February 15, 2024

1 Corinthians 12:11

11 All these [gifts] are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

My lovely wife has almost the opposite brain I do. We agree on everything that matters, the Lord, parenting, Utah, but when it gets down to how our brains actually work, we never approach anything the same way. She likes details, repetition, knocking out tasks. I like thinking about why, trying something new, and letting my mind wander. You’d think that may make us frustrated with each other, but it’s led to a lot of laughs and a much bigger view of the world.

God has made His church with incredible diversity, many more than just the two notes in my marriage. Like keys on a piano, the different ones can make absolutely beautiful harmony when played together. As the perfect musician, God weaves melodies and rhythm together through the Church to teach the world His song. We have to reject the pride which wants just our note played and embrace the humility required to enjoy His Church.

Prayer Prompt: Lord please teach me to value the people who frustrate me with their different ways of seeing the world and doing Your mission.

February 14, 2024

Psalm 103:4-5

4 who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 5 who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

I don’t know if you’re much for verb tenses, but the verb tenses in this passage should blow your socks off. God redeems, crowns and satisfies you. Those aren’t future verbs laden with hope but with no present benefit. Those aren’t past verbs expressing God’s grace, but leaving you with a terrible fear that you may fall again and He won’t come. Those are present verbs that continue.

I don’t just need one redemption; I keep falling down. I could never deserve one crowning, but if He wants the crown on my head, He’ll have to keep placing it back on. One look at God was all Moses asked for, but here God says He will satisfy so that I’m always renewed in strength. Commit everyday this year to think about God’s unspeakable grace that continues every day.

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me to remember the strength, love, and redemption You give every day.

February 13, 2024

1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I will never cease to be amazed by this sentence in Scripture. In my sin, I really don’t want to totally forgive people, at least not all the way. If the offense is pretty small, I can forgive. If the offense is a little more intense, I can forgive but try to guilt the person into better behavior. If the offense is huge, I hurt them in the worst way a proud person can: I banish them from my company. By God’s grace, that hasn’t always been the case, but it is my temptation. 

Our sin against God isn’t just big, it’s gigantic. Not only does He offer to forgive us, He will cleanse us from all our unrighteousness. He doesn’t forgive only to condemn us to earning back His favor. He doesn’t forgive then walk away to distance Himself as far from us as possible. He forgives the repentant sinner and then gets to work cleaning us up. This morning, take the time to be amazed by Your God’s forgiveness. 

Prayer prompt: Lord, Your forgiveness is crowned with an overwhelming love I could never deserve. Thank You!

February 12, 2024

Isaiah 54:13-14

13 All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. 14 In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you.

Most people haven’t tried to lead a church. If you ever do though, be ready for some difficulty in finding Children’s workers. Kids are darling, and it can be one of the most rewarding places to serve. However, it is an intimidating place to go. It is a heavy responsibility to lead the next generation. 

For those who do take the plunge, Isaiah puts them in exalted company. In Isaiah’s prophecy of Heaven, the Lord teaches the children. The scene we imagine of the almighty Lord of Hosts taking the children through lessons should be meditated upon. If anyone wants to lead, let him serve. In Christ, and even one day in the Father, we have our example. 

Prayer prompt: Lord, I look to You for my example of love and service.

February 10, 2024

Exodus 2:10

10 When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

Anxiety wrecks so many lives. Fear can lead to panic as we worry over what tomorrow will bring. When we read Scripture, God commands us not to worry, but how? We get lots of advice that will never work. Closing our eyes and breathing or pumping ourselves up with positivity won’t hold up for the long haul.

We need to see the God who has all things under His absolute control. Moses was called Moses because it means “to draw out”. As Moses was pulled out of the water of the Nile, so God would use Moses to draw His people Israel out of the misery and death of slavery in Egypt. God proved His sovereign control by using Moses’ salvation as a baby to show what God would do for the whole nation of Israel. God knew exactly what He was doing when the salvation of Israel showed in miniature what He would do for the whole world through Jesus. Look to your Father and let your worry go.

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me to remember the way you saved me so I will trust that you still love me.

February 9, 2024

Psalm 127:2

2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.

What’s more American than hard work? The stats that compare our vacationing with Europe make me so proud. Is all that extra effort just the happy consequence of the storied Protestant Work Ethic or is there something else there? With greater wealth than our parents and grandparents, do we also have greater contentment and less anxiety? Are we just busy like the diligent ant described in the Proverbs or anxious like, well like most modern Americans?

The verse lays out our only way forward. We can and should work hard, as to the Lord even. But we have to work as those who see the Lord as Lord. We can’t work as though our effort will keep calamity away or guarantee our bread. Beloved, trust your Father to provide.

Prayer prompt: Lord, I trust You to care for me.

February 8, 2024

Proverbs 20:5

“The purpose in a man’s heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.”

Disobedience to God is never healthy or safe. We have to repent immediately when we see sin in our lives. But don’t stop at the stuff you can see from the outside. We must go deeper in to understand more about our rebellion. I sin with my anger, but I also sin with my pride. There is more to clean out than just the surface. 

Like the ice fisherman who cuts a hole, then with skill brings things up from the deep, we need to look deeper at our actions. Jesus saw murder in our anger and adultery in our hidden lust. He would often address the heart attitudes of the pharisees in the room even when they hadn’t voiced their objections. Things like judgmentalism, pride, resentment, and lust swim beneath the surface of your heart. Look more deeply and let Jesus clean you all the way down. 

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me to go deeper in my pursuit of holiness for Your glory.

February 7, 2024

2 Corinthians 4:7-8

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;

The world today is overwhelmingly perplexing. The speed of technological development changes the way we interact constantly and deeply. The speed of social change creates wild new questions for ethical considerations about categories as obvious and determined as mountains to previous generations. Add to that the everyday questions about speaking with love and wisdom to coworkers or spouses and you’ve got a very perplexing world.

God has our confused minds in His plan for displaying His glory to the world. We don’t despair when our knowledge covers such a small percentage of our responsibility because the Lord planned to use our smallness to show His bigness. He can change a culture even with such limited servants. What big questions do you have about how to act in this world? Take them to the Lord and gain confidence in His good plan.

Prayer Prompt: Today, I don’t know what to do about this situation (trade the word “this” for a perplexing situation in your life.) Lord, please teach me to trust in You so that You increase and I decrease!

February 6, 2024

James 1:19-20

19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 

Thinking of the gift of anger makes me think of weapons. God has given us something awesome and dangerous. If we’re not careful, we’ll shoot our eye out. Anger is given for focusing a person, mind and body, on protecting something. Threaten my child and watch me hulk up! By God’s grace, that doesn’t happen much. I’m usually angry for much stupider and much more sinful reasons.

It is a helpful exercise for the day today. Take a moment to notice each time you get angry. Then write a sentence or two in a note app or on a piece of paper about why you’re mad. Sit down at the end of the day and ask the question, “What was I protecting with that anger?” If you’re like me, you can then start repenting for all the times your anger flares over pride, selfish pursuits, or unrealistic expectations. 

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me to see my anger and repent of it.

February 5, 2024

James 1:22-25

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

What do you see in the mirror? It if is a true mirror, you see yourself with an unvarnished truth. You may have known people like that, who aren’t cruel but brutal in their honesty. God’s law uncovers us in exactly that way. His perfect standard shows us not only how we are to act around others but even how a truly righteous person thinks and loves. It shows us just how much we’ve twisted away from that lovely perfection into perversion and ruin.

What do you do with that truth? If you are a hearer of God’s word and not someone actively seeking to put it into practice you are like the man who has forgotten. You can pretend that the pimples and ingrown hairs and briar patches for eyebrows aren’t there, but everyone else sees them! How much worse when a blemish really describes sin which leads to death. Take God’s dire warnings to heart and pursue change today.

Prayer prompt: Lord, show me a specific sin to work on today and guide me to a brother or sister who can help.

February 3, 2024

Psalm 46:4-7

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. 5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. 6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. 7 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

How do some Christians keep giving to everyone and maintain such patience? They seem to push out into the world and the world conforms to them while they maintain a humble look and joyful disposition. You may be blessed enough to know one in real life, but many of us see flashes or only read about them in books. These verses hold out the key to being just such a conqueror. 

These people are just like this city of God. The Lord is in the midst of them. He has made His home in them providing them with that water that makes them glad and that foundation that makes them immovable. All around us may rage, but at His voice the earth melts. The only way the enemy can take you down is to hide this unbelievable truth from you. Trust in the Lord!

Prayer prompt: Lord, help me to look to Your strength so I will have confidence to fight in Your Name.

February 2, 2024

Psalm 136:1-3

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,

for his steadfast love endures forever.

2 Give thanks to the God of gods,

for his steadfast love endures forever.

3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

Do yourself a favor today and read all of Psalm 136. If you do, you’ll notice a little repetition. The writer was impressed by God’s unfailing, never-ending, never-moving love. So much so that he just keeps saying it over and over. The repetition itself acts as a constant reminder of the constant love of God.

God gives us love in our relationships to mirror His love for us. You may be in love with someone new or no one at all. You may be daily seeing an all too familiar face that fills you with excitement and desire. If so, you know how frail and delicate a thing you must protect as you enjoy. Above and behind and through all that wonderful or not so wonderful human love, look further to the ever-increasing, cross-proven, death-defying love of God.

Prayer Prompt: Lord, I love You. Teach me to love You and enjoy Your perfect steadfast love.

February 1, 2024

Matthew 16:18

18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

This incredibly interesting verse brings together some of the most bold and solid imagery in Scripture. Jesus has declared His followers to be rocks that will become a like a living building. His Church will be a growing, living, stronghold of God’s presence on Earth, but it won’t be a building like we often use the word church to mean. No, His believers become these living stones.

Then we can see the mighty way He will fulfill the second part of the verse. It seems like a mixed metaphor to describe a building attacking a city gate. But Jesus means us, His people like living rocks, will expand to cover this world. When the enemy’s strong hold stands in the way of our advance even the gate, the most secure point, will crumble before God’s magnificent new creation. Put your eyes on God’s victorious march and stand firm today!

Prayer prompt: Lord, when my sin or circumstances keep me from fighting for Your Kingdom, remind me of the victory Christ promised.

January 31, 2024

1 Corinthians 8:9

9 But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.

When people think of Christianity, they may associate it with a list of rules and outlawed pleasures. We would argue hard against such a view as God only outlaws things that will turn to pleasure into bitterness if used sinfully. Idols, sexual immorality, funny things that really are just grumbling hearts all have their appeal but don’t actually please. There are so many pleasures in the Christian life that the verse above actually warns us to give some up so that we might better serve those around us.

If that concept makes you mad, take a deep look at those around you. They aren’t just immature and in need of your help they are brothers and sisters for whom Christ died. If you have to reduce some of the things you wanted to do to serve them better, shockingly, they actually become the ones serving you. If there’s something you wouldn’t willingly set down for the love of a brother or sister in Jesus you may in fact be holding an idol. Thanks be to God for a little sibling who will knock it out of your hand!

Prayer Prompt: Lord, teach me to trust You to use even inconveniences to lead me away from sin and to true Pleasure!

January 30, 2024

James 1:18

18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

James says here that God is bringing us forth as a kind of firstfruits. If that means what it seems to mean, God is creating us again. There are already creatures, we are already creatures, and yet we are being brought forth by the word of truth. Brought forth brings you back to Genesis when God commands the earth to bring forth the animals and out they come. In the Magician’s Nephew, CS Lewis imagines a creation where elephants come forth by poking their heads out of the ground like groundhogs! 

In the same way, God is bringing out a new life, a new creation, through this word of truth in us. That means we were dead and by His will He has made us alive. I’m astounded by the promise of resurrection, but I’ve not paid close enough attention to the wild miracle of regeneration. Spend time today giving thanks for new life!

Prayer prompt: Lord, thank You for making me new.

January 29, 2024

1 Thessalonians 5:18

“give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Thankfulness is way more powerful than we think. It is not just the clearest road to actually feeling satisfaction, it is a road that leads all the way to God. G K Chesterton in Orthodoxy, his famous book on his own journey to Christ, said, “We thank people for birthday presents of cigars and slippers. Can I thank no one for the birthday present of birth?”

If I say “thank you”, there must be a You to thank. If you give me a present, compliment, or grant me forgiveness for a wrong, it’s just right to say thank you. To whom can we go when the whole of our life, our body and senses, and everything those senses have ever sensed is like a gift? Fill your life with thankfulness to God and you also fill it with worship, satisfaction, and with God Himself.

Prayer Prompt: Father, thank You. Please fill my day with thankfulness as I see all the gifts you’ve given.

January 27, 2024

Psalm 92:1

1 It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; 2 to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night, 3 to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. 4 For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.

Have you heard people look down on a hobby or pastime as escapism? It doesn’t seem like a compliment. It sounds more like the accusation some have against a Christian worldview. Some say the secular person is embracing the reality of a world without God while the Christian escapes to our fantasy of something more. Are we like dads binging the NFL or teens with PS5s or moms with … chores? Or is there a deeper rest and worship involved?

The subtitle for Psalm 92 says it is a Song for the Sabbath. It models how we are to rest by giving thanks for, singing about, and declaring God’s steadfast love and the works of His hands. The Psalmist wants God’s people to rest in a deeper reality than the one we see everyday. We don’t escape when we praise God, we remember what is more true than the violence, waywardness, and injustice of our world. We look up to the love of God that will never let us go. Make sure to rest in the Lord today.

Prayer Prompt: Lord, Your steadfast love means I can slow down for a day and trust that You are in control.

January 26, 2024

James 1:14

14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

A salesman once told me he went into meetings with the goal of figuring out what the customer really wanted. He said it this way, “What do you want to hear? Because I’m about to say it.” The product he sold wasn’t his focus, but the desires of his customer. If he knew the desire, he could tailor his presentation to show why the customer really should buy from him. 

Now we have to think about our actions and growth in godliness differently. I don’t just need to try and change my actions or become more obedient through sheer will power. I need to look at my desires. What am I looking to satisfy by this reaction or overreaction? How amazing that God will lead us around by the promise of satisfaction rather than just the threat of punishment.

Prayer prompt: Lord, help me to see the desires that lead to my sin. Please teach me how I can always and only be truly satisfied in You. 

January 25, 2023

James 1:5-8

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Every time I’ve read these verses, I was challenged to ask God for wisdom with more certainty. He will definitely tell me who I should marry, or where we should live, or when to have kids if I just ask without doubting. But each of those questions break the one rule of the passage. Don’t go to God to get what wisdom should never be used to find. 

Wisdom, followed all the way out, will always lead to God. When I come to God to receive wisdom in order to marry the right person or find a job that I will be successful in, I’m abusing wisdom. It’s like using a Lamborghini as a table in your garage. Sure, you can set stuff on it, but that’s not what it’s for. God gives you wisdom to bring about all the joy of knowing Him. Are you pursuing Him?

Prayer prompt: Lord, please forgive me for trying to abuse wisdom. Please lead my heart to most desire You.

January 24, 2024

Proverbs 3:19

19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens;

There is a way things work. Amazon’s warehouses overflow with books on the best way to do anything you can think of doing. Writing those books isn’t just for the money. There is an intense thrill in finding the way the universe works. Scientists know part of that thrill. God’s people know it better. 

Wisdom isn’t just how the world works. Wisdom, if followed, will always lead you up and down. She (wisdom is personified as a lady in the Proverbs) will lead you all the way down into your heart and up into Heaven. Wisdom is the answer to every question, even the most important. Get wisdom, and you will know how to have true Joy. 

Prayer prompt: Lord, lead me to wisdom so that I can see You.