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Mark 9:42-48

27 Mar

The above image is from Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups. It was compiled by Ned Bustard. The image on the right is called “The Devil Belial before the Gates of Hell,” and its creator is anonymous.

42 “But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck. 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands. 45 If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two feet. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. It’s better to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 ‘where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out.’”

Mark 9:42-48

Dear God, I’m part of a group that is responsible for recommending things to our local school board regarding the health of children. Maybe it’s the food in the cafeteria, curricula to teach health-related state standards, or exercise for the students. Yesterday, we were evaluating some videos that warn students about the danger of pornography. I thought of those videos this morning and the dangers of porn when I was reading this passage out of Ned Bustard’s book. The creators of pornography are the tempters. And, frankly, they are evil. And I’ve fallen into their traps in the past. I could have used those videos when I was a boy. Thank you for your healing.

But before I just start going off on the obviously evil, I need to, of course, stop and search my heart to see how I might be tempting people or giving them bad advice. I had lunch recently with a man going through a divorce. I don’t have to tell you how complicated the situation is. You know. But I have no idea if I was speaking your words to him or not. Was I giving him good counsel or was I giving him bad counsel? Did any of my words cause him to fall into sin? I pray that I didn’t.

Father, I look at this image of “The Devil Belial before the Gates of Hell” and I think about the attraction of walking straight into hell. I looked up “Belial” and found this description: “Belial is a major demon in Christian demonology and Jewish tradition, often known as the “Lord of Lies,” “Lord of Arrogance,” or the “Demon of Lawlessness”. He represents worthlessness, rebellion, and perversion, often depicted as a seductive, persuasive spirit who induces immoral behavior, particularly sexual immorality and corruption.” I don’t want to be that. I want to be a shiner of your light. Help me to shine your light today.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 27, 2026 in Mark, Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups

 

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Genesis 17:1-8, Genesis 28:10-15

26 Mar

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. 2 I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.”

3 At this, Abram fell face down on the ground. Then God said to him, 4 “This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! 5 What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations. 6 I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them!

7 “I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.”

Genesis 17:1-8

10 Meanwhile, Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran. 11 At sundown he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night. Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep. 12 As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway.

13 At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants. 14 Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. 15 What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.”

Genesis 28:10-15

Dear God, I’m trying to remember if you had a similar conversation with Isaac. I don’t remember one. But you had an interesting relationship with this family. Honestly, I still don’t understand it. I mean, I can kind of get it with Abraham, but Jacob? I just don’t get it. What was it about him that made you want to make a covenant with him?

But then that’s not really my business, is it? I’m almost like the older son in the Prodigal Son story who can’t believe the father is giving mercy to his little brother. In this case, I’m questioning both your goodness and your plan. As if I could know. As if I should know. I can almost hear your words from Job 38 coming to me instead of Job:

2 “Who is this that questions my wisdom
    with such ignorant words?
3 Brace yourself like a man,
    because I have some questions for you,
    and you must answer them.

4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
    Tell me, if you know so much.
5 Who determined its dimensions
    and stretched out the surveying line?
6 What supports its foundations,
    and who laid its cornerstone
7 as the morning stars sang together
    and all the angels shouted for joy?

8 “Who kept the sea inside its boundaries
    as it burst from the womb,
9 and as I clothed it with clouds
    and wrapped it in thick darkness?
10 For I locked it behind barred gates,
    limiting its shores.
11 I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come.
    Here your proud waves must stop!’

12 “Have you ever commanded the morning to appear
    and caused the dawn to rise in the east?
13 Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth,
    to bring an end to the night’s wickedness?
14 As the light approaches,
    the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal;
    it is robed in brilliant colors.
15 The light disturbs the wicked
    and stops the arm that is raised in violence.

16 “Have you explored the springs from which the seas come?
    Have you explored their depths?
17 Do you know where the gates of death are located?
    Have you seen the gates of utter gloom?
18 Do you realize the extent of the earth?
    Tell me about it if you know!

19 “Where does light come from,
    and where does darkness go?
20 Can you take each to its home?
    Do you know how to get there?
21 But of course you know all this!
For you were born before it was all created,
    and you are so very experienced!

22 “Have you visited the storehouses of the snow
    or seen the storehouses of hail?
23 (I have reserved them as weapons for the time of trouble,
    for the day of battle and war.)
24 Where is the path to the source of light?
    Where is the home of the east wind?

25 “Who created a channel for the torrents of rain?
    Who laid out the path for the lightning?
26 Who makes the rain fall on barren land,
    in a desert where no one lives?
27 Who sends rain to satisfy the parched ground
    and make the tender grass spring up?

28 “Does the rain have a father?
    Who gives birth to the dew?
29 Who is the mother of the ice?
    Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens?
30 For the water turns to ice as hard as rock,
    and the surface of the water freezes.

31 “Can you direct the movement of the stars—
    binding the cluster of the Pleiades
    or loosening the cords of Orion?
32 Can you direct the constellations through the seasons
    or guide the Bear with her cubs across the heavens?
33 Do you know the laws of the universe?
    Can you use them to regulate the earth?

34 “Can you shout to the clouds
    and make it rain?
35 Can you make lightning appear
    and cause it to strike as you direct?
36 Who gives intuition to the heart
    and instinct to the mind?
37 Who is wise enough to count all the clouds?
    Who can tilt the water jars of heaven
38 when the parched ground is dry
    and the soil has hardened into clods?

39 “Can you stalk prey for a lioness
    and satisfy the young lions’ appetites
40 as they lie in their dens
    or crouch in the thicket?
41 Who provides food for the ravens
    when their young cry out to God
    and wander about in hunger?

And that’s just chapter 38. I think you go on for three more chapters. Yeah, that’s me you’re talking to alright. I’m an impertinent mess.

Father, I’ll be your child. I’ll let you be my God. You make a covenant with whomever you see fit, be it today, tomorrow, or even yesterday. I know you’re probably saying (sarcastically), “Why thank you. That is so kind of you to allow!” I’ll worry about myself and how I’m doing with worshipping you and then loving others. I’ll let you take care of the rest.

I pray all of this in Jesus’s name,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 26, 2026 in Genesis

 

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1 John 1:8-10

25 Mar

8 If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.

1 John 1:8-10

Dear God, I just realized I have a funeral to attend today and I haven’t prayed for the widower who lost his wife. I’m sure they were married over 60 years since she was 89. I also know she loved and he loves you. And they always seemed to love each other. He has to be in so much pain right now, and I’ve just kind of overlooked it. I’m sorry for that insensitivity. I’m even dressed for the funeral right now, but I’m just now thinking to pray for this man. For his comfort. For his peace. That your Holy Spirit will attend to him. Be glorious and somehow transcend his situation. Not that he won’t mourn. Of course he will. He needs to. But that he will simply be comforted in this loss. Help him to feel your love and the love of his family.

I’m always amazed at people who are better at intercessory prayer than I am. Not that they’re better at it than me. I mean, I’m lousy at it. But the people who are good at it amaze me. I have some life situations that are painful, and I have a couple of people who tell me they pray for those situations every day. Really? People have me and my concerns on a prayer list every day? That’s amazing!

I was talking with a man last night who is curious about you. He wants to know more. Another man and I talked to him about you. Explained a little. Gave him some information. We tried not to be threatening or condescending, but to simply open you up to him and offer you to him. I think he’s on a path to you now. I want to pray for him. Don’t let his heart be the path. Don’t let it be the rock. Don’t let it be the soil with thorns. Help the seeds you planted last night to find good soil, come into his life to transform him, and then transform the world through him. As it relates to this passage, help him to simply repent, accept your love and forgiveness, and then follow you. Show me and others around him how to help him do it.

Father, there’s so much I still have to learn. So much I still do so poorly. I am sorry. I repent before you too. I know I have sin. I am not calling you a liar. You know my sin, even better than I do. I offer you my repentance, my humility before you and others, and my sincere effort to give you all the glory in my life.

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

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 25, 2026 in 1 John

 

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John 8:1-11

23 Mar

Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.

“Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”

They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger.

They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.

When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”

“No, Lord,” she said.And Jesus said,

“Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”
John 8:1-11

Dear God, when the thought occurred to me a year or two ago that this woman’s fate of potentially being stoned could have been Jesus’s mother’s fate with him had Joseph not acted the way he did, it gave me a whole new perspective on Jesus’s emotions in this story. Now, this woman was apparently guilty of things Mary wasn’t, but still. His mom could have been disgraced and stoned falsely. The Old Testament reading today was from the parts of Daniel that are in the Catholic Bible but not in the Protestant one. Susanna was falsely accused and almost killed until Daniel intervened. Mary could have been falsely accused, but Joseph took responsibility in the world’s eyes. But this woman. This woman actually needed the forgiveness and mercy Jesus gave her that day.

I wonder why Jesus did it. Would he have intervened if he just heard about them stoning her and they hadn’t brought her to him to test him? How lucky is she that they wanted to test Jesus with her? Did Jesus forgive her because he was proving a point to the Pharisees, or was she pitiful, looking for mercy, and he gave it to her?

Father, first, I need your mercy. I have sinned. In my thoughts and in my words. In what I have done, and what I have failed to do. Through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. There for I ask you to forgive me. I ask for all the angels and the saints to pray for me. And help me to be the forgiveness of Jesus to others.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 23, 2026 in John

 

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Nicodemus: John 7:40-52, John 3:1-9, John 19:38-42

21 Mar

40 When the crowds heard him say this, some of them declared, “Surely this man is the Prophet we’ve been expecting.” 41 Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others said, “But he can’t be! Will the Messiah come from Galilee? 42 For the Scriptures clearly state that the Messiah will be born of the royal line of David, in Bethlehem, the village where King David was born.” 43 So the crowd was divided about him. 44 Some even wanted him arrested, but no one laid a hand on him.

45 When the Temple guards returned without having arrested Jesus, the leading priests and Pharisees demanded, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”

46 “We have never heard anyone speak like this!” the guards responded.

47 “Have you been led astray, too?” the Pharisees mocked. 48 “Is there a single one of us rulers or Pharisees who believes in him? 49 This foolish crowd follows him, but they are ignorant of the law. God’s curse is on them!”

50 Then Nicodemus, the leader who had met with Jesus earlier, spoke up. 51 “Is it legal to convict a man before he is given a hearing?” he asked.

52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Search the Scriptures and see for yourself—no prophet ever comes from Galilee!”

John 7:40-52

Dear God, I am so glad you introduced me to Nicodemus, the born again Pharisee. I say born again because he’s the one who asked Jesus back in chapter 3 about being born again. Given his actions in the rest of John’s telling of the Gospel, I am assuming that he decided to believe in Jesus and be born again.

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.

John 3:1-9

Then in John gives us the most important information we need to know about Nicodemus in chapter 19:

38 Afterward Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus (because he feared the Jewish leaders), asked Pilate for permission to take down Jesus’ body. When Pilate gave permission, Joseph came and took the body away. 39 With him came Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus at night. He brought about seventy-five pounds of perfumed ointment made from myrrh and aloes. 40 Following Jewish burial custom, they wrapped Jesus’ body with the spices in long sheets of linen cloth. 41 The place of crucifixion was near a garden, where there was a new tomb, never used before. 42 And so, because it was the day of preparation for the Jewish Passover and since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

John 19:38-42

[Okay, I have to interrupt this prayer to thank you for what you just gave me through my wife. She came in and told me about a beautiful dream she had last night. It brought good tears to my eyes. They are also tears that reveal the deep pain I have. But it was a good thing. It blessed and comforted me, somewhat. Thank you.]

What I like most about Nicodemus is that he got braver and braver in his belief in Jesus. It starts with him coming to Jesus at night to test the waters. His first words to Jesus are that he believes he’s from God even though he still comes at night so no one will see. I’ve heard it said that it’s hard to get a man to change his mind when his income depends upon him not changing it. Nicodemus was willing to change his mind and risk his income. Because the next story we get is him quasi-defending Jesus in chapter 7, saying he should at least get a chance to defend himself. That was a risk, and he saw how fast they would turn on him: “Are you from Galilee, too?” And finally, when all was lost at the crucifixion and Jesus is dead, it was at that point that he laid it all out there and joined Joseph in caring for Jesus’s dead body. I find this story remarkable because I am guessing it was his righteous anger at what had just happened that caused him to step out because in that moment it looked like Jesus was gone and it had all been for nothing. But I love this guy because it was at that moment that he decided to sacrifice everything for his love for Jesus.

And why do we have these stories. Two out of the three of them only Nicodemus himself could tell. John wasn’t there when he came to Jesus at night. John wasn’t there when he defended Jesus in chapter 7. And John was the only one of the disciples who was there at the crucifixion (that we know of). I think Nicodemus and John became friends and Nicodemus joined The Way after the resurrection. How could he not have?

Father, what am I willing to sacrifice that will cost me everything? Is there anything I need to sacrifice for? Give me eyes to see and ears to hear. Help me to see what you are calling me to do today. Where you are calling me to step out of the shadows and risk it all for you and your calling. I need a discerning heart that can see beyond what is in front of me. I guess I’ll got the Serenity Prayer: 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. I’ll just add: And help me to see what you can do through me that is beyond what I think I can do myself.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 21, 2026 in John

 

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John 7:1-30

20 Mar

7 After this, Jesus traveled around Galilee. He wanted to stay out of Judea, where the Jewish leaders were plotting his death. 2 But soon it was time for the Jewish Festival of Shelters, 3 and Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, where your followers can see your miracles! 4 You can’t become famous if you hide like this! If you can do such wonderful things, show yourself to the world!” 5 For even his brothers didn’t believe in him.

6 Jesus replied, “Now is not the right time for me to go, but you can go anytime. 7 The world can’t hate you, but it does hate me because I accuse it of doing evil. 8 You go on. I’m not going to this festival, because my time has not yet come.” 9 After saying these things, Jesus remained in Galilee.

10 But after his brothers left for the festival, Jesus also went, though secretly, staying out of public view. 11 The Jewish leaders tried to find him at the festival and kept asking if anyone had seen him. 12 There was a lot of grumbling about him among the crowds. Some argued, “He’s a good man,” but others said, “He’s nothing but a fraud who deceives the people.” 13 But no one had the courage to speak favorably about him in public, for they were afraid of getting in trouble with the Jewish leaders.

14 Then, midway through the festival, Jesus went up to the Temple and began to teach. 15 The people were surprised when they heard him. “How does he know so much when he hasn’t been trained?” they asked.

16 So Jesus told them, “My message is not my own; it comes from God who sent me. 17 Anyone who wants to do the will of God will know whether my teaching is from God or is merely my own. 18 Those who speak for themselves want glory only for themselves, but a person who seeks to honor the one who sent him speaks truth, not lies. 19 Moses gave you the law, but none of you obeys it! In fact, you are trying to kill me.”

20 The crowd replied, “You’re demon possessed! Who’s trying to kill you?”

21 Jesus replied, “I did one miracle on the Sabbath, and you were amazed. 22 But you work on the Sabbath, too, when you obey Moses’ law of circumcision. (Actually, this tradition of circumcision began with the patriarchs, long before the law of Moses.) 23 For if the correct time for circumcising your son falls on the Sabbath, you go ahead and do it so as not to break the law of Moses. So why should you be angry with me for healing a man on the Sabbath? 24 Look beneath the surface so you can judge correctly.”

25 Some of the people who lived in Jerusalem started to ask each other, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? 26 But here he is, speaking in public, and they say nothing to him. Could our leaders possibly believe that he is the Messiah? 27 But how could he be? For we know where this man comes from. When the Messiah comes, he will simply appear; no one will know where he comes from.”

28 While Jesus was teaching in the Temple, he called out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I come from. But I’m not here on my own. The one who sent me is true, and you don’t know him. 29 But I know him because I come from him, and he sent me to you.” 30 Then the leaders tried to arrest him; but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come.

John 7:1-30

Dear God, reading this story, it feels like Jesus was trying to feel out the situation and discern what you wanted him to do. Should he go or not go. Should he expose himself to premature death or should he shrewdly avoid Judea. First he sneaked down to Jerusalem for the festival, but then he seemingly spontaneously stepped out of the shadows and started publicly teaching (verse 14). Was that his plan all along or did he get assurance from you that it was the right thing to do.

Then there’s the vagueness of verse 30. The idea that the leaders tried to arrest him but weren’t able to implies that you were supernaturally working to protect his physical life for the time being. There would be a time for his death, but this wasn’t it.

Now, in the middle of all of this is Jesus challenging people on their hypocrisy. In this case, it’s over their accusing him of working (healing) on the Sabbath. This is the part I feel like I need to think about. Where can I be accused of hypocrisy? Are there areas where I judge others and then make the same exact mistake? Or do I condemn people who are actually doing good? I think it’s a self-assessment that all of us need to make. How am I the hypocrite, or how am I misjudging someone’s actions as bad when they are really good?

Father, give me self-awareness today. I have a meeting this morning that I’m not enthusiastic about attending. As I sit here now, I feel a conviction that I have the wrong attitude about it. Thank you for that conviction. I’m sorry. I’ve felt a disdain for it that I feel regret now. So help me to walk into it with a willing, loving spirit. Give me wisdom and shrewdness. Use it all for your glory.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 20, 2026 in John

 

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“‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus”

19 Mar

“‘Tis so Sweet to Trust in Jesus”

1 ‘Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
and to take him at his word;
just to rest upon his promise,
and to know, “Thus saith the Lord.”

Refrain:
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him!
How I’ve proved him o’er and o’er!
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust him more!

2 O how sweet to trust in Jesus,
just to trust his cleansing blood;
and in simple faith to plunge me
neath the healing, cleansing flood! [Refrain]

3 Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
just from sin and self to cease;
just from Jesus simply taking
life and rest, and joy and peace. [Refrain]

United Methodist Hymnal, 1989

Written by Louisa M.R. Stead

Dear God, I heard my wife playing something on the piano this morning as she prepared to sing at church in about an hour. I don’t think she played this song, but whatever she was playing put the earworm of this song in my head. I just found myself singing it to myself as I walked in here to pray. Thank you for that. Thank you for giving the world this song through Louisa M.R. Stead and teaching it to me so that it is something that lives with me.

So I figured I would just sit with the lyrics this morning and try to bask in them a little. I could use a little comfort. I could use a little direction. I could use your presence. I could use some rejecting of idols and putting trust in you.

1 ‘Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
and to take him at his word;
just to rest upon his promise,
and to know, “Thus saith the Lord.”

Sometimes I try to put myself in the mindset of the person writing this at the time. What were they experiencing from an emotional or even worshipful standpoint as they put down these words. Was their strife in their life? Was Mrs. Stead trying to just break it all down and simplify her faith into trusting Jesus and his words. Resting on the promises you gave us that are beyond this life. Turning loose of what is here in our physical world to embrace the promises you give us for eternity. Those are good reminders for me too.

2 O how sweet to trust in Jesus,
just to trust his cleansing blood;
and in simple faith to plunge me
neath the healing, cleansing flood!

Oh, to be clean. Again, I forget sometimes just how much you’ve forgiven me for. Just how much you’ve done for me. When I am unforgiving it can usually be remedied by remembering how much you’ve forgiven me through Jesus’s life, brutal death, and resurrection. I’ve been plunged beneath the healing, cleansing flood!

3 Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
just from sin and self to cease;
just from Jesus simply taking
life and rest, and joy and peace.

I like the words that I will stop living in my sin and selfishness. I lay it all down and I embrace life, rest, joy, and peace.

Refrain:
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him!
How I’ve proved him o’er and o’er!
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust him more!

I pray that this can be my song. I pray that when people see me they will see that I am nobody without you and that they will want some of that for themselves. I have proved you o’er and o’er. Please give me your grace and help me to trust you even more today.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 19, 2026 in Hymns and Songs

 

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Luke 22:39-46

18 Mar

39 Then, accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. 40 There he told them, “Pray that you will not give in to temptation.”

41 He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” 43 Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. 44 He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.

45 At last he stood up again and returned to the disciples, only to find them asleep, exhausted from grief. 46 “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation.”

Luke 22:39-46

Dear God, while I was preparing last night for my talk this evening about prayers of desperation, I was looking at this passage and something occurred to me: You were teaching us to pray. Yes, you taught us “the Lord’s Prayer,” but this was unique. This was how to pray in desperation. You modeled it. And you did it with the lesson it took Job until the end of the book to learn with the words, “Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” I think probably the best part of suffering is if it can develop this spirit and attitude in us. If I can get myself to where I want your will above my own.

I have a friend who came to me yesterday and told me about a troubling medical diagnosis. I don’t know what his treatments will do to him, but I’m concerned. What really concerns me is that he is his wife’s caregiver since she has a myriad of health issues. I know what I want for them and him. I selfishly want both of them to live pain-free and live forever. But of course that can’t happen. What is your will for them? Oh, Father, please be very present to them and give them a peaceful and straight path forward.

I was talking with another friend yesterday who has struggles with her family, and I mean all of her family. There are struggles with the generation before her, her own generation, and then the next generation. But she is faithful and loving to all of the generations around her. Comfort and guide her and her husband as they serve and pray. Help them to want what you want and to know what you want.

There are so many to pray for, but I want to mention one more specifically. A really good man and his girlfriend lost their home to a fire three nights ago. They lost it all, and because it was an old mobile home there was no insurance on it. He is now trying to figure out how to make sense of all of this. He is mourning. He is comforting his girlfriend. He is searching. I happen to know he has done a lot to help others. Help him, now, please, Father. Show me what I can do.

Father, thank you for teaching us to pray. I offer all of me to you. I want your will. Let it be done.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 18, 2026 in Luke

 

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John 5

17 Mar

5 Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. 2 Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. 3 Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. 5 One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”

7 “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”

8 Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”

9 Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, 10 so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!”

11 But he replied, “The man who healed me told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

12 “Who said such a thing as that?” they demanded.

13 The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. 14 But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.” 15 Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him.

16 So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. 17 But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.” 18 So the Jewish leaders tried all the harder to find a way to kill him. For he not only broke the Sabbath, he called God his Father, thereby making himself equal with God.

19 So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing. In fact, the Father will show him how to do even greater works than healing this man. Then you will truly be astonished. 21 For just as the Father gives life to those he raises from the dead, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants. 22 In addition, the Father judges no one. Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge, 23 so that everyone will honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son is certainly not honoring the Father who sent him.

24 “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.

25 “And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it’s here now, when the dead will hear my voice—the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live. 26 The Father has life in himself, and he has granted that same life-giving power to his Son. 27 And he has given him authority to judge everyone because he is the Son of Man. 28 Don’t be so surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God’s Son, 29 and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to experience eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to experience judgment. 30 I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will.

31 “If I were to testify on my own behalf, my testimony would not be valid. 32 But someone else is also testifying about me, and I assure you that everything he says about me is true. 33 In fact, you sent investigators to listen to John the Baptist, and his testimony about me was true. 34 Of course, I have no need of human witnesses, but I say these things so you might be saved. 35 John was like a burning and shining lamp, and you were excited for a while about his message. 36 But I have a greater witness than John—my teachings and my miracles. The Father gave me these works to accomplish, and they prove that he sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has testified about me himself. You have never heard his voice or seen him face to face, 38 and you do not have his message in your hearts, because you do not believe me—the one he sent to you.

39 “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! 40 Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.

41 “Your approval means nothing to me, 42 because I know you don’t have God’s love within you. 43 For I have come to you in my Father’s name, and you have rejected me. Yet if others come in their own name, you gladly welcome them. 44 No wonder you can’t believe! For you gladly honor each other, but you don’t care about the honor that comes from the one who alone is God.

45 “Yet it isn’t I who will accuse you before the Father. Moses will accuse you! Yes, Moses, in whom you put your hopes. 46 If you really believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. 47 But since you don’t believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”

John 5

Dear God, the way John tells the story of Jesus, Jesus is much more provocative in his early days of ministry than in the other gospels. In the other gospels he heals people but tells them to be quiet about it. But in John’s gospel, after the wedding at Cana, he’s turning over tables in the temple, explaining himself to Nicodemus, baptizing people, and healing very publicly. Then, here in chapter 5, he’s explaining himself as your son very explicitly. I think John has a fieriness to him, and he liked the part of Jesus that was a little fiery.

I don’t know that I have much more to really say about this story, but what’s on my heart right now is praying for my friends who are leaving on a mission trip this morning to Mexico. It’s going to be a long day of travel. I pray for traveling mercy for them. That you will protect over them as they go. That you will guide their conversations in the van. That you will be among them. That they will feel your love and provision. That you will prepare them to meet the people they are going to see and love them through the people as you love the people through them. Provide for their every need. Give them your joy.

I pray for a family member who is injured. I pray that you would make this pain count in her life. Of course, I pray for healing, but I pray for the healing in her mind and soul as well. I have another relative going through a very specific struggle. I pray for her and everyone involved in her situation. Love them and teach them. Be gentle, but don’t let this opportunity be wasted. Give them a sense of your will for them. Be glorified in their eyes and through their lives. Do something powerful.

There are others on my heart, Father. From my wife and children (and their significant others), to my parents and other family, to my coworkers and friends, to my community, to my nation, to the other nations our nation in impacting right now, to the world. Please be in charge of all of this. Please show me what to do in every situation today. Give me eyes to see and ears to hear.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 17, 2026 in John

 

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“How Long, O Lord” by Daniel Schutte

16 Mar 
"How Long, O Lord" by Daniel Schutte
Based on Psalm 13, 22
Refrain: 
How long, O lord, will you hide your face
How long will the heavens be silent?
How long, O Lord, must we call out your name
'til you hear us and reach out your hand?

Verse 1:
Behold your children, forgotten, foresaken
Lost in our shame and our sadness.
Our hearts are barren, our spirits are broken.
Where is the love that you promised?

Verse 2:
Our hope is shaken, poured out like water
Dried like the sand in the desert.
Our hearts are hungry, famished and frightened
Where is the love that your promised?

Verse 3
By day we crow out in hunger and heartache
Hoping that heaven will hear us.
At night, in darkness, our spirits are restless
Waiting the dawn of your promise.

Verse 4
For you our parents had gambled their future
Trusting their fate to your kindness
Through fire and famine seeking their homeland
Staking their lives on your promise.

Dear God, in a couple of nights I’m going to be talking about prayers of desperation for a Lenten service. I picked Psalm 42, Elijah in the cave, and Jesus in the garden as the passages to be read.

We just don’t talk about praying through our pain enough. Modern songs are mostly about overcoming and victory in you, but we forget that sometimes we just need to lament. We feel weak. We feel betrayed. Maybe even abandoned. Maybe we can recognize that it was our sin that lead us away from you and to our current situation. But maybe it’s just life and neither the blind man nor his parents sinned to cause this situation (John 9). Maybe it is here so that your glory might ultimately shine. And it might be years before the glory shines.

The other thing for me to remember is that the lament keeps me on my knees. Even now, as I type this, I stopped typing for a few moments while I thought about sorrows in my life. Pain that I feel. And I see no end in sight. But that pain has become such a part of me now through the last several years that I’m not sure what my life would look like without it. Would I be who I am without that pain. Who would I be?

Father, I need to start putting together an outline of my talk on Wednesday. I think a piece of what I’m going to say is that we would not be who we are without the pain in our lives. For David, the author of the psalms that inspired this hymn, he wouldn’t have been who he became without the years of running from Saul. Elijah wouldn’t have been who he was without having to run from Ahab and Jezebel. Jesus’s sacrifice wouldn’t have been legitimate if he hadn’t shown us his pain in the garden. This life shapes us. Molds us. And if we allow you to use it to form us in the right way, then you have an opportunity to fill us. So form me into your vessel and then fill me with your Holy Spirit.

It’s with that Holy Spirit and through Jesus I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 16, 2026 in Hymns and Songs

 

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