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2 Peter 3:8-9

28 Jun

8 But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. 9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.

2 Peter 3:8-9

Dear God, I think I want to combine this passage from Bible Gateway’s verse of the day with the Gospel reading from the Catholic Church:

37 “If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. 38 If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. 39 If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.

40 “Anyone who receives you receives me, and anyone who receives me receives the Father who sent me. 41 If you receive a prophet as one who speaks for God, you will be given the same reward as a prophet. And if you receive righteous people because of their righteousness, you will be given a reward like theirs. 42 And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.”

These verses relate for me because, to some extent, I feel like my worship of you has cost me more than one family relationship. It’s caused me to love people others didn’t want me to love. It’s caused some to judge me because they errantly think I’m judging them. And it’s hurt. Frankly, the rejection has hurt a lot. And if I let myself, I can really start to feel sorry for myself. I can start to play the victim. “I deserve better.” “What did I do that was so bad that I deserved this?” But the truth is, others are making their own choices as I am making mine. I’m doing my best to align mine with yours, but I am also aware enough to realize I make mistakes all of the time.

So I go back to Peter. While he is talking about how you measure time in relation to Jesus’s return, I think the same time lesson applies to all areas of our lives. I told a group of guys this week what I’ve said many times: We measure time in days, weeks, and months while you measure it in years, decades, and centuries. Our country is about to turn 250 years old, and while that might feel very old to us, in the grand scheme of things, that is nothing. It was 405 years ago the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. That amount of time is just starting to touch the number of years the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt. It was probably over 20 years between David was anointed king over all of Israel and when he was actually king over all of Israel. For me, I may or may not live to see some of the broken relationships in my life repaired. But in my better moments, I’m praying for the healing that needs to happen for that person, and if there is something about estrangement from me that will bring about their healing then that is a price I’m willing to pay.

Father, I’m not going to pray for patience. I’m going to pray that you help me to be at peace in my circumstances. Help me to love and comfort those who are in my life. Help me to be a source of joy and love for those who touch my life today. Help me to be exactly who you need me to be for your kingdom to come and your 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 June 28, 2026 in 2 Peter, Matthew

 

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Matthew 16:21:28

27 Jun

21 From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead.

22 But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!”

23 Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds. 28 And I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”

Matthew 16:21-28

Dear God, it is just so hard for us to understand, in our limited minds, that this life that we perceive with our five senses is just so small. So, so small. The room I see with my eyes right now as I sit here and write this prayer to you is probably only about 2% of what is really happening in this room. There are layers. There are manmade layers like radio waves moving through here that I cannot see. There are different bands of the light spectrum that I cannot see. There are sounds happening I cannot hear. There are smells. The list in practically infinite. Then there is the spiritual world. Are there angels and demons in here right now? How much are they messing (demons) and protecting (angels) even as I sit here right now.

And again, that’s just in this room. If I move outside of this room into the house? If I go outside? If I consider the world? I’m so ignorant. I’m so small. We all are. And yet we reach for power. We reach for political power. We reach for influence. And it’s probably out of fear. What is our fear driving us to do? exactly what Jesus warns against in verse 26: “And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?” How many of us really make our moment-to-moment decisions based on our soul vs. our immediate power?

I read an article yesterday that said the Texas Education Agency is compelling public school students to read specific passages of the Bible. Frankly, for our society, I don’t like this, but I decided to go and see what twelve passages they had picked. One list by the Houston Chronicle said they would be required to read Jonah 1:1-5, 11-17, 2:10. First, if this is true (which I could not corroborate through the list the Texas Tribune provided), what is a teacher supposed to be teaching a Texas public school child through these verses? First, I have to wonder if the TEA even knows what the story of Jonah is all about. Do they know that Jonah is not considered to be a good prophet? That he’s not a good example? Even after the whale incident, he holds onto his bitterness. He yells at you for your forgiveness of the Assyrians (Ninevites) who had conquered Israel. The book is about your mercy and your desire to bring even these Assyrians into repentance and service to you. Does an elementary school teacher know these nuances going into teaching Jonah 1:1-5, 11-17, and 2:10? Is there going to be a prepared lesson plan that goes with this passage that helps the teacher explain that this passage is about the difference between bitterness and forgiveness?

So that makes me ask why the TEA is doing this, and it brings me back to this message from Jesus in Matthew 16. Fear. Fear we are losing the dominance of the “Christian” culture over society. So how are they going about establishing it? In exactly the opposite way Jesus did things: from the top down. Jesus was about serving, praying, persuading, and suffering. I heard someone say one time that those are the four tools he used during his life, and they are the only tools he left us. But our Christian culture seems to be wanting to go the way of the Spanish Inquisition, which lasted 350 years, but drove a bitterness towards the church that exists in Spain to this day. We think we know so much, but we’d do a lot better if Christians simply exhibited the fruits of the Spirit, loved our neighbors, and showed them how worshipping you and loving others changes lives.

Father, that was quite a little rant I just got on this morning. Maybe I got distracted and drifted from you, but I needed to process some of the things I was thinking after I read that article yesterday. We are such fools. And it’s fear and lack of faith that drives our foolishness. Help me to see at least a little of what you see today. Help me to love, at least a little, like you love. Help me to forgive. Help me to pray. Help me to serve. Help me to persuade. And give me a glad willingness to suffer if it will benefit your kingdom in any way.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 27, 2026 in Matthew

 

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Jeremiah 23:21-17

25 Jun


21 “I have not sent these prophets,
    yet they run around claiming to speak for me.
I have given them no message,
    yet they go on prophesying.
22 If they had stood before me and listened to me,
    they would have spoken my words,
and they would have turned my people
    from their evil ways and deeds.
23 Am I a God who is only close at hand?” says the Lord.
    “No, I am far away at the same time.
24 Can anyone hide from me in a secret place?
    Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?”
    says the Lord.

25 “I have heard these prophets say, ‘Listen to the dream I had from God last night.’ And then they proceed to tell lies in my name. 26 How long will this go on? If they are prophets, they are prophets of deceit, inventing everything they say. 27 By telling these false dreams, they are trying to get my people to forget me, just as their ancestors did by worshiping the idols of Baal.

Jeremiah 23:21-27

Dear God, verse 24 was the verse of the day for Bible Gateway, but I wanted to bring in at least the verses around it. Of course, this is you talking about the false prophets in Jeremiah’s time who were selling the people what they wanted to hear. They were doing it for all the wrong reasons. Acceptance. Influence. Notoriety. Power. Maybe even money. I wonder how many of them took their own hopes and simply ascribed them to you and then told the people, “Jeremiah’s wrong. God loves us. It’s all going to be okay.”

There are people speaking on a national level right now who I don’t trust. I guess it goes back to what Paul said in Galatians 5 about evaluating people based on their fruit. If I see someone claiming to speak for you but their fruit is “19b sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21a envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these,” then I reject them. But if I see “22b love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23a gentleness, and self-control,” then I am more likely to give them credibility.

A couple of weeks ago, I remembered this song from Steve Camp. It basically talks about believing in the wrong people. It made me wonder what he’s been up to lately, and, frankly, I was disappointed to see that nearly 35 years later it seems like he and I would disagree on who is to be trusted and who isn’t.

Father, I am fallible. I make mistakes. I can have bad judgment. I can believe in the wrong people and even the wrong things. I can defend the indefensible and ignore atrocities. Please forgive me. Please, Holy Spirit, help me and teach me. Help me to be what you and the people whose lives my life touches be blessed by you working through me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 25, 2026 in Jeremiah

 

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2 Thessalonians 3:1-5

24 Jun

3 Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we ask you to pray for us. Pray that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes, just as when it came to you. 2 Pray, too, that we will be rescued from wicked and evil people, for not everyone is a believer. 3 But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. 4 And we are confident in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we commanded you. 5 May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ.

2 Thessalonians 3:1-5

Dear God, what exactly are you protecting me from? How much are you protecting me from that I cannot see? As I sit here and think about it, it makes me think of “shields” in the original Star Trek movies. They’d put shields up, but then they’d still take hits. I’d wonder, “Exactly what are those shields doing?” So that’s my question this morning. What exactly are you doing in protecting me and rescuing me from wicked and evil people. What did you do for Paul and the Thessalonians?

First, let’s be clear, I am in no way suffering like the early Christians or like many Christians around the world today. Satan and his demons have plans for me to hurt me as much as they can because I love you and they know it will hurt you when I’m hurt, but, up to now, the attacks are really more on an emotional and relational level than they are physical harm, incarceration, etc.

Second, I want to layer Job onto this story because I think that book puts this into context. By the end of Job, he comes to the level of faith that says, “My life’s not about me or my comfort. It is only about being at your disposal and having an impact on your plan here on earth.” I want to say that again. It’s not about me. It’s about how I can worship you and love others. Period.

So what are the protections you provide? How do you keep me from evil? I think, at the end of the day, you guide me through your plan and what you need from my little life. And then, in return, you love me, forgive me, and grow the fruit of your Spirit in me. Ultimately, you will guide me into the New Earth when this life is over and I will get to be with you for eternity, but for now, my job is to wake up, worship you, and love others.

Father, I have a board meeting this morning. Help me. I have a job to do today. Help me. I have a wife to love. Help me. I have friends to love. Help me. Holy Spirit, help me to weed the soil of my heart. Help me to get rid of the cares of this world. I’ve certainly been distracted by national and international events lately. It’s okay to be informed, but the chaos has almost had a sick entertainment for me. I’m sorry. Help me to just rip the roots of that out of my heart and leave soil for you to grow.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 24, 2026 in 2 Thessalonians

 

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Numinous Moment(s)

23 Jun

Dear God, I heard a term this weekend listening to an interview a Catholic priest did with David Brooks: Numinous Moment. Mr. Brooks was describing a time when he felt a sense of your supernatural presence and could see, just a little, with your eyes. It made me stop and wonder about my own numinous moment(s). Have I had any? Are there places in my life when the veil between you and me got just a little thinner?

I know I’ve had times like this, but the one that seeminly hit me out of the blue with no explanation was when I was about 15 years old. I was home alone on a Saturday night and, I have no idea what inspired be to do this outside of the Holy Spirit coaxing me, I decided to just start reading the Bible. I opened to 1 Samuel (again, I can’t explain why) and started reading it like it was a novel. I think I got all of the way through 1 Samuel and was at least part of the way through 2 Samuel when I was just overcome by worship for you. I found myself running around the living room, shouting praise to you. I was Baptist at the time, and I had been “saved” for several years. And I can’t say that there were any long-lasting effects from this moment except the memory that I carry with me to this day. It wasn’t until two years later after an FCA Leadership Conference in Abilene that I really became a discipling Christian. But that moment. That evening. sometime in the fall of ’85 or the spring of ’86, I was all in on you. I could almost see you. And it was just from reading some stories from the Bible.

To this day, I have a special place in my heart for 1 and 2 Samuel. They are two of my favorite books. I try to get people to read them like a novel because that’s how I read them on that evening. Almost none of them do. I’m teaching a Bible study for some men right now, and I started with 1 Samuel 8, and next week I’ll finish the series by doing the first few chapters of 2 Samuel. We finiahed 1 Samuel last night.

One thing that Fr. Martin and Mr. Brooks talked about was how some people have numinous moments and then still decide to reject you. They mentioned a specific example of a woman that I can’t now remember her name. I guess that was kind of me back then. I was certainly sensitive to you. I was sensitive to my need for grace and mercy. I just had zero idea how to put discipleship into action until I went to that FCA Leadership Conference.

Father, I pray that you will help me to see the moments today when the veil between you and me might be a little thinner. I pray for those moments for my family and friends. I pray for them for my coworkers and our volunteers and patients. Give me eyes to see and ears and a heart to hear.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 23, 2026 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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Psalm 91

21 Jun

Psalm 91

1 Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
    will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
    he is my God, and I trust him.
3 For he will rescue you from every trap
    and protect you from deadly disease.
4 He will cover you with his feathers.
    He will shelter you with his wings.
    His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
5 Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,
    nor the arrow that flies in the day.
6 Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,
    nor the disaster that strikes at midday.
7 Though a thousand fall at your side,
    though ten thousand are dying around you,
    these evils will not touch you.
8 Just open your eyes,
    and see how the wicked are punished.

9 If you make the Lord your refuge,
    if you make the Most High your shelter,
10 no evil will conquer you;
    no plague will come near your home.
11 For he will order his angels
    to protect you wherever you go.
12 They will hold you up with their hands
    so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.
13 You will trample upon lions and cobras;
    you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!

14 The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
    I will protect those who trust in my name.
15 When they call on me, I will answer;
    I will be with them in trouble.
    I will rescue and honor them.
16 I will reward them with a long life
    and give them my salvation.”

Dear God, Happy Father’s Day! I don’t think I’ve ever said that to you before on Father’s Day. But you are my father. You are THE Father.

I read this psalm of orientation (as opposed to disorientation and reorientation), and I find myself being reminded in my reoriented state of just how powerful and majestic you are. Well, that’s not true. I have no idea of how majestic and powerful you are. I only have a glimpse. And even the glimpse if beyond what I can fathom. You are my God. You care for me in this life and beyond. I worship you. I know you have a lot of children who reject you, have walked away from you, and some even hate you. Then there are some who are just indifferent. If that kind of thing hurts me, I can only imagine how much it hurts you. If my love and worship can offer some balm to that hurt, not that you need anything from me, but if it can I hope it does.

Father, this is a day to appreciate fathers in our country, and it’s important because there are a lot of children who do not have fathers. They don’t have the men in their lives that they need. I pray that you will lay the needs of their children on the hearts of all fathers today. I pray that there will be repentance among the men. And I pray that there will be mercy on the part of the children, and, as necessary, their mothers. I have several situations running around in my head. Several people who have very little to no father interaction. Raise up men in the lives of these children who will be fathers to them. And for the fathers who have lost their children, give them comfort. I guess what I’m saying is, if there is pain in the heart of anyone today because it is Father’s Day, make that pain count. Use it to draw the fathers and the children closer to yourself. Closer to being like you. Let your glory, Father, shine in all the earth!

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 21, 2026 in Psalms

 

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Mark 8:31-38

20 Jun

31 Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead. 32 As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things.

33 Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said. “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”

34 Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 35 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. 36 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? 37 Is anything worth more than your soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Mark 8:31-38

Dear God, I want to look at Jesus’s choices here. He tells the twelve something that is hard for them to hear. Peter’s upset and decides to confront Jesus about it. I commend Peter for taking Jesus aside and doing it privately. But then Jesus brings the other disciples into it. Then he brings the crowd into it. He’s seemingly found a teachable moment and he’s going to make this message as clear as he can for everyone, not just Peter. He could have kept this coversation only with Peter. And what was the message? Winning for you doesn’t look like winning for me. You are holding on to your life. You think I should hold on to my life. But this physical life is nothing compared to what is to come. That’s where you need to turn your attention and make your priority.

I confess that when I read Jesus’s words this morning about losing my life, suffering, etc. I was disheartened. That was my first thought. I don’t want to lose my life. I don’t want to suffer. I’m awfully comfortable in my life right now. I’m not even sure how much I’m willing to be inconvenienced. And that’s an overstatement. I’m working with men and trying to show your love to them. I’m giving of my time and money to things. I guess, as I sit here at my breakfast table right now on a Saturday morning, I’m feeling very comfortable and a resistance to being made uncomfortable.

Father, give me ears to hear your still small voice. Help me to hear Jesus’s words of admonishment and know what to do with them. Help me to see what you want me to see around me and the knowledge to know you are calling me to act and how you are calling me to act. For your glory, Lord. For your glory, alone.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 20, 2026 in Mark

 

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Ephesians 5

19 Jun

5 Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. 2 Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

3 Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. 4 Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God. 5 You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.

6 Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him. 7 Don’t participate in the things these people do. 8 For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! 9 For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.

10 Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. 11 Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. 12 It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. 13 But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, 14 for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said,

“Awake, O sleeper,
    rise up from the dead,
    and Christ will give you light.”

15 So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. 16 Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. 17 Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. 18 Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, 19 singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. 20 And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

21 And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

22 For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. 24 As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.

25 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her 26 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. 27 He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. 28 In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. 29 No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church. 30 And we are members of his body.

31 As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” 32 This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one. 33 So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Ephesians 5

Dear God, the verse of the day for Bible Gateway is verse 25. And it’s a great verse, but I think I want to take a look at this husbands and wives passage (which we had read at our wedding nearly 34 years ago) and put it in context with the overall Paul as making. Even going back to verse 1 of chapter 5, it says to imitate you in everything I do because I am your dear child. Paul tells me to be filled with love, following Jesus’s example. He goes into avoiding sexual immorality, impurity and greed. Baudy talk is to be avoided as well. It reminds me to be thankful to you. It describes a greedy person as an idolater and will not inherit the kingdom of Jesus.

I find it ironic that verse 6 criticizes those who excuse the sins. And while I can be critical here of others who have accepted sinful people as being part of the fold just because they like their leadership style, I need to turn the lens on myself and ask if I’ve accepted the sins of others I worship with or have I even accept them into my own life?

Verse 10 calls me to “carefully” discern what pleases you and to expose darkness. There are some more words about how to live, and then we get to verse 21. It starts with submitting to one another. How wives should submit and how husbands should submit. For wives, Paul certainly suggests a subservient attitude for women towards their husbands that I know is debatable. And I struggle with that as well. I’ve seen couples take that too far because they miss verses 25-30. Paul tells me that I basically have to be like Jesus. No pressure!

Father, I happen to be writing this prayer on a day when my wife is returning from the longest we’ve been apart in a long, long time. She’s been at a conference, and I hope it’s been a good, renewing time for her. I pray that it is. I hope she made friends, gained confidence, and is now feeling a sense of purpose in what you’re calling her to do next. I’ve perceived she’s been at a bit of a crossroads in who she is as a writer and poet, and then in her role in the music ministry at our church. I pray that this trip has given her confidence that she can be very capable of caring for herself. Traveling by herself. Managing other parts of her life. I pray that this was a life-giving week for her. And I pray that you’ve been working in me too. Help me to love her life you love me. Help me to give up my life for her. Help me to wash her and make her holy and clean, through the use of your Word. Help me to love her better, but, going back to verse 5:1, because I am becoming life you in everything.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 19, 2026 in Ephesians

 

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Ephesians 6:1-9

18 Jun

6 Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do. 2 “Honor your father and mother.” This is the first commandment with a promise: 3 If you honor your father and mother, “things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.”

4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.

5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. 6 Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart. 7 Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. 8 Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free.

9 Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Don’t threaten them; remember, you both have the same Master in heaven, and he has no favorites.

Ephesians 6:1-9

Dear God, as a man with two grown children and also with both parents still living, this is one of those tricky passages because I want to read verses 1-4 as a parent and not as a child. But at this point in my life, I’m both. I have adult children who currently own me no fealty (verses 1-3). They technically don’t owe me love or attention. It’s totally up to them. At the same time, verse 4 is something that, as a father, I know I did at times when my children were younger and still at home. I know I did things that made them angry. Some of them I regret. Some of them I don’t. And there are some that I’m not aware of, but I know they fester. So it’s up to them to decide if they want to embrace this passage. The commandment in Exodus 20:12 and Deuteronomy 5:16 about honoring your parent is purely there now to give them guidance, but the choice is theirs.

Then I double back and read verses 1-3 as an adult child. My parents are aging. They need me. They need my siblings. Whatever they did to provoke us to anger–whatever mistakes they have made, both as a child and as an adult–are immaterial right now. They are my parents, and you have called me to love them and care for them. Paul’s words are for me. I owe my parents honor, and, at this stage in life, that means caregiving and love.

I included the slave verses here because they are pretty similar, and I have people who work for me who, while not slaves, I do need to make sure I’m treating well. I had a situation yesterday that got very hard at work. I tried to respond well. I’ll admit that my temper initially flared, but I was able to get it under control within a few seconds. I tried to treat them well. After a few minutes, I even remembered to pray that the Holy Spirit would help me. And the final outcome was, I think (hope) one that de-escalated and gave us some acceptable actionable items for the future.

Father, help me. Help me to be the man you need me to be. Help me to love well. Help me to worship well today. Help me to comfort the man whose wife’s funeral I’m attending today. Make me an instrument of your peace. With my coworkers, with my wife and children, and with my friends.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 18, 2026 in Ephesians

 

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Philippians 3:17-21

14 Jun

17 Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. 18 For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. 20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. 21 He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.

Philippians 3:17-21

Dear God, it’s scary how much we can deceive ourselves. I look at this passage, and I see Paul referring to his own frustration with people refusing to love you and follow the teachings of Jesus. He is so passionate about it that he has tears in his eyes. I think I’m more numb to it than that. I don’t get tears in my eyes when I think about the people who frustrate me because they have made themselves your enemy. Whose god is their appetite. Who brag about shameful things. Who think only about this life here on earth. I’m angry about them–especially when they are in leadership or claim to be your followers. But I’m not driven to tears over them.

But there are some people I really care about. I really care about the men in the Christian Men’s Life Skills class I’m helping teach. They are seeking. Some of them are closer to you than others. I care about the people I work with who are good people but who aren’t quite ready to turn their hearts and lives over to you. They are lost in the fog of their lives. So I do care. But I’m not nearly at Paul’s level, and it feels like I really should be. But, at the same time, maybe you’ve just put different calls on our lives. Maybe my life is supposed to knock over a domino in the life of one man in the group who becomes a Paul-type person. Or maybe you’ve given me one word for one man who will then use that new information or thought to be the father he needs to be for the next Paul-type person. My point is, maybe I’m being a little hard on myself. Maybe I should just do my best to listen to you today and love others in my path as well as I can, representing you and calling them to you.

Father, I have a busy 40 or so hours ahead of me. Help me to do it well. Help me to accomplish what you need me to accomplish. Help me to worship you how you’ve called me to worship you. to quote the casting crowns song, “I’m just a nobody trying to tell everybody all about somebody who saved my soul.” And to quote the Brandon Heath song, “Give me your eyes for just one second. Give me your eyes so I can see everything that I keep missing. Give me your love for humanity. Give me your arms for the brokenhearted. The ones that are far beyond my reach. Give me your love for the ones forgotten. Give me your eyes so I can see.”

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 14, 2026 in Philippians

 

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