November 25, 2024

1 Thessalonians 2:7-8

7 But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children.

How much should you give others if you want to obey the commands of God? We usually don’t ask how much we have to give because we’re hoping to give more. Usually we want off the hook because we angrily imagine we’ve already given enough. People need more time, more compassion, more understanding, more intrusion and give so little in return. Sort of sounds like motherhood.

How do we give like mothers give? We lovingly ask a different question. Instead of trying to hit the minimum required to fulfill our obligations to others, we need to ask what more you can do to show the overflowing love you feel for this person. God can teach you love. It is one of the great blessings of our universe that obediently showing others love will be followed, sooner than you expect, by feeling genuine love. Try it and see.

Prayer prompt: Lord, help me to quickly feel the love I should feel for those You have dropped in my life like a gift.

November 23, 2024

Acts 16:27-28

27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.”

Why should we suffer for someone else to know Jesus? In this story, one of Jesus’ followers went to tell a town about Jesus. The town, in response, hauled him before judges, stripped and beat him, then threw him into jail. God miraculously broke open the jail and yet this Jesus follower stayed put in the hope of seeing even his jailor become a Christian!

Paul suffered so much for others because he really was a Jesus follower. All this guy did was follow through with the example he saw in his Lord. Jesus suffered, going all the way below prison to death itself to set us free and save us from death. Where can we follow His example today?

Prayer prompt: Lord, please grow in me a love that will go anywhere for those You want to save.

November 22, 2024

Jeremiah 17:9-10

9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? 10 “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

In the Smith’s parking lot, in the space of 2 minutes, I was outraged at the outrageously slow walking of the shoppers in the parking lot. I parked, then was infuriated by the crazy drivers as I walked into the store. That is the silly and dirty top to the disgusting and sinful depths of my heart. How can I work to clean things up if I can’t even see myself and chart the inconsistencies, pride, madness, and transgressions of my own life?

God sees to the bottom of that spinning chaos you call a heart and He shows you your sin. Consequences follow actions in God’s world and it is incredibly kind of Him to make it so. If your heart is beyond your own understanding, lean on His. Commit to doing life His way and watch what happens.

Prayer prompt: Lord, show me my ways that I may change them to follow Your commands.

November 21, 2024

Revelation 1:14-18

14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

“Fear not” is an interesting command because fear isn’t an action like murder or adultery, but a reaction like flinching. To follow that command requires more than just self-control. The person who makes the command has to have a curious combination of strength and care. We can only obey if the one making the command is strong enough to be in control of the situation and yet kind enough for us to obey and relax.

I’m sure it took a minute for John to obey. He had just seen Jesus in His fierce glory, glowing like the sun. That Jesus, who has all strength to handle any situation, laid His world-shaping right hand on John and said, “Fear not”. We have seen His power, now we see His care. Jesus is the beginning and the end, the greatest one, who died for us and rose to rule even over death and sin forever and ever! John, believer, you need never fear again.

Prayer Prompt: Lord, please forgive us for thinking You too small or too uncaring to help in our time of need.

November 20, 2024

Revelation 1:12-16

12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

Revelation can be a weird place for Christians. Revelation isn’t weird, we’re weird. We’ve heard too many people spouting off crazy ideas for what the end times will be like. Others try to read faithfully, but close the book with no idea what they read. The way to read Revelation is by being soaked in the Old Testament. The pictures John saw all had references in the writings of people like Daniel, Ezekiel, Zechariah, and Moses among others. The verses above show us a picture of Jesus who sees everything, acts as our High Priest, and speaks as God because, well, He’s definitely God.

What do we get from those words? If you go back up a bit in Revelation, you’ll see John was writing to real churches. In his vision, he saw each church as a lampstand. Lampstands are supposed to be on fire, but these churches were also under fire. They were being killed and harassed and exiled, like poor John. How were they to know God cared enough to do something about it? Jesus walked among the lampstands like the Old Testament priests who kept the lamps in the Old Testament Temple. Scholar GK Beale said, “Christ tends to the … lampstands by commending, correcting, exhorting, an12d warning in order to secure the churches’ fitness for service as lightbearers in a dark world.” How does Revelation work for you? Jesus sees you, loves you, has a plan for you, and has all the power He needs to make you bright in a dark, dark world.

Prayer Prompt: Lord, please lift our eyes to You as You encourage us, correct us, command us, and warn us so we can be Your Light to a world that needs You.

November 19, 2024

Psalm 84:3

3  Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God.

Ever feel like you don’t belong, like you got in by mistake? I’m sure medical students want awed patients to call them Dr., but I bet they also feel a little inadequate to answer difficult, life-or-death questions. I know people dream of having children, but most parents are sure they don’t know what they’re doing. Imposter syndrome can hurt the Christian too. How can we say we, with all our sin, are God’s children? That we, made dirty by disobedience and rebellion, belong in His House?

The verse above describes the heart of God as the perfect host. Even the little swallow or sparrow has a special designated place for even the delicate task of raising young. That little swallow is provided for by the LORD, or Yahweh the self-existent Lord of Angelic Armies. In other words, though God is so high above us, He is able to make a place for you right by Himself. Jesus, who died to make you clean, has gone to prepare that place. Let yourself praise God for His perfectly tailored care of your eternal life with Him!

Prayer Prompt: Lord, my soul longs to be with You forever. Please preach the gospel to me so I will desire You and trust Your ability to declare me clean!

November 18, 2024

1 Corinthians 6:12

12 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.

Simple pride hates to be dominated by anything. Our world makes it so easy to pretend, even if just to yourself, that you rule your world - picking up and casting aside shows from an unlimited list, moving in your car anywhere you like, deciding dinner from every possible genre of food. This verse above makes me wonder if the pace of life and seeming freedom we have isn’t a cover for forces that do influence and even control us.

As soon as we take up the idea that we rule all and can choose whatever we like, we open ourselves up to the lie that such things can’t rule us and can’t harm us. If you let sexual immorality in the door, even just extra glances or minimal scenes in shows you enjoy, you begin to be controlled by the desires such lust sets alight in your heart. Chesterton said we have to rest when we want sickness to go away, but if we need sin to go away we have to be incredibly active. Are you looking out for sins that may enslave your heart?

Prayer Prompt: Lord, please teach me to fear the things you call wicked that I might submit to You and no other lord.

November 16, 2024

Psalm 92:1-4

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.

November 15, 2024

Luke 19:4-5

4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”

How do we answer the nagging question, “Am I okay?” We try a thousand things to make ourselves pleased or important or beautiful, but after each attempt the question returns. In this story, Jesus felt the press of a huge crowd in Jericho while an immoral, hated, and rather short tax collector climbed a tree to try to see Jesus. When Jesus called to him, the ridiculous sinner felt not only the joy of seeing Jesus, but the much greater joy of acceptance, not from the crowd, but from the Lord. Zacchaeus knew he was okay.

Leaving Jericho, Jesus went to Jerusalem where He was taken by the crowd and nailed to a tree outside the city. Jesus, who alone among men could stand without sin before God’s holy presence was cast out of the city to die a cursed man. Why? He switched places with Zacchaeus. Jesus went from the center of everything to the tree so Zacchaeus could be forgiven and accepted and brought into the presence of God. That cross is for you too. Don’t answer your soul’s nagging question with anything less than the smile of Jesus telling you to come down and eat with Him.

Prayer prompt: Lord, please forgive me for finding significance in any other ridiculous thing. Help me to accept and enjoy Your loving invitation.

November 14, 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.

November 13, 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!

November 12, 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!

November 11, 2024

1 Corinthians 6:12

12 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.

Simple pride hates to be dominated by anything. Our world makes it so easy to pretend, even if just to yourself, that you rule your world: picking up and casting aside shows from an unlimited list, moving in your car anywhere you like, deciding dinner from every possible genre of food. This verse above makes me wonder if the pace of life and seeming freedom we have isn’t a cover for forces that do influence and even control us.

As soon as we take up the idea that we rule all and can choose whatever we like, we open ourselves up to the lie that such things can’t rule us and can’t harm us. If you let sexual immorality in the door, even just extra glances or minimal scenes in shows you enjoy, you begin to be controlled by the desires such lust sets alight in your heart. Chesterton said we have to rest when we want sickness to go away, but if we need sin to go away we have to be incredibly active. Are you looking out for sins that may enslave your heart?

Prayer Prompt: Lord, please teach me to fear the things you call wicked that I might submit to You and no other lord.

November 9, 2024

1 Corinthians 6:15-17

15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

It’s crucial to understand how Paul argues against our acting out in sexual immorality. I really don’t want my dog getting around the neighborhood and finding lady dogs. We neutered the poor guy, but even so a promiscuous dog causes problems. A promiscuous spouse causes significantly bigger ones.

God consistently portrays us in Scripture not as His dog but as His spouse. Because He’s united Himself to us, when we give our favors to idols or practice physical sexual immorality we separate ourselves from Him. Take a hard look at your life today. Where do you need to walk away from things that anger your Holy God? What does it mean for Him to love you not like a favorite tool but as His very own spouse?

Prayer Prompt: Lord, teach me to look away from what will destroy me and look to the love You have for me!

November 8, 2024

1 John 4:10

10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

If you wanted a lot of stability in your life, what would be a better job than running a liquor store? Things are bad, business is good. Things are good, business is still good! Christians can enjoy Valentine’s a little like that. You have someone and the day feels special, but for the believer, even if you don’t have someone this year, it’s still pretty good.

God loves you. Not in the commiserating way your mom assures you she still loves you after you’ve been dumped. In a way that outshines all the love of all the sappy couples crowding the restaurants tonight. He is the true Groom, the true Reward. If you’re lonely today or head over heels, look to the Lord of Love and see the real reason to celebrate today!

Prayer Prompt: Lord, give me sight to see the love you have for me that outshines human love like the Sun outshines a candle.

November 7, 2024

1 Corinthians 1:10

10 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. 

People are hard to live with but impossible to live without. An old German philosopher talked about our relationships like the relationships of porcupines in winter. It’s too cold to go off by yourself but trying to snuggle with another porcupine causes pain in both you and your buddy. What do we do to overcome the pain and enjoy the warmth and meaning of relationships?

Paul makes it clear in these first hopeful commands to the extremely prickly Corinthian church. We are united by the name of Jesus Christ under His Lordship, united in His way of thinking and coming to His conclusions. He made it clear that love of us was worth being pierced, even by a spear and nails. Looking at that great love, we too decide to endure pain for the moment to enjoy love forever.

Prayer prompt: Lord, please send me in closer and closer with your people even if it hurts me and occasionally I hurt them. May Your name be honored as we unite around You!

November 6, 2024

2 Timothy 2:20-21

20 Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.

We generally think of blindness as something that happens to a person through disease or accident. Well we should, who would ever choose it? Why would someone choose to shut out the light of the sun or the colors of the rainbow? Yet sin is a blindness we choose. Every time we give our thoughts or hearts to something God hates, we pretend to live in a world that doesn’t exist and shut out the one that does.

Put positively, doing things God’s way gives you a much better view of things God sees. We become more useful to the master of the house when we can see by His light rather than closing our eyes to His beauty. Open your life up to all the wonder of the grace of God and become a golden vessel of His love to the world.

Prayer Prompt: Lord, please entice me to obey through the wonderful promise of being more useful to You in Your work.

November 5, 2024

Ezekiel 37:9

9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”

I don’t know if there is a more weird and wonderful story in Scripture than that of Ezekiel preaching to the Valley of Dry Bones. God commands His prophet to go and prophesy to a massive, dry valley filled with the bones of warriors who died in some ancient battle. We may shiver or laugh at such an assignment, but Ezekiel probably got very emotional.

He had done much of his ministry to an Israel that was dead on the inside. He wanted them to turn, to repent like Nineveh and live, but no. Nothing greeted his ministry but death, deportation, and despair. And here, God was telling him to go and preach to the bones, just as he had been preaching to spiritual skeletons. As he preached, those bones had their corruption undone and then life breathed into them. We are a people of sin, but God is a God of restoration. Listen to His words today and live.

Prayer prompt: Lord, let me see my sin that I may turn to You for life.

November 4, 2024

Philippians 1:27

27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,

Have you ever see an old man’s naval tattoo? They can look like prison tattoos and I think that comes from having the same do-it-yourself process. I’m not a tattoo guy currently, but I would definitely get a tattoo with the other men I’d shared that experience with to represent the dignity and defense of honorable things. It would be strangely beautiful to look at that blurry drawing carved in my skin and think about what drew us all together.

The Christian community is drawn together in the same way. We experience the same pain as we pursue the same passion. We have one mind which is a mind fixed on the spectacular face of our Lord and His mission. We may not get a group tattoo but we share the same scars as we carry the same cross. Look around at your brothers and sisters and celebrate those who strive with you!

Prayer Prompt: Lord, thank you for my family and the love we get to share.

November 2, 2024

1 Thessalonians 1:4-5a

4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.

The Bible is full of encouragement for the Christian. We are given God’s richest blessings while being called, and this is beyond any hope, His children, even His beloved. How can God’s people fear when a God like Yahweh is watching out for us? It’s a very simple answer: we’re not sure we’re His people. How do we know He is for us and not, how chilling to think, against us?

The Thessalonians wondered the same thing. Unsure about the end times, they began to shake in their hope of God’s love and provision. Paul comes through with an amazing comfort for any believer, then or now. When you believed, you received God’s seal, His very presence, in the Holy Spirit. We are not God’s because our life is perfect or our faith is strong. If we believe, then we can trust Him to bring us home. Rest in that conviction today. 

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