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Luke 8:19-21

23 Sep

19 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they couldn’t get to him because of the crowd. 20 Someone told Jesus, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, and they want to see you.”

21 Jesus replied, “My mother and my brothers are all those who hear God’s word and obey it.”

Luke 8:19-21

Dear God, family is interesting. My wife and I were just praying together and some of the prayers were for family members. In fact, most of the prayers were for family members. There’s just something about these people who are blood-related to us that makes us care that little bit more.

It’s interesting how Jesus seems to turn that on its head a little. Here, he diminishes that special relationship he has with his relatives, even his mother, by equating them to everyone around him. In Luke 14:26 he says, “26If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.” In Luke 12:51-53 he says:

51 Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to divide people against each other! 52 From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against—or two in favor and three against.

53 ‘Father will be divided against son
    and son against father;
mother against daughter
    and daughter against mother;
and mother-in-law against daughter-in-law
    and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’”

I don’t think I’ve ever thought about these passages in relation to each other before, but it’s certainly interesting to see our love and compassion for our relatives and yet how much Jesus is warning us that we might have to let them go because of our love for you.

Father, I have all sorts of relatives rolling through my head right now. They have myriad needs. Some are doing great. Some have physical maladies. Some are struggling emotionally. Some are facing huge mountains. Some love me. Some hate me. Some don’t care about me one way or another. But I love all of them. I care about all of them. Please be there for each of them today. Call each of them closer to you in the midst of their struggles. And be here for me today. Call me closer to you in the midst of my struggles. Help me to be the man you need me to be in every way. And do it all for your glory.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 23, 2025 in Luke

 

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Luke 8:16-18

22 Sep

16 “No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a bowl or hides it under a bed. A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house. 17 For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to all.

18 “So pay attention to how you hear. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what they think they understand will be taken away from them.”

Luke 8:16-18

Dear God, this is another parable/metaphor from Jesus that gets removed from its context when we read it. It’s easy to forget that it is linked to the parable of the Sower. So the way I read this in that context is that the person who puts the lap on the stand is the same as the one who liberally spreads seeds on the ground. She or he puts it out there for everyone to see.

Verse 17 is interesting. Secrets are so debilitating, especially if they carry shame with them. They can bog us down and just be a cloud that follows us. And that inhibits our ability to put our lamp on a stand. How can we proudly show the world our lives in you when we are hiding pieces of ourselves in shame?

I was talking with a relative who has been going through a trial about how you can take the pain they’ve been through and use it to bless others. You have given them a ministry now they’d have never had before. But they would never have that ministry if they were ashamed of the trial they’ve been through and just kept it a secret. No, even our weaknesss are important to share with others.

Father, help me to listen to Jesus’s teaching. Help me to understand. Help me to humbly share my life with others for their benefit and your glory. Help me to love my neighbor through my own humility. Help me to see beyond the surface of what people display, and see them with your eyes. I give you all praise, glory, and honor, Jesus, for what you have done for me.

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

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 22, 2025 in Luke

 

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Hebrews 12:1-4

21 Sep

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. 3 Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. 4 After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.

Hebrews 12:1-4

Dear God, I have a long history with this passage. I was probably 16 or 17 the first time I heard verses 1 and 2 at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes National Conference in Estes Park. That would be almost 40 years ago now. I even remember the little song they wrote to go with it. Whenever I read these verses I think of that conference.

I was at a church service tonight where the pastor used these verses in his sermon. While he focused on verses 1 and 2, I couldn’t help but think about verses 3 and 4. Since all of them are good, I thought I’d just spend a little time with each of them this evening.

  • Hebrews 12:1
    • The cloud of witnesses: In Hebrews 11:32, the author says, “32 How much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets.” Who else are my witnesses? Sometimes I consider my grandparents or in-laws to be part of my cloud of witnesses. Our unborn daughter, Sandra, we lost 30 years ago last month. I think about her sometimes when I’m struggling. I think about my grandparents too. Sure, it’s nice to think that the “greats” of the faith are looking down on me, but I prefer the intimate image of those I knew or wish I had known. I don’t even know how theologically correct it is for me to think about them in this way. Are they still dormant and awaiting your return, Jesus, or are they alive in the timelessness of who you are? Either way, I do think about them in this way, largely due to this verse.
    • Strip off the weight that slows us down, especially the sin: I was with someone yesterday who is completely weighed down by this sin that is slowing him down, and I’d love to think he’s ready to strip it off, but he’s not. But before I start thinking about his sin, shouldn’t I first think about myself? What is slowing me down? What is keeping me from being more? Am I really running the race with endurance, or am I jogging in the right direction, but stopping for a lot of water breaks?
  • Hebrews 12:2
    • Jesus initiates and perfects my faith: It’s one thing for me to believe there is a God and to follow a set of his rules. It’s another thing to absorb what Jesus taught through the four gospels and how the other writers of the rest of the New Testament interpreted that for us in their writing. Jesus is the initiator of my faith. He’s why Gentiles like me are here worshipping you. He also taught me some amazing lessons–lessons I’m still figuring out.
    • The joy of sitting at the Father’s right hand: That was the joy awaiting Jesus. But I also think it was redeeming us. Redeeming us gave him joy. He was already at the right had of the Father. No, his journey in flesh was about us. That was the joy awaiting him through the pain and suffering he endured. Pain and suffering I can’t imagine and do not want to endure.
  • Hebrews 12:3
    • The hostility Jesus endured encourages me: I’m in a culture that doesn’t punish me for my faith. Well, that might not be totally true. I had someone say something today that would be considered even more conservative than what my own faith and ideology causes me to believe. But at the end of the day, that’s not what makes me weary. Or maybe it is. I see so much fear and frustration from my fellow Christians. I wish I saw more love and less grabbing for power.
  • Hebrews 12:4
    • I have not yet given my life in my struggle: The word “yet” is subtly placed in there. Am I ready to give everything up to and including my life? Am I ready to be ridiculed and scorned.

Father, I pray that you will help me to be willing to throw off the weight and sin that slows me down. And as I look for encouragement from my cloud of witnesses and even through considering how much worse others, especially Jesus, unjustly suffered, help me to not only be willing to suffer for you, but to also make sure it is you I am suffering for. I want it to be truly driven by you and not through my own mind. My mind is foolish. You are great. I am weak. You are wise. I am foolish. If I am going to die on a sword, let it be one that came at me because I was truly representing you and not something I was doing out of my own heart just to make a point.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 21, 2025 in Hebrews

 

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Luke 18:1-15

20 Sep

8 Soon afterward Jesus began a tour of the nearby towns and villages, preaching and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom of God. He took his twelve disciples with him, 2 along with some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases. Among them were Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons; 3 Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s business manager; Susanna; and many others who were contributing from their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples.

4 One day Jesus told a story in the form of a parable to a large crowd that had gathered from many towns to hear him: 5 “A farmer went out to plant his seed. As he scattered it across his field, some seed fell on a footpath, where it was stepped on, and the birds ate it. 6 Other seed fell among rocks. It began to grow, but the plant soon wilted and died for lack of moisture. 7 Other seed fell among thorns that grew up with it and choked out the tender plants. 8 Still other seed fell on fertile soil. This seed grew and produced a crop that was a hundred times as much as had been planted!” When he had said this, he called out, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”

9 His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables to teach the others so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled:

‘When they look, they won’t really see.
    When they hear, they won’t understand.’

11 “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is God’s word. 12 The seeds that fell on the footpath represent those who hear the message, only to have the devil come and take it away from their hearts and prevent them from believing and being saved. 13 The seeds on the rocky soil represent those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they believe for a while, then they fall away when they face temptation. 14 The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity. 15 And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest.

Luke 18:1-15

Dear God, even though I’m trying very hard it is difficult for me to keep these stories within Luke’s narrative. I’m so used to reading them in isolation, and I’m even journaling them in isolation, but they are part of a story arc. They are showing us character development. In this case, we’ve been seeing that in chapter 4, Jesus met Peter in Capernaum, healed his mother-in-law, got on Peter’s boat, impressed him and then called him, James and John. He calls some more disciples like Matthew, but they aren’t part of the 12 yet. He heals some people. He verbally spars with the Pharisees on healing and the Sabbath. He goes up onto the mountain alone to pray through picking the 12 and then comes back and does so. He gives his mini sermon on the mount. We get some healing and resurrection stories, John the Baptist questioning Jesus’s identity, and then the woman who poured the perfume on Jesus at Simon the Pharisee’s house. Luke is building. And now Jesus is out on the road, touring the neighboring towns and villages (presumably near Nain). Luke is careful to tell us who is funding this, and it’s a few women. I’ve never seen The Chosen, but I’ll bet they do a better job of representing these women as part of the entourage than our normal storytelling does.

So now Jesus is walking town-to-town and he drops a great parable on the people (and us). And there is great truth in this parable. I’ve preached a sermon and taught Bible studies using it. But as I sit here this morning, I wonder why Jesus gave us this sermon. Why did Jesus describe four types of people and only one of them would follow him through the narrow gate? Holy Spirit, as I pray this question in real time with no answers of my own, I ask that you would speak to me and reveal to me what it is you want me to understand this morning about Jesus’s message beneath the message.

As I sit here, I wonder if Jesus wasn’t cryptically saying to the masses and explicitly saying to the 12 that a lot of the people simply aren’t going to buy in and there’s not much we can do about it except continue planting seeds to see if they are ready at another time. I know someone who is really searching right now. I tried to meet one-on-one with him last week, but it didn’t work out like I had hoped. We visited, but there were distractions. I tried to plant some seeds, but the soil was hard as the path. But things have changed in the last six days. He has suffered some setbacks, and I’ll see him again later today. It’s time to plant some seeds again. Maybe the plow has broken up the path and exposed some soil underneath. Then again, maybe it hasn’t I don’t know. But my job isn’t to prepare the soil for planting. The more I type here, the more I see that is your job. My job is to just keep spreading seed and praying for the soil in the hearts of others.

Of course, I need to keep my own soil weeded. I talked with a friend yesterday who had a customer come into her office and tell her it was the first time he had been out of his home all week because he was so disturbed about the Charlie Kirk assassination. That alarmed her. Then he said, “This has upset me more than when I lost my mother.” She said she did a double take and asked him to repeat that. While Kirk’s assassination was tragic, this person has allowed the cares of this world to warp his perspective to the point where his mother’s death was less impactful on him. And I’m sure he spent the week watching the news and getting worked up. The weeds grew and he kept watering them. But don’t I do the same thing sometimes? I have to keep my soil weeded and my eyes on you.

Father, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Prepare my heart for the encounters I will have today. Teach me what you want me to know. Plant more seeds in my life through others. And use me to plant seeds in the hearts of others. Prepare their hearts to receive them. That’s your job. My job is just to plant the seeds you give me to spread.

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

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 20, 2025 in Luke

 

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Luke 7:36-50

18 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.”

Dear God, I want to forget Simon the Pharisee for a moment and just think about this woman. What did she think she was getting out of this interaction with Jesus? Why was she adoring him so much? He is presumably still in Nain and word had spread about him. The first thing he had done was raise the widow’s son from the dead. Then he healed some people and talked about John the Baptist. What was she thinking as she decided to seek him out and pour out these extravagant gestures upon him? Did she feel the shame and separation from you. I’m sure she felt it from society. Simon knew who she was. I’m sure everyone in town knew who she was. I doubt even this interaction with Jesus changed her reputation in town much–until she started to change as a result of her interaction with Jesus.

So then Jesus does what Jesus does. He mercifully responds to her, accepts her repentance, and then forgives her sins, helping her to simply start fresh, at least from a conscience standpoint. She still has consequences of her sin in her community, but she is now at least good with you. I would love to know what the rest of her life was like.

My wife and I were, coincidentally, talking about Psalm 51 this morning. We were talking about how David didn’t hold anything back in his repentance before you when he brought that psalm not only to you but to the people. He made no excuses. He just asked for mercy. Oh, I’ve been so fortunate to experience your mercy, and I’m grateful. I pray that those who have things against me for which I’ve apologized will be able to show me mercy. And I pray that I will show mercy to those who have wronged me, even if they haven’t apologized.

Father, there is simply no life without forgiveness. Forgiveness from you. Forgiveness from me. And forgiveness towards me. There are some wrongs we simply cannot untangle on our own. I pray that you will help me to forgive and extend mercy. I pray that you will help others who resent me to tell me what I did and give me a chance to repent. I pray for a repentance/mercy exchange between us. Maybe one that will cut both ways. Thank you for this story. Thank you for how this woman speaks to me 2,000 years later. She wasn’t thinking about her place in human history that day. She just wanted mercy and a fresh start from the God of the universe, and you granted her that. Thank you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 18, 2025 in Luke

 

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Luke 7:18-35

17 Sep

18 The disciples of John the Baptist told John about everything Jesus was doing. So John called for two of his disciples, 19 and he sent them to the Lord to ask him, “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?”

20 John’s two disciples found Jesus and said to him, “John the Baptist sent us to ask, ‘Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?’”

21 At that very time, Jesus cured many people of their diseases, illnesses, and evil spirits, and he restored sight to many who were blind. 22 Then he told John’s disciples, “Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard—the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.” 23 And he added, “God blesses those who do not fall away because of me.”

24 After John’s disciples left, Jesus began talking about him to the crowds. “What kind of man did you go into the wilderness to see? Was he a weak reed, swayed by every breath of wind? 25 Or were you expecting to see a man dressed in expensive clothes? No, people who wear beautiful clothes and live in luxury are found in palaces. 26 Were you looking for a prophet? Yes, and he is more than a prophet. 27 John is the man to whom the Scriptures refer when they say,

‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
    and he will prepare your way before you.’

28 I tell you, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of God is greater than he is!”

29 When they heard this, all the people—even the tax collectors—agreed that God’s way was right, for they had been baptized by John. 30 But the Pharisees and experts in religious law rejected God’s plan for them, for they had refused John’s baptism.

31 “To what can I compare the people of this generation?” Jesus asked. “How can I describe them? 32 They are like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends,

‘We played wedding songs,
    and you didn’t dance,
so we played funeral songs,
    and you didn’t weep.’

33 For John the Baptist didn’t spend his time eating bread or drinking wine, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’ 34 The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’ 35 But wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it.”

Luke 7:18-35

Dear God, two things stand out to me in this passage:

  • Verse 23: 23 And he added, “God blesses those who do not fall away because of me.”
  • Verses 29-30: 29 When they heard this, all the people—even the tax collectors—agreed that God’s way was right, for they had been baptized by John. 30 But the Pharisees and experts in religious law rejected God’s plan for them, for they had refused John’s baptism.

Verse 23 stuck out because this is an interesting tag to add on to his message to John. My wife and I talked about this story at breakfast, and she said something I liked: “Jesus is the scandalon. He is supposed to make us stumble.” It seems that even John was stumbling in his questioning of Jesus’s identity as John himself was languishing in prison and would ultimately be killed there. But it seems to me that Jesus sent one last message to John: Press on. Don’t fall away. Have faith. You have rightly put your faith in me.

Verses 29-30 struck me because this is Luke inserting his own commentary to Theophilus as he writes this letter to him. It’s as if he’s saying, “Just to make sure I’m clear, the people who believed Jesus and drew closer to God because of him were the sinners, but the holy, righteous, and pious stumbled. The scandalon got them.

Father, there are times I stumble over you. There are times when I’m just flat out wrong or stubborn. There are other times when I am selfish. Oh, please help me to be exactly what you need me to be today. Love through me. Lead through me. Forgive me for my thoughts and words. For what I have done and what I have failed to do. Make me a comforter to those who mourn. A guide for those who seek. A learner from those through whom you will teach me. And a teacher to those who need to hear you through me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 17, 2025 in Uncategorized

 

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Luke 7:11-17

16 Sep

11 Soon afterward Jesus went with his disciples to the village of Nain, and a large crowd followed him. 12 A funeral procession was coming out as he approached the village gate. The young man who had died was a widow’s only son, and a large crowd from the village was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion. “Don’t cry!” he said. 14 Then he walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. “Young man,” he said, “I tell you, get up.” 15 Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk! And Jesus gave him back to his mother.

16 Great fear swept the crowd, and they praised God, saying, “A mighty prophet has risen among us,” and “God has visited his people today.” 17 And the news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding countryside.”

Luke 7:11-17

Dear God, is it terrible that my first thought this morning when I read this familiar story was, “Was that really the best idea, Jesus?” Answer: Of course it was the best idea! It was Jesus! But this certainly raised the bar on who the people thought Jesus was.

It’s interesting to put all of Luke’s book into one character development arc and story that he’s unfolding for us because these things all fit together, but we forget that since we are used to just reading stories in segments and not part of the whole. So in the last two chapters we had Simon’s mother-in-law healed, Jesus calling the 12, and then a mini Sermon on the Mount. Now, we’ve seen the faith of the Centurion from yesterday and today Jesus actually goes next level by raising someone from the dead. And this isn’t like Jairus’s daughter where he did a little misdirection and told everyone she was only asleep. This was like Lazarus, but maybe even more so. And then tomorrow we will get John the Baptist, from prison, asking if Jesus is the Messiah or if there is another one to come. But I’ll get to that tomorrow. There’s probably a lot to say about that.

But back to this miracle resurrection. I wonder how many times he did this that we aren’t aware of. Off of the top of my head, I’m counting three including this instance, Jairus’s daughter, and Lazarus. Now, he didn’t necessarily need to be the Messiah to do this. There was a history of both Elijah and Elisha doing it. But it did mean that he had power from you at a very high level. He was to be respected and adored. In the minds of the people there, maybe not worshipped, but revered as being from you.

Father, as I look for applications for my life today, I first just want to thank you. Thank you for the reality of this story. I do not doubt its veracity. I guess I do wonder what this young man’s life was like after this. What did he do? How long did he live? How did he eventually die? How did his life touch others and ripple through time, even until this day? Maybe that’s the reminder for me. That all of our lives will ripple through time whether we realize it or not. And we can do the best we can and still knock over negative dominoes as well as positive ones. So I’ll just pray that you guide me today. Make my life as positive of an impact on our community as you can. Love through me. Love me through others. And help me to always give you the glory, for you are the giver of all good gifts.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 16, 2025 in Luke

 

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1 Timothy 2:1-8

15 Sep

2 I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 2 Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. 5 For,

There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. 6 He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone.

This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time. 7 And I have been chosen as a preacher and apostle to teach the Gentiles this message about faith and truth. I’m not exaggerating—just telling the truth.

8 In every place of worship, I want men to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from anger and controversy.

1 Timothy 2:1-8

Dear God, wouldn’t it just be easier to complain about my leaders than to spend the time praying for them? Yes, I’m being sarcastic about this, but isn’t this what a lot of us do? What I do? If I were to count the number of words I’ve spent on praying for political leaders and compare it with the words used complaining about leaders or policies, well, the prayer words wouldn’t even show up on the scale the disparity would be so large.

So how should I pray for my local, state, and federal leaders, not to mention the leaders of other nations? My first prayer for them is that they will each experience you today. As I think about my local mayor, county judge, lieutenant governor, governor, vice president, and president, I pray that each of them will experience you today. That you will raise up people in their lives who will be your voice to them. That they will find time to get alone with you and pray. That you will do something supernatural in each of their lives that will help them to repent where necessary and lead as you have called them to lead. As I think about the politicians running for office in these mid-terms, I pray that you will influence all of them to yield to you first and not their constituents. I pray that you will not let anything happen in this country that is outside of your plan for the world. And for the world leaders who are making big decisions and impacting lives outside of their own countries (I’m thinking about wars in Ukraine and Israel/Gaza, not to mention conflicts in Africa and then the world powers like China), I pray that you would do something remarkable in each of their lives. Do something that will help your children. Ease pain. Feed the hungry. Save the wounded and sick. Bring repentance on all side. Bring mercy and forgiveness on all sides.

Father, even praying these prayers left me feeling very inadequate. I am not good at intercessory prayer. I don’t do it enough. But help me to do it so that your kingdom will come and your will might be done on earth as it is in heaven. When it comes to politics, I often say that I just have one vote and a very small sphere of influence. But I have more than anything else I can have. I have prayer. And I do pray for all of these people. Move supernaturally. Bring them to you. Love them. Have mercy on them. And help them to repent where necessary.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 15, 2025 in 1 Timothy

 

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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, I have a couple of people in my life right now who are in a lot of pain. Help me to both look to Jesus, who has been lifted up for me, and then point each of these people to you. Help me to know how to do this. Give me words. Give me vision for them. Give me comfort for them. Give me encouragement for them. But the first thing they need, to the extent they are able to grasp the depths of it, is faith in you and following you. Help me to offer them to you today.

I remember preaching on this passage several years ago as a guest pastor at a church. It stuck with me so much that every time I see a cross in a church I think about it. When they are processing with a cross on a staff, or when there is a big one at the front of the church, I almost always think about it. I try to remember that I am as a person struck by the snakes of my own sin and I need your redemption. I am a slave to death. I need your redemption out of that slavery.

Father, I’ve talked about one of these visits that I’m having with these people to a couple of friends, and I’ve gotten some good advice. But what I need is for the Holy Spirit to speak through me, guide me, and give me ears to hear and eyes to see. I need you to help me be discerning and loving. I need to be exactly what you need these people to have. Help me to be that for them. For your glory, Father. For your glory and not mine.

I pray this In Jesus and through your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 14, 2025 in John

 

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Luke 6:43-49

13 Sep

43 “A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. 44 A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes. 45 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.

46 “So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say? 47 I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. 48 It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built. 49 But anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house right on the ground, without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins.”

Luke 6:43-49

Dear God, I don’t normally follow the gospel readings for the Catholic church day to day so faithfully, but these are from the mini-Sermon on the Mount and I’m loving it. I almost wonder if I shouldn’t read the Sermon on the Mount–the OG in Matthew–every day, as a discipline. Or maybe record it and listen to it in my earbuds as I go to sleep at night. Yeah, maybe. I’ll think about that.

Okay, I just took a moment to go to YouTube and find it. Of course, someone put it up.

I’ll need to bookmark it and try that. In fact, my wife and I were talking this morning about bad dreams and things to help. Maybe this is a way to go.

Now, back to Luke 6. Two things here. First, fruit [of the Spirit] that comes out of us as we live how you taught us. It’s interesting how I can see two people who disagree on a lot of things, but when they are both really pursuing and loving you with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength and loving their neighbor as themselves then they can be very close and loving to each other. The good fruit rises above any disagreements. I fact, I’ll see them influence each other. I think about how my wife and I have influenced each other over the years even though we don’t agree on everything. Our good fruit (what I hope is good fruit from me and I know is good fruit from her) reigns.

Now, for the foundation built through following you. I remember when I had a plumbing issue with my first house over 20 years ago. It had a slab, but a sewer pipe in the slab that was made of cast iron collapsed. They said we had to choices. One was to dig into the slab and repair the line at that point, or we could run a new drainage line through a wall and then go underground with it, tapping into the original sewer line in the yard in front of our house. Someone warned me I didn’t want to mess with the foundation, and I agreed. So we ran a new line. A year or two later when we sold that house, the inspector told the buyer about the problem we solved and indicated that we had chosen the correct path. We didn’t want to tear into the foundation.

A few years later, I was at a relative’s home where they were faced with the same situation, but they chose to cut into the slab and repair the line. There were all sorts of cracks in their walls. The foundation was shifting and unpredictable. The house wasn’t on the verge of falling down, but it had been weakened.

So if Jesus says when the storms come and not if, then how do I make sure I have a foundation ready for the storm? I think it goes back to my prayer from almost exactly a year ago about the “floor.” What is the least I need to be doing to worship you. Here is what I wrote at the time:

  • The prayer journals. Spending 15-30 minutes a day in a concentrated time of prayer like this has become a have to for me. And it didn’t used to be that way. A year ago I would have said that I need to do it 4-5 times a week. But since Lent I haven’t missed a day because I know I need this time meditating on you, listening to your Holy Spirit, and learning from the bazaar thing you left us called Scripture.
  • Giving. Ten percent of our gross is a minimum. Not that we are giving away even 20%, but we try to be generous when we see needs arise. Giving 10% is a floor.
  • Intentional time in conversation with my wife at least once a day is a floor. If we are available around each other at a meal, we each make it a priority to sit with each other, even if one of us isn’t eating at the time.
  • At least one sermon/Bible teaching a week. I need to hear someone else I trust teaching me the Bible in a way I wouldn’t see on my own (this homily is a perfect example of that).
  • Communication and contact with at least one of the two male friends I have. It doesn’t even have to be a conversation, but I need to touch their lives in some way–even if it is to text about sports.
  • Avoiding sexual temptation/lust. This has to be a floor. When you look at the lists of sins Jesus and Paul talk about, it’s always on there. I must do this.
  • Exercising at least four times a week. I am mentally better when I am taking care of myself physically. I should probably make better eating habits a floor, but I haven’t chosen to do that yet. Perhaps it will be one day.
  • Doing the things I know bless my wife like fixing things around the house, managing our money and then sharing with her what our status is, doing my laundry, making the bed, etc. Even listening to things I like but I know she doesn’t care for on my headphones instead of subjecting her to it. There’s a whole set of “floor” issues for my relationship with her that are important for her to feel loved.

So then what are some of the things I “get” to do, but aren’t necessarily something I “have” to do every week?

  • Church. A lot of Christians would probably disagree with me on this one. While I feel like it is important to have a church you belong to and to be involved in that church, I don’t feel like the foundation in my life is cracking if I miss a week.
  • My extra writing projects. I get joy from writing and thinking about how to bless others, but it’s a “get” to and not a “have” to.
  • Teaching. Similarly, I enjoy taking what I get from you during my prayer journal time and sharing it with others through preaching or teaching, but those occasions happen infrequently, and, while they help me and teach me, they aren’t the floor.
  • Engaging healthily through prayer and action in my community. This is close to a “have” to because it is part of me loving others as I love myself, but it’s not something that is foundational. Well, maybe it is. It actually might belong in the “have” to list.
  • Listening to Christian music. I mix it in during the week, but I also listen to secular as well.
  • Listening to Christian podcasts. Similar to music, I mix it in, but it’s a “get” to.

Father, help me to be mindful of the work I need to do to build the best foundation I can, and help that lead to your best fruit in me. Let that fruit bless others around me, starting with my wife. Love her well through me. Give her what she needs through me. Be glorified in my life regardless of what it costs me. I consider my life worth nothing to me, Father. It’s all yours. Use me as you will.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 13, 2025 in Luke, Matthew

 

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