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Grace for the Latecomers, Leaves Without Fruit

Posted in Bible Study, Bible Study, Church, God, Jesus Christ, Priorities, Responsibility, Spiritual Growth, The Father, Vision, Worship, tagged , , , , , on November 1, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Matthew 20–21

It’s amazing how Scripture keeps opening up, even passages I’ve read dozens of times. This morning, Matthew 20–21 struck me in a new way because of how the two chapters speak to each other.

Chapter 20 opens with a landowner who keeps going out all day to hire workers for his vineyard. At evening he pays everyone the same wage. Those hired at dawn got exactly what they agreed to. Those hired at the last hour got far more than they had earned. That is grace, and the landowner pictures God. Grace is getting what we don’t deserve.

What stands out is the reaction of the early workers. They grumble, convinced they deserve more than they were promised. The landowner answers directly: “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?” (Matthew 20:15, ESV).

Hold onto that as the reading moves into chapter 21. Jesus enters Jerusalem, cleanses the temple, and heals the blind and the lame. Children shout “Hosanna!” And the response of the chief priests and scribes is telling: “when [they] saw the wonderful things that he did… they were indignant” (Matthew 21:15, ESV).

Then comes the fig tree. Jesus finds it “with nothing on it but only leaves,” and it withers (Matthew 21:19, ESV). For years I didn’t know what to do with this passage, so I set it on the shelf. I think that’s a healthy practice. When a passage doesn’t square with what you know of Jesus, don’t force an interpretation. Keep reading, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you, and let understanding come in time.

Today it came through clearly. The fig tree pictures the religious leaders of Israel. They had the leaves: visible religion, position, and power. But they had no fruit. They had replaced true, faithful worship and seeking of God with a man-made system they were very confident in. Jesus says it plainly a few verses later: “the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits” (Matthew 21:43, ESV).

This wasn’t the end of Israel’s story. God’s promises to His chosen people still stand, and Revelation shows them with an important role. But their whole calling was that the Messiah would come through them, and that the kingdom would spread through the gospel, through love and faithfulness and knowing Him, not by force. The leaders missed it. The Messiah was standing in front of them, and they were indignant.

That temptation is not only theirs. Every person is made with what’s been called a God-shaped void. We try to fill it with religion of our own making, or we give up and insist there is no God at all. Nothing fits that space except Jesus Christ, God in the flesh. He truly lived, died, and rose again, proving He is the Son of God who brought the kingdom near.

So here is the contrast in today’s reading. On one side are the undeserving latecomers, welcomed by grace. On the other are those certain they deserved the kingdom, full of leaves and empty of fruit. “So the last will be first, and the first last” (Matthew 20:16, ESV).

A question to consider: When God is generous to someone else, do I rejoice, or do I quietly feel I deserved more? And is my faith producing fruit, or just leaves?

Be blessed and be a blessing.

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Childlike, Not Childish

Posted in Beautiful Places, Bible Study, Bible Study, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Orphans, Priorities, Responsibility, Service, Vision, worldview, Worship, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 31, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Matthew 19; Mark 10

Today’s reading takes us to Matthew 19 and Mark 10. They seem to tell the same events from two different perspectives. One comes from Matthew, the tax collector turned disciple of Jesus. The other comes from Peter, the impetuous follower who passed his memories along to his young protégé, John Mark.

I find it interesting that these passages met me after a particularly demanding and stressful week. My wife had one too. It was my first week working from home in eleven weeks. I’d been on the road ten straight weeks, and that wears you out in one way. Then a huge amount of work in a short window wears you out in another.

Yesterday I walked across the backyard just to clear my head for a moment. My mind ran to being a child in God’s kingdom. I thought about heaven, and how there are probably no deadlines there. There’s definitely no overbearing boss demanding hurry, hurry, hurry, and no unrealistic deadlines or expectations. I don’t think those things happen in heaven. Then I thought about being a child, whose main thoughts for the day were probably: Who am I going to play with today? What kind of adventure and fun am I going to get into? And I wonder what’s for supper? That’s the stress-free life that’s so hard to find here on earth.

Becoming Like a Child

When the disciples tried to turn the children away, Jesus was indignant. He said, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it” (Mark 10:14–15).

That’s hard for an adult to wrap our heads around: responsible, hardworking, with a to-do list a mile long. I’ll admit it. I’m action-oriented to a fault. I’m almost always looking for what needs to be done and how I can stay busy, until stress pushes me into that overwhelmed state.

Jesus doesn’t want us to get to that overwhelmed state. He wants us to get with Him:

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28–30)

Jesus is saying, I’ve got a life for you that isn’t the stress monster you deal with all the time. I’ve got a life that’s rich and full. How do we come to Him? We come as children, without a lot of preconceived ideas and without a lot of demands.

Childish Demands

Speaking of demands, consider James and John. They came to Jesus and said, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory” (Mark 10:37). In Matthew’s telling, their mother makes the request for them (Matthew 20:20–21). They wanted to be the top dudes in Jesus’ kingdom.

My guess is they weren’t thinking about heaven. They still expected Jesus to launch a campaign and set up His kingdom on earth, and they wanted to be right there with Him at His right and left hand. That’s a childish request more than a childlike one.

I see it in Scripture: childlike faith is good. Childish faith, I believe, the Lord puts up with for a while. But He really wants us to grow. He wants us to become more like Him, and that means servant leadership.

Growing Up into Servant Leadership

Jesus dives right into it with all the disciples:

“You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:42–45)

We may have roles out front, roles that are more leadership in nature. But we’re never to forget that Jesus came to serve, and as His disciples and followers, we’re called to serve too. We’re to love with His love and serve with His heart.

So the childlike heart grows into a responsible adult who serves and loves well. We do that by keeping our eyes on Jesus and letting His Holy Spirit help us, guide us, and change us.

Today’s Thought

Childlike faith, not remaining childish in our faith, growing to lead as servants. Whether at home, in the workplace, at school, or among our friends, it’s what Jesus did, and it’s what He’s calling us to.

Where in your life right now are you living childish instead of childlike, and who is one person you can serve today?

Be blessed today, and be a blessing wherever God takes you.

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Open Hands: The Ruler, the Pharisee, and the Tax Collector

Posted in Bible Study, Bible Study, Church, giving, God, Jesus Christ, Prayer, Priorities, Responsibility, Salvation, Service, Spiritual Growth, Vision, Worship, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 30, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Luke 18

Today’s reading landed differently for me than it has in the past.

The story of the rich ruler has always been a challenge. When Jesus says, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me” (Luke 18:22), and I hear it aimed at me, I immediately think of everyone else involved in that decision. How can I sell everything when I have a wife, children, and now grandchildren?

Where I Started

When I surrendered to the Lord 43 years ago, what He offered me was an empty hand. All I had was His call on my life and His promise that He would never leave me or forsake me. From there, I followed Him.

Over the years, a lot has come into that hand, and it has been blessing. My wife. Our children. A series of jobs and relationships. The comfortable middle-class life we’ve been able to build. It has all accumulated.

So today, when I hear Jesus’ call to the ruler, part of me pushes back: Lord, You gave me all these things. Do I have to release them?

The answer is yes. I can’t hold them tightly. They were gifts from Him, for His purposes, for a time.

Holding Loosely, Stewarding Well

That has to be read alongside the rest of Scripture and the rest of Jesus’ words. Part of His call on us is to be faithful stewards of what He has entrusted to us. Holding loosely doesn’t mean being careless.

But if I’m holding loosely and stewarding well, it means I have to let Him pick and choose what He needs. More than that, I need to give it to Him when He says, “This is what I want.”

Notice what the ruler did when he heard Jesus’ words: “he became very sad, for he was extremely rich” (Luke 18:23). His grip was the problem, not his wealth.

What I’ve learned over the years is that when God asks for something significant, even something painful, there is always good on the other side. The last few years at our year-end offering, He has asked us for a gift larger than we would have thought to give. Every time we’ve released it, He has blessed us. We keep trying to outgive God, and we keep losing.

Jesus said as much to Peter a few verses later: “there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life” (Luke 18:29–30).

The heart of it is how we see what’s in our hands: all we’ve been given, not all we’ve earned.

Two Men at the Temple

That brings me back to the beginning of the chapter, to the two men who went up to pray.

The Pharisee was a sterling example of keeping the law. He stood and prayed, “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector” (Luke 18:11). The tax collector, a man whose life didn’t line up with what the religious leaders said it should, stood far off, beat his chest, and said, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” (Luke 18:13).

Jesus’ verdict: “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14).

The heart is the key. The tax collector’s spiritual poverty put him in a place to receive what God wanted to do: redeem him and claim his life. The Pharisee came with full hands, full of his own record, and it’s hard to imagine him taking correction from anyone. He was thanking God for how good he was.

His heart wasn’t supple. It wasn’t bent before God in grief over the sin that was still there. And spiritual pride is sin.

A Warning for the Long-Time Follower

This is a real warning for those of us who have followed Jesus a long time. We’ve been through many battles. We’ve watched the Lord deliver us from things that tripped us up early in our walk. And it’s right there, in that history, that pride finds its foothold.

I recognize I’m not home yet. I’m still not fully surrendered. There are times when what I want carries the decision, and I don’t even stop to ask what God’s will is.

So I want to stand with the tax collector. Lord, I am still so needy apart from You. It is Your faithfulness and Your goodness toward us that wins the day. In my own strength, I can do nothing good.

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for Your great grace, which saves us. Thank You for Your death on the cross, which paid the penalty we couldn’t pay. And thank You that, because of You and our trust in You, You call us justified. That is a glorious promise.

For Reflection

What are you holding with a closed fist right now: a possession, a plan, or maybe your own spiritual track record? What would it look like to open your hand to Him today?

Be blessed today, and be a blessing to someone.

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The Waiting Is Part of the Plan

Posted in Bible Study, Church, God, God Stories, Salvation, Spiritual Growth, Trials, worldview, Worship, tagged , , , , , , on October 29, 2026| Leave a Comment »

John 11

Jesus raised others from the dead: Jairus’s daughter, and the widow’s son at Nain. Those were people who sought him out. Lazarus was different. Lazarus was a friend. Jesus had stayed in his home and knew his sisters well. We meet Martha and Mary in Luke: Martha the busy one, Mary the one at his feet.

So when word reaches Jesus that Lazarus is sick, the story takes a turn that stops me every time. John writes, “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was” (John 11:5–6, ESV).

“So.” Because he loved them, he waited.

That is hard for us. God will ask us to wait, and the timing is his, not ours. Jesus tells us why he waited: the sickness was “for the glory of God” (v. 4), and he was glad for the disciples’ sake “so that you may believe” (v. 15). When he arrives, Lazarus has been in the tomb four days. Jews buried quickly, and day four meant there was no doubt left. Lazarus was dead. And Bethany was only two miles from Jerusalem, so mourners from the city had time to gather.

What struck me today is how Jesus meets each person exactly where they are. Martha rushes out, ever the doer, with a question that is close to a rebuke: if you had been here, he would not have died. Jesus reasons with her. As Tara-Leigh Cobble points out, there is an irony here. Jesus usually spoke of spiritual things and the crowds heard physical ones. Now he speaks of a physical raising, and Martha hears a spiritual one, the resurrection at the last day (v. 24). That was the belief of the Pharisees and many ordinary people. The Sadducees denied any resurrection, which fit well with their focus on wealth and position now. Jesus answers her: “I am the resurrection and the life” (v. 25).

With Mary, Jesus doesn’t reason. He enters her grief. “Jesus wept” (v. 35). God in the flesh, standing at a friend’s grave, knowing what he is about to do, and still weeping with the one who hurts.

Then: take away the stone. A prayer of thanks to the Father. “Lazarus, come out” (v. 43). And the dead man walks out. I can only imagine what the last day will be like, when all creation is raised.

The timing reaches even further. Some in the crowd believed. Others ran to the Pharisees (v. 46). The council met, and Caiaphas declared that one man should die for the people (vv. 49–53). From that day they planned to kill him. Jesus’s act of love and power was the spark that set the final events in motion. It led to the cross at Passover, the Lamb of God slain at the very time the Passover lambs were slain, just as God had planned before the foundation of the world.

We all have things we are waiting on. If you have surrendered your life to Jesus and walk under his lordship, you can trust him in the wait. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). The waiting is not God ignoring you. It is part of the good he is working.

What are you waiting on right now, and could the delay be part of how God plans to show his glory?

Have a blessed day, and be a blessing.

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The Tree of Humility

Posted in Bible Study, Bible Study, Church, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, love, Parables, Prayer, Priorities, Spiritual Growth, The Father, Worship, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 27, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Luke 14–15

On Monday mornings when I’m in town, I meet with a few friends to pray. Yesterday we prayed for the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians to be evident in the Church: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22–23). One of the men said he found it interesting that humility isn’t on the list. Before I’d really thought about it, I said, “Humility is the tree on which the fruit of the Spirit grows.” I was a little surprised to hear myself say it. But this morning, reading Luke 14 and 15, Jesus returns to humility again and again.

A Word About “Hate”

In Luke 14:26 Jesus says, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” In the language and thinking of Jesus’ day, “hate” in this sense means to love less, not the bitter hostility we usually mean by the word. Matthew records the same teaching this way: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37). We also know Jesus doesn’t mean hatred in our modern sense, because of how He honored His own mother, and because He rebuked the religious leaders for using their traditions to avoid caring for their parents.

Jesus is saying that following Him is to be our highest love, with every other relationship ranked below it. After 41 years of marriage, I’ve learned that when I follow Jesus with my utmost, I love my wife and others better. When my attention turns to myself, or when any other relationship takes first place, I have less love both for others and for God.

The Younger Son: Humbled, Then Humble

The story of the prodigal son shows how humility is the tree the fruit grows on. For a long time I thought prodigal meant rebellious. It actually means wasteful, and that’s what the younger son was. He took his inheritance and “squandered his property in reckless living” (Luke 15:13). Then a famine came, which would have made life hard even for someone with resources, and he had none. He ended up feeding pigs. For a Jewish young man, that was the bottom rung of the ladder, and then some.

In that place of being humbled, he chose humility: “I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants” (Luke 15:19). In that humility he went home, and the father ran to him and lavished love on his lost, wandering, wasteful son. Humility started the process that leads to good fruit.

The Older Son: Dutiful, but Proud

Most parables drive home one main point. This one seems to give us two, and both are about humility: one son who found it and one who lacked it.

The older son was dutiful, obedient, and hardworking. What he didn’t have was the humility to recognize that the father was the source and the owner, the one through whom every blessing came, and that he was also his father, worthy of honor. Instead he threw a fit. He already got his inheritance. Why does he get the fattened calf? I’ve been here working the whole time. Where’s my party? That’s pride, not humility. And the father’s answer is gentle: “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours” (Luke 15:31).

Jesus ends the story there, with the older brother standing outside the party. The Pharisees He was speaking to were zealous for the Scriptures, and some of them did come to believe. Acts mentions “believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees” (Acts 15:5). If they opened their hearts with a little humility, everything they knew from the Word pointed to Jesus as the promised Messiah.

The Fruit Grows from the Tree

So today I’m thinking about humility and a life of intimacy with God that produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. That fruit comes as we humble ourselves, grow closer to God, mature spiritually, and let the things of God take precedence over the things of this world. As Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). That is what the tree of humility provides.

Which son do you most resemble right now: the one who needed to be humbled, or the one who needed to recognize he was always at home?

Have a blessed day, and be a blessing to someone.

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Forgiving from the Heart: Life in the Upside-Down Kingdom

Posted in Bible Study, Church, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Prayer, Prayers, Priorities, Responsibility, Spiritual Growth, Trials, worldview, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 22, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Matthew 18

Matthew 18 brings Jesus’ upside-down kingdom close to home. It’s a kingdom radically different from the world system we live in, and humility is one of its hallmarks.

The chapter opens with the disciples trying to figure out who is the greatest. Jesus answers by calling a little child to stand among them: “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3, ESV). My pride, my competence, my long list of qualifications don’t count for much in God’s kingdom. What matters is humility, recognizing God, and placing Him and others first. Jesus will show us this Himself when He, God in the flesh, humbles Himself and goes to the cross (Philippians 2:5–8).

Then He gives another picture of the upside-down kingdom. A shepherd leaves the ninety-nine to search for one lost sheep (Matthew 18:12–14). Common sense says you protect what you’ve got. You don’t put the whole flock at risk for one lamb. Yet that’s exactly what Jesus describes. In His kingdom, each individual matters so much that the risk is worth taking.

And then we get to forgiveness. Oh boy.

I’m in the middle of a situation where someone mistreated a family member and has refused every attempt to reconcile. I’ll admit it: this one is very hard for me.

But when I read the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:21–35), I see how much I’ve been forgiven. For years I lived with one foot in the kingdom. I was in the church, but I held back part of my life from surrender. When Jesus forgave me and offered me life in Him, He forgave all of my sin. That included the sins I had already committed and the sins He knew I would commit in the future.

Now He calls me to be an agent of that forgiveness. When I extend it to others, they might catch a glimpse of the kingdom, and at the very least, I won’t be a hindrance to their turning. The process Jesus lays out in verses 15–17 shows the one who sinned against us what God’s forgiveness can look like. Our forgiveness is meant to mirror what God has already done for us and what He wants to do for the other person (Ephesians 4:32).

At the end of the chapter, Jesus says we are to forgive our brother “from your heart” (Matthew 18:35). In that culture, the heart was the center of a person’s being: mind, will, and the essence of who they are. So forgiveness can’t be only an intellectual decision. It includes that, but it goes all the way to the core of who we are. Because we are a forgiven people, we can be a forgiving people who extend God’s grace even when it isn’t deserved. When we do, the Holy Spirit is free to do the work only He can do in reaching that person’s heart.

I’ll be honest that part of my struggle is follow-through. The Lord has led me to do this before, and I’ve seen some pretty special results. Something else happens when we release an offense with our whole heart. God takes our hearts and our lives and shapes us more and more into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29).

Paul says, “We have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). But that mind isn’t something we fully possess the moment we come to faith. We can spend our entire earthly lives pursuing it with faithfulness and steadfastness, and it will still stretch out ahead of us. It’s the love and faithfulness Jesus showed as He rode into Jerusalem, knowing He would be maligned, falsely accused, falsely judged, and crucified.

Being shaped into that likeness is a process of deciding, over and over and over, that I am going to forgive. Each time, God changes my heart a little more. Forgiving from the heart opens the way for the Holy Spirit to change our own hearts. I suppose that’s what being a child of God is all about.

Question to consider: Is there someone you’ve forgiven in your mind but not yet from your heart? What would it look like to release them fully to God today?

Be blessed today, and be a blessing.

GroupMe version

Matthew 18 shows us Jesus’ upside-down kingdom. The disciples argue over who’s greatest, and Jesus points to a child. In His kingdom, humility counts for more than our pride and qualifications. A shepherd leaves ninety-nine sheep to find one, because every person matters that much to God.

Then comes forgiveness, and that one’s hard for me right now. I’m dealing with someone who mistreated a family member and won’t reconcile. But the parable of the unforgiving servant reminds me how much I’ve been forgiven: every sin, past and future. I’m called to extend that same grace.

Jesus says to forgive “from your heart” (v. 35). That means my whole being, not just a decision in my head. When I do that, the Holy Spirit can work in the other person, and He keeps shaping my heart into the image of Christ too. It’s a choice I make over and over.

Is there someone you need to forgive from the heart today? Be blessed, and be a blessing.

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Bridges, Dead Ends, and a Woman Worth the Trip

Posted in Bible Study, Bible Study, God, healing, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Prayer, Priorities, Salvation, Service, Spiritual Growth, The Father, Worship, tagged , , , , , , , on October 19, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Matthew 15 and Mark 7

Today we see a familiar theme, along with a story that often confused me before I became a student of the Bible. Let’s dive in and see what Jesus has to teach us.

The familiar theme is Jesus confronting the hypocrisy and religiosity of the Jewish leaders. We also see two different long-distance trips in today’s passages. The first is the religious leaders traveling all the way from Jerusalem to chastise Jesus because His followers weren’t keeping their traditions. The text doesn’t tell us, but I wonder whether they came on a fact-finding mission to “check out this new teacher,” or whether they came specifically to get Jesus and His growing following to behave and follow their rules. Either way, what they got was not what they hoped for. Instead, Jesus clearly articulated God’s perspective on man-made religious rules being wedged between God and man.

Jesus came as the ultimate bridge between fallen humanity and God. Even as He taught about the Kingdom of God (also called the Kingdom of Heaven), He was setting the stage for His own sacrifice, the means by which every person could be made right with God. The religious leaders were building a path that ultimately led to a dead end. There might be some self-satisfaction in following all the rules, but the sin debt we all owe could only be satisfied by a sacrifice… a sacrifice Jesus would soon accomplish.

I want to circle back for a moment to the trip these leaders made. The 80 or so miles from Jerusalem to Galilee was not the simple hour-and-a-half drive we might make today. It was a multi-day journey through areas known for bandits and other ne’er-do-wells, and traveling as a group may have been partly for safety. This mattered to them. Their reputation seemed to be at stake. They were likely also worried about stirring up the Romans. In John, which we read yesterday, a populist movement was already forming that wanted to make Jesus, the powerful, miracle-working rabbi, into the military messiah they had been hoping for.

But Jesus was having none of it, neither from the crowds who wanted to make Him an earthly king nor from the religious leaders who wanted Him to conform to their rule book. What He did do was speak clearly to the leaders, then to the people, and then in more detail to His disciples about the Kingdom of God. And then He set out on a multi-day journey of His own.

The story of the Syrophoenician woman always struck me as a little odd. But learning the context, and especially digging into the meaning of the original words, turned odd into beautiful. Here’s what changed and why it matters.

First, notice the similarity, and then the contrast, between the two trips. The religious leaders were likely already irritated at this rogue teacher upstaging them before they ever arrived. They came to correct, and possibly rebuke, Jesus. They left chastised and rebuked themselves. It was NOT a pleasant experience for them. Jesus then promptly left the Jewish region of Galilee and headed north into Gentile territory.

During this period of His ministry, the text frequently mentions Jesus teaching crowds and healing. We don’t see that here. We read about only one encounter: a Gentile woman begging Jesus to deliver her daughter. Jesus traveled into Gentile territory, a place “proper” Jews avoided at all costs, and He engaged with someone who was 1) a Gentile, 2) a woman, and 3) pushy enough to break past the disciples’ protective wall. That sounds like three strikes against her. But Jesus engaged her anyway.

Now comes the part that always made me uncomfortable. He refers to her as a dog. Wow. That seems out of character for the Jesus I know from the rest of the Gospels. The religious leaders wouldn’t have engaged her at all, but where’s the compassionate Jesus? This is where understanding the original language matters. The word Jesus uses refers to a little dog, a household pet, the kind of beloved puppy that lives under the family table. It is NOT the harsh insult it can sound like in English. And don’t forget, Jesus knew exactly what He was going to do. It is very likely that this woman was THE reason Jesus marched His disciples into foreign territory so far from home. This exchange, and the deliverance He gave, had to be critically important, or the Holy Spirit wouldn’t have prompted both Matthew and Mark to record it.

When I read this story and noticed that Jesus promptly left the area, I couldn’t help but think of the demoniac on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus delivered that man and then promptly turned around and headed back to Jewish territory. All the Old Testament prophecies pointed to a Jewish Messiah who would set His people free. In a few places we see that promise expanded to the Gentiles, but the primary audience was the Jews. And that’s exactly what Jesus did. His initial outreach was in Israel, but He also “seeded” His message into the lives of Gentiles, in at least these two places, through deliverance and healing. I can just picture this woman telling her friends about her encounter with Jesus as she points to her now healthy, whole daughter.

Today I am struck by how good the LORD is to reach out to us, no matter how far we might stray. He walks near enough to respond the moment we decide to seek Him. After the resurrection, we’ll see this intimacy with God go to a whole new level, as the Father places His Holy Spirit within each person who repents and surrenders their life to Him. But even before that, He is near… He pursues… He loves… and He gives us every opportunity to turn and become His child. That is a beautiful truth to rest in.

Where in your life might God be making a long trip just to meet you?

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Feed Me Now, or Feed Me Forever

Posted in Bible Study, Church, God, healing, heaven, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Prayer, Prayers, The Father, Trials, Vision, tagged , , , , , , , on October 18, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Reading: John 6

The feeding of the 5,000, plus women and children, is one of the few events recorded in all four Gospels. Yesterday we read about it in the Synoptics. Today John tells the same story and adds a few details of his own. He mentions the boy who brought what he had: “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” (John 6:9). He also tells us the crowd was so stirred that Jesus had to slip away because “they were about to come and take him by force to make him king” (John 6:15).

Where John really slows down, though, is the day after.

The Crowd Comes Back Hungry

The people Jesus fed look around for Him the next morning. When they realize He has crossed the lake, they follow, and many more from the surrounding area probably join them. They don’t come to worship. They come asking for more: another sign, another miracle, another meal. “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you?” (John 6:30).

Jesus sees right through it:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.” (John 6:26–27)

This was the point that stayed with me today. The crowd was focused on the temporary, on what lasts only a moment. It might be bread. It might be deliverance from Roman occupation. Either way, it was temporary. Jesus wanted them to look past it to what is eternal, to what truly matters most.

“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35)

When He says, “the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” (John 6:51), He is pointing ahead to the cross. We’ll see that come into focus in His final week, when He takes the Passover meal and turns it into what we know as the Lord’s Supper. For today, though, the issue is the clash between two prayers: feed me now and feed me for eternity.

God’s Timing

I read John 6 first thing this morning. Since it’s Sunday, I didn’t have time to write before church. Looking back, I think that was God’s timing.

After the service a good friend came up to me. Over the last few years I’ve watched his faith grow tremendously. He has asked hard questions and worked through them, and he has held on through difficult seasons.

Today I could see something heavy on him. When it was just the two of us, he told me his wife has just received a very serious diagnosis.

That news has shaken him to his core. I hurt with him. When I think about losing my wife, or one of our children, or someone close to us, I feel the grief starting already.

And yet on this side there is always hope. In His day Jesus did provide the temporary: the bread, the fish, the healing. Even more, He provides the eternal. My friend and his wife know Jesus. Will this be a trial? Yes. Will God heal her on this side? I hope and pray that she gets more time. But even if the Lord chooses not to heal her here, there is an eternity, and it is glorious, waiting beyond the door we call death, in the larger life.

Into the Water

Something else came to me as I prayed for my friend in the hour and a half after I got home.

Not long ago I watched his wife step into the waters of baptism. It wasn’t planned. The Holy Spirit simply moved her, and she came forward just as she was and said yes to Jesus all over again.

“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4)

She went down into the water, into death to self and burial with Christ, and came up joined to His resurrection, shouting hallelujah. It was a glorious thing to see how excited she was.

“But If Not”

When that picture came back to me this afternoon, I immediately thought of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Nebuchadnezzar ordered them to bow to his golden statue. They refused and were sentenced to the fiery furnace. Their answer has stayed with me for years:

“Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” (Daniel 3:17–18)

That is where my friend and his wife stand. She went under the water and came up again, and her life is now “hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). Whatever comes her way, whether temptation, hardship, or, as now, a very serious illness, she will love and serve Jesus with everything in her for as long as she has.

My friend will hold on to Jesus too. He will put his trust in Him, and he’ll probably cry in Jesus’ arms more than once. In the end, though, the eternal far outshines the temporary, and that includes this earthly life itself.

“For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18)

Invited Into the Eternal

The invitation is open to all of us. We can put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross. We can be born again, as Jesus describes in John 3. “Because I live, you also will live” (John 14:19). The eternal is what we were made for.

For reflection: What “bread that perishes” have you been asking God for lately? What would it look like this week to seek Him for the bread that endures?

Please also join me in praying for my friend and his wife.

Be blessed, my friends, and have a blessed day.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Eyes Above the Waves

Posted in Beautiful Places, Bible Study, God, God Stories, healing, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Priorities, Responsibility, Service, Spiritual Growth, The Father, Trials, Vision, worldview, Worship, tagged , , , , , , , on October 17, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Matthew 14, Mark 6, Luke 9

Reading today’s Gospel passages, I felt almost tired. The action is relentless, and the emotional weight comes early. John the Baptist, guilty of nothing but speaking truth to power, loses his life to a scheme hatched by Herodias and carried out through her daughter (Mark 6:17–29).

When Jesus hears the news, Matthew tells us he withdrew by boat to a desolate place by himself (Matthew 14:13). John wasn’t only his cousin. He was the forerunner who prepared the ground for Jesus’ ministry. I’m sure Jesus went to grieve and to be alone with the Father. But he didn’t get that, at least not at first. The crowds saw where he was going and followed him on foot. And when Jesus saw them, he had compassion on them (Matthew 14:14). Grieving, tired, and interrupted, he served anyway. That’s the servant leadership he still calls us to, and 2,000 years later it’s still rare.

The disciples were grieving too

I want to look at the disciples for a moment, because they had also heard the news. John was part of their story. At least a couple of them had followed John before they followed Jesus (John 1:35–40). John and Jesus preached the same message: repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The handoff from John to Jesus was one of preparation and arrival, but I don’t think that was clear to them yet. Most still pictured a Messiah who would throw off the yoke of Rome. They didn’t yet see that the yoke Jesus came to break was sin, and the debt we owe for our failure to obey God, or that Jesus himself would take the death sentence in our place. What they did know was that John was dead.

And here’s something I hadn’t noticed before. This all happens right after the disciples return from the mission Jesus had sent them on, with authority to proclaim the kingdom and to heal (Mark 6:7–13, 30; Luke 9:1–10). They had seen God’s power at work through them. It must have been exhilarating. They were also exhausted. Jesus had even said, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while” (Mark 6:31). Then the crowd showed up.

“You give them something to eat”

The teaching lasted all day. The people were hungry and had a long way home. When the disciples suggested sending them away, Jesus answered, “You give them something to eat” (Mark 6:37). They were flustered. Where would they find food, even if they had the money?

The answer was a boy’s lunch of five loaves and two fish (John 6:9). It fed 5,000 men, and with women and children, the crowd could easily have been 15,000. This is one of the few miracles recorded in all four Gospels.

Notice what the disciples’ responsibility turned out to be. They didn’t have to produce the food. They had to take what Jesus gave them and put it into the hands of the people. That’s servant leadership too. Fresh off a successful mission, they were still shocked by the scale of what Jesus asked. And he showed them that no need is too big for the power of God.

Headwinds on the lake

Then comes one of my favorite stories in the Bible. Jesus makes the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him across the lake, while he finally goes up the mountain alone to pray (Matthew 14:22–23).

I’ve been to Israel and stood on Mount Arbel, on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. From the top you can see the whole lake. Just below it, a valley pass opens toward the Mediterranean, and the wind can funnel through it and whip up that part of the water. It was easy for me to picture Jesus on a mountain on a breezy, moonlit night, looking down and seeing the disciples straining at the oars against the wind (Mark 6:48).

Jesus knew what was coming. He knew they’d be rowing into headwinds, and that in their own strength they wouldn’t make it. He sent them anyway. Then, in the fourth watch of the night, he came to them, walking on the sea.

They thought he was a ghost. Maybe that fear was tied to hearing that John had just been killed. They were terrified, and they were spent. They’d come back from a big mission, wanted rest, ministered all day to thousands, watched Jesus feed them, and were now paddling through the night and getting nowhere. And then someone was walking on the water. Jesus said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid” (Matthew 14:27).

Peter, and me

Then Peter, only in Matthew’s account, asks Jesus to call him out onto the water. Jesus says, “Come.” As long as Peter keeps his eyes on Jesus, he walks on the water too. But when he sees the wind, he becomes afraid, begins to sink, and cries out, “Lord, save me” (Matthew 14:28–30). Jesus immediately reaches out and catches him.

Oh my goodness, do I recognize this in my own life. When trials and challenges come, or when too many things crowd in and I look at the things instead of the person of Jesus, that’s when I sink. That’s when my emotions run amok. That’s when I’m less loving to my wife, less thoughtful toward my children, and less kind to the people I meet.

But when I keep my eyes on Jesus, follow what he did and what he said, and let the Holy Spirit help me not just with the task but with my focus, the water isn’t what drowns me. That’s when I’m walking above the waves. That’s when I’m rowing into the wind and actually making headway. That’s when I’m living the servant life Jesus called me to.

And before we know it, the Lord gives us the opportunity to lead others into a relationship with him, into discipleship, and into faithful action of their own. Not because we’re strong rowers, but because we keep our eyes on Jesus, follow him, and let our lives be used as his servants.

A question to carry with you today: What wind or wave has your attention right now, and what would it look like to lift your eyes back to Jesus in the middle of it?

Have a blessed day.

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Sent From the Feet of Jesus

Posted in Bible Study, God, healing, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Mission to Kenya, Orphans, Responsibility, Service, The Father, Trials, Vision, worldview, Worship, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 16, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Matthew 10

Today’s Gospel reading in Matthew is about Jesus setting apart the twelve. They began as disciples, and in this chapter he sends them out as apostles.

A disciple is a learner, a follower of a rabbi. In his day Jesus was seen as a rabbi, and he had a lot of followers. Estimates are that around 100 to 120 people regularly traveled with him, and the number would swell as he came into different towns. At times like the Sermon on the Mount and the Sermon on the Plain, crowds of many thousands gathered to hear him. Within that larger group were the disciples who followed him closely, and within them were the twelve, the men he chose as his closest followers.

In Matthew 10, Jesus sends those twelve out. “He called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction” (Matthew 10:1). They were to carry his message: “Proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay” (10:7–8). Jesus had the authority to give his power to his followers so they could carry out his work.

If a disciple is a learner, an apostle is one who is sent on a mission. Most of this chapter is about what would happen as these men went out: the power they would walk in and the very different responses they would get. Some of Jesus’ warnings are stern. “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (10:16). Jesus is honest about how hard it is to be his disciple and to be sent out with his message. He knows it won’t always be well received.

He also gives a very clear instruction: we are not to worry when we are sent on mission in God’s power. “When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (10:19–20). Yes, people may have some power over our lives, but God is in control. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father… Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” (10:29, 31). He guides our steps and our words. He is the one who heals, delivers, and works miracles. Our role is to take what we have learned as disciples and carry it wherever he sends us.

I love how Paul says that Christ gave leaders to the church “to equip the saints for the work of ministry” (Ephesians 4:12). Every Jesus follower is sent on mission. For some, the mission field is mostly the home. A homemaker homeschooling her children and serving on the neighborhood association is on mission. Others are sent far away, like my friends LJ and Danee, who are now in Kenya running an orphanage with some 200 children, many of them rescued from desperate situations.

I’ve had many opportunities to share the love of Jesus with people and to pray with them. What I see now is that my own experiences are part of how God has equipped me. There were times God was with me in hardship, times he rescued me from very difficult situations, and times he simply poured out his Spirit and gave me a reason to laugh. When I share those stories and acknowledge that God was behind them, that is ministry.

When we are placed in a hostile situation and questioned about our faith, telling who Jesus is and what he has done in our lives is the powerful witness God has given us. We may suffer in this life, but eternal life is bigger, greater, and grander. “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18). Whatever we may suffer for being faithful and proclaiming the gospel is nothing compared to what God has in store for “those who love God… who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

So here is what I’m taking from today: all believers are called to be disciples. We sit at Jesus’ feet, read his Word, and let it speak to our hearts. We let it read us. Then, as God gives us opportunities, we recognize that we are on the mission field everywhere we go, carrying his message, his power through prayer, and his life and light.

Where has God already sent you? Who in your everyday path needs to hear what Jesus has done in your life?

Be blessed today.

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Today’s reading was Matthew 10, where Jesus takes the twelve who had been following him as disciples and sends them out as apostles. A disciple is a learner and follower of a rabbi. An apostle is one who is sent on a mission.

Jesus “gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction” (Matthew 10:1). He sent them to proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and to heal the sick, raise the dead, and cast out demons. He had the authority to give his power to his followers.

He was also honest with them. “I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves” (10:16). The message would not always be welcome. But he told them not to be anxious about what to say, “for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (10:20). People may have some power over our lives, but God is in control. Not even a sparrow falls apart from our Father.

Paul says leaders were given “to equip the saints for the work of ministry” (Ephesians 4:12). Every follower of Jesus is sent. For some the mission field is the home and the neighborhood. For my friends LJ and Danny, it’s an orphanage in Kenya caring for some 200 children. For me, it’s often sharing how God has been with me in hard times, rescued me, or simply given me a reason to laugh.

We may suffer in this life for being faithful, but those sufferings “are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).

So sit at Jesus’ feet. Let his Word read you. Then recognize you’re on the mission field everywhere you go.

Where has God already sent you? Who in your everyday path needs to hear what Jesus has done in your life?

Be blessed today.

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Today’s reading was Matthew 10. Jesus took the twelve who had been following him as disciples, which means learners, and sent them out as apostles, which means ones sent on a mission. He gave them his authority to heal and cast out demons, and he sent them to proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Jesus was honest that it would be hard: “I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves” (10:16). But he told them not to worry about what to say, because the Spirit of the Father would speak through them. God is in control, and not even a sparrow falls apart from him.

Every believer is sent. Your mission field might be your home and neighborhood, or it might be an orphanage in Kenya like my friends LJ and Danny. Whatever we suffer for being faithful isn’t worth comparing to the glory ahead (Romans 8:18).

Sit at Jesus’ feet, let his Word read you, and remember you’re on mission everywhere you go. Where has God already sent you? Be blessed today.

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