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.

1 Corinthians 10:12-13

18 Jan

12 If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. 13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

1 Corinthians 10:12-13

Dear God, I was talking with my wife last night about this generation and how the perspectives of a 20-year-old now seem so different that how a 20-year-old would have seen the world 20 years ago. But then, hasn’t that been true with every generation? Rounding off to even numbers, I am sure a 20-year-old in 2020 sees the world very differently and has a much different philosophy of life than did a 20-year-old in 2000. The same would be true for the 20-year-old in 1980, 1960, 1940, 1920, and 1900. The 20-year old in 1960 saw the world much differently than did the 20-year-old in 1940.

So, while I might want to scoff at Paul’s comment that the temptations we experience are no different than the temptations others have experienced, the truth is, they all have the same root. The temptation delivery system might be different. Porn, alcohol, and illicit drugs might be more accessible now, but there is also much less privacy and it’s harder to hide our bad actions. It still comes down to the fact that we allow selfishness, self-gratification, and a need to escape reality to take us away from you and from the life you intended us to have.

Back in September, I made a list of the things that I need to do, as a minimum, to maintain my relationship with you. Here is what I came up with:

  • The prayer journals. Spending 15-30 minutes a day in a concentrated time of prayer like this has become a “have to” for me. And it didn’t used to be that way. A year ago I would have said that I need to do it 4-5 times a week. But since Lent I haven’t missed a day because I know I need this time meditating on you, listening to your Holy Spirit, and learning from the bazaar thing you left us called Scripture.
  • Giving. Ten percent of our gross is a minimum. Not that we are giving away even 20%, but we try to be generous when we see needs arise. Giving 10% is a floor.
  • Intentional time in conversation with my wife at least once a day is a floor. If we are available around each other at a meal, we each make it a priority to sit with each other, even if one of us isn’t eating at the time.
  • At least one sermon/Bible teaching a week. I need to hear someone else I trust teaching me the Bible in a way I wouldn’t see on my own (this homily is a perfect example of that).
  • Communication and contact with at least one of the two male friends I have. It doesn’t even have to be a conversation, but I need to touch their lives in some way–even if it is to text about sports.
  • Avoiding sexual temptation/lust. This has to be a floor. When you look at the lists of sins Jesus and Paul talk about, it’s always on there. I must do this.
  • Exercising at least four times a week. I am mentally better when I am taking care of myself physically. I should probably make better eating habits a floor, but I haven’t chosen to do that yet. Perhaps it will be one day.
  • Doing the things I know bless my wife like fixing things around the house, managing our money and then sharing with her what our status is, doing my laundry, making the bed, etc. Even listening to things I like but I know she doesn’t care for on my headphones instead of subjecting her to it. There’s a whole set of “floor” issues for my relationship with her that are important for her to feel loved.

Then I came up with kind of a bonus list of things that are good if I add to it:

  • Church. A lot of Christians would probably disagree with me on this one. While I feel like it is important to have a church you belong to and to be involved in that church, I don’t feel like the foundation in my life is cracking if I miss a week.
  • My extra writing projects. I get joy from writing and thinking about how to bless others, but it’s a “get” to and not a “have” to.
  • Teaching. Similarly, I enjoy taking what I get from you during my prayer journal time and sharing it with others through preaching or teaching, but those occasions happen infrequently, and, while they help me and teach me, they aren’t the floor.
  • Engaging healthily through prayer and action in my community. This is close to a “have” to because it is part of me loving others as I love myself, but it’s not something that is foundational. Well, maybe it is. It actually might belong in the “have” to list.
  • Listening to Christian music. I mix it in during the week, but I also listen to secular as well.
  • Listening to Christian podcasts. Similar to music, I mix it in, but it’s a “get” to.

Father, lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil. The temptations are different now, but their delivery system is. I can do so much in the privacy of my home that people might never know about. Save me from that. Help me to maintain the boundaries of my “floor” and then build on that floor with walls a roof made up of the other things I added to the list later. And do all of this so that I might fully experience you in my life–at least as fully as humanly possible on this side of the death divide. I want to experience the fruit of your Holy Spirit now as much as possible because you are the only true source of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control. Help me to live into that.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on January 18, 2025 in 1 Corinthians

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

Philippians 2:14-15

17 Jan

14 Do everything without complaining and arguing, 15 so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.

Philippians 2:14-15

Dear God, I want to work as unto you today. This is the time of year when there are so many things that need done, and it can be hard to get my head around all of it. It can be hard to be enthusiastic about going to work. But there is work to be done, and while I am not providing direct care to the clients who come to us, the work I do makes that work possible.

There there is the part of living a life that is a bright light to the people around me. How do I show the difference you make in my life and invite them to know you? How do I inspire them to embrace you and a life spent loving you? How do I cross that bridge and help them find the joy of discipleship, worship, and loving their neighbors as themselves?

Father, I have work to do today. There is a myriad of things for me to work on. Help me to do it well. Help me to see each task as an opportunity to love others. Honestly, just about everything I have on my list today has that as a component of it in one way or another. So help me to do it and to do it well. Help me to be the light to a local culture around me that thinks conservative values and acknowledging your existence is enough.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on January 17, 2025 in Philippians

 

Galatians 5:16

16 Jan

16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 

Galatians 5:16

Dear God, this made me think of a blog post I read this morning from Fred Smith. If I read it right, I think I actually disagreed with Fred, which I almost never do. He talked about a distance between yourself and individuals in the Old Testament and how we sometimes expect too much of you now. At least that’s how I interpreted what he said. Maybe I misread what he wrote. But if that’s what he said, I disagree, and I think it’s because Jesus came and then sent the Holy Spirit after he left. That was a game-changer. I’m honestly not even sure about Fred’s interpretation of you in the Old Testament, but if he is right then the sending of your Holy Spirit to live within us is possibly the biggest change from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant.

Now, with that said, do I sometimes expect too much of you when it comes to what I want you to do and the prayers I want you to answer? Maybe. I woke up this morning and the first thing I did was complain to you about a couple of prayers you weren’t answering how I hoped you would. In the midst of the prayers I acknowledged that you have your own timing, and I trust you, and it’s not about me, and you know better than I do, etc., but I was still expressing my frustration to you. And I think your Holy Spirit was there with me. Comforting me. Reminding me that you are God and you know better. Encouraging me in my faith. Interceding for me with you. It was actually a beautiful moment, and I think it is real. Just because you haven’t brought about what I think I want doesn’t mean you have forgotten me or are not omnipresent in my life. It just means…well, I don’t know what it means, but it doesn’t mean that.

Father, thank you for your Holy Spirit. Thank you for comforting me this morning. Thank you that you sent a piece of you, Jesus, to be with us, teach us, suffer for us, die for us, and the rise again for us. Thank you for his ascension into heaven. Thank you that there is power in his blood. Thank you for the New Covenant. Thank you for including Gentiles in your plan. Thank you that you are present with me even now.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on January 16, 2025 in Galatians

 

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Prayers of Supplication

15 Jan 
Is war the only 
language you think 
Yahweh speaks?

Anna Friedrich

Dear God, I read this poem this morning by Anna Friedrich that was inspired by a story in 2 Kings 13 with Elisha. The poem is much longer than this, but these are the first words of it, and they really struck me. We can be very specific about the prayers we bring to you. I could take the word “war” and replace it with any number of words that would describe the kinds of prayers we bring to you.

  • Is war the only language you think Yahweh speaks?
  • Is medicine the only language you think Yahweh speaks?
  • Is poverty the only language you think Yahweh speaks?
  • Is parenting the only language you think Yahweh speaks?
  • Is marriage the only language you think Yahweh speaks?

I think all of us are guilty of not bringing all of our lives to you. The successes. The failures. The concerns. The hopes and dreams. A lot of these things I think I can handle myself. I was listening to two different podcasts this week wonder out loud about our response to the Los Angeles wild fires. What is our response as Christians. If we pray, what do we pray? What should we pray? What actions should accompany our prayer.

My wife and I spend a lot of time talking together. People ask what we talk about. I couldn’t tell you. We just talk. Is my relationship with you the same, or do I just bring you the big things?

Father, you are interested in all of me. Help me to know how to make all of me available to you. You are my God and my king. You are my savior and redeemer. You are my teacher and counselor. You are my confidant and my confessor. You are my friend. It’s weird, but you love me. And I love you. Help me to know how to love you better.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on January 15, 2025 in 2 Kings

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

1 John 4:20-21

14 Jan

If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.
1 John 4:20-21

Dear God, I think back to some of John’s actions in his earlier life lake when he wanted to call down fire on the Samaritans and compare it to who he is when he writes this letter, I get encouraged at the idea of how much I can grow in you. Honestly, John had a lot to learn in those three years he walked with Jesus. Then he had more to learn after the crucifixion and resurrection. But he started to figure it out. He continued to learn.

I hope I’m the same way. I hope I’m not the man I was 30, 20, 10, 5, or even 1 year ago. I hope I’m different now than I was yesterday. Than when I woke up this morning. And I hope I’m growing in the right way. I hope I’m better. I need you to grow me. Refine me. Mold me. Fill me.

Father, thank you for answering prayers over the last few days that I didn’t even have that much faith could be answered. Or would be answered. You were good to a lot of people. Now, I’m going back to work and into an environment where we run into a lot of people who need a lot. Help us to be part of your solution for them. Give us wisdom. Move mightily. And move in our lives as well. Do all of this so that we might live as you call us to love, and be loved by others as well.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on January 14, 2025 in 1 John

 

Faux Hot Ones Interview with Megan Willome and John Willome

13 Jan

I want to share this video with my Emails to God subscribers.

First, thank you for subscribing and taking the time to read any of my prayer journals. I have been doing them for almost 25 years in one form or another, and, if it is appropriate for you, I hope they are an inspiration for you to do your own prayer journals or something similar as you deepen your discipleship in Jesus. Spending time with God in this way has changed my life.

Second, the YouTube link above is an interview my wife Megan Willome and I did with each other about our two recent projects. Mine is Parents of the Bible: From Adam & Eve to Mary & Joseph. Hers is Love and other Mysteries, a poetry collection with poems organized around Song of Solomon and the mysteries of the rosary and published by Wipf & Stock.

In the video, Megan and I take on the “wings of death” (okay, Megan used cauliflower and I used chicken nuggets) Hot Ones style (while suffering quite a bit towards the end), and discuss the new projects and also obscure facts about us not many other people know. This is our fun homage to Hot Ones and the best in the business, Sean Evans. Please support Hot Ones and First We Feast through the links below.

For more on Megan:

Love and other Mysteries: https://amzn.to/4fNXlne

Personal Website: https://meganwillome.com

Substack: https://substack.com/@meganwillome

Join Megan on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, at Texas Heritage Vineyard (3245 E US Hwy 290, Fredericksburg, Texas) from 5:00-6:30 for the Love and other Mysteries Launch Party.

For more on Parents of the Bible, click here.

For more about Hot Ones and First We Feast, click here.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on January 13, 2025 in Fathers of the Bible, Miscellaneous, Mothers of the Bible, Musings and Stories

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

13 Jan

16 So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Dear God, we have done such a bad job of preaching the Gospel. I have done such a bad job of preaching the Gospel. Over the last 150-200 years in America, we focused on “fire insurance.” “If you died tonight, do you know where you would go?” It’s still so “me” focused. It’s not about being in a loving relationship with you. Communing with you like we did in the garden. It’s about making a deal with you: Okay, God. If I jump through the hoops you prescribed then I get my get out of jail free card, right?

Paul never seemed to go there. Paul was all about this relationship with you. Communing with you as when Eve and Adam were in the garden. Before the fall. In these moments when I’m in prayer. Even right now. I have the same access to you they did. Yes, the world crowds in. Yes, my heart is corrupt. Yes, my theology isn’t 100% accurate. Yes, I don’t have complete understanding. BUT I am here with you in this moment. Communing with you. Praying to you. Loving you. My wife and I were talking about the Catholic Rosary last night. She is listening to a Rosary in a Year podcast that with Fr. Mark Mary Ames, and he was talking about entering this space that Eve and Adam occupied. Pre-fall. You created us good. The good is still in there. And this pre-fall space Eve and Adam occupied is available to me right now.

I have found a pearl of great price, but I don’t have to be selfish about it. I don’t have to hide it from anyone. It is available to all of us. My job is supposed to be to let others know about the pearl I found and offer it to them. And the pearl isn’t heaven. The pearl is relationship. The pearl is entering that pre-fall space on earth and then continuing it in heaven. The pearl is pursuing you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, loving my neighbor as myself, and then experiencing amazing fruit that comes from communing with you. Frankly, the portrait we’ve been given of heaven, with streets of gold and mansions, is so small and insignificant compared to that.

Father, help me to share my pearl with others. Help me to know how to pursue you throughout the day. Help me to be completely with you in moments like this. Thank you for what Jesus did to recreate this sacred space between you and me through his life, death, and resurrection. I give you all my worship and all my praise.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on January 13, 2025 in 2 Corinthians

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

Luke 3:15-22

12 Jan

Everyone was expecting the Messiah to come soon, and they were eager to know whether John might be the Messiah. John answered their questions by saying, “I baptize you with water; but someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.” John used many such warnings as he announced the Good News to the people.

John also publicly criticized Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, for marrying Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for many other wrongs he had done. So Herod put John in prison, adding this sin to his many others.

One day when the crowds were being baptized, Jesus himself was baptized. As he was praying, the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit, in bodily form, descended on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.”
Luke 3:15-22

Dear God, there is so much here. I think I want to just do a bullet-point list of what I see:

  • “They were eagerly expecting the Messiah to come soon.” Aren’t we all? Isn’t it interesting that we are always looking towards what hasn’t happened yet instead of living our lives in the moment today? What we don’t realize is that we are waiting for the wrong things. In their case, they were waiting for a conquering, killing machine who would eliminate their enemy and restore their power. In our case, we are looking to leave the pains and frustrations of our current situation so we can have it easier. I would posit that we don’t want to be with you. We just want to get out of here and to a place that is easier for us. It isn’t about longing for you. It is about our comfort. I’m sorry for that.
  • The chaff and wheat analogy by John reminds me of the wheat and tares in Matthew 13. Don’t tear up the weeds now. It’s too late (or too early). They’ve been sown. It’s too late to stop them. It’s too early because we will destroy some good wheat accidentally. Since it is different Gospel writers who make this reference and in different ways, it makes me wonder if this was a common analogy/parable that was used in the later church when talking about evangelizing in the world. They were both written decades after Jesus. Was this just a metaphor everyone knew?
  • There’s a bit of editorializing here from Luke when it comes to Herod: “…adding this to his many other sins.” There was a lot of blame towards Herod. He participated in killing Jesus, after all. But he was a corrupt king. Marrying his brother’s wife. Ultimately killing John. Killing Jesus. And the “many other wrong things he had done.” This is just occurring to me, but I think it might be one of the few times we get some “voice” from a Gospel author.
  • I can’t even begin to describe how you must have felt through this. You broke your personal silence after 400+ years and audibly spoke to the crowd. Not to a prophet. Not to Jesus individually. Not through angels. You showed up to the crowd. I don’t have time to look it up now, but it seems like one of the other Gospels records this as the crowd only hearing what sounded like thunder. But I kind of like this image of the crowd hearing you speak. But you had to. You loved him. And maybe he needed your encouragement in that moment.

Father, as I sit here this morning, I just simply love you. I’m not waiting for tomorrow. I love you now. I have some challenges in front of me. Be with me and make my path straight. For your glory, oh, Lord.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on January 12, 2025 in Luke

 

Tags: , , , ,

Psalm 118:1-9

11 Jan

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
    His faithful love endures forever.

2 Let all Israel repeat:
    “His faithful love endures forever.”
3 Let Aaron’s descendants, the priests, repeat:
    “His faithful love endures forever.”
4 Let all who fear the Lord repeat:
    “His faithful love endures forever.”

5 In my distress I prayed to the Lord,
    and the Lord answered me and set me free.
6 The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear.
    What can mere people do to me?
7 Yes, the Lord is for me; he will help me.
    I will look in triumph at those who hate me.
8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to trust in people.
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to trust in princes.

Psalm 118:1-9

Dear God, pain and trials cause us to call on you in ways that are wholly unique. Yesterday morning, I was calling on you and your power in unique ways. I was calling on the Holy Spirit. I was calling on angels. There are no foxhole atheists, and, at that moment, there was no theology beyond what I was willing to consider or avail myself of. DISORIENTATION. The stress was about helping a relative through a difficult time, but I was at the end of my physical, mental, and emotional abilities. I was completely disoriented. So was everyone else in the room. But I called on you and you chose to answer our prayers. I know you might not always. I know there are times when it is not within your design to do my bidding. I’m not sitting here this morning thinking about what I expect of you. I’m thinking about my faith and how different situations reveal the depths it can go to, and how shallowly I might normally operate.

So, sitting here now, I am “reoriented.” In Brueggemann’s psalm categorization system of “orientation,” “disorientation,” and “reorientation,” I was disoriented yesterday morning, but I am reoriented right now. So why don’t I call on you and really plunge into the depths of my faith here? Is it too fatiguing to let myself go that deep and that desperate continuously? Are you working all of this for my good? Are you taking the difficult situations and not wasting them by “reorienting” everyone involved?

Father, show me what to do today. I’m still with that relative and they still need my help, although it’s not as dire as it was. Help me to be what they need. Give me the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual strength to walk the path you have for me today. Use this situation to heal all of us who are involved. Use it to teach us. To draw each of us closer to you. To refine us. If there must be fire, Father, at least use its flame to refine me. Don’t let it be wasted.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on January 11, 2025 in Psalms

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

1 Peter 1:6-7

10 Jan

So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
1 Peter 1:6-7

Dear God, it can be so hard to keep this world in perspective. Our current era in perspective with the rest of earth’s eras. My one little life in perspective with the lives of the other 8 billion of people on earth (which, by the way, has almost doubled in my lifetime—my life has only gotten smaller and smaller).

For Peter. He’s telling them about the world beyond this one, and trying to put this one in perspective. What we see is so, so small compared with the reality that awaits us. the struggles I have today will be long forgotten in that time to come. And in that time to come, I will get to see you as you are. The veil will be lifted from my eyes. I’ll see the powers and principalities and what you do with them.

So, Father, I am glad for the joy ahead. I’m also glad for the joy now. You are good and kind. You give me a much more comfortable life than I deserve. Thank you. Thank you for ministering to me this morning. Thank you for your Holy Spirit guiding, comforting, and teaching me. You know there are special needs for today. Please provide, guide, heal, and bless. Help me to be everything you need me to be for those around me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on January 10, 2025 in 1 Peter

 
← Older posts
Newer posts →