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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.

1 Kings 17:1-16

10 Nov

17 Now Elijah, who was from Tishbe in Gilead, told King Ahab, “As surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives—the God I serve—there will be no dew or rain during the next few years until I give the word!”

2 Then the Lord said to Elijah, 3 “Go to the east and hide by Kerith Brook, near where it enters the Jordan River. 4 Drink from the brook and eat what the ravens bring you, for I have commanded them to bring you food.”

5 So Elijah did as the Lord told him and camped beside Kerith Brook, east of the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he drank from the brook. 7 But after a while the brook dried up, for there was no rainfall anywhere in the land.

8 Then the Lord said to Elijah, 9 “Go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. I have instructed a widow there to feed you.”

10 So he went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the village, he saw a widow gathering sticks, and he asked her, “Would you please bring me a little water in a cup?” 11 As she was going to get it, he called to her, “Bring me a bite of bread, too.”

12 But she said, “I swear by the Lord your God that I don’t have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die.”

13 But Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you’ve said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what’s left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!”

15 So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days. 16 There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah.

1 Kings 17:1-16

Dear God, my first thought when I read today’s Old Testament reading for the Catholic church was, “What must it have been like for the widow and her son to hang out with Elijah for a year. And I’ll come back to that. But when I went back to set up the context of today’s reading (which starts in verse 10), I saw that the preceding verses talked about the prophecy that there would be no rain and you telling Elijah that he should go hide near a brook and that you had “commanded” the ravens to bring you food. Then you used the same type of word–“ordered”–to describe what you had done to the widow. I looked at different translations and they mostly used these two words interchangeably between verse 4 and 9.

But had you? Had you ordered/commanded her or did you prepare her heart for an opportunity to serve and obey? Was it just that she was at a point where she had nothing left to lose, and she was ready to be melded into whatever you wanted for a chance for her son to survive?

Now, back to my first thought when I read this. What was it like to live with Elijah for a long time? Reading ahead to chapter 18, we find out that it was over two years from the time the draught started until Elijah returned to Ahab. Well, it was in the third year. I read that as 2+ years, but the way they say things in that culture could mean something else. Regardless, they lived with Elijah for a while. He lived in an upper room in their home. I wonder what kind of roommate he was. Did he pray a lot? Did he laugh? Was he joyful or stoic? Her family got to see him for a long time. I don’t know that there are any deep spiritual truths from this part of the story, but the idea that he was literally living with them for so long and what that must have been like has always kind of slipped by me until now.

Father, back to the part about you preparing this woman’s heart to obey your commands, my prayer is that my heart might be easily malleable for your will. Selfishly, I hope you don’t have to bring me to the brink before you can teach me what you have for me to learn, although I do still have a great sorrow that is forming me, even to this day. But my life could be so much worse. There is so much good around me. But it’s not about me. It’s not about my good. It’s simply about how I will use these 54-100 years (somewhere between my current age and the chance I might live to 100) you’ve given me to bring you glory and be part of your Church. To be part of bringing your kingdom and your will into earth as it is in heaven. To worship you with everything I have and then love my neighbor deeply and completely. To define my neighbor broadly, including those I don’t like or those with whom I am at cross purposes. Make me an instrument of your peace. When people look at me I want them to see you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 10, 2024 in 1 Kings

 

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Ruth 1:19-21

09 Nov

19 So the two of them continued on their journey. When they came to Bethlehem, the entire town was excited by their arrival. “Is it really Naomi?” the women asked.

20 “Don’t call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?”

Ruth 1:19-21

Dear God, a friend’s wife asked me to share a scripture at his funeral next weekend. She asked if I have any ideas. While her husband and I talked about faith a lot, we never talked about our favorite scripture passages. She is going to talk with her daughter and get back to me about any ideas they have.

In the meantime, as I sat down this morning, I started wondering if I had any ideas. Any passages that reminded me of him. The first thing that came to mind was Naomi. See, he married his high school sweetheart, and they had a little girl whom he adored. Tragically, his wife died just a short time after the baby was born from a random brain aneurism. All of a sudden, he was alone with a little girl. He had to return home and move in with his parents to help him with his daughter while he figured out what the rest of his life held for him. As it turns out, it was a good life. Education. Marriage. More children. Even financial success, but coupled with extreme generosity, love for others, and devotion to and worship of you. We aren’t all guaranteed anything in life. It won’t always turn out this way. And I’m sure he would just as soon have had his high school sweetheart with him until his dying day. And I don’t believe you caused the deaths of Naomi’s husband and sons any more than you caused his wife’s death. But you used them. You didn’t let the pain be wasted.

So, back to Naomi. I love this specific passage from Ruth 1 that I used above because it says so much. Naomi is devastated and, as she describes it, bitter. Her life is bitter. She is bitter. She is grieving and in pain. But there is still a future ahead of her. Her life isn’t over. You weren’t done with her yet. She brought Ruth and arranged for her to end up with Boaz. Ruth and Boaz had baby Obed. And that’s where the Book of Ruth ends. With Naomi, the book’s real protagonist, cuddling Obed, caring for him as if he were her own. While we don’t always get to see what you are doing to redeem our pain, at least Naomi got to see Obed. Here’s the rest of how the Book of Ruth ends in Ruth 4:16-17, nearly all of which Naomi never knew this side of heaven:

16 Naomi took the baby and cuddled him to her breast. And she cared for him as if he were her own. 17 The neighbor women said, “Now at last Naomi has a son again!” And they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David.

And then what the author of Ruth could not know is that David would be the lineage to Jesus. The blessing didn’t stop with David. It was only the beginning of the story, culminating even in me, a Gentile, sitting here today under grace.

Father, I don’t know what you will continue to do with my friend’s life, even now that he is gone. But I know that he had the privilege of getting to cuddle his metaphorical Obed. He got a good mother for his daughter. He got more children whom he adored–he talked about all three of them constantly when he was with me. He got a wife who absolutely delighted him, and she adored him as well. Yes, he had a successful career, but his life is more marked even more by the love he showed others with that success through generosity of time and resources. His is a life that knocks over a lot of dominos. The “butterfly effect” of his life will carry on for generations. Thank you that you rescued my friend from bitterness. Thank you that all of us have a reason to move forward in the midst of sorrow and pain. Thank you that you take our pain and offer us opportunities in each moment to redeem it. Those of us who are left behind are not done. If I consider my life worth nothing to me, then my only other option is to offer it to you. So I offer this day to you. Break me, melt me, mold me, fill me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

In Memory of Royce Hunter: 1938-2024

 
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Posted by on November 9, 2024 in Ruth

 

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Luke 16:1-13

08 Nov

16 Jesus told this story to his disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was wasting his employer’s money. 2 So the employer called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about you? Get your report in order, because you are going to be fired.’

3 “The manager thought to himself, ‘Now what? My boss has fired me. I don’t have the strength to dig ditches, and I’m too proud to beg. 4 Ah, I know how to ensure that I’ll have plenty of friends who will give me a home when I am fired.’

5 “So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe him?’ 6 The man replied, ‘I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.’ So the manager told him, ‘Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons.’

7 “‘And how much do you owe my employer?’ he asked the next man. ‘I owe him 1,000 bushels of wheat,’ was the reply. ‘Here,’ the manager said, ‘take the bill and change it to 800 bushels.’

8 “The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light. 9 Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.

10 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. 11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? 12 And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?

13 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.”

Luke 16:1-13

Dear God, of course, I’ve talked about this parable with you before. It has never set well with me. The idea that Jesus would encourage deception and theft is confusing. It’s still hard for me to connect the dots, so I’m going to skip to what Luke records as the lesson from this parable in verse 9:

9 Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.

Even this lesson is a little weird considering the lives the disciples would later live. Perhaps Jesus was looking forward to their persecution and knowing they would need allies.

As a fundraiser for a nonprofit, I can sometimes struggle with my motivations for being kind to people. Am I truly interested in them, or am I manipulating them so they will give the nonprofit where I work money? I have found that if I do not lean into the friendship and truly caring about them then I cannot live with myself. I have to care. I have to keep the donations separate from the compassion I feel. A friend died suddenly a week ago today. He and his wife happen to be large donors at the nonprofit where I work, but that didn’t drive my friendship with him. I also knew him through Rotary, and we enjoyed having lunch together. At the first of our long lunches, after about an hour he looked at me and said, “So, what can I do for you?” He was so used to being taken to lunch by a nonprofit for an “ask” that he was waiting for the pitch. I responded, “Nothing. I just wanted to have lunch.” We developed a wonderful friendship from there. We would spend hours and hours at lunch. Never less than two. Sometimes three to four hours. Such a wonderful man. I will truly miss him. I know I’m going to thing sometime soon, “I need to call ______ for lunch,” and then I’ll remember I can’t. Those will be sad moments. But with his death, my conscience is clear because I know I loved him and cared for him regardless of the donations he made to our nonprofit.

Father, I really don’t know to what extent I am supposed to be shrewd. I’m just not wired up this way. And I don’t know how to reconcile this parable of Jesus’s with my life. I really don’t. So, if there is something I’m supposed to be learning from this, Holy Spirit, please speak to me and teach me. Jesus, explain this to me. If I’m missing something in my life that you want me to incorporate, I certainly want to incorporate it. I just want to worship you and represent you to the world as best as I can. Help me to do that.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 8, 2024 in Luke

 

1 Timothy 1:18-20

07 Nov

18 Timothy, my son, here are my instructions for you, based on the prophetic words spoken about you earlier. May they help you fight well in the Lord’s battles. 19 Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked. 20 Hymenaeus and Alexander are two examples. I threw them out and handed them over to Satan so they might learn not to blaspheme God.

1 Timothy 1:18-20

Dear God, the actual verse of the day today was 1 Timothy 2:1-2 on Bible Gateway, but when I went back to chapter 1 to get the context for why Paul was telling Timothy that, I found this paragraph. Verse 19 is where my head it today. Cling to my faith in you. Keep my conscience clear. I feel like those are my marching orders today. This is one of those times in my life when my spirit and heart “pretty much” believe what I am saying, but not completely. I “pretty much” have faith that you are in control and you aren’t letting anything happen that is beyond your will. I “pretty much” believe that the outcomes I see around me are within your plan for the world. But I guess this path just makes me sad. I don’t like it. I don’t want to walk it. I know the path I wanted, and while it was far from perfect it was known to me and I felt like I knew my way through it. Now I’m in a situation where I am not sure how to go forward.

So what I’ve told people is that my only job is to wake up in the morning, worship you, pray, and then go about my day loving everyone around me as much as possible, all while testifying to the gospel of your grace. And I “pretty much” believe that. Maybe it’s just a little grief I’m experiencing. Maybe I’m just a little sad. Maybe that’s why I’m just “pretty much” there and not all there. Maybe in another week or two I will be less sad and really living out completely what I’m just “pretty much” living out now.

Father, I have a day ahead of me. I need to visit a friend in the hospital. I need to go to a training in another town. I need to lead the people with whom I work. I need to love everyone I see. I need to take you to the world and represent you to them. I need to pray for my coworkers, volunteers, donors, and clients who are in pain. Who are recovering from surgeries. Who are facing family problems. And I do. I lift them up to you now. For my those I know in mourning (I have two that lost loved ones in the last week), I pray for their comfort and provision. For those I know facing physical challenges, I pray for their healing and provision. For those I know who are facing financial, emotional, parenting, etc. challenges, I pray for their provision, peace, and guidance. I pray that all of us will move from “pretty much” to “completely.” And for those who have made an idol out of who won and who lost the election and looked to that outcome as a source of their love, joy, peace, etc. instead of you, I pray for repentance and a turning of our hearts towards you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 7, 2024 in 1 Timothy

 

Judges 14

06 Nov

14 One day when Samson was in Timnah, one of the Philistine women caught his eye. 2 When he returned home, he told his father and mother, “A young Philistine woman in Timnah caught my eye. I want to marry her. Get her for me.”

3 His father and mother objected. “Isn’t there even one woman in our tribe or among all the Israelites you could marry?” they asked. “Why must you go to the pagan Philistines to find a wife?”

But Samson told his father, “Get her for me! She looks good to me.” 4 His father and mother didn’t realize the Lord was at work in this, creating an opportunity to work against the Philistines, who ruled over Israel at that time.

5 As Samson and his parents were going down to Timnah, a young lion suddenly attacked Samson near the vineyards of Timnah. 6 At that moment the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him, and he ripped the lion’s jaws apart with his bare hands. He did it as easily as if it were a young goat. But he didn’t tell his father or mother about it. 7 When Samson arrived in Timnah, he talked with the woman and was very pleased with her.

8 Later, when he returned to Timnah for the wedding, he turned off the path to look at the carcass of the lion. And he found that a swarm of bees had made some honey in the carcass. 9 He scooped some of the honey into his hands and ate it along the way. He also gave some to his father and mother, and they ate it. But he didn’t tell them he had taken the honey from the carcass of the lion.

10 As his father was making final arrangements for the marriage, Samson threw a party at Timnah, as was the custom for elite young men. 11 When the bride’s parents saw him, they selected thirty young men from the town to be his companions.

12 Samson said to them, “Let me tell you a riddle. If you solve my riddle during these seven days of the celebration, I will give you thirty fine linen robes and thirty sets of festive clothing. 13 But if you can’t solve it, then you must give me thirty fine linen robes and thirty sets of festive clothing.”

“All right,” they agreed, “let’s hear your riddle.”

14 So he said:

“Out of the one who eats came something to eat;
    out of the strong came something sweet.”

Three days later they were still trying to figure it out. 15 On the fourth[b] day they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband to explain the riddle for us, or we will burn down your father’s house with you in it. Did you invite us to this party just to make us poor?”

16 So Samson’s wife came to him in tears and said, “You don’t love me; you hate me! You have given my people a riddle, but you haven’t told me the answer.”

“I haven’t even given the answer to my father or mother,” he replied. “Why should I tell you?” 17 So she cried whenever she was with him and kept it up for the rest of the celebration. At last, on the seventh day he told her the answer because she was tormenting him with her nagging. Then she explained the riddle to the young men.

18 So before sunset of the seventh day, the men of the town came to Samson with their answer:

“What is sweeter than honey?
    What is stronger than a lion?”

Samson replied, “If you hadn’t plowed with my heifer, you wouldn’t have solved my riddle!”

19 Then the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. He went down to the town of Ashkelon, killed thirty men, took their belongings, and gave their clothing to the men who had solved his riddle. But Samson was furious about what had happened, and he went back home to live with his father and mother. 20 So his wife was given in marriage to the man who had been Samson’s best man at the wedding.

Judges 14

Dear God, I find the Samson story interesting because it shows me that you sometimes do things that are completely counterintuitive to me. How could you use this profane, ungodly man? How could you condone so much pure awfulness in a leader? How could you select him? What are you doing? I like this description of his parents in verse 4 because it would have to be said of me a lot of times, including today: 4His father and mother didn’t realize the Lord was at work in this, creating an opportunity to work against the Philistines, who ruled over Israel at that time.

There’s a Rich Mullins song called “Who God is Gonna Use.”

At the beginning of this video, Rich talks about how you used Balaam’s donkey to save him (Numbers 22:21-35), and that story inspired the rest of the song. You use all kinds of people and all kinds of things. And not necessarily the holy ones. And not necessarily to do holy things. You used Pilate and Herod to kill Jesus. But what the disciples couldn’t see at the time is that it was taking one step back to take five steps forward. They killed Stephen, which seemed like a huge setback, but you used it to spread the church throughout the world (Acts 8). Stephen’s death is one of the reasons I am here today.

I have a friend who lost her father last week, and then was in an unfortunate accident yesterday that sent her to the ER. She loves you. She worships you. It seems like awful timing. Why would this happen? Why would you let this happen? Well, maybe there are just things I cannot see. Please be with her and her mother today as she recovers and they mourn the loss of a great, godly man.

As I type this email this morning, we now know who won the election yesterday for POTUS. There are some Christians who are delighted. Some are devastated. If the winner had been different, the roles would have been reversed. I talked with both sides over the last few weeks, and I told them, “Whoever wins, I will not let it be my idol. I am not putting my faith in either candidate. I am putting my faith in God and the things he is doing that I cannot see. So the day after the election, regardless of who wins, I will wake up, worship God, pray, and then go about loving everyone I can that day.”

Father, use President-elect Trump to do your will in this world whether he even knows your doing it or not, and regardless of what your will is for our country or this world. And my prayer would be the same if Kamala Harris won. I don’t know what you have for our country. I don’t know what you have for the people within it and around the world. I don’t know what you have for me. I know that I have no demands on you. I know that I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task you’ve given me–the task of testifying to the gospel of your grace through Jesus. So help me to live into that today. For those who will be impacted materially by policies of a new administration, both foreign and domestic, I pray. Find your remnant and strongly support them. Use everything going on this world to draw us closer to you. I pray that the American church my find true faith in you and turn loose of the idols we look to for our certainty. I pray that I will do the same. I am here to offer you my worship, my life, and my service. Use me as you will.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 6, 2024 in Hymns and Songs, Judges

 

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A Prayer by Martin Luther King, Jr.

05 Nov

A Prayer by Martin Luther King, Jr.

God, we thank you for the inspiration of Jesus. Grant that we will love you with all our hearts, souls, and minds, and love our neighbors as we love ourselves, even our enemy neighbors. And we ask you, God, in these days of emotional tension, when the problems of the world are gigantic in extent and chaotic in detail, to be with us in our going out and our coming in, in our rising up and in our lying down, in our moments of joy and in our moments of sorrow, until the day when there shall be no sunset and no dawn. Amen.”

Dear God, my wife read me this prayer last night, so I decided to find it and capture it for this morning. It seemed appropriate.

So, Father, I thank you for the inspiration of Jesus. I thank you for grace and mercy through Jesus. I thank you that you cannot see my sin through Jesus’s blood. Thank you that Jesus actually lived among us and taught us so much. Thank you that he showed us your way.

Help me to love you with everything I have today. My heart, that it will be healed and worship you through that healing. My mind, that it will be discerning and wise and look to see your direction for me in every moment. My strength, that I will take the body you’ve given me and use it as a blessing for others in your power. And my soul, that I will take the redeemed core you gave me and offer it to you as a living sacrifice that it might be shared with others.

Help me to love every person I come across today, both in-person and in my thoughts. Help me to love them with my words. Help me to love them with my actions. Help me to love sacrificially. Help me to love generously. That includes people who are at cross purposes with me. That includes people who frustrate me. Help me to be everything you want me to be for them. And of course, it includes my wife. Love her through me.

And walk with me today. Through every situation I encounter, be very present and there. Make me mindful of you and that I am taking you into the world. That you want to use me and your church that we might be your kingdom and will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Let there be peace today. Let there be peace around our nation. Let there be peace in Ukraine. Let there be peace in the Middle East. Let there be peace in Africa and South America. Let there be peace in North and Central American countries that refugees are fleeing. Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 5, 2024 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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Parents of the Bible: From Adam & Eve to Mary & Joseph is now live on Substack

04 Nov

Hello friends. This is not a prayer to God. I’m letting anyone who reads this blog know that I have taken the prayer journals I did a few years ago on Mothers of the Bible and Fathers of the Bible, and put them all in one place. You can find it here on Substack.

There are 82 prayer journals that will drop once a week for the next 82 weeks, starting with Eve. If you read any of these prayers at the time, you know it was my way of trying to consider what their lives must have been like as parents. I was trying to see what God could teach me about myself as a parent through the struggles I’ve had. I learned a lot. I hope it can be a source of encouragement for others.

The Substack is free, but if you should want to download a pdf of all 82 journals at once you can subscribe for a month for $5, download the pdf, and then cancel your subscription. Of course, you can also go to any of them as they were written at the time from clicking the links I provided in the first paragraph.

Thank you for the kind support many of you give me through this blog. I hope my journey with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit through these prayers is an encouragement in your own discipleship. Journaling my way through scripture in this way has changed my life.

John

 
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Posted by on November 4, 2024 in Miscellaneous

 

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“One Tin Soldier” by The Original Caste

04 Nov

“One Tin Solider” by The Original Caste

Listen, children, to a story
That was written long ago
‘Bout a kingdom on a mountain
And the valley-folk below

On the mountain was a treasure
Buried deep beneath the stone
And the valley-people swore
They’d have it for their very own

Go ahead and hate your neighbor
Go ahead and cheat a friend
Do it in the name of heaven
You can justify it in the end
There won’t be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgment day
On the bloody morning after
One tin soldier rides away

So the people of the valley
Sent a message up the hill
Asking for the buried treasure
Tons of gold for which they’d kill

Came an answer from the mountain
With our brothers we will share
All the secrets of our mountain
All the riches buried there

Now the valley cried with anger
“Mount your horses! Draw your sword!”
And they killed the mountain-people
So they won their just reward

Now they stood beside the treasure
On the mountain, dark and red
Turned the stone and looked beneath it
“Peace on Earth” was all it said

Go ahead and hate your neighbor
Go ahead and cheat a friend
Do it in the name of heaven
You can justify it in the end
There won’t be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgment day
On the bloody morning after
One tin soldier rides away

Go ahead and hate your neighbor
Go ahead and cheat a friend
Do it in the name of heaven
You can justify it in the end
There won’t be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgment day
On the bloody morning after
One tin soldier rides away

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Brian Potter / Dennis Earle Lambert

Dear God, when I hit “shuffle” on my “Oldies” playlist this morning, this song was the first one that played. Somehow, it seemed fitting for the election tomorrow. I’ve seen a few of my Christian friends sacrifice a lot of their beliefs and make an idol out of who they want to win and lose tomorrow. I’ve seen some of my liberal friends make an idol out of who wins and who loses tomorrow. I guess the thing that has troubled me most are the Christians. The compromises made for power and influence astound me. And I’m not talking about my friends who legitimately want one person’s policy over the others. I get that. I get why anyone would vote for any of the candidates, whether the candidate is at the top of the ticket or at the bottom. But it’s the people who are preoccupied with power and influence that sadden me. The ones who want to vanquish the other side. Who demonize the other side. Everything they are doing is so incongruous with anything Jesus taught us while on earth. Absolutely incongruous.

I loved this song as a child. I even sang it in a talent show. I think it was third grade, but I’m not sure. Of course, this was 1978, so it was before you could easily buy instrumental versions of songs. I took my 45 rpm record to school and sand along with the original singers. I think a lot of the students thought I was lip-syncing because I don’t think I had a microphone. Regardless, it was one of my favorites.

Years later, we used to sing this song with the kids when I was a camp counselor. They loved it too. But I wonder how much the message is lost on us. It’s a little like watching the “be curious, not judgmental” scene in Ted Lasso, and then judging Rupert in that very same scene. We can all be very obtuse.

Which leads me to the natural place where you want me to be. How am I guilty of being what this song condemns? How do I reach for power in futility? Do I try to try to use my power over my relationships, or do I strive for your power with others? Do I lead with love? You said blessed are the peacemakers. Am I a peacemaker?

Father, let these lyrics ring in my ears today as I go through my day. Love through me. Love through the work I do. Use my life, especially the failed parts of my life, as a way to glorify yourself in the eyes of the world. Let me decrease as you increase. And forgive me for the times I have been unmerciful, unloving, unpeaceful, and unjust.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 4, 2024 in Hymns and Songs

 

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Romans 12:9-13:1

03 Nov

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with th

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
Romans 12:9-13:1

Dear God, the verse today was 13:1. I assume because we are closing in on the US election. It’s an interesting one. I’ve always thought it was interesting that Paul had this attitude since he committed a lot of civil disobedience to not the local church authority as well. He died for it. It made me want to go back and look at what he was talking about right before he said this. What was the context?

Wow, the way I have it above where I don’t do any paragraph breaks and just make it all part of one thought is fascinating. The whole tone becomes about just living out the fruits of your Spirit. Love others. Serve others. Obey the governing authorities. It’s all just part of me living out the two most important commands. It’s all just part of me living out Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount.

Father, help me to live out the Sermon on the Mount this week. That starts with me worshipping you. Then I will start loving others. Then I will start being a peacemaker and merciful. Then I will stop lusting and coveting. Then I will have faith that you will provide. I can go all of the way through the Sermon. But you get my point. I will find myself just living out the faith I have in you. And if worshipping you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength and loving my neighbor as myself gets me into trouble (which it rarely will, but it might), then so be it. Help me to share this message with others in my very small sphere of influence this week as they start to get concerned about the election results, regardless of who their chosen candidates are. Basically, for what you’re calling me to do, the only thing that makes who the winner is matter is if I am in a position to love someone in my immediate sphere of influence who is directly affected by their policy as a result. Otherwise, I am simply called to both of these things. Oh, how I do, truly, love you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 3, 2024 in Romans

 

Romans 6:3-11

02 Nov

3 Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? 4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.

5 Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. 6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. 8 And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. 9 We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. 10 When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. 11 So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.

Romans 6:3-11

Dear God, I’m praying this prayer on All Souls Day, November 2. I believe the Catholic Church created this as a day after All Saints Day to pray for the souls still in purgatory. Since I’m not so much a believer in purgatory, I want to use this time to pray for some specific friends who are mourning this year. I have one friend who lost a mother fairly suddenly on Thursday (two days ago). Then I have a friend who died very suddenly yesterday while grocery shopping. He leaves behind family and friends who are grieving. I have a friend who lost his wife this spring after a battle with cancer. And there are others. There are many others. But that is who is on my heart this morning. The souls who are with you now and the holes in hearts their deaths leave behind.

I pray for my friends right now who are mourning. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4) Please raise up people to comfort them. Show me my role in comforting them. Help them to know how to reach out to you during this difficult time. Comfort me in this loss as well. I really loved the man who died yesterday. He was much older than I am, but we were in Rotary together and had lunch one-on-one at least five times. Each one was always so long because we just truly enjoyed each other. I will surely miss him. I do, even now.

Father, I have a day to live today. I have family to love. I’ll be spending a lot of time with one family member in particular. Help me to love them. Help me to be what you need them to have. But let it start with my worship of you. Help me to remember that you are my God. Help me to recognize idols in my life and sink into your presence. Help me to be the man you are ultimately forming me to be.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 2, 2024 in Romans

 

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