life. It is a life marked by growing intimacy with the God whom Jesus called Abba, shared with others in community in which we discern our personal calling, characterized by our gradual inner transformation into God’s compassionate family likeness, empowered by God’s Spirit to overcome evil both within and around us, and most wonderfully of all, an indestructible life in which nothing can separate us from God’s enduring love toward us in Christ Jesus.”

– Trevor Hudson

Dear God, I think this was providential this morning. I sat down at the breakfast table, and I saw a newsletter from our friends who are missionaries with Greater Europe Mission, Lisa and Doug Mitts. It really resonated with me as I get my thoughts together about what I want to say to the men next Monday night at the Christian Men’s Life Skills Bible study. After eight weeks of building relationship with them and hopefully getting them more interested in studying the Bible and actually learning from the men and women in there you gave us as both good and bad examples–let’s face it, none of us are only good or only bad examples–I hope to guide them into a hungering, discipling relationship with you.

That’s what this is all about. These moments with you that I am having right now are what this is all about. Getting the fulfillment that comes from worshipping you and loving others is what this is all about. Knowing you and experiencing your love and grace is what it’s all about. Watching the fruits of your Holy Spirit grow within me are what it’s all about. Being comforted and guided by your Holy Spirit from moment to moment are what it’s all about. I am here because I need your love, I need to love you, and I need to love others. Everything else is nothing compared to having those needs met.

Father, thank you for my faithful sisters and brothers in Christ. Thank you for the people I was with last Sunday afternoon who were so obviously in love with you and discipling with you. Thank you for the inspiration you gave the people who started Christian Men’s Life Skills. Guide them and bless them. Bless them with your presence and the fruit of your Spirit. Make their path straight and smooth. Thank you for leading me to them for my sake. This has been so good for me. Help me now as I go into this day. Help me to love. Help me to represent you well. Help me to worship you with all of my life.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 2, 2025 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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Romans 12:3-5

01 Jul

3 Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. 4 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5 so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.

Romans 12:3-5

Dear God, here’s the line that really hits me this morning: Be honest in [my] evaluation of [myself], measuring [myself] by the faith [you] have given [me]. I recently took a DISC personality test and it was pretty accurate. I definitely leaned into one style over the other. But I think what pleased me the most about the test is the results of the three graphs it gives. One graph was the me others see. One was my instinctive response to pressure. The third was how I see myself. I was pleased by these three graphs because they were consistent. What others see and what I see were almost identical, and the only difference in the one with stress is that I leaned into my dominant style more. Yes, I have things to work on with my personality and how I handle things. Yes, I am flawed and I need to improve in a lot of areas. Yes, I am a sinner and I need your grace. But at least I am starting from a place where I think I’m actually okay at evaluating myself and seeing myself with fairly accurate eyes.

I think part of this comes from pain and struggle. Last night at the Bible study, the ice breaker question was what question would we ask you if we could. There were a lot of questions about the pain we experience. “Why cancer?” “Why did my dad die when I was 8?” Those questions were hard. And I could ask you why for some of my pain, but of of the men pointed out to the others that the pain is what develops us into the people we are. If my life had been perfectly free from pain and struggle, who would I be right now? No, I credit the struggles for bringing me to you and allowing you to work on my heart.

Father, I need to start putting together next week’s lesson for these men, but I want to do it differently than I did the last eight weeks. I want to be maybe a little more deliberate in my message to them. I want to love them with your love. I want to speak to them with your voice. I want to call them to follow you with your Spirit. And I pray for the men who will choose not to come after this week. Be glorified, oh, Lord. Be glorified in their lives. Be glorified in all of the lives involved with this class, including the leaders and teachers. Guide us all into the men you call us to be.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 1, 2025 in Romans

 

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“We Are Not As Strong As We Think We Are” by Rich Mullins

30 Jun

“We Are Not As Strong As We Think We Are” by Rich Mullins

Well, it took the hand of God Almighty
To part the waters of the sea
But it only took one little lie
To separate you and me
Oh, we are not as strong as we think we are

And they say that one day Joshua
Made the sun stand still in the sky
But I can’t even keep these thoughts of you from passing by
Oh, we are not as strong as we think we are

We are frail, we are fearfully and wonderfully made
Forged in the fires of human passion
Choking on the fumes of selfish rage
And with these our hells and our heavens
So few inches apart
We must be awfully small
And not as strong as we think we are

And the Master said their faith was
Gonna make them mountains move
But me, I tremble like a hill on a fault line
Just at the thought of how I lost you
Oh, we are not as strong as we think we are

We are frail, we are fearfully and wonderfully made
Forged in the fires of human passion
Choking on the fumes of selfish rage
And with these our hells and our heavens
So few inches apart
We must be awfully small
And not as strong as we think we are

And if you make me laugh
I know I could make you like me
‘Cause when I laugh I can be a lot of fun
But we can’t do that I know that it is frightening
What I don’t know is why we can’t hold on
We can’t hold on

It took the hand of God Almighty
To part the waters of the sea
But it only took one little lie
To separate you and me
Oh, we are not as strong as we think we are

When you love you walk on the water
Just don’t stumble on the waves
We all want to go there something’ awful
But to stand there it takes some grace

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Beaker / Rich Mullins

Dear God, I was listening to a podcast this morning, and they were talking about something they were reading that we are only able to see about 2% of what is visible around us due to our limited visual spectrum and the size of things. My wife and I talked about it a bit. We have a friend who is an ophthalmologist and she talks about the mission trips she goes on and how just something as simple as $.50 reading glasses change a person’s life because they were a seamstress and thought they could no longer work because they couldn’t see detail anymore. How much would that be us if we could all of a sudden see a fraction of what is around us that we cannot see? Is the vision of the spirits in the world actually closer than we think? Is it maybe not a veil between us, but simple ignorance?

That’s when this song came to mind for me. I am not as strong as I think I am. I think the closer I get to you the smaller I feel. And that’s a good thing. I think the closer I get to you the weaker I feel. And that’s a good thing. I don’t have to put my faith in my own strength to find my certainty or peace. I talk to people around my age who say they don’t feel their age. And that’s fine. I always tell them, “I’m not sure what 55 is supposed to feel like, but I think this is it.” I just don’t feel the need to push myself up and pretend to be something that I’m not. Is that good or bad? I’m not sure.

Thinking about this song that Beaker and Rich wrote, I wonder what they inspiration for it was. How did they decide to write this song? Were they feeling especially powerless? It starts with a broken relationship. It’s a love song to lost love. Poetically, I think my favorite part of the song talks about how we are “formed in the fires of human passion.” But the passion between those two people also succumbs sometimes to the fumes of selfish rage. This is truly an amazing song when you really sit with the lyrics.

Father, my hells and my heavens are just a few inches apart. Tonight, I will try to lean into the heavens and cling to them as I try to teach the Bible study lesson I think you gave me for these men. Help me. Be with me. Fill me. Help me to be weak. Be strong for me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 30, 2025 in Hymns and Songs

 

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David Crowned King of Israel – 2 Samuel 1-5:4

29 Jun

Dear God, we are wrapping up David this week for the guys in CMLS. Next week, I’ll branch into new territory of being explicitly evangelical and inviting them into a life lived with you. In conjunction with you. Loving you. Worshipping you and you alone. Rejecting idols. Loving their neighbors. Forgiveness. But first, we need to wrap up David and then link him to your son, Jesus. One, a king corrupted by his power. The other, a king who declined the power-over Satan offered him and taught us a new way.

When last we left off…

  • David was in Ziklag, having just recovered his and he men’s wives, children, and possessions from the Amalekites and sent some off to the cities in Judah who were close to him.
  • Jonathan and his brothers were killed in battle.
  • Saul died a particularly painful death, impaling himself on a sword after being shot by arrows.
  • The Israelites inhabiting the towns in the area of the battle evacuated the towns and the Philistines took up residence.
  • The men of Jabesh Gilead honored Saul by caring for his and his sons’ bodies.

Page 332

Oh how the mighty have fallen.

  • 2 Samuel 1:1-2 – 1 Now it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had stayed two days in Ziklag, 2 on the third day, behold, it happened that a man came from Saul’s camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head. So it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the ground and prostrated himself.
    • Notice the torn clothes and dust on his head. This was a sign of mourning and grief. These words are important to describe what they nonverbally communicated to David.
  • David knew the battle would have happened, but this was his first contact with anyone who had news. 2 Samuel 1:4-18 – 4 Then David said to him, “How did the matter go? Please tell me.”

And he answered, “The people have fled from the battle, many of the people are fallen and dead, and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.”

5 So David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and Jonathan his son are dead?”

6 Then the young man who told him said, “As I happened by chance to be on Mount Gilboa, there was Saul, leaning on his spear; and indeed the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him. 7 Now when he looked behind him, he saw me and called to me. And I answered, ‘Here I am.’ 8 And he said to me, ‘Who are you?’ So I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’ 9 He said to me again, ‘Please stand over me and kill me, for anguish has come upon me, but my life still remains in me.’ 10 So I stood over him and killed him, because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen. And I took the crown that was on his head and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them here to my lord.”

11 Therefore David took hold of his own clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him. 12 And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son, for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.

13 Then David said to the young man who told him, “Where are you from?”

And he answered, “I am the son of an alien, an Amalekite.”

14 So David said to him, “How was it you were not afraid to put forth your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?” 15 Then David called one of the young men and said, “Go near, and execute him!” And he struck him so that he died. 16 So David said to him, “Your blood is on your own head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the Lord’s anointed.’ ”

The Song of the Bow

17 Then David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son, 18 and he told them to teach the children of Judah the Song of the Bow; indeed it is written in the Book of Jasher:

  • David does some important things here:
    • He punished the Amalekite for killing God’s anointed, even under those circumstances.
      • Did the Amalekite lie?
    • He publicly laments for Saul to disabuse anyone of the notion that he was rooting for Saul’s death by tearing his clothes and “mourned and wept and fasted until evening.”
      • Forgiveness?
    • He deeply mourns for Jonathan.
  • David is a song writer and his words in this moment live until this day: “Oh, how the mighty have fallen!
    • We usually use these words in a derogatory/sarcastic way, but David wrote them when he was in deep pain.

David, King of Judah

  • David asked God if it was time to go home and where he should go. God told him to do to Hebron.
  • The men of Judah anoint David king over their tribe. The most of the rest of Israel aren’t part of it.
  • David learns about what Jabesh Gilead did for Saul and Jonathan and his brothers. He sends a message to the thanking them for what they did and letting them know that he is now king over Judah.
    • Maybe not as much a recruitment for them to do the same but a seed planted for later.
    • Look at the map
  • Abner, Saul’s cousin and Commander over the army took one of Saul’s remaining sons, Ishbosheth and threw his own credibility and power behind him to have him anointed as king over the 11 remaining Israelite tribes.
    • Did Abner do this for Ishbosheth, or did he do it for himself?
    • The historian is careful to say David sought God and the people anointed him king while Abner anointed Ishbosheth and positioned his capital away from the Philistines.


Joab and Abner

  • Joab was David’s army commander and his cousin. He also had two brothers, Abishai and Asahel.
  • Abner took his army to Gibeon. We don’t know why. Joab decided to do the same. 2 Samuel 2:12-17 – 12 Now Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. 13 And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out and met them by the pool of Gibeon. So they sat down, one on one side of the pool and the other on the other side of the pool. 14 Then Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men now arise and compete before us.”

And Joab said, “Let them arise.”

15 So they arose and went over by number, twelve from Benjamin, followers of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David. 16 And each one grasped his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his opponent’s side; so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called the Field of Sharp Swords, which is in Gibeon. 17 So there was a very fierce battle that day, and Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David.

  • Keep in mind that Joab had spent several years with David, running from Saul and Abner. He also wanted to command all of Israel’s army and for David to be king over everyone.
  • A huge battle ensues in which 19 of Joab’s men die, but 360 of Abner’s die.
  • But the death among Joab’s men that hurt the most was Joab’s brother Asahel. We will see how this plays out later in our story.
  • Abner finally calls for a truce and Joab blows the horn to stop.
  • Abner returns to Mahanaim while Joab buries his brother in his father’s tomb in Bethlehem, and then he and all the men head back to Hebron.
  • 2 Samuel 3:1 – 3 Now there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. But David grew stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.

Abner’s Switch of Allegiance

  • Chapter 3 starts with a list of David’s son’s born in Hebron, and we would spend more time on them if we were going through the rest of 2 Samuel.
  • One day, Ishbosheth accuses Abner of sleeping with one of Saul’s concubines. 2 Samuel 3:7-11 – 7 And Saul had a concubine, whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. So Ishbosheth said to Abner, “Why have you gone in to my father’s concubine?”

8 Then Abner became very angry at the words of Ishbosheth, and said, “Am I a dog’s head that belongs to Judah? Today I show loyalty to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not delivered you into the hand of David; and you charge me today with a fault concerning this woman? 9 May God do so to Abner, and more also, if I do not do for David as the Lord has sworn to him— 10 to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul, and set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan to Beersheba.” 11 And he could not answer Abner another word, because he feared him.

  • It’s obvious who had the real power in Ishbosheth’s kingdom.
  • Abner decides to make an alliance with David, ingratiate himself to David and make it possible for all the tribes of Israel to make David king.
  • Abner sends a message to David saying if David will make a covenant with him he will deliver the rest of the tribes of Israel.
  • David tests the offer by requiring he bring David’s first wife Michal. 2 Samuel 3:13-16 – 13 And David said, “Good, I will make a covenant with you. But one thing I require of you: you shall not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see my face.” 14 So David sent messengers to Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, saying, “Give me my wife Michal, whom I betrothed to myself for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines.” 15 And Ishbosheth sent and took her from her husband, from Paltiel the son of Laish. 16 Then her husband went along with her to Bahurim, weeping behind her. So Abner said to him, “Go, return!” And he returned.
  • Abner communicates with the elders of Israel encouraging them to follow David.
  • Then he goes to Hebron, David has a feast for him, and Abner tells him he will go and deliver the remaining tribes of Israel to him.
  • David sends Abner away in peace.
  • Oh, but wait. Joab wasn’t mentioned in any of this, and Abner has forgotten about the grudge Joab has for killing Asahel.
  • Joab gets back to Hebron and finds out what Abner’s been up to. 2 Samuel 3:24-27 – 24 Then Joab came to the king and said, “What have you done? Look, Abner came to you; why is it that you sent him away, and he has already gone? 25 Surely you realize that Abner the son of Ner came to deceive you, to know your going out and your coming in, and to know all that you are doing.”

26 And when Joab had gone from David’s presence, he sent messengers after Abner, who brought him back from the well of Sirah. But David did not know it. 27 Now when Abner had returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him privately, and there stabbed him in the stomach, so that he died for the blood of Asahel his brother.

28 Afterward, when David heard it, he said, “My kingdom and I are guiltless before the Lord forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner. 29 Let it rest on the head of Joab and on all his father’s house; and let there never fail to be in the [i]house of Joab one who has a discharge or is a leper, who leans on a staff or falls by the sword, or who lacks bread.” 30 So Joab and Abishai his brother killed Abner, because he had killed their brother Asahel at Gibeon in the battle.

  • CONSPIRACY THEORY must be stopped. Now, David has a political problem. All of the Israelite elders were about to anoint him king, but this might look to them like David had tricked Abner. David publicly lamented Abner’s death and showed him a ton of public respect in order to convince everyone he had nothing to do with Abner’s death, and it worked. 2 Samuel 3:36-37 – 36 Now all the people took note of it, and it pleased them, since whatever the king did pleased all the people. 37 For all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been the king’s intent to kill Abner the son of Ner. 
  • David tells his staff Joab has made him look weak and he hopes God pays them back for it, but he doesn’t do anything – yet. 1 Kings 2:28-33 (page 366) – 28 Then news came to Joab, for Joab had defected to Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom. So Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord, and took hold of the horns of the altar. 29 And King Solomon was told, “Joab has fled to the tabernacle of the Lord; there he is, by the altar.” Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, strike him down.” 30 So Benaiah went to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said to him, “Thus says the king, ‘Come out!’ ”

And he said, “No, but I will die here.” And Benaiah brought back word to the king, saying, “Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.”

31 Then the king said to him, “Do as he has said, and strike him down and bury him, that you may take away from me and from the house of my father the innocent blood which Joab shed. 32 So the Lord will return his [g]blood on his head, because he struck down two men more righteous and better than he, and killed them with the sword—Abner the son of Ner, the commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, the commander of the army of Judah—though my father David did not know it. 33 Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab and upon the head of his descendants forever. But upon David and his descendants, upon his house and his throne, there shall be peace forever from the Lord.”

The End of Ishbosheth

  • We hear a really quick story about Mephibosheth that will be important later when David is King over all of Israel.
  • Word spread that Abner was dead and Ishbosheth lost heart.
  • Two captains of the guard sneak in and killed Ishbosheth, beheaded him and headed off to Hebron because, apparently, they hadn’t heard about how David treated people who killed Israel’s king. 2 Samuel 4:9-12 – 9 But David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from all adversity, 10 when someone told me, saying, ‘Look, Saul is dead,’ thinking to have brought good news, I arrested him and had him executed in Ziklag—the one who thought I would give him a reward for his news. 11 How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous person in his own house on his bed? Therefore, shall I not now require his [f]blood at your hand and [g]remove you from the earth?” 12 So David commanded his young men, and they executed them, cut off their hands and feet, and hanged them by the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ishbosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner in Hebron.

David, King of Israel

  • 2 Samuel 5:1-4 – 5 Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and spoke, saying, “Indeed we are your bone and your flesh. 2 Also, in time past, when Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them in; and the Lord said to you, ‘You shall shepherd My people Israel, and be ruler over Israel.’ ” 3 Therefore all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord. And they anointed David king over Israel. 4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. 


Wrap-Up

  • David’s path to the throne
    • Samuel anoints (about 12?)
    • Goliath (about 15?)
    • He loved Jonathan and probably felt confused about how he would rule at Jonathan’s expense.
    • Made a captain and kills his 10,000s
    • Married the king’s daughter, Michal
    • Runs from Saul – Jonathan talks Saul down
    • Runs from Saul – Spares his life in the cave but doesn’t return. This is the one where he lies to the priest and gets all of the priests but one killed and pretends to be crazy to another king.
    • Runs from Saul – Spares his life in the valley and then heads to the Philistines and lives with them over a year. Raids other areas and deceives Achish
  • Faithful to wait on God’s timing. No short cuts.
  • Saul’s life was marked by insecurity and self-pity, and it ended up being the death of him and his family’s kingdom.
  • David’s life, while fraught with a lot of blood and some deception, is marked by loving God, worshipping God, and being willing to honor others over himself.
  • God noticed David’s excessive killing. 1 Chronicles 22:6-10 (page 457) – 6 Then he called for his son Solomon, and charged him to build a house for the Lord God of Israel. 7 And David said to Solomon: “My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build a house to the name of the Lord my God; 8 but the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have made great wars; you shall not build a house for My name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in My sight. 9 Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies all around. His name shall be [b]Solomon, for I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days. 10 He shall build a house for My name, and he shall be My son, and I will be his Father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’ 

Father, give me the words to say to these men tomorrow night. I will go through most of this. Some of it I will end up skipping. And I’ll add other things extemporaneously. Whatever I do in the moment, I want to be completely guided by your Holy Spirit. I want to be a seed sower. I pray that you will prepare hearts for tomorrow night. Start with mine. Teach me through these men. Teach me through my own teaching. Holy Spirit, fill that place tomorrow night.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 29, 2025 in 2 Samuel

 

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