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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

 
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Posted by on January 16, 2025 in Galatians

 

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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

 
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Posted by on January 15, 2025 in 2 Kings

 

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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

 
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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.

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

 

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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

 
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Posted by on January 13, 2025 in 2 Corinthians

 

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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

 
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Posted by on January 12, 2025 in Luke

 

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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

 
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Posted by on January 11, 2025 in Psalms

 

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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

 
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Posted by on January 10, 2025 in 1 Peter

 

Luke 6:20-23

09 Jan

20 Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said,

“God blesses you who are poor,
    for the Kingdom of God is yours.
21 God blesses you who are hungry now,
    for you will be satisfied.
God blesses you who weep now,
    for in due time you will laugh.

22 What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man. 23 When that happens, be happy! Yes, leap for joy! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, their ancestors treated the ancient prophets that same way.

Luke 6:20-23

Dear God, I was recently talking with a pastor friend who is leading a Bible study through Luke, and we talked about this other “sermon” in Luke that is similar to Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount in Matthew. This one is shorter, but I suspect, when put side by side, will hit a lot of the same beats. So I thought I would at least start with the beginning of Luke’s version today and see where you take me with it.

In this case, I obviously notice there are fewer beatitudes here, and they are a little more succinct. But the part about being hated and persecuted for following Jesus is there. What a weird thing to emphasize to the crowds. Was it Jesus’s way of making people count the cost in following him? And how were they interpreting it? Did they think people would hate them because they were on the road to revolution? Did they have any idea Jesus would be hated because he was too merciful and loving?

We all live in such a fog day to day. We have no idea what is going on at any given time. It’s amazing that we struggle so hard to figure it out, when, in actuality, I cannot tell you what will happen in this room in the next second. Even as I typed that sentence, the grandfather clock tried to chime to let me know it’s 7:45. I didn’t know that would happen.

Father, I don’t know what suffering for you looks like in this day and age. Especially in my community where faith in you is rewarded. But I know that you lay convictions on my heart, and ask me to stand up or represent you in ways that even some who are faithful might not like. The hard part is that I know sometimes I might be wrong and they might be right. Or it might be okay for us to disagree. The biggest thing, I suppose, is that I need to carry your love into every situation regardless. That is what Jesus did. He challenged. But he also loved. Help me to have the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. All for your kingdom, your power, and your glory, forever!

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on January 9, 2025 in Luke

 

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Amos 5:1-6a

08 Jan

5 Listen, you people of Israel! Listen to this funeral song I am singing:

2 “The virgin Israel has fallen,
    never to rise again!
She lies abandoned on the ground,
    with no one to help her up.”

3 The Sovereign Lord says:

“When a city sends a thousand men to battle,
    only a hundred will return.
When a town sends a hundred,
    only ten will come back alive.”

4 Now this is what the Lord says to the family of Israel:

“Come back to me and live!
5 Don’t worship at the pagan altars at Bethel;
    don’t go to the shrines at Gilgal or Beersheba.
For the people of Gilgal will be dragged off into exile,
    and the people of Bethel will be reduced to nothing.”
6 Come back to the Lord and live!

Amos 5:1-6a

Dear God, I was emailing with some friends who are pastors yesterday about a new statistic from Barna that, in 2000, 45% of Americans professed to be “practicing Christians, ” and that number has now dropped to 20%. They defined “practicing Christian” as they self identified as Christians who value their faith and attend church at least monthly. While some will object that “you don’t have to go to church to be a Christian,” it’s still a striking shift for this many people to now be out of Christian community. It makes me wonder what has replaced that community. News? Social media? YouTube? Straight up loneliness?

The pastors and I exchanged emails about the solutions to Americans’ drift away from you. What idols have we pursued and cherished? How do we get them back?

As I’ve thought about this since those emails, more questions have come to my mind: For the remnant that is left, are even we being faithful? What percentage of that 20% is actually pleasing to you in our worship and service? In our discipleship and growth? And which side of that cut line do I fall?

Before I went to bed last night, I was reminded of a question that has burned in my mind since last summer when Pope Francis found himself in some controversy when Christians did not like how he answered a question on 60 Minutes: “When you look at the world today, what gives you hope?” His answer was actually very fitting with Catholic theology and, when that theology is understood by the hearer, wasn’t wrong. But those without context were critical. But it left me to answer the question for myself: “When I look at the world today, what gives me hope?”

My best answer: You put something in all of our hearts that makes us long for you. We know we need something bigger than ourselves. We know we need something to worship. We know we need something to put our certainty in. The problem is we will be rebellious and Satan will offer us all kinds of idols that promise but fail to deliver that certainty. And he knows that we will suffer in that disappointment and it delights him. And when we are disappointed in an idol, we get angry. He loves it when we are angry because a lot of the time we will take that anger and lash out which causes division. Our hearts can be so dark! My heart can be so dark!

I’ve referenced this before, but the movie Jesus Revolution had this great scene between the old-school pastor and the hippie evangelist. The hippie tells the pastor that the other hippies are looking for the right answers (God), but they do not know they are looking for God. So they look in drugs, sex, or even just longing for a society that will reflect their values of love and peace. But they are always disappointed by these gods. Then when some of them find the real God–YOU–they are amazed.

Father, help me to know how to take the people in my immediate sphere who are looking for you but they do not know they are looking for you. Help me to know how to introduce them to you. Help your church to know how to introduce them to you as well. And when I say “church,” I don’t mean just the pastors and staff, but your people. Help that 20% of Americans who are self-professed “practicing Christians” to legitimately be discipling under your Lordship (that includes me), and help us to know how to offer you to our neighbors. Revival will not come from the top down. We cannot mandate revival. But your Spirit can stir and move. And it can grow like wildfire. Help us, Father, to grow in you so that your glory might be realized in all the earth and so that your kingdom will come and your will might be done on earth as it is in heaven. In short, to paraphrase Amos, help us to come back to you and live!

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on January 8, 2025 in Amos

 

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