July 7, 2025

Lamentations 4: 17 Moreover, our eyes failed, looking in vain for help; from our towers we watched for a nation that could not save us. (NIV)

God does not rely on the strengths that our society exalts.*

There’s a song about looking for love in all the wrong places, but the author of Lamentations might sing about looking for hope in all the wrong places. For decades, the nation of Judah had been trying to manipulate Egypt into being their ally – to be their rescue from Babylon – but the Egyptian army wasn’t there when they needed them. 

We often misplace our hope and trust. The psalmist says, “Blessed is he whose . . . hope is in the Lord his God.” (Psalm 146: 5) It seems obvious that we should not place our trust in things, but are we never to put our trust in other people? Honestly, I don’t think we have any choice but to trust others. God has chosen to use humans as his hands and feet for accomplishing his purposes on earth. There will be occasions in life when we have to trust those who care about us and allow them to show us they care. 

But, although God puts people in our lives that we can - and should - trust, he is the only one we can trust to save us. You may look to wealth and health to improve the conditions of your life, but you will be looking to them in vain if you are expecting them to save you. Put your hope in the Lord.

If we would truly accept that only God can save and sanctify, it would give us a radical gratefulness for our salvation.*

July 6, 2025

Luke 2: 6, 7 . . . the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. (NIV)

It is sure that no man ever thought of such a plan.*

Do you remember the first time you left your new baby in the care of someone else? You didn’t leave her with a random stranger, did you? You wouldn’t trust your helpless child to a person who you knew was going to abuse him. Or torture and kill him. But that’s what God did with his precious Son. He sent him into the world, knowing what the world was going to do to him. Actually, he sent his Son because of what the world was going to do to him. Because that’s how much he loves us.

I confess: I don’t get it. I can’t think of a better plan to save the world – but surely God could. And why bother saving the world anyway? It’s not just that we’re sinful; it’s that even at our best we are undeserving and fickle. We are not lovable. But here is what I do get: when I remember that “God came as a baby, giving and entrusting Himself to me,”* I know that I am loved beyond my ability to comprehend or duplicate. I am his precious child.

Eternal life is not about knowing all the answers but knowing the Son.*

July 5, 2025

Jonah 3: 1 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time. (NIV)

We fight daily against what seems to be unfair while sometimes being the one dishing out unfairness to others.*

It has always been difficult for me to accept that life ain’t fair. Of course, I prefer that life comply with my standards for fairness – which as it turns out, aren’t exactly fair as they tend to slant in my favor. The truth is, if life were fair I wouldn’t have EVERYTHING while others have less than their daily bread.

We see that Jonah, too, had a double standard for fairness. In an attempt to avoid having to obey a command that he found distasteful, he ran away from God. No doubt, being turned into live bait was also distasteful! With the smell of fish vomit to remind him of what could happen if he went on the lam again, Jonah took advantage of his second chance and delivered God’s message to the Ninevites. And here is where Jonah’s sense of fair play takes a turn for the worse. He became sullen and resentful when the people of Nineveh repented of their wickedness and were given their own second chance.

Do we want God to be fair? Or do we just want him to play favorites? We benefit from his great patience and accept his forgiveness – over and over – but are we willing to extend the same grace to others? Do I see my behavior as a mistake while the same action is an unpardonable offense when someone else does it? 

Through Jonah’s story, we learn that God expects fairness from us, but not from himself. If God were more fair and less merciful, no one would get a second chance.

Do we appreciate the do overs God grants?*

July 4, 2025

Luke 15: 13, 14, 17 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country . . .  When he came to his senses . . .” (NIV)

The far country is always swept by famine.* 

I have a family member who, after a lifetime as a faithful Christian, has turned his back on God, the church, and his marriage. While he has made his choices willingly, he also admits to being lonely, depressed, and hopeless. It seems to me that he has entered a far country that has been swept by famine. 

If you have a prodigal son or daughter in your life, perhaps you, too, can find hope in the parable of the lost boy. There is a boatload of hopefulness to be found in the phrase, “When he came to his senses.” If our loved ones are simply out of their minds, there is more reason for optimism than if they have deliberately given in to sin. I am praying that my lost one will not know peace until he is down on his knees. 

The father in the story serves a dual purpose for us. 1) He sets an example of diligent vigilance: he never gives up praying and watching for his son’s return; and 2) he illustrates the love of our Heavenly Father as he, too, waits for his prodigals to come to their senses.

Our Father is relentlessly in pursuit of his children. He has called us home with his word, paved the path with his blood, and is longing for our arrival.*

July 3, 2025

John 20: 1, 19 Early on the first day of the week . . . Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. . . . On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked . . . Jesus came and stood among them . . . (NIV)

Every action of heaven has one aim: that you know God.*

If Jesus could make an appearance in a locked room without crashing through the door, he could have found his way out of the tomb without moving the stone. If Jesus ever did anything that was without purpose, I doubt if the gospel writers would have recorded it. So, what was his point? Evidence. The stone was removed to prove that the tomb was empty. And when he magically appeared in the room where his followers were cowering in terror, he confirmed his identity and calmed their fears.

Christians are people of faith, but our faith is not baseless. We don’t believe in a risen Savior just because the Bible tells me so. Between the physical evidence and the testimony of eye-witnesses, there is no doubt that Jesus was dead and then he wasn’t. If we can trust that he overcame death, why can’t we have faith that he will keep his promise to make overcomers of us?

Meanwhile, like the disciples in the locked room, he appears to us personally. We know he lives, not just because somebody else saw him, but because we see him for ourselves. 

All that Christianity asks of men . . . is, that they would be consistent with themselves; that they would treat its evidence as they treat the evidence of other things; and that they would try and judge its actors and witnesses, as they deal with their fellow men, when testifying to human affairs and actions, in human tribunals.*

July 2, 2025

Nehemiah 9: 32 “Now, therefore, O our God, the great, mighty and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love, do not let all this hardship seem trifling in your eyes . . .” (NIV)

It [prayer] is a statement not of your needs but of your need for him.*

If you want to know what hardship this verse refers to, take some time to read the book of Nehemiah. It’s only 13 chapters and is a very interesting story. There you will learn two important facts about the problems faced by the people in Jerusalem at this time: 

1.    they pretty much deserved what they were getting;

2.    it wasn’t the worst that could happen. 

When you are dealing with difficulties, you probably don’t want to hear about how you were asking for it, or that other people are worse off than you are. We know we don’t deserve God’s favor; we are aware of other people’s suffering; so should we not bother him with our complaints? Or should we bravely – and humbly – bring our troubles to the Lord? 

I say “yes,” we should bring all our troubles to him. It doesn’t have to be the worst problem in the world before we can ask God to care and intervene. I have found it to be true that: 

• if it’s important to me, it’s important to God; 
• if it shouldn’t be important to me, God will show me without belittling my feelings; 
• sometimes, understanding the true weight of my burden is as good as a solution. 

Like the people of Jerusalem, we offer up our prayer: please don’t let this hardship seem trifling to you. In all things, we can trust God to be loving and faithful.

His care for us is personal and he deals with each of us individually.*

July 1, 2025

Judges 2: 12 They forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the Lord to anger. (NIV)

The home needs to be the center of faith formation for our youth.*

For the first twelve years of my life, I attended church with my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins galore. I have a lot of good memories of Christmas plays, Easter egg hunts, potluck dinners, and VBS. But that was a long time ago and there is no reason for me to expect my children to share in my nostalgia for those good old days. That congregation is part of their heritage but not part of their memory.

In this passage, we read about the “spiritual amnesia”* of the people who were a generation removed from the Israelites who took possession of the Promised Land – and two generations from those who were led out of Egypt. There is no shame in their having no memory of the plagues and miracles of those long-ago days - because they weren’t there when they happened. They hadn’t been born yet! But shame on the parents who allowed themselves and their families to be absorbed into the culture around them and failed to teach their children to worship God.

If one generation neglects to set an example of worship and obedience, the next generation may forsake the Lord and provoke him to anger. My kids do not sing the same songs that I sang. My grandchildren may never know the joy of attending church every week with their extended family. The traditions of my past are not so important to the next generation, but the gospel is. The truth that was taught in my Sunday School classes and preached from the pulpit should never become part of a forgotten heritage. 

Many parents deserve hell on their children's account, because they neglect to train them in piety.*