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1 John 2:1-6

25 Sep

2 My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. 2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.

3 And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. 4 If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. 5 But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. 6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.

1 John 2:6

Dear God, there are a lot of politicians right now claiming to know you, but their fruit suggests otherwise. I live in Texas, and the Republican and the Democrat running for Senate both claim to know you. One of them seems to exhibit bad fruit but proports to share more of my theology and belief about you. Whether he follows that theology or not is another story, but his words align more with me in some areas of moral code. The other has seemingly good fruit, and claims to love and know you. The problem with him is that some of his words indicate he and I have differences in opinion on some areas of moral code.

Some people tell me that I cannot possibly vote for one because his spoken moral code is bad, regardless of the seemingly good life that he leads. His opponent will vote more in line with my moral values regardless of whether or not he lives by them. Others will tell me I cannot vote for the other because he because, regardless of what he says, his actions are so far against any fruit that would grow from you that he cannot be trusted. His corruption is absolute and complete. You don’t get good people in politics by voting for bad people.

I am discussing this issue because of the passages above. Which of these men knows how to repent? Which one is a “liar and is not living in truth”?

And now I turn the question to myself. How am I doing? Forget the politicians. I have one vote, a very small sphere of influence, and I can wrestle with it all I want but at the end of the day my vote won’t move the needle. No, my eyes need to be focused on any logs that are obscuring them before I start dealing with other people’s specks. Do I obey your commandments? Do I repent well when I realize I’ve sinned? A couple of days ago, I told you I had made a mistake in talking with a friend and given him a false idol to worship. I not only repented to you, but I repented to him as well. I hope I’m good at this.

Father, give me eyes to see, ears to hear, and a discerning heart. Help me to love. Help me to worship you well. Help me to represent you to the world so that others might find the narrow path and find your light, peace, and joy–regardless of their circumstances.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 25, 2026 in 1 John

 

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Hebrews 10:32-39

24 Sep

32 Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering. 33 Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things. 34 You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever.

35 So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! 36 Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.

37 “For in just a little while,
    the Coming One will come and not delay.
38 And my righteous ones will live by faith.
    But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.”

39 But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved.

Hebrews 10:32-39

Dear God, just before I sat down to pray, my wife let me know about someone in our small town who died in a car accident yesterday. I had met him once or twice, but I didn’t really know him. But I knew of him. He was an artist of significant renown in the art world. A sculptor. I also happen to know he was a man of faith and devotion to you. I have to admit, my first thought was not of sorrow for him. He had lived an effectively life that I think pointed others towards you. But for his family. My heart breaks for his family. For his wife. I cannot imagine the pain and shock she is in right now. What must the world look like to her? What do you look like to her? I don’t know if they have any children, but the odds are that they do. For their children. For their friends. Father, have mercy. Jesus, have mercy, Holy Spirit, have mercy.

Thinking about these verses today and our hope for the future, I guess I want to start with the idea that I’ve never been able to really “get into” Hebrews. It’s always had nice verses, but I’ve known we don’t know who the author is, definitively, and I think that has kind of lessened my interest in it. But after researching Apollos a little bit and seeing that some theorize he is the author, that has made it a little more personal. Another way to put it is that it has given the book a “voice.” If I can think that it’s him then I can give a little more credence to the admonition of someone who was thought so highly of by Paul, Luke, and others.

With that said, the hope we have is what I’m clinging to with the idea that this good man died suddenly yesterday. But I also have hope here on earth. I have hope that you are working all things for the good. Right now, I have a few challenges I’m facing and that I’m trying to help others face. Show me how to help them, please. Show me the path. Show me the way for them and for my work. Show me how to glorify you and point everyone involved to you. Help me to help them find the narrow path. Help me to find and stay on the narrow path. Help me to worship you well. I pray for the healing and wellbeing of those who are currently on my heart. Show them your mercy. Holy Spirit, heal. Make our paths straight, Father.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spririt,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 24, 2026 in Hebrews

 

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Proverbs 30:1-9

23 Sep

30 The sayings of Agur son of Jakeh contain this message.

I am weary, O God;
    I am weary and worn out, O God.
2 I am too stupid to be human,
    and I lack common sense.
3 I have not mastered human wisdom,
    nor do I know the Holy One.

4 Who but God goes up to heaven and comes back down?
    Who holds the wind in his fists?
Who wraps up the oceans in his cloak?
    Who has created the whole wide world?
What is his name—and his son’s name?
    Tell me if you know!

5 Every word of God proves true.
    He is a shield to all who come to him for protection.
6 Do not add to his words,
    or he may rebuke you and expose you as a liar.

7 O God, I beg two favors from you;
    let me have them before I die.
8 First, help me never to tell a lie.
    Second, give me neither poverty nor riches!
    Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.
9 For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?”
    And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name.

Proverbs 30:1-9

Dear God, I usually don’t like reading Proverbs because some of it feels like a list of fortune cookie sayings with disjointed verses put together. This part of chapter 30, however, is the kind of thing I like. It’s just the auther (and me) coming before you and asking that you protect me from myself. I’m thinking mainly of verses eight and nine. I love the idea of asking you to just give me my daily bread because if I’m rich I might lose my need for you. If I’m poor, I might lose my faith in you and do things that hurt others and cause others to think negatively of you because they know I’m yours.

I can think of one thing I did yesterday that was a sin. I was visiting with a friend, and he was expressing concern about the happenings in the world. Will the economy collapse? What will happen to all of us. As I tried to comfort him and talk about not looking for certainty in anything but you I found myself pointing to his job and how it seems like he works for a company that is solid and well-funded. So what did I do? I took his eyes off of you and put them on money. I still found an idol to comfort thim. Going back to verse two, “I am too stupid to be human.”

Father, I am, really, too stupid to be human. I’m sorry. I need you. You provide for me very well, and I am grateful. You provide for my work/vocation very well. I’m grateful. I’m probably not nearly grateful enough for either of those things. You’ve given me a peaceful, good life with my wife. We are both healthy. I’m not grateful enough for any of that. I’m not grateful enough for my children, parents, siblings… I’m not grateful enough for my friends. My country. This world. I’m not grateful enough for Jesus. For the Holy Spirit with me now. For you. I am too stupid to be human. Please make me a little smarter today. And thank you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 23, 2026 in Proverbs

 

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“Endless is Your Love” by Tom Kendzia

22 Sep

“Endless is Your Love” by Tom Kendzia

You know my heart
You know my mind
You know my words long before I speak them.
There is no place that I can hide
Endless is your love for us

How vast the sums of all your deeds.
Endless is your love for us

Surely there’s a place, even you don’t know
If I find there, if I fly there
Can I hide from you?

You know my heart
You know my mind
You know my words
long before I speak them
There is no place
Where I can hide
Endless is your love for us

How vast the sums of all your deeds
Endless is your love for us

Wonderful your works
Countless as the sands
Earth and heaven know your beauty
fashioned by your hand

You know my heart
You know my mind
You know my words
Long before I speak them
There is no place that I can hide
Endless is your love for us

How vast the sums of all your deeds
Endless is your love for us

Dear God, we sang this song in church Sunday, and I really liked it. I found that it is a relatively new hymn, copyrighted only 20 years ago in 2006. What caught my eye was the first verse after the opening chorus: “Surely there is a place even you don’t know. If I climb there, if I fly there, can I hide from you?” Of course this is a play on Psalm 139 about hiding from you. But the psalmist says, “Where can I go?” The slight twist on this that Mr. Kendzia is playing with is, “There has to be a place, and I’ll find it!”

Ironically, you do allow us to run. You can see us. You can still know us. But you allow us to turn away. My wife has a friend whose father absolutely rejected you in a hostile way. He wouldn’t allow his daughter to talk to him about you. If she wanted a relationship with him she had to not reference you. I suppose that level of blocking helped him to feel unseen by you. And now that he has died, it is one of her great sorrows. That he didn’t know you. Where is he now? Eternally perishing? Is his soul just dead? Was there some loophole in your grace that he found and he is with you on the other side?

Father, all parents have a choice on how much freedom to give their children, whether they are young or adults. You give us a lot of freedom, and yet it is so hard for us to follow your example. Obviously, you don’t expect us to give them freedom as young children, but when they are grown they have a free will that we shouldn’t control. And that you don’t control. So when we pray for our children, that they be drawn to you and healed from their pain, how do you go about answering those prayers? I don’t know. All I know is all I can control is myself, and while there are times I want to run and hide, I know I need you and I’m only hurting myself (and you, I suppose) with this my foolishness. So I come to you this morning. Seen. Known. Loved. I hope my children can know that, while I cannot see them or even really know them at any given moment, they are at least loved.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 22, 2026 in Hymns and Songs

 

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Ephesians 4:11-13

21 Sep

11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

Ephesians 4:11-13

Dear God, what would it feel like to be mature in you? What would I look like if I were a person who measured up to the full and complete standard of Jesus? I mean, I think I am maturing, but, frankly, it’s hard to imagine htting that standard in this lifetime. I hve so far to go. It reminds me of a person who need to lose 200 lbs. They’ve lost about 60 lbs, and I can tell, but they could still stand to lose about 140 lbs. I feel like that person when it comes to describing the growth that needs to happen between me and the “complete standard of Christ.” I’ve made some progress over the last 40-ish years. I probably don’t have another 40 on this earth. How much more can I grow towards Jesus in the time between now and my death and the next world?

And why do I need to grow? If you have grace for me, why do I need to do better? Well, for your sake and the sake of those around me, of course. I am part of your body, and your body is your Plan A. And there is no Plan B. I need to be as mature as possible to do my part.

Father, help me to grow just a little bit closer to you today. Help me to be just a little bit more like you. To quote a song that is based on a prayer from St. Francis, “When men look at me I want them to see the Light of the World inside.”

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 21, 2026 in Ephesians

 

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1 Corinthians 15:35-49

20 Sep

35 But someone may ask, “How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?” 36 What a foolish question! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first. 37 And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. 38 Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed. 39 Similarly there are different kinds of flesh—one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.

40 There are also bodies in the heavens and bodies on the earth. The glory of the heavenly bodies is different from the glory of the earthly bodies. 41 The sun has one kind of glory, while the moon and stars each have another kind. And even the stars differ from each other in their glory.

42 It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. 43 Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. 44 They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.

45 The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit. 46 What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later. 47 Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven. 48 Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. 49 Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man.

1 Corinthians 15:35-49

Dear God, I was at a funeral Friday, and the woman had been cremated. My in-laws were both cremated. My in-laws were Anglican. The funeral Friday was Catholic. It’s important in both traditions that, while cremation is seen as acceptable in your sight, the ashes must be kept together and not scattered. Frankly, this seems like a very small technicality to me since all that “ashes” are are literally ground up bones and everything else has gone into the air. But perhaps all you need is a rib.

The idea of an afterlife and what to expect is an interesting one. Some envision walking streets of gold, only worshipping all day, every day, and being liesurely. No sadness. No tears. No toil. No suffering. And some are afraid of this because it sounds like it will get old after a while. Just this, day after day with no end? Yuck.

Others think we will have jobs to do in the New Earth and that the New Earth will actually be here. Redeemed. Made perfect. After all, you gave Adam work to do, even before the fall. It seems we were created to work. Are there any of your creation who don’t work? I feel like even the angels are given jobs to do.

Personally, I have my theories, but I wouldn’t presume to type them here or send them out into the world because I believe that, at the end of the day, they don’t matter. We will all find out what life after death is like soon enough. I know what I’m hoping for, but I’m not letting myself get distracted by it. I want to focus on today and what you have for me now.

Father, I love you. I’m grateful for you. I worship you. I was in church this morning and really trying to focus on loving you. You are my God. Jesus, you are God and you did it all. Holy Spirit, you are God with me now. I give all of this day to you.

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

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 20, 2026 in 1 Corinthians

 

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1 Corinthians 15:12-20

18 Sep

12 But tell me this—since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead? 13 For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. 15 And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. 16 And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. 18 In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! 19 And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.

20 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.

1 Corinthians 15:12-20

Dear God, way back when I was 22 I remember getting into a conversation with a man at work. His name was Wally, and he was a great guy. We both worked in sales for a Christian music/book publisher called Word. He sold books and I sold music. We were talking about heaven and after life, and I told him what I had taught kids at a summer camp a few years before: Living a Christian life is worth the peace, joy, and freedom we get this side of death, and even if there were no afterlife with you it would be worth it. He disagreed and quoted this passage to me. I hadn’t really seen this passage before, and I was chastened. I had no response. It’s always stuck with me. Obviously it has because I’m sitting here 34 years later thinking about it as soon as I read this verse.

I wouldn’t say that I disagree with Paul here, but I would say that I think he took the passage out of context and misinterpreted it. I think Paul is saying that Jesus’s power is in his resurrection so if we don’t believe in resurrection then we don’t believe in who Jesus is (you, part of the Triune God). If there’s nothing supernatural and other worldly about Jesus then what are we doing? If we are following a false god then we are to be pitied. There’s a thread that we pull on if we say there is no afterlife, and that thread will unravel the entire theology of Jesus’s pre-existence to his birth, his birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension. If that’s unraveled then what are we doing.

But I will still hold to my theology that life is still worth living in worship of and relationship with you regardless of the existence of an eternal reward. You are the vine and I am the branch. Without you, I have no fruit. Without your fruit, I have not joy, peace, love, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. Without your love, no matter how talented or good I might think I am, I am just a clanging gong.

Father, I appreciate the depth of who you are and your power. I appreciate Jesus’s sacrifice of even coming to earth in the first place. What an amazing gift. I offer you whatever it is about myself that I know how to offer. Teach me to offer you more. Teach me to love, sacrifice, and serve more. Teach me to pray. Teach me to serve. Teach me to persuade. Teach me to suffer. All for your glory and your kingdom to come and will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 18, 2026 in 1 Corinthians

 

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Luke 7:36-50

17 Sep

36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. 37 When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. 38 Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.

39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”

40 Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.”

“Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied.

41 Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”

43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.”

“That’s right,” Jesus said. 44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.

47 “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” 48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”

49 The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?”

50 And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Luke 7:36-50

Dear God, I think I’ve ever only spent time thinking about Simon when reading this story. His arrogance. His insensitivity. His judgment. His self-righteousness. I don’t know that I’ve ever just sat with this woman. What was she experiencing? What was her hopelessness of heart? What did she expect her adoration of this man to produce? Had he already had the forgiveness talk with her earlier, but he was letting Simon and the others know about it? Now that I think about it, she would have almost had to have already experienced Jesus’s forgiveness before this dinner even happened. I don’t think she was trying to glatter him in order to get forgiveness. I think she was trying to love and adore him for what he had already done.

I don’t want to say that I haven’t been forgiven much because 1.) I have confessed some things to you that I am completely ashamed of and 2.) I know that all the sins are equal. But when I think about the levels to which I have hit “rock bottom,” my bottom is probably closer to Simon’s than it is this woman’s. And I know my gratitude isn’t even close to her level. It’s much closer to Simon’s.

I was at a men’s meeting the other night, and one of the men started talking about all of the things he thanks you for every day. He grew up in great need. He grew up in a neglectful, abusive environment. He went down a wrong path. He has been to state prison. And so when he sits there are expresses gratitude for your forgiveness, your provision, your love, etc., I’ll be frank, it comes from a deeper place of appreciation than where mine comes from. There’s a line from a Steven Curtis Chapman song where he says, “There’s no one more thankful to sit at the table than the one who best remembers hunger’s pain.” Well, this man grew up knowing hunger and not only trying to scrounge for food for himself, but also his younger siblings as well. “Give us this day our daily bread” means a completely different thing to him than it does to me.

Father, I think there’s only so much love and thankfulness than I can will myself to manufacture. First, I need to remember that you have forgiven me of much and you have provided for me beyond what it reasonable. Thank you. I love you. I offer myself to you. Second, I need to look with mercy on others. On those who have come to you and repentance and are now my brothers and sisters and for those who have not yet come. Give me love for them. Give me words for them. Use them to teach me and draw me closer to yourself. You are God. I want it to be all about you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 17, 2026 in Luke

 

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1 Corinthians 12-13

15 Sep

12 Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. I don’t want you to misunderstand this. 2 You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols. 3 So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.

4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5 There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6 God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.

7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. 9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. 13 Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.

14 Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 15 If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?

18 But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. 19 How strange a body would be if it had only one part! 20 Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. 21 The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”

22 In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. 23 And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, 24 while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. 25 This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. 26 If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.

27 All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it. 28 Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church:

first are apostles,
second are prophets,
third are teachers,
then those who do miracles,
those who have the gift of healing,
those who can help others,
those who have the gift of leadership,
those who speak in unknown languages.

29 Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? 30 Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not! 31 So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts.

But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.

13 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10 But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.

11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.[c] All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 12-13

Dear God, the reading for the Catholic church today is 1 Corinthians 12 starting in verse 12 about one body but many parts. And that was interesting. But then I noticed something. The second half of the very last sentence of chapter 12. Verse 31b: But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.

Oooo. What is the way of life that is best of all? What comes next? Well, it’s the love chapter. Chapter 13. We can do all the things, but if we do them without love we are nothing. I’ve been given some compliments lately from friends who have told me their significant others met me for the first time recently and mentioned my joy. I told one of them yesterday, “I hope it’s the fruit of the Spirit they are seeing.” And I truly do. I hope it’s you that they see in me. I don’t care how much I accomplish. If I am doing it without love then what am I doing?

Father, I’m a little time-crunched this morning, but you know my heart. I want to continue to purge out the selfishness in my heart and give your fruit space to grow. You know what the problems are. I’m thinking of the sins for which I want to repent right now. I’m not perfect. Not even close. But I want to repent well before you. I want to glorify you in word and deed. I want to be an example of your love in this world. I am grateful to be wanted by you. Now, use me as you will.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 15, 2026 in 1 Corinthians

 

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John 3:13-17

14 Sep

13 No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.

16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

John 3:13-17

Dear God, It’s been about seven or eight years since the first time I really spent time with this speech from Jesus to Nicodemus and went and looked up the Moses story he references in verse 14. Now, whenever I see a cross being marched down the aisle of a church or hung in a church somewhere, I almost always think of this passage and look at it as my Jesus being that salvation. You save me, Jesus. And now, you teach me, Holy Spirit. You are my God. I am even here this morning because of you.

Then there’s the most ubiquitous verse in Evangelical Christendom: John 3:16. It’s easy to forget that it’s part of an overall speech to Nicodemus about what it means to be born again. To be a new creation. To have my soul die and be resurrected in you.

I also never read verse 17 without thinking about my pastor from high school. He would have us recite both 16 and 17 at the end of each service for a year.

Just for fun, I want to look at this whole conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus, as recorded by John:

3 There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. 2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”

3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”

5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. 7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”

9 “How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.

10 Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things? 11 I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony. 12 But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.

16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. 19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. 20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. 21 But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”

Father, this conversation laid the groundwork for Nicodemus becoming, at first, a closet-Jesus follower, and ultimately led to him being one of the two men who cared for Jesus’s body after the crucifixion. Personally, I think he became part of The Way after that because John knows these stories to tell us. I appreciate Nicodemus’s open and seeking heart. He was trying to be cautious. He didn’t want to be led astray from you. But when he saw who Jesus was he embraced him. Thank you for this example. I look forward to meeting Nicodemus, one of my three favorite men of the Bible (I’m looking at you, Jesus’s earthly father Joseph and Jonathan). I pray that I will have the necessary courage to follow you as they did.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 14, 2026 in Uncategorized

 

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