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1 Peter 1:17-20

28 Oct

17 And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.” 18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. 19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. 20 God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.

1 Peter 1:17-20

Dear God, my first response to this passage from Peter was to say that I just don’t think about my eternal reward when I wake up in the morning or make my decisions about how to act or whether to worship you during the day. I just don’t think about it. Honestly, if I just lived and our souls died when we die I’d be okay with that.

But then I got to thinking about Peter’s audience. I got to thinking about the people around the world who currently suffer for you and your name. Their faith costs them pain and suffering. If that were my life, then, yes, I can see where I would need a reason to intentionally accept suffering in this present life. It’s very smug of me to say that I don’t need eternal glory or rewards to follow you because, honestly, following you in my present life not only doesn’t cost me anything but it also plays to my advantage to some extent. So in some ways, I get rewards now for living for you in my current culture.

Father, I am sorry I do not better appreciate the suffering of other Christians around the world. I don’t pray for them enough. I don’t pray for the people persecuting them at all. Perhaps it’s a lack of empathy. I had a friend tell me yesterday about a personal tragedy that I’ve experienced myself in the past. Tears came to my eyes as she told me about it. Why? Because I could empathize with her, at least to some extent. It took me back to the pain I felt, and I hope that just my ability to relate and offer heartfelt sympathy was at least a little bit of a comfort to her. So for my brothers and sisters around the world who are suffering or afraid for their lives because of their faith, I pray that they will have a great place in your kingdom. I will gladly serve them one day. I pray for their persecutors. Give them eyes to see. Stop them in their tracks. Bring them to repentance and a place where they will submit to you. Please reveal to me if there is anything I should be doing to glorify you in the lives of others today. Show me how to encourage. Show me how to love. Show me how to sympathize beyond my ability to relate.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 28, 2025 in 1 Peter

 

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Luke 13:10-21

27 Oct

10 One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, 11 he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!” 13 Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God!

14 But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. “There are six days of the week for working,” he said to the crowd. “Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath.”

15 But the Lord replied, “You hypocrites! Each of you works on the Sabbath day! Don’t you untie your ox or your donkey from its stall on the Sabbath and lead it out for water? 16 This dear woman, a daughter of Abraham, has been held in bondage by Satan for eighteen years. Isn’t it right that she be released, even on the Sabbath?”

17 This shamed his enemies, but all the people rejoiced at the wonderful things he did.

18 Then Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like? How can I illustrate it? 19 It is like a tiny mustard seed that a man planted in a garden; it grows and becomes a tree, and the birds make nests in its branches.”

20 He also asked, “What else is the Kingdom of God like? 21 It is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.”

Luke 13:10-21

Dear God, these last two parables about the mustard seed and the yeast are interesting to consider when they are accompanied with the Sabbath healing story before them. And, for Luke, they are part of the same story. Luke makes it seem like Jesus said these words right after he challenged the Pharisees for their hypocrisy. So who is the mustard seed? Who is the yeast? I think it’s Jesus. I think he’s the one growing into a tree for us. I think he is the yeast in our lives and then in the world. And he was right. His life became Christianity, which I think is the largest religion in the world.

Okay, I just looked it up. Apparently, Christianity is 2.4 billion people and Islam is 1.9 billion. It said Judaism is only 15 million, so we will consider that as part of the rounding error for Christianity and say that 4.3 billion people about of the earth’s 7-ish billion people trace their faith back to Abraham. That seems very “yeast-y” of you. Maybe there’s something to this Yahweh. Maybe you’re really there, growing in us. Sometimes unhealthily. Sometimes we taint you, misrepresent you, and even pervert what you’re trying to do in us with our own selfishness and insecurities. We are very flawed, after all. But when you are doing your thing in us and we are doing the simple thing of loving you and loving others, it’s remarkable.

Going back to the things I get frustrated with people over, I hope the things that frustrate me are the things that frustrate you. I hope we are aligned in that way. I know you got frustrated and continue to get frustrated (even with me), so I think it’s okay for me to be frustrated. I just need to be frustrated by injustice, lack of mercy, unkindness, and meanness. If I start allowing myself to get frustrated because someone isn’t following a legalistic rule I think they should then I just need to pray for them that they will work it out with the Holy Spirit. I guess I just need your discernment at any given time.

Father, I adore you. I lay my life before you. How I love you. Jesus, I adore you. I lay my life before you. How I love you. Spirit, I adore you. I lay my life before you. How I love you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 27, 2025 in Luke

 

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“Cry the Name” by Jill Phillips (originally by Rich Mullins)

26 Oct

“Cry the Name” by Jill Phillips (originally by Rich Mullins)

I cannot hide this longing that grows
In this temple of silence and stars
But a thief in the night stole in and broke
Every chain that had bound up my heart
I cannot cling to shadows again
So here on this altar tonight
I lay every dream I’ve ever dreamt
To burn in the fire He lights

I cry the Name of the One who loves me
The Name of the One on whom I call
‘Til it roars like thunder
Rolling down these canyon walls

I cry the Name of the One who loves me
The Name of the One on whom I call
‘Til it roars like thunder
Rolling down these canyon walls

Every breath I’ve ever breathed
Was sent as a gift from on high
And with all that is left of all that is me
Up to the Heavens I cry

The Name of the One who loves me
The Name of the One on whom I call
‘Til it roars like thunder
Rolling down these canyon walls

I cry the Name of the One who loves me
The Name of the One on whom I call
‘Til it roars like thunder
Rolling down these canyon walls

The Name of the One who loves me
Name of the One on whom I call
‘Til it roars like thunder
Rolling down these canyon walls

I cry the Name of the One who loves me
The Name of the One on whom I call
Down these canyon walls

I cry out Your name
I cry Your name out
‘Til it roars like thunder
Rolling down these canyon walls

The Name of the One on whom I call
‘Til it roars like thunder
Rolling down these canyon walls
Down these canyon walls

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: David “Beaker” Strasser / Richard Mullins

Dear God, I think Rich Mullins would have liked this cover of his song. Like most people, I usually like the original more than any remakes, but this one really brings the poetry of the words alive for me.

I cannot hide this longing that grows
In this temple of silence and stars
But a thief in the night stole in and broke
Every chain that had bound up my heart

Paul talked about Jesus coming like a “thief in the night,” (1 Thessalonians 5:2) so Rich and Beaker lean into that imagery here. Our minds think of a thief in the night as a bad thing, but, well, if you know you know, right? If you know this verse then you know the depths of what Rich and Beaker are saying. So with this verse, I just get this image of someone at the end of themselves and they’ve finally submitted to you. They let you come in the window and trusted you to rob them of everything you want to take. The beauty of it is, you want to take their shame, their guilt, their vice, their selfishness… You want to take all of that and leave them with the smooth skin of a new baby. The innocence of a spotless lamb. That’s what you stole. So now that the thief (you) have made off with all of the bad:

I cannot cling to shadows again
So here on this altar tonight
I lay every dream I’ve ever dreamt
To burn in the fire He lights

At least at first, it’s hard to cling to the shadows again. Shadows come from the light, when things are there to block it. And we want those things in our hearts that will block your light. But you want to remove them so the light shines everywhere. And, at least at first, we want your light everywhere. We want the shadows gone. I just finished looking at Jonah and Nineveh. At first, the Ninevites and the King of the Assyrians wanted you and repented. They wanted to get rid of their shadows. The sad thing is, the thrill wears off and the comfort of our shadows and shame can slowly come back if we don’t walk through the narrow gate and persevere down the narrow path (Matthew 7:13-14). But let’s sit a little longer on this night that Rich and Beaker are describing. They have chosen to lay every dream they’ve ever dreamt and let them burn in the fire you light. Beautiful.

I cry the Name of the One who loves me
The Name of the One on whom I call
‘Til it roars like thunder
Rolling down these canyon walls

I know there are a lot of places with skies, stars, and canyons, but this makes me think of some moments I’ve had out at the H. E. Butt Family Foundation Ranch near Leakey, Texas. Mountaintop experiences, to be sure. Glorious. Emotional. Humbling, but in a good way. It can be hard to leave that place. So I’ll just let the poetry of these words take me back to those times. When the soil of my heart was freshly weeded. Before some thorns and weeds had crept in. Just you, me, and guiltless soil.

Father, to quote another Rich Mullins song, “Elijah,” “Sometimes my ground was stony, sometimes covered up with thorns, and only you could make it what it had to be.” Help me to weed my soil again today. Help me to go and be your ambassador in every situation I find myself in. I love you, Father. Make me what I need to be today so that you might be glorified. I want to decrease and you increase. As I teach Sunday school in an hour, I want you to move hearts. Let this be a day when we do some weeding in all of our hearts.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 26, 2025 in Hymns and Songs

 

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Jonah 4

25 Oct

4 This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. 2 So he complained to the Lord about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. 3 Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.”

4 The Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry about this?”

5 Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city and made a shelter to sit under as he waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 And the Lord God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah’s head, shading him from the sun. This eased his discomfort, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant.

7 But God also arranged for a worm! The next morning at dawn the worm ate through the stem of the plant so that it withered away. 8 And as the sun grew hot, God arranged for a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die. “Death is certainly better than living like this!” he exclaimed.

9 Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?”

“Yes,” Jonah retorted, “even angry enough to die!”

10 Then the Lord said, “You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. 11 But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?”

Jonah 4

Dear God, first, I want to apologize. When I was looking at the Assyrians in Nineveh and them being an enemy of Israel, I was suspecting you of having ulterior motives for sending Jonah to warn them of their destruction. Maybe you needed them to repent so they would be there for Israel and help her. I was trying to look at the big picture. But here it is in verse 4:11b: Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?” Answer: Yes, you should. And that should be enough for your mercy.

Is it ever the right thing to be angry about mercy? I can’t think of a time in the New Testament when looking down on mercy was the right thing to do. In the story of the Prodigal Son/Father, the older brother was angry about the mercy. He was wrong. In the story of the woman caught in adultery, a lot of people were angry at Jesus’s mercy, and they were wrong. When Jesus forbade James and John from calling down fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritan city because he had mercy on them and respected their decision to refuse him passage, they were wrong.

Rich Mullins had a song he wrote for his friend’s new son called “Let Mercy Lead.” The chorus: 

Let mercy lead 
Let love be the strength in your legs
And in ever footprint that you leave
There'll be a drop of grace
If we can reach 
Beyond the wisdom of this age
Into the foolishness of God
That foolishness will save
Those who believe
Although their foolish hearts may break
They will find peace
And I'll be you in that place
Where mercy leads

Father, I’m still haunted a bit by a question a person asked me the other night. He’s one of these people who is always saying he’s doing fabulous or terrific. We were getting out of our cars at the same time, and he asked me, “How are you doing,” and I did my normal thing of saying I’m doing “alright” with a little pensiveness in my voice. He asked what could change so that I’d be doing great. It was a good question, I suppose. I’ve thought about it since then. Why do I respond the way that I do? Why don’t I go the “Terrific!” route or the “Just fine” route? I guess it’s because I want to be authentic, and there are laments in my life. I walk with a limp, and I don’t want to hide my limp. I don’t invite everyone into my laments. I don’t broadcast them. But if a fellow sojourner wants to know what my laments are I’ll tell them. And usually when I do it helps them. What does this have to do with mercy? I don’t know. Maybe it’s because some of my laments involve me figuring out how to give mercy when it’s not requested or deserved. Some of it is me doing things I don’t want to do but you’re calling me to do, like Jonah (see yesterday’s prayer). Some of it is that I need some mercy extended to me that is not coming in the foreseeable future. So help me to be authentic, but also help me to not try to use the answer to the “How are you?” question as an opportunity to get others to feel sorry for me. That’s certainly not what I want. I am loved by you, and I am not a man to be pitied, no matter what my circumstances are.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 25, 2025 in Jonah

 

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Jonah 1:17-2:10

24 Oct

17 Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.

2 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish. 2 He said,

“I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble,
    and he answered me.
I called to you from the land of the dead,
    and Lord, you heard me!
3 You threw me into the ocean depths,
    and I sank down to the heart of the sea.
The mighty waters engulfed me;
    I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves.
4 Then I said, ‘O Lord, you have driven me from your presence.
    Yet I will look once more toward your holy Temple.’

5 “I sank beneath the waves,
    and the waters closed over me.
    Seaweed wrapped itself around my head.
6 I sank down to the very roots of the mountains.
    I was imprisoned in the earth,
    whose gates lock shut forever.
But you, O Lord my God,
    snatched me from the jaws of death!
7 As my life was slipping away,
    I remembered the Lord.
And my earnest prayer went out to you
    in your holy Temple.
8 Those who worship false gods
    turn their backs on all God’s mercies.
9 But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise,
    and I will fulfill all my vows.
    For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.”

10 Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.

Jonah 1:17-2:10

Dear God, let’s just jump right into this.

  • “Now the Lord had arranged…” – We’ve closed the scene with the sailors and they’ll not be heard from again. But you already had this worked out for Jonah. The sailors thought he was dead. Jonah thought he was being thrown to his death, and he’d rather have had that death than go to the Assyrians in Nineveh. But you weren’t going to let him off that easily. To quote Washington in the musical Hamilton, “Dying is easy, young man. Living is harder.” But you had made this plan “Jonah-proof.” It is so comforting to know that your plans are “John-proof” too. Even in the midst of my sin and mistakes, you have already made arrangements for my foolishness.
  • 7 “As my life was slipping away, I remembered the Lord. And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple.” – It turns out that he did want to live. He wasn’t ready to repent. He just asked for mercy over his life. But did you answer his request for his sake or for yours? You had a plan and he was part of it whether he liked it or not. In that moment, he might have thought you were loving him and rescuing him–and maybe you were–but you also had something you needed him to do. I note, there’s no repentance in here. He doesn’t regret running from you. It’s more like Cain when you banish him after he killed Abel and he says, “My punishment is more than I can bear.” (Genesis 4:18)
  • 9 “But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.” – He relents, but he doesn’t repent. There’s a fine line there, but it is definitely a line. He agrees to fulfill his vows to you because you are God and he is not, but he never repents. I would love to sit here and judge him 2,800 years later, but maybe I need to consider how I’m doing in this area. Are there place in my life where I relent to your will, but I do not repent or joyfully submit to you? If there are, please open my eyes to see them.
  • 10 Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach. – I’ll confess that this is a weird story, but I have no reason to doubt it except for the fact that it’s unreasonable to believe it. But I believe all kinds of unreasonable things, but I wholly believe them. At the end of the day, I could argue with someone vehemently about this whole “big fish” aspect of this story and it wouldn’t take away from the lesson the story teaches.

Father, I guess I can think of one way I’m like Jonah. I can think of something in my life that I do grudgingly. I’m doing it, but I don’t want to do it. And here’s the thing. I have a feeling that the doing of it will not only bless others, but somehow you’re going to bless me in the process. I think we’ll see by the time we get to chapter 4, Jonah refuses to participate in the blessing you have for him in sending him to Nineveh. It wasn’t only for the Assyrians. It was for him too. But he missed it. Help me to not miss you and the growth into being Christlike you have for me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 24, 2025 in Jonah

 

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Jonah 1:4-16

23 Oct

4 But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart. 5 Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship.

But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold. 6 So the captain went down after him. “How can you sleep at a time like this?” he shouted. “Get up and pray to your god! Maybe he will pay attention to us and spare our lives.”

7 Then the crew cast lots to see which of them had offended the gods and caused the terrible storm. When they did this, the lots identified Jonah as the culprit. 8 “Why has this awful storm come down on us?” they demanded. “Who are you? What is your line of work? What country are you from? What is your nationality?”

9 Jonah answered, “I am a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”

10 The sailors were terrified when they heard this, for he had already told them he was running away from the Lord. “Oh, why did you do it?” they groaned. 11 And since the storm was getting worse all the time, they asked him, “What should we do to you to stop this storm?”

12 “Throw me into the sea,” Jonah said, “and it will become calm again. I know that this terrible storm is all my fault.”

13 Instead, the sailors rowed even harder to get the ship to the land. But the stormy sea was too violent for them, and they couldn’t make it. 14 Then they cried out to the Lord, Jonah’s God. “O Lord,” they pleaded, “don’t make us die for this man’s sin. And don’t hold us responsible for his death. O Lord, you have sent this storm upon him for your own good reasons.”

15 Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once! 16 The sailors were awestruck by the Lord’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him.

Jonah 1:4-16

Dear God, I want to stop before verse 17, when we first hear about the big fish. If the story were to just stop here, it would still be interesting. Man runs from God. God kills man through storm. Gentiles worship God when they are saved through miraculous end to storm. The end. So I want to sit with that for a second. I want to sit with Jonah and his willingness to die rather than go to Nineveh. It’s almost as if he kind of wants to die, but he’s just not willing to throw himself overboard (which was an option). He wanted some other Gentiles to do the dirty work for him.

I guess my first question would be to ask why you chose Jonah. He doesn’t seem particularly likeable. He runs from your request. He is resting peacefully while the sailors are scared. If the crew had been Jewish, would he have cared more? Was he just indifferent about all Gentiles and hostile towards the Assyrians? Yeah, it’s hard for me to understand why you chose Jonah in the first place. It seems like you could have picked someone else.

So you picked Jonah, but he was a bitter mess. So you decide to correct him through these other people. I wondered for a moment why you didn’t just strike him personally until he knuckled under. You could have given him leprosy or something like that. But then again, you knew how hard his heart was, and you knew that he would sink, even to death, before he obeyed you. So you set up a situation that was simply so miserable for him that, while he never will quite repent, he will agree to obey.

Then there are the men who are seemingly moral men. They don’t want to just kill a man on the “chance” (playing off of the idea that they cast lots) that it will end the storm. They are willing to look at all of the solutions available to them before they get to their last resort: throwing Jonah overboard.

Jonah gives them the solution. He doesn’t confess his sin, but he does acknowledge that this is between you and him and has nothing to do with the sailors. I wonder if they hoped he would just throw himself overboard. I’m sure at least a few of them did. I would have if I were them.

Their human efforts to survive are proving to not be enough, so they chunk Jonah into the sea. He will surely die. But when Jonah path finally diverges from theirs, you leave them alone. Did you do it to save them, or were you indifferent? I’d like to think that you didn’t cause Jonah to run, but you made the pain count and used the situation to impact these men’s lives. I wonder how those changed lives that day flowed into history.

Father, show me if there are ways I’m obstinately not obeying you. Reveal to me whether or not I have a hard heart. As I get closer to you I can feel less and less hate in me. I’m grateful for that. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t any left. Help me to love as you commanded me to love. Help me to obey when you command me to do something I don’t want to do. Give me ears to hear you. Give me eyes to see. Give me a heart to love. Grow your fruit in my life so that others my see me and join the path that goes through the narrow gate.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 23, 2025 in Jonah

 

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Jonah 1:1-3

22 Oct

1 The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”

3 But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.

Jonah 1:1-3

Dear God, I’m teaching on Jonah coming up. I was inspired by the Catholic Old Testament readings a couple of weeks ago, so I’m going to do Jonah one week and Habakkuk the next for the two weeks I’m teaching. So I thought I’d go back and spend some more time with these stories and marinade in them a bit as I put together my lessons.

With that said, I’m stopping quickly in the narrative this week because I have two things that strike me in these three verses.

  1. Why did you even care about Nineveh and its repentance in the first place.
  2. I didn’t appreciate Jonah’s run from you until I looked at a map and figured out where he started from, where he went to, and where you were sending him.

So, why Nineveh? They were Assyrians. They were the capital of Assyria. They Assyrians were Israel’s biggest Gentile enemy at the time. What were you doing? The truth is, I don’t know. I’m not sure if there are other examples of you sending prophets to Gentiles in the Old Testament, telling them to repent. Okay, I just Googled it, and apparently Obadiah and Nahum got this kind of assignment as well. I’ll need to read those later to see if there is a similar thread. My initial wondering was a more strategic one than just about your mercy. “Maybe you were softening their hearts towards Israel through their repentance before you and worship of you.” But hey, maybe you just loved them. I’ll need to look into this more.

The next is simply Jonah’s run. I didn’t understand that Tarshish was on the Atlantic side of the Spanish coast.

He might have gone to Joppa and just said, “How far does this boat go?” I also didn’t appreciate how far away Nineveh was from Jonah’s home. He really, really didn’t want to help these Gentiles.

The biblical commentary I was reading pointed out that Jonah didn’t believe you were for non-Israelites. Gentiles need not apply for your mercy or grace. Isn’t it funny how our nature is to be so tribal? What is it in your insecurity that drives us to want to separate ourselves from others?

Father, this was a good start. I’ll look into Obadiah and Nahum a little more today and get their stories. But in the meantime, keep me loving others. Help me to love my “enemies.” Help me to be willing to give my life for all.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 22, 2025 in Jonah

 

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Luke 12:35-38

21 Oct

35 “Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks. 37 The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded. I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat! 38 He may come in the middle of the night or just before dawn. But whenever he comes, he will reward the servants who are ready.

Luke 12:35-38

Dear God, what does it look like to be ready? Am I ready? How do I get myself ready?

The first word that comes to mind is perseverance. I once heard Gary Thomas say during a Sacred Marriage presentation that one of the keys to anything in the Christian life is perseverance. He said that he never hears sermons on it, but it’s critical.

So what does perseverance look like in a life well-lived? First, starting with the spiritual aspect of my life, it means disciplining myself to find this time with you. It also means doing the other things I determined were the least I need to do each day/week to live a life that is complete in you.

  • Do my prayer journals each day
  • Give at least 10% of our income
  • Listen to outside Bible teaching at least once a week
  • Spend quality time with my wife every day
  • Stay sexually pure
  • Volunteer and serve others outside of my job
  • Stay in touch weekly with my male friends
  • Exercise at least four times a week
  • Serve my wife

Coming up with that list almost 14 months ago has been a great thing for me. It has really helped me to be accountable to you on the things I must persevere through in order to be “ready” for your return or when I meet you through death. The only way I will die at peace is not through accomplishing things, but through having persevered in doing at least these minimum things plus the other joys you have put into my life that add on to them like teaching/writing, being part of a church community, listening to Christian music/podcasts, etc.

Father, I have some work to do this morning that combines a “have to” (volunteering) and a “get to” (teaching). I need to finish preparing my lesson for the Christian Men’s Life Skills class tonight. Be with me as I finish this process. Plant seeds through me. Prepare the hearts of the men to hear your word, take it, and let it grow in their hearts. Give me one word that might bless someone there tonight. And do what you need to do in me as well. And I pray for my co-teachers for tonight, my coworkers today, and how I interact with all of them. Be powerful. Be loving. Be merciful. In me. To me. Through me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 21, 2025 in Luke

 

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Luke 18:1-8

19 Oct

18 One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. 2 “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. 3 A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ 4 The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, 5 but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”

6 Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. 7 Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”

Luke 18:1-8

Dear God, I have a couple of things I’ve prayed about for years and years, and they haven’t been answered in the way I want them to be answered. Why not?!? I put that exclamation point in their intentionally even though I don’t really mean it. I’ve prayed about you not giving me the answer I want before, so I don’t want to go there. What I’ve finally come to is that answering my prayer the way I want it answered would either not be the best for the people I’m praying for or for myself.

So, in relation to this parable, that leaves me with continuing to pray. Continuing to bring my heart to you. But I shouldn’t just pray for what I want. I should let your Holy Spirit mold my prayers into looking for what is best for those I love and for your plan regardless of what it costs me. And that is where I am, at least in this moment. I’m leaning into Acts 20:24 (I consider my life worth nothing to me…). I’m here to do your bidding. You aren’t here to do mine. Yours isn’t to figure out how you can indulge my selfishness. Yours is to love me and offer me relationship with you and then eternity with you, and to accomplish everything you can through my life in the meantime.

Father, as I sit here now, I ask that you not let the pain and sorrows of my life be wasted. Use them. Use them for your good in the world. Use them for those I love, to draw them into you and help them lead whole lives in relationship with you. Use them to mold me into the man you are calling me to be. My wife and I were talking about Moses raising his staff during Joshua’s battle with the Amalekites. When the staff dropped the Amalekites had the advantage. But when your staff in Moses’s hands was high the Israelites had the advantage. Why? Because it was your reminder to them that their victories were about you and not them. So help me to remember that everything good is from you and everything that is a challenge is not of you but you want to walk with me and support me through it. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Holy Spirit.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 19, 2025 in Luke

 

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Leadership

18 Oct

Dear God, I am supposed to be helping teach a class on leadership this coming Tuesday. I’m puzzling over it a little. As I think about the definition of leadership and examples of leadership (both good and bad) in the Bible, I wonder how I should really approach this with the men in the class on Tuesday.

Here are the Bible stories that have disjointedly occurred to me:

  • David and Goliath: Young David setting the example for the older soldiers and Saul.
  • David and the two opportunities he had to kill Saul.
  • David leading his men with the intent to kill Nabal (example of bad leadership).
  • David honoring Israel’s anointed king (both Saul and then Ishbosheth).
  • David not dealing with Amnon’s rape of Tamar (example of bad leadership).
  • Naomi leading her daughters-in-law after their husbands die.

I could go on and on with Old Testament examples, but David is a nice mix of good and bad. When it comes to the New Testament, the gospels give several examples:

  • Herod’s killing of the innocents (example of bad leadership).
  • Joseph caring for Mary and Jesus regardless of what it cost him.
  • James and John wanting to sit at Jesus’s right and left hand in heaven (example of bad leadership).
  • Jesus washing the disciples’ feet.
  • Jesus telling James and John not to cast down fire on the Samaritans.
  • Jesus helping Martha understand what’s important.

Again, I could go on and on–especially about Jesus. Yeah, there are zero examples of bad leadership from Jesus. How could there be?

Father, help me to prepare to teach this class, and teach me through this. I’ve been struggling with my own leadership at work lately, and I feel like I could use these lessons as much as anyone. Give me ears to hear and eyes to see. Be glorified through me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 18, 2025 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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