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Archive for the ‘Spiritual Growth’ Category

Holy and Near Reading: Luke 11

Posted in Bible Study, Bible Study, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Prayer, Priorities, Responsibility, Spiritual Growth, The Father, Trials, worldview, Worship, tagged , , , , , , on October 13, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Jesus’ ministry has reached the point where He is teaching His disciples in preparation for their going out in ministry. He has performed many miracles, meeting people in the middle of their need, and many have now leaned in to hear His message and follow Him as a gifted teacher. Some are clearly beginning to think of Him as the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament. That expectation was especially strong at this point in Israel’s history. The Roman occupation had the people longing for someone who would lead them to deliverance.

So what does Jesus do? He teaches them to pray.

One of the disciples watches Jesus pray and then asks, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples” (Luke 11:1, ESV). Jesus’ example is short. It is concise. And it touches the themes all of us deal with every day. What it doesn’t do is call down fire from heaven to drive out the Romans. (Just a chapter earlier, James and John wanted to call down fire on a Samaritan village, and Jesus rebuked them; Luke 9:54–55.) Jesus teaches us to pray in the middle of life, wherever we might be.

Starting From Humility

There is a foundation in the Lord’s Prayer that is absolutely essential: we come to this conversation with our heavenly Father from a place of humility. God is holy. He is uniquely set apart from all of creation. Yet He loves us, desires a relationship with us, and makes Himself present in a real way through prayer.

A “God is my buddy” attitude can easily miss the reality of a holy God stooping to talk with us. He does desire fellowship with us, and He will draw close to us. But pride, and even complacency, can create a distance that is our own making. As James writes, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” and “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4:6, 8).

The prayer opens, “Father, hallowed be your name” (Luke 11:2); in Matthew’s version, “Our Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:9). He is above all, completely set apart. His name is holy. The tension between His holiness and purity and our lack of it keeps us properly humble as we come before our loving Creator. And from that place, God draws us close.

“Your Kingdom Come”

Luke records “Your kingdom come” (11:2), and Matthew adds, “your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). God’s purpose, the establishment and advancement of His kingdom on the earth through the lives of His children, should be ever before us. He wants us to pray for it, and then to live it.

“Give Us Each Day Our Daily Bread”

I can’t read this line without thinking of the children of Israel wandering in the desert for forty years, provided manna from heaven every single day (Exodus 16:4). Gratitude includes recognizing that the gift is only given because there is a Giver. Asking God to provide is never wrong. One of His names in the Old Testament is Jehovah Jireh, “The LORD will provide” (Genesis 22:14).

“Forgive Us Our Sins”

“And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us” (Luke 11:4). This line highlights two of our greatest needs: to be forgiven, and to release through forgiveness those who sin against us.

It also circles back to the importance of humility. We will struggle to forgive if we hold too tightly to our hurt, our reputation, what people say, or what people do. Forgiveness doesn’t condone the evil done against us. It means we release our right to hold onto it, and we hand it to the Lord.

“Lead Us Not Into Temptation”

The English wording here can be a little confusing. Scripture is clear that God doesn’t tempt anyone to sin (James 1:13). The essence is this: the world is full of temptations to sin and to drift away from God and His best. We have been given free moral agency, the ability to choose. And in every situation, there is at least one path that leads toward God and away from sin. Paul says it this way: “with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Trials, troubles, and challenges will come. But we have a loving Father who will help us through them and away from sin. We just have to ask, and then follow.

The Gift That Makes Prayer Come Alive

Luke ends the prayer there, but he doesn’t end Jesus’ teaching on prayer. I think we often miss that Jesus’ next words describe an essential element in the power of our prayer. After teaching His disciples to ask, seek, and knock (11:9), He says:

“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (11:13)

At this point, the Holy Spirit, the third person of the triune God, had not yet been poured out to live in believers. That came after Jesus’ resurrection, on the day of Pentecost, which Luke records in Acts 2, and it continues today as people surrender their lives to Him.

Jesus points out that the Holy Spirit is God’s gift to His children when they ask. The Holy Spirit is God, and He comes to dwell in us the moment we are saved. There is so much to unpack about God living within us, but it’s enough to say this: our intimacy with the Father grows so much richer as we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us, pray through us (Romans 8:26), and help us understand God and His ways.

Religion That Keeps People Out

The final verses of the chapter reveal the growing conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders. A Pharisee invites Jesus to dine with him (11:37), though it seems the invitation may have been more about challenging Jesus than understanding Him. Whatever the motive, Jesus rebukes them for setting up man-made hurdles that made it hard for people to approach God: “you load people with burdens hard to bear” (11:46), and “You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering” (11:52).

God as a loving Father was not what the religious leaders promoted. They had built a religious system that made them feel good about themselves, yet left them, and anyone who followed them, outside of grace. Their prayers were rote, offered from a position of pride and supposed privilege. The humility the Lord’s Prayer calls for was far from them.

Simple and Refreshing

The simplicity of Jesus’ prayer is truly refreshing. I’m sure that’s part of what drew so many people to Him. He gave them a picture of a God who is both holy and loving. Through His life and His teaching, He showed that God wants to draw near to His children. All we have to do is ask, from a place of humble faith.

A question to sit with: Which line of this simple prayer have you been rushing past lately, and what might change if you prayed it slowly and humbly today?

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From a Prison Cell to an Easy Yoke

Posted in Bible Study, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Prayer, Priorities, Responsibility, Service, Spiritual Growth, Trials, Vision, worldview, tagged , , , , , on October 12, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Matthew 11 · Devotional for Areliablefaith

Matthew 11 opens with John the Baptist in prison. He is there for simply speaking the truth. He spoke the truth to power, and power locked him up. John had called out Herod for taking his brother’s wife, Herodias, and his life is now hanging by a thread.

From that cell, John sends some of his disciples to ask Jesus a question: “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Matthew 11:3, ESV).

Some read this as doubt. I don’t believe it was unbelief. John had seen God move too clearly. At the Jordan he saw the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus and heard the Father speak. John himself testified, “I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God” (John 1:34). A man who saw that doesn’t simply stop believing.

What I can easily see is discouragement. He may have felt despair and loneliness. Perhaps he even thought that if Jesus is the Messiah, He could come and rescue him. We don’t know exactly. But John seems to be looking for one final assurance as he awaits his fate.

Jesus gives it. He tells John’s disciples to report what they have seen and heard: “the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them” (Matthew 11:5). These are the very signs Isaiah said the Messiah would bring. In effect, Jesus is telling John, Yes, it’s Me. Hold on.

There’s a lesson here for us. As believers, we are not promised that life will be a cakewalk, all rainbows and joy and happy days. In many ways it’s just the opposite. Following Jesus means standing against the current, standing against the culture, and standing for what is good and right. We stand for God’s kingdom, which runs counter to this world. Sometimes that lands us in our own kind of prison cell, and we need that same assurance.

Greater Still

After John’s disciples leave, Jesus turns to the crowd and honors him: “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matthew 11:11).

What on earth? How can the least be greater than the greatest?

I think the answer lies in this: Jesus inaugurates the kingdom of God. John was the last and greatest of the prophets who pointed toward it. Jesus says “all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John” (Matthew 11:13). John stood at the doorway, but through Jesus the kingdom is brought to earth. Those of us who live on this side of the cross and resurrection get to step through that door. That isn’t because we are greater people. It’s because of where we stand.

And that kingdom is advancing, even to this day. I’m a member of it, and most likely you are too.

It advances one soft and supple heart at a time, as hearts respond to the Holy Spirit’s prompting. It advances when God’s people get on their knees, praying and seeking the good of their families and communities. It advances when the Word of God is read and put into practice. Wherever the Holy Spirit is at work and people follow His leading to serve and to love with agape, God’s own love, the kingdom moves forward. Jesus described it this way: it starts as small as a mustard seed and grows until birds nest in its branches (Matthew 13:31–32).

A Yoke That Fits

Jesus closes the chapter with some of the most beautiful words of encouragement in Scripture. I see them as a counterbalance to how the chapter began. It opened with John in prison, discouraged. It ends with this:

“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)

This is truly the secret to life as a follower of Jesus: to take His yoke upon us. We do that by coming to Him and staying with Him, and by seeking to fellowship with Him day by day.

A yoke was the wooden beam that linked two oxen together so they could pull as one. So who is the other one in the yoke with us? It’s the Lord. We are linked to Him. And His yoke fits perfectly. He knows exactly how much we can pull when we’re walking alongside Him.

If I might say it, He does the heavy lifting. He does most of the pulling. And yet He gives us the great privilege of working with Him in advancing His kingdom. He lets us be part of His answer for our families, our friends, our communities, and any place He takes us. Wherever that is, He’s there in the yoke beside us.

Oh, this is glorious to know. Whether we’re standing against the current or sitting in a cell of discouragement like John, we aren’t pulling alone.

Where do you need to stop pulling alone today and step back into the yoke beside Jesus?

Have a blessed day.

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Built on the Rock

Posted in Bible Study, Bible Study, Church, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Priorities, Responsibility, Spiritual Growth, The Father, worldview, Worship, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 10, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Today’s devotional is on Matthew 5–7, known as the Sermon on the Mount. I have to admit to feeling a bit overwhelmed trying to glean a key thought from what is arguably the most important sermon ever preached. What began as covenants God made with Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Moses in the Old Testament finds its ultimate exposition in Jesus’ talk with a crowd gathered on a Galilean hillside 2,000 years ago. I think I will mostly let Jesus’ words speak for themselves and just speak to how today’s reading struck me.

I’ve read the Sermon on the Mount many, many times. Sometimes I take a piece of it and chew on it for days. Other times, like this morning, I read straight through and simply feel both the weight and the joy in it. What can feel in the Old Testament like a harsh checklist of dos and don’ts, Jesus boils down to the heart.

This morning, it was the final section that stopped me:

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24–25, ESV)

The timing is not lost on me. As I write this, a hurricane that came ashore in the middle of the night, 400 to 450 miles from here, is still reaching us. We’re expecting driving rain and 30 to 40 mile-an-hour winds all day long. Storms like this have a way of revealing how well a house is built. Whatever was hidden in the framing and the foundation comes to light when the wind starts to blow.

The same is true of our lives. There are plenty of foundations on offer: success, reputation, comfort, our own good behavior. None of them hold when the storm comes. Jesus himself is the rock. As Paul wrote, “no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11). He is what makes us whole and moves us toward the completeness and purposes God designed for us.

What struck me most this morning is how the sermon begins and ends. It opens with “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). Recognizing that we are spiritually bankrupt without Jesus is where the right foundation begins. And it closes with building on the rock: on Jesus, on what he accomplished in our place at the cross, and on what he continues to do through his Holy Spirit living in us, drawing us close to the Father. That intimacy with God was his plan from the very beginning in the garden.

From there, the building goes on. As we keep reading, applying, and living out his Word, God brings about the spiritual maturity that lets the house stand. Notice that both builders in Jesus’ story heard the same words. The difference was that one of them did what he heard.

What storm in your life right now is revealing what your house is built on, and what would it look like to hear and do Jesus’ words this week?

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Jesus Saw Him

Posted in Beautiful Places, Bible Study, God, Jesus Christ, Salvation, Spiritual Growth, Worship, tagged , , , , , , , on October 9, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Reflections on John 5

Yesterday was a heavy travel day. I read John 5 in the early morning, and then the day got away from me. But the chapter didn’t let go. This morning, in that in-between space where you’re not quite asleep and not quite awake, I found myself back beside the pool of Bethesda, thinking about one man.

Living Next to Hope

John tells us, “One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years” (John 5:5 ESV). Thirty-eight years. That’s longer than many people in that day lived. It’s a whole adult life spent on a mat.

He spent it at Bethesda, a pool surrounded by colonnades and crowded with “a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed” (5:3). The belief was that when the water was stirred, the first one in would be healed. That was the secret, the one thing everyone was waiting for.

So this man lived right next to hope and could never reach it. Every time the water moved, someone faster got there first. I picture people rushing past him, stepping over him, bumping into him on their way to the water, and no one stopping. He was present every single day, and almost no one saw him.

I think, more than anything, he felt unseen. Unnoticed. Unwanted. The things that give us reason to keep going in this world (being known, being needed, being loved) he had very few of. After thirty-eight years, I’m not sure he had much hope left. He just stayed where hope was supposed to be.

When Jesus Saw Him

Then comes one of the most tender lines in John’s Gospel:

“When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be healed?’” (5:6)

When Jesus saw him. In a crowd of the sick and desperate, Jesus saw this man. More than that, He knew him. He knew how long he’d been lying there. Nobody had to tell Him.

Now look at how the man answers. Jesus asks a yes-or-no question, and the man never says yes:

“Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” (5:7)

He gives his reason instead. I have no one. Underneath it I hear: No one sees me. No one helps me. No one stops. He’s explaining why the only hope he knows has never worked for him.

Jesus doesn’t argue with him or correct his theology about the water. He simply says, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And “at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked” (5:8–9).

The man had been looking to the pool. Jesus didn’t need the pool. Jesus was the healing.

Missing the Miracle

Then John adds a short phrase that changes everything: “Now that day was the Sabbath” (5:9).

The religious leaders see the man walking and say, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed” (5:10). A man who had been unable to walk for thirty-eight years is standing in front of them, and what they see is a mat.

God’s law called His people to keep the Sabbath holy and rest from their work. Over time, though, the religious leaders had built a fence of detailed rules around that command, defining exactly what counted as work and what counted as a forbidden burden. A sleeping mat made their list. Their rule became the law, God was cast as the enforcer, and they were so busy guarding the fence that they missed the God of the Sabbath standing right in front of them.

That was so much of the conflict Jesus ran into. Rules meant to protect God’s command ended up making it harder for people to come to God. It’s a warning worth taking to heart in our own churches: it’s possible to be zealous for our traditions and completely miss what Jesus is doing.

Jesus Found Him Again

I love what happens next: “Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, ‘See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you’” (5:14).

The man ended up in the temple, the place of worship. Jesus didn’t heal him and walk away. He found him again. The One who saw him at the pool went looking for him and spoke to him about the rest of his life. It’s a gentle but serious word: You’ve got your feet under you now. Walk in a way that honors God.

Jesus cared about more than his legs. He cared about his whole life.

He Sees You Too

For one forgotten man at Bethesda:

  • Jesus saw him.
  • Jesus approached him.
  • Jesus spoke to him.
  • Jesus healed him.

And the same is true for every one of us. Jesus sees us, even when the crowd rushes past. Jesus knows us, including how long we’ve been waiting. Jesus speaks to us. And Jesus heals us.

The New Testament often uses a single Greek word, sōzō, for both “save” and “heal” (when Jesus tells a woman, “your faith has made you well,” that’s sōzō). The healing of the body and the saving of the soul are not two separate projects for Jesus. He makes whole people whole. He saves us, He heals us, and He brings us home.

Maybe you’ve been lying beside your own pool for a long time, waiting for a hope that never quite reaches you, feeling stepped over and unseen. Hear this: Jesus sees you lying there. He knows how long it’s been. And He’s still asking the question.

Where do you feel unseen right now, and will you let Jesus meet you there?

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The Servants Knew — John 2–4

Posted in Jesus Christ, Worship, Service, Spiritual Growth, Bible Study, tagged , , , , , , on October 6, 2026| Leave a Comment »

I read today’s passage twice, and something stood out that I had never really noticed before. It started with a small parenthetical in John 2 and ended up changing how I saw the whole chapter.

At the wedding in Cana, the wine runs out. For a family hosting a marriage feast, that was a real embarrassment. Mary brings it to Jesus, and he answers, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come” (John 2:4). On paper that can sound a little stand-offish. Scripture doesn’t tell us his tone, but I picture him saying it with a half smile, knowing his mother’s heart and knowing she wants to spare this family. Tara Leigh Cobble points out that the original language is much warmer and more familiar than it sounds in English. “Woman” was a respectful way to address someone, and it’s the same word Jesus uses for Mary from the cross (John 19:26). I believe Jesus already knew what he was going to do, and he was proud of his mom for asking on behalf of someone in distress.

Then John slips in this detail: “When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew)…” (John 2:9).

The servants knew. The people on the lowest rung of the social ladder at that party had the inside scoop.

Move one step up the ladder and you find the bridegroom’s family. They had enough sense of responsibility to throw a marriage feast in keeping with Jewish custom, but running out of wine suggests they weren’t well off. Whether or not they knew it at that moment, they were the direct beneficiaries of the miracle.

Next comes the master of the feast, likely a fairly well-to-do man. He tastes the blessing and stops the celebration to announce it: “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now” (John 2:10). He had probably never experienced such a delightful surprise. The person with the title got the experience, and the people carrying the water jars got the knowledge.

The whole wedding turned into an absolute joy, and it happened because a friend intervened, a mother stepped in, and God the Son moved. People at every level of society were blessed.

And then there’s the temple.

John isn’t concerned with strict chronological order. His gospel was written last of the four, and he likely knew Matthew, Mark, and Luke well. I can easily picture the Holy Spirit prompting John to give us one more critical lens on Jesus’ life, one that hammers on his deity. John’s account is thematic, and right after Cana he shows us one more group: the religious leaders in the temple at Passover. (The other gospels place a temple cleansing in Jesus’ final week. Some scholars think John moved it forward for theological reasons, and others believe Jesus cleansed the temple twice. Either way, John wants us to see it here.)

Every social layer at the wedding experienced the joy of Jesus’ presence. The religious leaders did not. They considered themselves the most pious and important people of all, and they became the targets of his anger. At Cana Jesus served others without drawing attention to himself. In Jerusalem, the leaders were profiting off pilgrims who had come to worship. “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade” (John 2:16). They were blind to their own greed, and they were making it hard for ordinary people to come before God with joy.

Then, in 2:18, they demand a sign. That comes right after John has shown us one they didn’t see.

A chapter break that hides a connection

John closes chapter 2 with what is essentially his thesis: “Jesus… knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man” (John 2:24–25).

The original manuscripts had no chapters or verses. Stephen Langton’s chapter divisions came in the early 1200s. Robert Estienne added verse numbers to the New Testament in 1551, and the Geneva Bible of 1560 was the first English Bible to include both. Those divisions help us find our place, but they can also hide connections.

Here’s one. The very next sentence, John 3:1, reads, “Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.” John uses the same Greek word for “man” in both verses. Without the chapter break, it reads as one thought: Jesus knows what is in man, and here is a man. Nicodemus is John’s first example of that claim.

In that nighttime conversation, John lays out the heart of Jesus’ rescue mission: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Then John the Baptist steps aside for the One the Old Testament had been pointing to all along: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).

Beyond the boundaries

In chapters 2 and 3, Jesus establishes his message and mission among the Jewish people. In chapter 4, John follows him straight across the boundary lines. The Samaritans weren’t exactly Gentiles. They were a mixed people with partial roots in Israel who worshiped on their own mountain, and the Jews despised them. The woman at the well is stunned: “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) (John 4:9). In one conversation, Jesus crosses ethnic, religious, and social lines. Her whole town ends up declaring that he is “indeed the Savior of the world” (John 4:42).

This was paradigm-shifting in the most wonderful way. God’s people had come to see his promises as exclusive, limited to the children of Abraham by bloodline. Jesus blew up that exclusivity. He made it a posture of the heart: “the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him” (John 4:23). It means an open mind and a willingness to look inward and let God’s Spirit search us and draw us close.

When we do, we know a joy beyond being at a wedding with the best wine ever.

For reflection:

  • Where am I standing at the party: serving and seeing, receiving without knowing, or guarding the temple courts?
  • Is there a “sign” God has already given me that I’ve been too busy or too proud to notice?

Who is on the other side of a boundary I’ve drawn, and what would it look like to ask them for a drink?

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Downward Spiral

Posted in Bible Study, God, Holy Spirit, Holy Week, Jesus Christ, Prayer, Spiritual Growth, The Father, tagged , , , , , , , on March 30, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Judges 1-2. Having read through the Bible multiple years now, when we hit Judges, the life of the nation of Israel becomes one or two steps forward and two or three steps backwards. The Bible is one unified story that points to Jesus. But to do that, it also has to describe the reason for Jesus’ coming which is our absolute need for a savior. This is true of us as a society. It is true of me and everyone else individually. As Paul says in the seventh chapter of his letter to the church at Rome – “Woe is me… the good I would do, I don’t do; and that which I know not to do, that is what I do… who will save me from this wretched condition?” The answer is Jesus. What Paul cries out about is demonstrated through Israel in the book of Judges. Israel demonstrates this up and down nature of our humanity through a series of slides into depravity followed by subjugation leading to crying out to God for help. God raises up a leader to rescue them, followed by relative peace that eventually descends into depravity again and the whole process starts over.

There is another layer to the stories in Judges that we might easily miss. In these first two chapters, the narrator gives us a list of all the areas where the Israelites did not drive out the Canaanites who were living there. The people living in the land worshipped other gods. They sacrificed their children. They included various immoral practices into their “worship” such as cult prostitutes. The Lord had clearly said the existing inhabitants must be removed from the land or they would become a snare and trap for the Israelites. We will see this play out in ever-increasing ways through Judges.

There is a direct correlation to the life of a person when they come to Christ. We are to consistently drive out the sin habits that we have developed over our life prior to entering into the saving relationship with Jesus. It is not clean your act up to be saved. It is totally the fact that we are a new creation, and we are to live like it. Through the forgiveness we receive in Jesus and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit living in us, we can live a different life. We are to crucify the flesh or the ways of the old nature.  Every area that we do not deal with will become a foothold for the enemy. Left unaddressed, the foothold becomes a stronghold. Before long, our life will be one of domination by God’s (and ours) enemy because we didn’t deal with the sin habit when the Holy Spirit first revealed it to us.

The solution is simple. Paul shouts it out in Romans 8… Thanks be to God for Jesus! Jesus broke the power of Satan, of sin, as well as the fear of death. Starting with this reality which Jesus purchased for all humanity at the cross, we look to Him and, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we reject and pull down every thought, every sin habit that we might once have embraced. We do not let them live and have dominion over us.

As we live into Holy Week this year, we see and we model Jesus’ focus on the Father and the Father’s good plan. Painful though it was, Jesus knew it was God’s way, it was the only way to save us… to save me… to save you. And as His children, He has a good plan beyond our salvation, as good as that is. He wants to sanctify us. He wants us to live in peace. He wants our lives to point to Him. So, we will set our face towards the Father, and we will drive out anything and everything in our life that would turn us away from following Him faithfully.

Help us LORD to crucify everything that is not of you. We desire to live lives surrendered. And we say yes to the active part of surrender… laying down our lives and all lesser loves to embrace you and your ways. To you be the glory faithful Lord, you who entered into Jerusalem knowing what lie before you, knowing that you did not deserve to die such an ignominious death. But you did it for us. You did it for me. Thank you Jesus.

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Choose, Cling, Witness

Posted in Bible Study, Bible Study, God, Holy Week, Jesus Christ, Responsibility, Spiritual Growth, The Father, Trials, worldview, Worship, tagged , , , , , , on March 29, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Joshua 22-24, The progression here is the plan for every believer and follower of Jesus. We are to choose the Lord. This is not a one-time activity. It is a recurring choice we get to make over and over. This is the essence of faith, choosing the Lord and following Him every day until it is the only thing we know to do.

Now choosing Him is easy when life is good. Life isn’t always good. In fact, there are many times when life is hard. It is in hard times when it is essential that we cling tightly to the LORD. When our children were little, a game they loved to play was to sit on my foot and wrap their arms around my leg while I walked. I remember their giggles and squeals as I would walk around asking my wife if she liked my new shoes. If they did not cling tightly though, they would fall off. This picture comes to mind when I think of clinging. There is such a close personal nature to clinging when I think of this. God is a good, good Father who desires that we hold onto Him, hold onto His promises, hold onto His way of living such that the third word comes into play.

The reality is our lives will be a witness to something. The question is what do we bear witness to? Do we just blend in with the world and its brokenness… its misplaced faith… its fears… its corruption? Or do we bear witness to the living God who is at work transforming our lives day by day, well-made choice by well-made choice. As we choose and as we cling, our lives will reflect the love and goodness of God more and more.

Today is Palm Sunday. Jesus rode into Jerusalem to lots of external fanfare, yet He knew what lie before Him. He saw the cross looming on the near horizon. Living in Roman occupied territory, Jesus had certainly seen the gruesome displays of Roman justice, so He had no illusions about what was coming. Yet He chose to obey. He chose to ride into the coming maelstrom. And He did so clinging to the Father, trusting His plan, trusting His heart. And today, Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection are the central point of all history, a glorious witness of God’s love and desire that ALL mankind might choose, cling, and bear witness to Him.

Blessed LORD, we choose you today. We cling to you today. LORD, make our lives a faithful witness to your love and goodness to each and every person we meet today. In Jesus’ Name!

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Crossed Arms

Posted in Bible Study, Genesis, God, God Stories, Jesus Christ, Prayer, Spiritual Growth, The Father, Worship, tagged , , , , , , , on February 24, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Genesis 48-50, Crossed Arms. Throughout Genesis we see the “expected way” to be upended. The Law of primogenitor stated that the inheritance, birthright, and double portion of blessing belong to the firstborn male in the family. It was the accepted rule in the time of the Patriarchs and still exists today in many societies. Yet in Genesis, we see this “law” broken in almost every case. The list of firstborn sons who did NOT receive this place of preeminence is longer than those who do. Cain, Ishmael, Esau, Reuben, and today Manasseh are all passed over and a younger sibling is given the leading role.

Jacob is old and almost blind when he “adopts” Joseph’s two oldest sons – Manasseh and Ephraim. Jacob is a younger brother to his twin Esau. We remember that Jacob used deception to steal his father’s blessing for the oldest son. Today in pronouncing blessing upon the two boys Jacob crosses his arms to intentionally bless Ephraim, the second son, with the blessing reserved for the older.

Two things struck me. First, the LORD has blessed me far greater than I deserve. The relationship He has drawn me into with Himself is truly life-giving and joy-inducing. Yet so many of God’s answers to my prayers have been different from what I expected. My prayers early in my walk included a good bit of instruction to God on how to meet the need I was praying about. God would answer, yet the path to His blessing was completely different than what I expected. And it was always better because of this. Second, the Bible refers to Jesus as our older brother, the firstborn from the dead. We know He truly exists in preeminence. Yet He passes on blessings to us, His younger siblings, in portions far beyond our merit. Grace, God’s unmerited favor, rests upon us because of Jesus’ death, resurrection and life.

Father, thank you for blessing us richly. You are no respecter of persons in the sense of entitlement. But you are the Lover of our souls, and you are at work wooing, training, and surprising us with grace upon grace. May we live to pass on your blessing to the people you bring into our lives… family, friends, and even the stranger we meet as we go through life.

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God Whispers

Posted in Bible Study, God, Holy Spirit, Prayer, Priorities, Spiritual Growth, Worship, tagged , , , on January 14, 2026| Leave a Comment »

1 Kings 19:9-13, God Whispers. Interestingly, after writing this morning’s devotional, I joined our church’s 21 Days of Prayer online. I am traveling for work so I can’t be there in person. Jason, one of our pastors, did the lead in and used these verses to encourage us to be quiet and ask the LORD to speak to us as we meditated on Psalm 122. I was arrested by these verses, particularly the fact that there was a wind, an earthquake, and a fire that came before the whisper.

So many times, I can’t hear the LORD because of the wind, earthquake, and fire. The social media feeds, the never-ending news cycle, how my favorite sports team is doing, even the emotionally charged conversations I have in my head trying to figure out how to resolve a conflict, these are wind, earthquake, and fire. I cannot necessarily shut out all of these, but I can choose to place myself where I am ready to hear. I can choose to shut the doors where many of these enter in to steal my attention.

Like the psalmist said, “I quiet my soul like a weaned child”. I think this imagery is intentional. As we mature, we no longer have the same needs of an infant in the faith, yet we will never lose the need to sit quietly with our heavenly Father and receive from Him what we truly need. And many times, it comes as a gentle whisper…

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Turning the Corner

Posted in Bible Study, God, job, Orphans, Responsibility, Spiritual Growth, Trials, worldview, tagged , , , , , , on January 11, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Job 29-31, Turning the Corner. Our time in Job thus far has been bookended by accounts of Job’s righteousness. In chapter 1 God speaks of Job’s righteousness so we know Job is truly a good and righteous person. In chapter 31 Job goes on to list all the things that he does that are good and right. Job’s righteousness is impressive and puts me in my place by comparison. Which, when I think about it, is possibly a good thing for both Job and me. It is good for Job because it uncovers an area of his life, pride and entitlement, that are NOT character traits that endear us to God. It is good for me because I still have a way to go to even measure up to Job’s righteousness AND I can receive the warning from Job’s pride. It is the slippery slope that comes when our reputation supersedes our relationship with the Father.

But everything is about to change. Job’s three friends have run out of steam. Their accusations and false help have not stuck. And Job’s heart is laid bare with all of his goodness peeled back to reveal an area of need. God loves Job just like He loves us. What seemingly started as a dare between God and Satan has become a tool God uses to reveal to Job his need that he would never have seen without his suffering AND the interactions with his friends. And God will use this to bless not just Job, but his friends too. I am excited to see where God takes us in the coming days.

Father, you love us too much to let us remain stuck. In Isaiah you call out righteousness laid over pride as filthy rags. You desire that we act right towards others, but you desire that to spring forth from our ever-growing relationship with you. So, we bend our knees and lay all our ambitions and motivations before you now. You know them already. We ask that you help us to see ourselves rightly and live surrendered. We offer ourselves to you that you might transform us. We are your children and our desire is to live as faithful men and women of God. Be glorified, our Lord and our God!

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