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Jonah 3

07 Oct

3 Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time: 2 “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.”

3 This time Jonah obeyed the Lord’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all. 4 On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” 5 The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow.

6 When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes. 7 Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city:

“No one, not even the animals from your herds and flocks, may eat or drink anything at all. 8 People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly to God. They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence. 9 Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.”

10 When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.

Jonah 3

Dear God, this makes me think of the Prodigal Son. The Ninevites are him while he’s out living wild. Jonah’s threat of destruction is him longing for the food the pigs are eating. They are staring down the barrel of their own destruction and scared. What will they do? Will they stay there and accept the fate they brought upon themselves, or will they humble themselves and hope for mercy? Like the Prodigal Son, they decided to simply hope for mercy.

I just peeked ahead and saw that tomorrow we will get Jonah’s reaction, and I imagine I’ll think of him as the Prodigal Son’s older brother. But that’s for tomorrow. For today, I want to kind of sit here for a minute and think about humility and what it takes to get there. It’s usually rock bottom. It’s the thing I pray for when I or others experience great pain–make the pain count. Don’t let it be wasted. I’m thinking about a man someone called me about last week. He’s addicted to alcohol, but he’s not 1.) ready to stop and 2.) acknowledge you or accept any process that leans into you for healing. He’s not there yet. But the friend and I talked, and you are using this to bring his wife back to you. You’re making the pain count for her.

Father, help me to understand where I am still arrogant, and help me to humble myself so that I might be spared hitting bottom. Help me to humbly love. Help me to not judge, but simply love. I don’t want to be so arrogant that I bring on my own destruction. I don’t want to be so judgmental and vindictive that I don’t want to help and love the repentant person who is coming to you. I want to be what Jonah and the older brother should have been, not what they are. And I don’t want to be the Ninevites or the Prodigal Son either. I want to be completely humble and laid out before you. I want to be used by you however you see fit.

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

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 7, 2025 in Jonah

 

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Jonah 1

06 Oct

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jonah 1

Dear God, I want to sit with the men on the boat for a minute. That’s what struck, I think for the first time, as I read this story this morning. Not only did you use this to reach the people of Nineveh, but you also reached the sailors on this ship. They started addressing their problem by pleading to their gods for help, and nothing worked. Their idols weren’t behind the storm, and they couldn’t stop it. But Jonah, who was sleeping peacefully and probably hoping he would die rather than go to the people he hated and offer them your forgiveness, knew he was the one endangering everyone. It’s interesting that he had them throw him overboard instead of jumping over himself.

As my wife and I were just praying, I was thinking about how you used this experience to show these men your power and glory. “16 The sailors were awestruck by the Lord’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him.” I was thinking about the trials going on in some friends’ and family’s lives. I was thinking about how you could bring yourself glory in their lives through the pain of their experiences. How you can bring yourself glory through the pain of my experience.

Father, you see our reality in a whole different way than I do. You used Jonah’s rebellion to minister to and witness to these sailors. If Jonah had obeyed you immediately they would never have known you. And I don’t know how those dominoes knocked over other dominos for your glory’s sake. But I know that I want to carry you into my day today. I want to be a source of love to all who see and encounter me. Even in my mistakes, I want you to be glorified. I love you, Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit, my Triune God.

I pray this prayer in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 6, 2025 in Jonah

 

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Habakkuk

05 Oct

1 This is the message that the prophet Habakkuk received in a vision.

Habakkuk’s Complaint

2 How long, O Lord, must I call for help?
    But you do not listen!
“Violence is everywhere!” I cry,
    but you do not come to save.
3 Must I forever see these evil deeds?
    Why must I watch all this misery?
Wherever I look,
    I see destruction and violence.
I am surrounded by people
    who love to argue and fight.
4 The law has become paralyzed,
    and there is no justice in the courts.
The wicked far outnumber the righteous,
    so that justice has become perverted.

The Lord’s Reply

5 The Lord replied,

“Look around at the nations;
    look and be amazed![a]
For I am doing something in your own day,
    something you wouldn’t believe
    even if someone told you about it.
6 I am raising up the Babylonians,[b]
    a cruel and violent people.
They will march across the world
    and conquer other lands.
7 They are notorious for their cruelty
    and do whatever they like.
8 Their horses are swifter than cheetahs[c]
    and fiercer than wolves at dusk.
Their charioteers charge from far away.
    Like eagles, they swoop down to devour their prey.

9 “On they come, all bent on violence.
    Their hordes advance like a desert wind,
    sweeping captives ahead of them like sand.
10 They scoff at kings and princes
    and scorn all their fortresses.
They simply pile ramps of earth
    against their walls and capture them!
11 They sweep past like the wind
    and are gone.
But they are deeply guilty,
    for their own strength is their god.”

Habakkuk’s Second Complaint

12 O Lord my God, my Holy One, you who are eternal—
    surely you do not plan to wipe us out?
O Lord, our Rock, you have sent these Babylonians to correct us,
    to punish us for our many sins.
13 But you are pure and cannot stand the sight of evil.
    Will you wink at their treachery?
Should you be silent while the wicked
    swallow up people more righteous than they?

14 Are we only fish to be caught and killed?
    Are we only sea creatures that have no leader?
15 Must we be strung up on their hooks
    and caught in their nets while they rejoice and celebrate?
16 Then they will worship their nets
    and burn incense in front of them.
“These nets are the gods who have made us rich!”
    they will claim.
17 Will you let them get away with this forever?
    Will they succeed forever in their heartless conquests?

2 I will climb up to my watchtower
    and stand at my guardpost.
There I will wait to see what the Lord says
    and how he[a] will answer my complaint.

The Lord’s Second Reply

2 Then the Lord said to me,

“Write my answer plainly on tablets,
    so that a runner can carry the correct message to others.
3 This vision is for a future time.
    It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled.
If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently,
    for it will surely take place.
    It will not be delayed.

4 “Look at the proud!
    They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked.
    But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God.[b]
5 Wealth[c] is treacherous,
    and the arrogant are never at rest.
They open their mouths as wide as the grave,[d]
    and like death, they are never satisfied.
In their greed they have gathered up many nations
    and swallowed many peoples.

6 “But soon their captives will taunt them.
    They will mock them, saying,
‘What sorrow awaits you thieves!
    Now you will get what you deserve!
You’ve become rich by extortion,
    but how much longer can this go on?’
7 Suddenly, your debtors will take action.
    They will turn on you and take all you have,
    while you stand trembling and helpless.
8 Because you have plundered many nations,
    now all the survivors will plunder you.
You committed murder throughout the countryside
    and filled the towns with violence.

9 “What sorrow awaits you who build big houses
    with money gained dishonestly!
You believe your wealth will buy security,
    putting your family’s nest beyond the reach of danger.
10 But by the murders you committed,
    you have shamed your name and forfeited your lives.
11 The very stones in the walls cry out against you,
    and the beams in the ceilings echo the complaint.

12 “What sorrow awaits you who build cities
    with money gained through murder and corruption!
13 Has not the Lord of Heaven’s Armies promised
    that the wealth of nations will turn to ashes?
They work so hard,
    but all in vain!
14 For as the waters fill the sea,
    the earth will be filled with an awareness
    of the glory of the Lord.

15 “What sorrow awaits you who make your neighbors drunk!
    You force your cup on them
    so you can gloat over their shameful nakedness.
16 But soon it will be your turn to be disgraced.
    Come, drink and be exposed![e]
Drink from the cup of the Lord’s judgment,
    and all your glory will be turned to shame.
17 You cut down the forests of Lebanon.
    Now you will be cut down.
You destroyed the wild animals,
    so now their terror will be yours.
You committed murder throughout the countryside
    and filled the towns with violence.

18 “What good is an idol carved by man,
    or a cast image that deceives you?
How foolish to trust in your own creation—
    a god that can’t even talk!
19 What sorrow awaits you who say to wooden idols,
    ‘Wake up and save us!’
To speechless stone images you say,
    ‘Rise up and teach us!’
    Can an idol tell you what to do?
They may be overlaid with gold and silver,
    but they are lifeless inside.
20 But the Lord is in his holy Temple.
    Let all the earth be silent before him.”

Habakkuk’s Prayer

3 This prayer was sung by the prophet Habakkuk[a]:

2 I have heard all about you, Lord.
    I am filled with awe by your amazing works.
In this time of our deep need,
    help us again as you did in years gone by.
And in your anger,
    remember your mercy.

3 I see God moving across the deserts from Edom,[b]
    the Holy One coming from Mount Paran.[c]
His brilliant splendor fills the heavens,
    and the earth is filled with his praise.
4 His coming is as brilliant as the sunrise.
    Rays of light flash from his hands,
    where his awesome power is hidden.
5 Pestilence marches before him;
    plague follows close behind.
6 When he stops, the earth shakes.
    When he looks, the nations tremble.
He shatters the everlasting mountains
    and levels the eternal hills.
    He is the Eternal One![d]
7 I see the people of Cushan in distress,
    and the nation of Midian trembling in terror.

8 Was it in anger, Lord, that you struck the rivers
    and parted the sea?
Were you displeased with them?
    No, you were sending your chariots of salvation!
9 You brandished your bow
    and your quiver of arrows.
    You split open the earth with flowing rivers.
10 The mountains watched and trembled.
    Onward swept the raging waters.
The mighty deep cried out,
    lifting its hands in submission.
11 The sun and moon stood still in the sky
    as your brilliant arrows flew
    and your glittering spear flashed.

12 You marched across the land in anger
    and trampled the nations in your fury.
13 You went out to rescue your chosen people,
    to save your anointed ones.
You crushed the heads of the wicked
    and stripped their bones from head to toe.
14 With his own weapons,
    you destroyed the chief of those
who rushed out like a whirlwind,
    thinking Israel would be easy prey.
15 You trampled the sea with your horses,
    and the mighty waters piled high.

16 I trembled inside when I heard this;
    my lips quivered with fear.
My legs gave way beneath me,[e]
    and I shook in terror.
I will wait quietly for the coming day
    when disaster will strike the people who invade us.
17 Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,
    and there are no grapes on the vines;
even though the olive crop fails,
    and the fields lie empty and barren;
even though the flocks die in the fields,
    and the cattle barns are empty,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord!
    I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength!
    He makes me as surefooted as a deer,[f]
    able to tread upon the heights.

(For the choir director: This prayer is to be accompanied by stringed instruments.)

Habakkuk

Dear God, I don’t know that I’ve ever just sat down and read this short book before, but I really enjoyed it. Select verses are the Old Testament reading for some churches today, but those verses needed context. As I read this, I just wanted to read more. This is just a conversation between one of your devout followers and you. It almost felt like one of my prayer journals except Habakkuk was getting direct quotes from you while I feel like you just kind of steer me and guide me in these times.

As I was reading, I wondered how I would sum all of this up. Then I went back and read my Bible’s introduction to the book. It did a nice job, and I want to quote it here:

If God exists, why do the wicked so often seem to prosper? This is a question commonly asked by those who are sensitive to social justice. The prophet Habakkuk was quite sympathetic to such concerns. Habakkuk preached during the last days of Judah before its fall to Babylon in 586 B.C. He foresaw the impending doom and was troubled by two things: why God allowed the e=people of Judah to sin, and how God could use a sinful nation like Babylon to punish Judah. Desperate for answers, Habakkuk boldly and confidently took his complaints directly to God. God answered Habakkuk’s questions, asserting that he would judge all people but also that righteousness would ultimately prevail. It might not happen immediately, but it would happen. This assurance, along with his glimpse of God’s sovereign rule, gave Habakkuk the courage and hope to trust in God’s plans regarding the dark days ahead.

While I was typing this out, I thought of friends who are concerned, as I am, about how things are going in our country. Interestingly, I can say this for both my conservative friends and my liberal friends. My conservative friends are grasping at power and trying to willfully force the culture to bend to its will. My liberal friends see this grasping at power as the real threat. I think both sides (and I) could learn from Habakkuk here. At the end of the day, you are going to do what you are going to do. The corrupt might get their time in the sun, but it will, indeed, set on them. My job is to keep worshipping you and loving you. My job is to echo chapter 3. He worships you well. Then he agrees to wait. And his waiting will not end during his earthly life. He will die waiting. And that’s okay.

Father, my job is to worship you, love others, and wait. That’s it. That’s all. I don’t have to fix anyone else. I just need to worship you, love them, and offer your love for them to them. If they are willing to walk through the narrow gate, great. I’m there to help them. If they won’t, then it’s on to the next person. Oh, Father, thank you for releasing me from the task of fixing the world. Thank you for releasing me from the task of fixing my neighbor. You are my God. I love you. Your will is all I desire.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 5, 2025 in Habakkuk

 

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Luke 10:17-24

04 Oct

17 When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, “Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!”

18 “Yes,” he told them, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning! 19 Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. 20 But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.”

21 At that same time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and he said, “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.

22 “My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

23 Then when they were alone, he turned to the disciples and said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you have seen. 24 I tell you, many prophets and kings longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it.”

Luke 10:17-24

Dear God, it’s fun to see Jesus excited about something. It seems like a lot of the stories are about him teaching or being frustrated with people for not getting it. But, in this moment, he just seems so delighted. Delighted with them. Delighted about them with you. I had a hard week at work. And I know Jesus had much harder weeks while he was here on earth. But it’s fun to see that delight in him in this moment. He seems encouraged and proud of these people he loves. I don’t know that I’ve ever noticed this before, but it’s certainly nice to see.

Now, what is he delighted about? That you are working through their humility and submission to you. They aren’t the “wise and clever,” but they are childlike. They are just doing what they are told and letting the chips fall where they may from there. Jesus told them to go out, visit the towns, heal and cast out demons, and then come back. They obeyed, and look at them now. It worked and they are worshipping you throughout the whole thing.

Father, help me to simply obey you. Help me get out of my head and stop trying to be “wise and clever.” Just help me to be an obedient child. If you give me an assignment, help me to not worry about how the assignment makes me look or to lean on my own understanding, but to simply lean into you and do it with joy and complete obedience. I guess that might start with the Christian Men’s Life Skills class I will co-teach on Tuesday night. Help me to decrease and let you increase through me. Help me to just get up there and tell them about the God I know.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 4, 2025 in Luke

 

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Luke 10:1-12

03 Oct

10 The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit. 2 These were his instructions to them: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields. 3 Now go, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves. 4 Don’t take any money with you, nor a traveler’s bag, nor an extra pair of sandals. And don’t stop to greet anyone on the road.

5 “Whenever you enter someone’s home, first say, ‘May God’s peace be on this house.’ 6 If those who live there are peaceful, the blessing will stand; if they are not, the blessing will return to you. 7 Don’t move around from home to home. Stay in one place, eating and drinking what they provide. Don’t hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve their pay.

8 “If you enter a town and it welcomes you, eat whatever is set before you. 9 Heal the sick, and tell them, ‘The Kingdom of God is near you now.’ 10 But if a town refuses to welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ‘We wipe even the dust of your town from our feet to show that we have abandoned you to your fate. And know this—the Kingdom of God is near!’ 12 I assure you, even wicked Sodom will be better off than such a town on judgment day.

Luke 10:1-12

Dear God, the gospel reading for the day is actually verses 13-16, but I went back and read this for context. I noticed so many interesting things. One of the things I realized embarrassed me a little bit. I hope it was only something I forgot and not that I never put together when I read through Luke before.

  • Verse 1: This is a second sending out. This is the one I’m embarrassed about. You sent out the 12 at the beginning of chapter 9, and then you sent out the 72 here in chapter 10. Why did I always have these two as the same thing in my head? Oh, there’s so much I still don’t understand or realize. It’s humbling to be reminded in such a simple way how truly ignorant I am. If I’ve missed this, how much more am I missing? One more thing for verse 1 that hadn’t sunk in before. They weren’t just going out. They were going out, seemingly, to 36 (72 divided by 2) villages Jesus planned to visit, preparing the way. It doesn’t say any of them rejected them. I wonder if Jesus was doing this because of the disappointment he felt from Korazin and Bethsaida. Maybe he hoped that building some anticipation by softening up the ground first would help people prepare their hearts to repent by the time he got there. That’s just a guess.
  • Verse 2: The harvest and the workers. I’ve been thinking lately about mission work and the job of not only convincing people they need to follow you, but the difficulty in finding the people who are willing to walk through the narrow gate and then persevere down the narrow road. I know someone who wants to be a missionary to Japan. If they do it so that you can find just one specific soul to invite down that path, is it worth it? Yes, the harvest is out there, but the weeds growing up among the wheat makes it difficult to find the wheat at all. Help me to be looking for ways to find the wheat and invite it to enter through the narrow gate and then persevere.
  • Verses 3-4: Lambs among wolves. He sent them out and demanded they be vulnerable and to not do anything to make themselves invulnerable. It’s the last thing that makes it interesting. He wanted them to be wholly and completely dependent upon him/you. I have a mountain in front of me that I don’t know how to move. It doesn’t involve money or resources, but it involves just a difficult situation. I am completely flummoxed by it. I am not necessarily a lamb among wolves, but I feel like I’m supposed to be a shepherd that will guide the flock through the wolves. Help me to do this. I have nothing within myself that helps me know how to do this. I offer my ignorance and helplessness to you. Please bring a solution that will maximize your glory in all of the involved lives.
  • Verses 5-7: Your peace on a home. I hope we have that here. My wife and I, as empty-nesters, are grateful to truly enjoy each other and live peacefully together worshipping you. I’m so grateful for that. There is a home out there right now that is not peaceful. There are many homes, but I’m thinking about one right now. May you be glorified in all of this.
  • Verses 8-10: The towns and welcome or reject. I think some would look at the politically conservative area where I live and assume it is a town that would welcome you, but a city viewed as a politically liberal area would reject you. But I can’t help but wonder which of us would really accept you and reject you if you came to us today. And which camp would I be in? Am I ready to really experience you?

Father, create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me (Psalm 51–David’s repentance after impregnating Bathsheba and killing Uriah). Help me to get out of my overwhelmedness and lay it all before you. Simply lay it before you and look for you to do something amazing. In fact, I look to you to do something amazing next week. For your glory, oh Lord, and not mine. And the pain we are experiencing, please use it to heal.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 3, 2025 in Luke

 

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Psalm 19

02 Oct

Psalm 19

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

1 The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
    The skies display his craftsmanship.
2 Day after day they continue to speak;
    night after night they make him known.
3 They speak without a sound or word;
    their voice is never heard.
4 Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
    and their words to all the world.

God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.
5 It bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding.
    It rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race.
6 The sun rises at one end of the heavens
    and follows its course to the other end.
    Nothing can hide from its heat.

7 The instructions of the Lord are perfect,
    reviving the soul.
The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy,
    making wise the simple.
8 The commandments of the Lord are right,
    bringing joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are clear,
    giving insight for living.
9 Reverence for the Lord is pure,
    lasting forever.
The laws of the Lord are true;
    each one is fair.
10 They are more desirable than gold,
    even the finest gold.
They are sweeter than honey,
    even honey dripping from the comb.
11 They are a warning to your servant,
    a great reward for those who obey them.

12 How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart?
    Cleanse me from these hidden faults.
13 Keep your servant from deliberate sins!
    Don’t let them control me.
Then I will be free of guilt
    and innocent of great sin.

14 May the words of my mouth
    and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing to you,
    O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Dear God, so verses 8-11 are the psalm for the day for the Catholic church. I don’t normally pay attention to the psalm of the day too much, but they caught my eye today. Seeing the stuff about your laws I immediately wondered if they were from Psalm 119. Then I saw they were actually from Psalm 19, which David wrote.

I just stopped to read this psalm out loud, and it was, frankly, beautiful. The poetry is beautiful. The way he runs the theme “this gives this” in verses 7-11 is artful. The description of your glory through describing the audible silence of your creation in verses 1-6 moved me. And the idea of not sinning intentionally so I can have a clear heart and cleansing me of my hidden sins hit home. David had some game when it came to poetry and psalm writing. I wonder what his poetry scroll looked like. I can’t imagine how many were never published.

I guess I need to talk about this really quick. I had a dream last night about which I can’t remember the details, but I know at one point someone was trying to sell me a pill that would cause me to hate. They were literally selling hate and they told me I’d love it. Appalled, I woke up soon after that and as I thought about it I wondered if that isn’t what I’m sold by a lot of media and politicians every day. It might not be in pill form, but it’s right there. So many people want me to hate something or someone. And then they want me to stew on that hate so I will become addicted to it. And hate is addictive. It makes you feel so good and superior in the moment, but like a drug it leaves you feeling empty afterward. And you feel a little guilty about having hated, just like you feel a little guilty about having done the drug. So you go to the first thing you can think of. No, it’s not repentance and creating a clean heart with me. It’s to hate again. To stoke the fire. The fire drowns out the guilt, just like the drug does. And then the cycle repeats.

Father, I guess this does tie back to this psalm. The sins I commit intentionally and the unknown sins that are cluttering my heart must be stopped. I must love my neighbor. I must worship you. I must love my enemies. I must care as much or more about them as I do my own family and friends. I’ll confess that I am overwhelmed and tired right now. It’s been a hectic few weeks, and I don’t see a break on the horizon. Help me, Father, to get my feet under me, worship you and love others, keep sin far from me through being so busy worshipping you and loving others that I don’t have time to purposely or accidentally sin, and then accomplish exactly what you need me to accomplish. Do it all through me, but not for me. Do it for you and your glory, not mine. May I decrease and you increase.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 2, 2025 in Psalms

 

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Luke 9:57-62

01 Oct

57 As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

58 But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”

59 He said to another person, “Come, follow me.”

The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.”

60 But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead! Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.”

61 Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.”

62 But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”

Luke 9:57-62

Dear God, Luke is painting an interesting picture of Jesus. He is going out of his way to show us that Jesus wasn’t just building a movement driven by crowd size. He wasn’t looking for strength in numbers. He wasn’t looking for majority rule or power. He was seemingly trying to capture the whole heart of those who wanted to follow him. I’ll confess that I really don’t understand the last two except that maybe you knew something about their situations that seemed to make these excuses and not legitimate requests. I mean, you chastised the Pharisees at one point for keeping people from caring for their parents (Mark 7:9-13).

There were several times when it seems like you/Jesus were intentionally thinning the herd of who was following you. You were not only intentionally making the gate narrower, but you were then adding a filter to the gate to limit those who could go in. I think you were raising the standard and saying, “I want quality over quantity. I want people who are all in with me.”

Father, I am as all-in with you as I know to be. But you know my heart is heavy about some work challenges this morning. This isn’t necessarily going along with this passage, but I need your help this morning. I need you to speak to me, Holy Spirit. I need your guidance. I need your wisdom. I need to somehow maneuver through this situation in a loving, constructive way where everyone wins. But I don’t know how to do it on my own. I need you. I need divine inspiration. Oh, and let me stop and thank you for something that I think I took for granted last night. I was at an event where someone said some very nice things about me and the work that I do to a group of people, and they told me later that they just felt inspired by you to say them publicly. So maybe I should actually believe her, believe you were encouraging me last night even though I didn’t have ears to hear it, and now as I sit here and try to lean into you, you are reminding me of it and just asking me to lean into you more. So I trust you, Lord. I trust you, my Triune God. Thank you for being in my life.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 1, 2025 in Luke

 

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John 1:43-51

29 Sep

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Come, follow me.” 44 Philip was from Bethsaida, Andrew and Peter’s hometown.

45 Philip went to look for Nathanael and told him, “We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.”

46 “Nazareth!” exclaimed Nathanael. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

“Come and see for yourself,” Philip replied.

47 As they approached, Jesus said, “Now here is a genuine son of Israel—a man of complete integrity.”

48 “How do you know about me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus replied, “I could see you under the fig tree before Philip found you.”

49 Then Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God—the King of Israel!”

50 Jesus asked him, “Do you believe this just because I told you I had seen you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” 51 Then he said, “I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth.”

John 1:43-51

Dear God, okay, the first time I read this I thought, “Oh, how I would love to get that compliment from Jesus: A man of complete integrity.” I read one translation that said, “There is n duplicity in him.” I love that. I would love for you to be able to say there is no duplicity in me. But then I reread the story and I noticed that Nathanael is certainly flawed. Just his supremacist attitude towards Nazareth. That shows he has a bit of an attitude born out of insecurity.

I just looked it up and found that John is the only one who tells us about Nathanael. He doesn’t eventually become one of the 12. Unless Nathanael went by a different name. This story and the one in John 21 where Jesus appears to the disciples after the resurrection are the only references to him in the entire Bible. So I guess we have John to thank for helping us know both Nicodemus and Nathanael. It would be interesting to see which biblical characters John tells us about that the others omit.

But going back to my initial thing about integrity and duplicity, this is a reminder that those aren’t enough. I can have these things and still have a hard, unloving heart. In fact, they can work against me if I rely too much on them and not on you. They need to be an integral part of my life. They are an important part of my life. But I can’t build my whole life on it because, well, if I have not love then I am nothing.

Father, I’m grateful for who I am, but I can also definitely see where those shortcomings are. Well, at least some of them. I know I have some shortcomings to which I am blind. Forgive me. Love others through me. Be glorified through me. Forgive me for my superior attitude sometimes. I worship and praise you.

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

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 29, 2025 in John

 

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Luke 9:43b-45

27 Sep

While everyone was marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, 44 “Listen to me and remember what I say. The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies.” 45 But they didn’t know what he meant. Its significance was hidden from them, so they couldn’t understand it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.

Luke 9:43b-45

Dear God, I’ve heard of the phrase “willful ignorance,” but it’s interesting that you were willfully keeping the disciples ignorant.

I’m trying to set the scene in my mind. In this chapter alone we’ve had:

  • Jesus sending out the 12.
  • Herod’s confusion.
  • Jesus receiving the 12 back and then promising them rest.
  • Jesus changing course and feeding the 5,000.
  • Jesus, Peter, and “who do you say that I am?”
  • Jesus predicting his death #1 (verse 22).
  • Jesus challenging the crowd to take up their cross.
  • The Transfiguration.
  • Healing the demon-possessed boy.

And now we get betrayal/death prediction #2 in verse 44. So the disciples are trying to make sense of a lot of things. Being so powerful when they were sent out. The miracle of feeding 5,000 with food left over. Jesus predicting his death. The transfiguration. One more healing. And then this thing about being betrayed.

I can’t tell you how much better these stories of the disciples being inadequate make me feel. I feel so ignorant and foolish sometimes. I feel overwhelmed by my situation. I feel like I am missing opportunities or things I should know or understand. I feel like I’m presented with situations and don’t know the right thing to say or do. I feel all of that. But stories like this help me to appreciate how hard it can be to know and understand what’s going on. And there are many times when, in the moment, I remember to pray to you while I’m in the midst of a struggle or difficult situation, asking you to give me the right words to say or things to do.

Father, I’m just going to trust you. Work through me. Love through me. Live through me. And Holy Spirit, please keep me from straying too far off the path. “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.” But in this case, it’s not even me wandering. It’s just me not seeing or perceiving. It brings me back to this passage from Isaiah 6:

9 And he said, “Yes, go, and say to this people,

‘Listen carefully, but do not understand.
    Watch closely, but learn nothing.’
10 Harden the hearts of these people.
    Plug their ears and shut their eyes.
That way, they will not see with their eyes,
    nor hear with their ears,
nor understand with their hearts
    and turn to me for healing.”

Please don’t harden my heart, plug my ears, or shut my eyes. If you’re doing it to protect me or others from me, then fine. Isolate me and keep me as ignorant as you want. But I pray that my heart will be such that when you are keeping me ignorant it is because my ignorant heart would make a mistake out of it’s pursuit of you and not because you simply can’t trust me to do the right thing. Holy Spirit, help me to do the right thing.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 27, 2025 in Luke

 

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Luke 9:10-17

26 Sep

10 When the apostles returned, they told Jesus everything they had done. Then he slipped quietly away with them toward the town of Bethsaida. 11 But the crowds found out where he was going, and they followed him. He welcomed them and taught them about the Kingdom of God, and he healed those who were sick.

12 Late in the afternoon the twelve disciples came to him and said, “Send the crowds away to the nearby villages and farms, so they can find food and lodging for the night. There is nothing to eat here in this remote place.”

13 But Jesus said, “You feed them.”

“But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Or are you expecting us to go and buy enough food for this whole crowd?” 14 For there were about 5,000 men there.

Jesus replied, “Tell them to sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 So the people all sat down. 16 Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. 17 They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers!

Luke 9:10-17

Dear God, the Catholic daily readings skipped to the story of Peter proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah starting in verse 18, but since I touched on that yesterday I wanted to stick with what was next in the text, and that’s the feeding of the 5,000. I noticed these things before, but I think it’s a good reminder for me.

First, Jesus intended for them to have some R&R after their big adventure out healing people and casting out demons. But the crowds wouldn’t let it happen so Jesus pivoted because he loved them. The interesting thing is that it upset the disciples. They wanted their downtime. They wanted their little break. They wanted to stop and revel in their success just a little longer. But you had some work for them to do.

Then, they had just done all these miracles, but they were still doubtful they could feed the people that were there. I guess this was a miracle that was simply outside their paradigm for miracles. They’d seen Jesus heal people and even resurrect people. They’d seen him cast out demons. So they had a paradigm for that. But they didn’t have a paradigm for food mysteriously multiplying so they hadn’t even considered it was possible.

It makes me think of when I read the story of Hezekiah and the Assyrians in 2 Kings 19. Even as the reader I found myself wondering how Isaiah’s prophecy could possibly come true. Then you did something to the Assyrians that was completely outside of what was within my paradigm. I took that story at the time and leaned into it with a challenge I was facing at work. We were looking at starting a capital campaign and I was dreading raising the money. After reading that story, I felt like you told me, “Don’t worry about the money.” And three years later, I haven’t had to worry about the money. You’ve been amazing as we’ve raised it.

Father, guide me. Lead me. Reveal yourself to me. I have some mountains in front of me that seem impossible to move. They mostly related to family relationships. But I ask that you come in and redeem all of us from our sin. Pay the ransom with your blood and resurrection power so that we might be drawn closer to you through the pain we have experienced and/or caused. Be glorified in our lives. Be glorified in my life. Be glorified in this world through me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 26, 2025 in Luke

 

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