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Category Archives: Titus

Titus 2:11-14

03 Jan

11 For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. 12 And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, 13 while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. 14 He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.

Titus 2:11-14

Dear God, I do still sin. I’m sorry for that. I’m still selfish. I’m still gluttonous. I’m still hateful. I’m all of it. And I am sorry. I’m sorry that there is that one part of my heart that I still hold back for me. I know it has to frustrate you as you try to love me. Holy Spirit, I know you must just shake your head when you see me hold onto that little part of myself and covet it. “My precious.”

Jesus, thank yo for giving your life to free me from this sin. To cleanse me. To make me your own. Father, thank you for sending that part of yourself down to this earth. Holy Spirit, thank you for being with me, even now, in my brokenness. Walk with me today as I do my best to turn loose of the things to which I hold so dear. Guide me as I interact with others. Guide me as I love you and love my wife. Guide me as I do my work.

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

Amen

 
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Posted by on January 3, 2025 in Titus

 

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Titus 2

12 Nov

2 But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine. 2 Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance.

3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, 4 so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.

6 Likewise urge the young men to be sensible; 7 in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, 8 sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.

9 Urge bondslaves to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect.

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

15 These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

Titus 2

Dear God, this chapter all seemed to be one thought, so I thought I would keep it together. As I read the admonitions for each category of people I started to wonder how I would parse through it. Thankfully, Paul helped me out by summarizing things in verses 11-14:

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

So I need to:

  • Deny ungodliness
  • Deny worldly desires
  • Live sensibly
  • Live righteously
  • Be godly
  • Look for hope

The first five are kind of no-brainers, but the last one is interesting given the chapter I just read this last weekend in a marriage book my wife and I are reading with the couple’s group we are in at church. The book is called Habits for a Healthy Marriage by Richard Fitzgibbons. Chapter 6 is titled “Hope Reduces Sadness and Loneliness.” I kind of scoffed at that title at first because I think I was using a definition of hope, and assumed he was using a definition for hope, that I think is very American and prosperity gospel-ish. A lot of times, when people tell me to not give up hope or that things will turn out alright, they are talking about everything working out the way I want it to or in my favor. But I think Paul has it right here. My hope is in you. It is in your return. It is in the idea that you won. I don’t know exactly what that looks like or how I will experience that, but I know that is what Paul is saying here. Now, it’s a long way around the block to link hope, even in you and the world to come, to reducing my sadness and loneliness. I suppose to some extent it does, but sometimes we are just in the valley of the shadow of death and we need to slog through it. And I’ll slog through it with my hope in you, but that hope will have varying degrees of impact on my sadness and loneliness now.

Father, I have friends who are sad right now because of loved ones they’ve lost. Use the hope in the new earth to encourage them. I have friends who are worried about their illnesses and afraid of death for themselves or their spouse. Use the hope in the new earth to encourage them. I have friends who are worried about their children’s health, their children in general, their own lives and provision for their basic needs. Use the pain of their situations to drive them closer to you. Of course, there are those in the war zones around the world. Oh, Father, please help them and make the death stop. Make the suffering and torture stop. Heal the traumas. Heal us, Father.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 12, 2024 in Titus

 

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Titus 1:5-9

11 Nov

5 For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you, 6 namely, if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion. 7 For the overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, 8 but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, 9 holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.

Titus 1:5-9

Dear God, this list of qualifications for elder caught my eye this morning. Verse 6 talks about “having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion.” By this standard, not many biblical characters would qualify for service as an elder. I wonder if that is a legitimate qualification, or if Paul was making the mistake a lot of people without children make. I’ve noticed that there are many who do not have children who do not understand the concept of free will. I mean, let’s face it. I don’t think you, God, would qualify to be an elder under this criteria. Starting with Satan and the rebellion he led, and then going all the way down to us as your children.

Now that I think about it, which biblical fathers would have qualified to be elders under Paul’s standard of children’s behavior? Not Adam. Not Noah. Maybe Abraham, but Not Isaac or Jacob. Joseph (Jacob’s son)? Maybe. Moses? Maybe. Maybe Joshua. But not Eli, Samuel, or David. But maybe Saul. I guess you get my point. Paul set a pretty high standard here, and from looking at history, a fairly random and unpredictable one.

But how many of us as parents have children who go their own way and blame ourselves. And while we certainly play a part in it, not everything is within our control. Sometimes we can be the worst, and our children turn out great. Sometimes we can do our best (albeit with mistakes), and things can go terribly wrong. But we will use our children’s lives as a barometer of our own success as who you want us to be. While we certainly need to be self-reflective and repentant as parents for our mistakes, we need to also recognize that there are simply some things we cannot control.

Father, help me to reject man’s litmus test for how I should evaluate myself and embrace simply loving you with everything I have and then loving neighbors. Help me to take my love for you and use what you give me in return to draw others closer to you. Help me to be who you need me to be in this world today. For my wife. For my children. For my friends and coworkers. For those I don’t even know. May it all be for your glory.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 11, 2024 in Titus

 

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Titus 2:1-8

09 Sep

2 As for you, Titus, promote the kind of living that reflects wholesome teaching. 2 Teach the older men to exercise self-control, to be worthy of respect, and to live wisely. They must have sound faith and be filled with love and patience.

3 Similarly, teach the older women to live in a way that honors God. They must not slander others or be heavy drinkers. Instead, they should teach others what is good. 4 These older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children, 5 to live wisely and be pure, to work in their homes, to do good, and to be submissive to their husbands. Then they will not bring shame on the word of God.

6 In the same way, encourage the young men to live wisely. 7 And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good works of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching. 8 Teach the truth so that your teaching can’t be criticized. Then those who oppose us will be ashamed and have nothing bad to say about us.

Titus 2:1-8

Dear God, there is something so sweet and basic about these instructions to Titus, and yet following them can be elusive. Now that I’ve moved into the older crowd–especially at work–my example is important. I have a young man who works with me, and I am sure I am a wholly unique man compared with the other men he knows in his life. I hope you are able to do something positive for him through me. I have many young women who work with me. While I am not the womanly example you need them to have, I am an example. Just yesterday, I texted a sermon link to a single mom who is raising her daughter and also has responsibility in raising two younger sisters who are just a little older than her daughter but not much. It was Father Mike Schmitz’s homily from the Gospel reading yesterday in the Catholic Church. It was talking about the value each one of us has. I think it’s an important message for everyone, but in this case I wanted to share it with her and her girls. I hope it makes a difference.

Then there are those I love over whom I have very little influence whether it is due to lack of proximity or broken relationships. My prayer for them this morning is that you will raise up people in their lives who be your example to them. Give them a sense of you and who you want them to be. Love them with a father’s love. A mother’s love. Give them mentors. Show them how much you love them–how much they count–through the people you put around them.

Father, I have a lot of things to do today. A lot of tasks. But the most important one is to be your example, and then also look for examples that I myself can follow. Put Godly men and women in my path today who can teach me, encourage me, and love me with your love. That starts with my wife. Thank you for the love you show me through her and what you teach me through her. She’s amazing. You do so much for me, but it all starts with her. I am grateful.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 9, 2024 in Titus

 

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Lent Day 4:

17 Feb

Dear God, as I continue to make my way through Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer, I want to stop and just thank you for always being here to meet with me. Sometimes I am father from you, but you are never farther from me. Oh, my God, I love you.

Before I start with Day 4 of this Lenten series I’m doing with you, I want to go back and mention something I noticed last night as I was reading Psalm 35. David was bemoaning his situation and asking you to rip into people who were wronging him. I’ve always struggled with those psalms, but last night I got a vision that David was writing that psalm on behalf of Uriah. Uriah was the victim and David was the villain. David was coming to terms with his villainy towards Uriah. I’m not saying that’s actually what David was doing, but it gave me an appreciation and perspective on the sentiment I haven’t had before.

Here are the passages the book has for me today:

  • AM Psalms: 30, 32
  • PM Psalms: 42, 43
  • Deuteronomy 7:17-26
  • John 1:43-51
  • Titus 3:1-15

Just off the bat, I’m kind of surprised we are spending so much time in Deuteronomy and Titus. I’m not looking ahead because I’m trying to stay in the moment, but if you’d have asked me to guess which books in the Bible we will be spending time with, I would not have guessed Deuteronomy and Titus.

Okay, here is what stands out to me in today’s readings.

Psalm 30:5a – For his anger last only a moment, but is favor lasts a lifetime.

This takes me back to when my children were small and I started to get a glimpse of your love for me through my love for them. I would get so angry sometimes, but then it was so easy to forgive. Even now, there is nothing that will take away my love for them. Nothing they can do. Yes, I get angry, but it is fleeting. You love me the same way. Do you get angry? Yes. Do you forgive me? Yes. Do you ever stop loving me. No. Amazing! You are amazing!

Psalm 30:11-12 – You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.

I have some wailing and sackcloth in my life. There are things that cause me sorrow. But I know that you will remove it. In fact, you often bring me joy and dancing even in the midst of the sorrow. One of the things I’ve learned through this sorrow is to not make the things that are bringing me sorrow idols. Am I sorrowful because I’m looking to those things to bring me the fruits of the Spirit only a life with your Holy Spirit can bring? Or am I sorrowful because I am truly worried about them? While I know that sometimes I fall into the idol category, I am getting closer and closer to it being only about my worry for them.

Psalm 32:5 – Then I acknowledged my sing to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD” and you forgave the guilt of my sin.

Sometimes I forget to simply confess my sin to you and tell you I am sorry. As I type this, I am thinking about specific sins of which I am aware. I’m so sorry for those. I know they are harmful to me and to others. I am so sorry. And then I am sure there are things I’m doing that are sinful and I don’t know they are sin. I am sorry for that too. Reveal them to me.

John 1:43 – The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”

Following Jesus. What an interesting thing to be called to do. I don’t understand this world or how you have laid out the system for those you call and those you apparently don’t. I think, overall, you call us all. Thank you for making me your child.

Titus 3:2, 10 – …to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men...Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him.

This one struck me because I’ve got some of this in my life right now. I have someone in my life who did some slandering this week, and I am trying to figure out how to address it so that I can take a stand against divisiveness. Oh, Father, guide me in this one. I really need your help here. It’s heavy on my heart.

I bring all of this to you in Jesus and with the Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 17, 2024 in John, Lent 2024, Psalms, Titus

 

Lent Day 3: Excerpts from Psalm 31,

16 Feb

Dear God, as I intentionally experience Lent this year and go through Day 3 for Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer, I’ve decided to do something a little different today. I want to read the passages and then call out the verses that resonate with me. But before I do, here are the passages that have for us to read today.

  • AM Psalms 31, 95
  • PM Psalms 35
  • Deuteronomy 7:12-16
  • John 1:35-42
  • Titus 2:1-15

Here we go:

Psalm 31: 6 – I hate those who cling to worthless idols; I trust in the LORD

Idols have come to mean more to me over the last three and a half years. Ever since I heard Andy Stanley interview the couple where the pastor/husband barely survived COVID and he noted that we tend to make an idol out of “certainty,” and we find all kinds of tangible things to put our certainty in (spouse, children, economy, government, etc.) when you, God, are the only thing that is the same and never changes. It’s now easier to see the idols in my life that I must relinquish, and also see the idols others make. Right now, in election season, it feels like many people are worshipping their political party, counting on it to save them or else all will be lost. I hate those [including myself] who cling to worthless idols; I trust in the LORD.

Psalm 31:11-13 – Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors; I am a dread to my friends–those who see me on the street flee from me. I am forgotten by them as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery. For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side; they conspire against me and plot to take my life.

This is a psalm of David, and I cannot help but wonder if he wrote it during Absalom’s revolt. The idea that David would be the contempt of his neighbors and that those who see him would flee from him is shocking, but then again aren’t we all, as humans, shockingly fickle? Are there areas of my life where I foolishly abandon those I should support because it is the safe thing for me to do?

Psalm 95:6-7 – Come, let us bow down and worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.

This is just a nice piece of worshiping you right here. Oh, Father, you are my Maker. You are my God. I am a lamb in your pasture. A lamb under your care. Thank you. I submit myself to your care.

Deuteronomy 7:12 – If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the LORD your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your forefathers.

Deuteronomy is where you are laying down the law, literally, for the Israelites. This whole passage is, frankly, a little simplistic in my mind. It says you will make good for the good and bad for the bad. All I ask right now is not for good, but that you will help me to be near to you.

John 1:37-38 – When the two disciples heard [John the Baptist] say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

What an interesting question. I wonder if they knew. I wonder if they had an idea of what they wanted but didn’t have the courage to say so they just asked where he was staying. In their heart of hearts, I would imagine they were looking for the same Messiah everyone else was looking for. They wanted to be lifted out of the mire of subjugation to Rome and restored to power. Had they known at that moment how things would play out over the next three years they might have stayed behind. What do I want from you, even this morning? Is it the right thing or is it selfish?

Titus 2:9-10 – Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teacher about God our Savior attractive

For this passage, I want to quote part of today’s reading from Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer: “But reading the letter to Titus can be overwhelming. Planting and nurturing the church in Crete is not an easy matter. The culture is crude and in constant agitation. As part of the Roman Empire, it is subject to, among other things, the norms of slavery, the subjugation of women, and the abuse of alcohol. Sexual immorality is rampant, and hopelessness is widespread.\\Knowing and following Jesus, according to Paul, is the only adequate antidote to such a broken world.“

Father, I am still leaning into the word “patience” for this Lenten season. Help me to continue to die to myself and simply embrace everything Jesus was–and everything Jesus was is completely contradictory to who I am. Thank you for this amazing gesture on your part to come to earth and give us your example of how to behave and live. How to love and serve. How to give of ourselves, worship you, and love others. Help me to be that man today.

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

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 16, 2024 in Deuteronomy, John, Lent 2024, Psalms, Titus

 

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Titus 2:12

04 Jan

And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God,
Titus 2:12

Dear God, there is a line between changing the world and living in it. It’s your job to change the world. It’s my job to live in my small corner of it and impact what I can through the sphere of influence you’ve given to me.

I think too many people right now are obsessed with changing the world from the top down. I ran into a friend at the store yesterday and somehow our conversation about the drought and how hard it has been on his ranching turned into a rant about how our country is going downhill because of its leadership. I tried to bring it back by pointing out some of the “idol” work I’ve done over the last two and a half years, asking myself what my idols are. Government? Health? Economy? Military? Wife? Children? Not all of these have been idols for me, but some of them certainly have. They are what I want to put my certainty in instead of putting my certainty in you and you alone.

But if I can “live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to [you],” then I have a chance of being part of your kingdom coming and your will being done on earth as it is in heaven from the ground up. You don’t build a house starting with the roof and working down to the foundation and the soil. First you have to deal with the grassroots–the soil. Then the foundation, walls, roof, and finally finish out the inside.

Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit, I pray under submission to your authority that you will guide me today. Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Bring those I love one step closer to you. Bring me a step closer to you as well. You are my God. I am your grateful and loving servant.

Amen

 
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Posted by on January 4, 2023 in Titus

 

Titus 2:1-2

09 Sep

As for you, Titus, promote the kind of living that reflects wholesome teaching. Teach the older men to exercise self-control, to be worthy of respect, and to live wisely. They must have sound faith and be filled with love and patience.
Titus 2:1-2

Dear God, it is interesting that this passage came up today on Bible Gateway’s verse of the day because I’ve spent part of the morning listening to a podcast that talked about the Texas state legislature and how they think they have been acting wisely in some of the laws they passed in the last session, but they could possibly have done more harm that good in terms of long-term conservative strategies.

For example, they quoted a Wall Street Journal editorial board piece (which would represent conservative opinions) about the new Texas abortion law. The piece said that the Texas legislature’s immediate success with the SCOTUS, which will likely be short-lived until there is a proper lawsuit challenge that they will decide, opens up a bit of a Pandora’s box for liberal issues. For example, can New York enable people to sue other citizens for owning a gun? On a personal level, even as a pro-life person, I’ve already found myself feeling uneasy about how the legislature has gone about this. It does not feel like they are acting wisely.

Which brings me to a point that I’ve been driving home for several months now, but the thread seems to explain a lot of behavior of Christians that befuddles me. There is a difference between being a Christ believer and a Christ follower. How many of the people who wrote and voted for these laws are people who spend time pursuing you and following you, and how many simply believe you exist and then use you to justify their own agendas? I would posit that a good majority of those who voted for these laws are believers but not followers.

Of course, now it’s time to take the finger I’m pointing at them and look at the three fingers in my hand that are pointing back at me. Am I wise? Am I foolish? Am I naive? Am I patient? Am I willing to make space to listen to you? Am I a true follower of you, or do I just use you to justify my personal dogma? Of course, I would like to think of myself as a follower and not just a believer. I would like to think of myself as wise. I try to make moments like this to listen to you, but probably not enough. I know I am be impatient. I am certainly naive, although that can actually be a good thing in that having too much guile and understanding of others who use guile would probably send me down a rabbit hole that isn’t healthy for me. Still, it is good to be well-read and try to understand issues.

Father, help me to start with just being your follower and then let the fruit from your Spirit grow from there. Fill me with love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, kindness, and self control. Help me to use those fruits to develop my thoughts and how I interact with the world around me. Make me an instrument of your peace. When people look at me I want them to see you inside of me.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 9, 2021 in Titus

 

Titus 2:1-2,6-8

09 Sep

As for you, Titus, promote the kind of living that reflects wholesome teaching. Teach the older men to exercise self-control, to be worthy of respect, and to live wisely. They must have sound faith and be filled with love and patience…

In the same way, encourage the young men to live wisely. And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good works of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching. Teach the truth so that your teaching can’t be criticized. Then those who oppose us will be ashamed and have nothing bad to say about us.

Titus 2:1-2,6-8

Dear God, I used to see myself as the “young men” in these passages, but I suppose I have aged into being the “older men.” I would guess that it is hard for a young pastor to lead older men. I’ll confess that I have times when I look at a younger person who means well but just doesn’t have the experience yet to see what I see. Of course, there are those who see me and think the same thing. It comes up most with parenting. Now that my children are in their 20s, I find that I have a low tolerance for advice from people whose children are not yet teenagers. They just don’t know, and I hope they never do, how tricky it can be.

So what does the young pastor do? What do I, as a 50-year-old lay person, do? Well, it’s pretty easy according to this passage. Exercise self control. Be respectable. Live wisely. Have integrity. Of course, with Paul, it always seems to come back to what he told the Galatians about the fruit of the Spirit. If I have the Holy Spirit then these things will start to grow out of me naturally: love, joy, peace, patients, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, kindness, self control, etc.

I’ve been really troubled lately by seeing some of the local pastoral leadership in our community start to take sides in the tug of war happening on social media. And it’s not like they are leading in positivity. They are ridiculing the positions of others. They are making light of things that concern others. They are seemingly seeing only one side of a few given issues of which I think there are at least two legitimate sides. It’s been disheartening.

Father, help me to exercise self control, live wisely and respectably, and sacrifice anything necessary to maintain integrity. And do it all for your glory and not mine. I really don’t want to increase. I want to decrease so that you will increase. Be glorified through my life and draw others to yourself through me.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 9, 2020 in Titus

 

Titus 2:2-8

09 Sep

Teach the older men to exercise self-control, to be worthy of respect, and to live wisely. They must have sound faith and be filled with love and patience. Similarly, teach the older women to live in a way that honors God. They must not slander others or be heavy drinkers. Instead, they should teach others what is good. These older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children, to live wisely and be pure, to work in their homes, to do good, and to be submissive to their husbands. Then they will not bring shame on the word of God. In the same way, encourage the young men to live wisely. And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good works of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching. Teach the truth so that your teaching can’t be criticized. Then those who oppose us will be ashamed and have nothing bad to say about us.
Titus 2:2-8

Dear God, when I read this the thought that comes to me is that nothing is new. Two thousand years ago, people drank too much, slandered, gossiped, cheated on their spouses, went to war needlessly, ignored the poor, sold people into slavery, etc. Kingdoms rose and they fell. There was corruption. I guess the only thing that might be new is that we now have so much more access to information (real, fake, and mixed) than we did before. We can now know what’s happening in places all over the world if we want to. But our hearts are still the same. Not better or worse– the same.

I guess there’s an odd comfort in that for me. Going back to the tribulation preacher I heard last week, it was almost like listening to someone who gives horoscope readings. Everything he said could have been applied to every year between now and when you gave John Revelation. But my comfort isn’t in the idea that things haven’t really progressed, but in that you are still God and this is nothing the world hasn’t seen before–well maybe except for our growing ability to damage the planet ourselves. That’s changed too.

Father, I’m going to go back to the serenity prayer from AA. Give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 9, 2019 in Titus

 
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