July 14, 2025

Romans 12: 1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. (NIV)

Jesus does not ask me to die for Him but to lay down my life for Him.*

There are some major differences between animal sacrifices and the sacrifice that this passage urges us to make: 

1.  Animals were slaughtered before they were offered as sacrifices. We are called to be living sacrifices. 

2.  If the animals were placed on the altar while still alive, they would have had to be restrained to keep them there. We must place ourselves on the altar and willingly stay there. 

3.  Our sacrifice is an act of worship; the animal’s sacrifice was someone else’s act of worship. 

We know what the sacrifice of an animal looks like – bloody death. But what does a living sacrifice look like? Well, yours might look like passing up a lucrative business opportunity in order to serve in a ministry position, or giving up some overtime hours so that you can spend more time with your family. My living sacrifice involves serving the Lord in obscurity instead of satisfying my craving for being where the action is.

As Oswald Chambers writes: “There is actually only one thing you can dedicate to God, and this is your right to yourself.”* Whatever form your sacrifice takes, it will require you to give up your self and give it to God. That is your true and proper worship.

True worship should . . . involve the question, “Lord, what do you want of me?”*

July 13, 2025

Ecclesiastes 12: 9, 10 Not only was the Teacher wise, but also he imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true. (NIV)

Wisdom is a gift of God, not a human achievement.*

If you think you have humility, you probably don’t. But does the same hold true for wisdom? Would it be wrong to clap your hands and sing, “if you’re wise and you know it”? These verses seem to indicate that Solomon was not opposed to an honest (and public) assessment of one's own wisdom.

Read the passage again and you will begin to see that Solomon is not so much bragging about his great wisdom as he is instructing his readers in the proper application of it. It is not meant to be kept to yourself. The Teacher had wisdom but he didn’t hoard it for his own benefit, he shared his knowledge with others. His deep thoughts weren’t a form of entertainment, they were a resource for others. The words he wrote were well thought out, upright, and true.

When God offered Solomon whatever he asked for, Solomon requested wisdom. It has always seemed to me that in asking for wisdom, he proved that he already possessed it. For the rest of us, our wisdom is usually the hard-earned kind – from experience. Other people, our own bad choices, and life in general – they all provide us with great opportunities to acquire wisdom. If you have learned anything from your life’s experiences, you are now qualified to dispense wisdom to others.

So, let’s not waste our opportunities. Like Solomon, we can impart knowledge; ponder and search out and share what we have learned; pray for the right words so that what we share is upright and true. Wisdom kept to yourself is useless and becomes stagnant. Wisdom shared stays fresh and vital. The more you give, the more you get!

Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.*

July 12, 2025

Romans 14: 12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. (NIV)

The Lord keeps no record of our transgressions, and neither should we.*

Perhaps you, too, have seen the video of dogs who have been caught misbehaving. Their body language speaks clearly of their guilt as they hang their heads in shame or try to slink away into invisibility. Isn’t that how we imagine that we will behave on that day when we are called to appear before God and give an account of ourselves? I tried to be good. I never meant to hurt anyone. I’m so sorry for what I said. I’m so ashamed. How can we face God with what we have done? Where can we go to hide our shame?

Picture this instead: You are standing before God. He says, “Give an account of yourself.” And you reply, “The blood of Jesus.” And God says, “Well done.” You have nothing to be ashamed of. No reason to hide. The blood of Jesus has purified you from all sin (I John 1: 7). 

Since the world’s sin must be . . . charged . . . to someone . . . it cannot be ignored by the holy God – it follows that the world’s sin was imputed to Christ, and He expiated it in His vicarious death.*

July 11, 2025

I John 5: 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. (NIV)

You can never be the same after the unveiling of a truth.*

“I write these things . . .” John says. What things? In this letter to Christians, John offers practical guidelines for leading a life of faith – tips about walking in the light; warnings against loving the world; reminders that we are children of God; and lots of words about God’s love and faithfulness.

This particular verse has been used to encourage people who have doubts about their salvation. While I won’t rule it out as helpful news for someone who isn’t sure that she is saved, I don’t read it as addressing an individual’s insecurities but as a general statement to all: eternal life is ours for the taking.

So how do we know if we are saved – not just that Jesus died to save us but that right now, at this moment, we are saved? I struggled with this question for years because 1) I mistakenly believed that I had some responsibility in saving myself; and 2) I knew I could never be good enough. Well, I was half right. It is true that I could never be good enough – and I don’t have to be. And as soon as I realized that I can’t save myself and that the power that created the universe is also the power that’s invested in my salvation, I could receive the message on a personal level: You may know that you have eternal life.

My assurance of salvation is built on the “solid ground of truth,”* not on whether or not I feel saved. We don’t concern ourselves with our worthiness - we trust in Jesus’ faithfulness (I John 1: 9).

We do not sufficiently exalt the power of God, unless we think it to be greater than our weakness.*

July 10, 2025

Genesis 39: 6-12 . . . his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he refused. . . . And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her. . . . But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house. (NIV)

Many of the things that go wrong surprise us by turning out all right.*

Joseph was a handsome young foreigner, in charge of the household of an Egyptian official named Potiphar. When Potiphar’s wife noticed him and tried to entice him into her bed, Joseph demonstrated his loyalty to his master and to God by: 

• Refusing. Twice he refused her advances (verses eight and ten). 
• Resisting. After telling her firmly that he couldn’t – wouldn’t – betray his master, he proceeded to avoid her. Until he couldn’t. 
• Running. It was impossible to avoid her forever, and so he fled. 

Someone has called this a "good formula for handling attempted seduction.”* It is a formula that we might apply when we are faced with any temptation. We don’t know if Joseph was actually tempted by Mrs. Potiphar’s coaxing, but he demonstrated an astute determination to avoid even the appearance of sinful behavior. 

We also learn that doing the right thing is not always properly rewarded. Joseph was fired because Potiphar chose to believe his wife’s false accusations. But the bad things that happen to us can also be a part of God’s plan, and Joseph shows us the godly perspective to adopt in those instances when he later says to his brothers, “You intended to harm me, but Got intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done.” 

Refuse. Resist. Run. No matter the consequences. And let God use you to accomplish his purposes.

He delights to weave the adversity of our experience into his beautiful plan for our lives.*

July 9, 2025

Matthew 26: 26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” (NIV)

He chose his own memorial.*

If I were to ask you what this is, you would probably answer, “A soccer ball.” To which I would have to reply, “No, it’s not.” Because it’s not a soccer ball. It’s a picture of a soccer ball.

At the table that night, Jesus was handing out pieces of bread to his disciples, not actual body parts. He wasn’t advocating for cannibalism. He and his body were still alive and well and in the room with them. If modern technology had been available to him, Jesus might have texted a selfie to his disciples and said, “Every time u c this pic, think of me & what I did 4 u.” Instead, he used what he had – bread and fruit juice – to represent his body and his blood. From that moment on, whenever Jesus’ followers eat the bread and drink the juice, they are holding up a picture of his broken and bloody body to remind themselves of his sacrifice, and as a testimony to the world. 

Paul goes on to give us instructions about proper Lord’s Supper etiquette that we might not think of on our own. He says we ought to examine ourselves before we eat and drink the emblems (I Corinthians 11: 29). Eating and drinking in an unworthy manner would be akin to defacing a great work of art – only with much more serious consequences. Vandalism has a price, but going through the motions of the Lord’s Supper without recognizing the Lord’s body brings judgment that should not be taken lightly. 

Prepare yourself. Approach the Lord’s table with a clear conscience and a clean heart. Reflect on his sacrifice and your unworthiness. Thank him for saving you anyway. Leave the table refreshed and renewed, ready to walk with him until you come to the table again. As often as you do it, do it in remembrance of him.

It can be a deadly thing to come to God with unexamined lives.*

July 8, 2025

Matthew 12: 12 “How much more valuable is a man than a sheep!” (NIV)

We value what men do. God values what men are.*

Jesus asked the question quoted here in response to the Pharisees’ outrage over his disciples’ picking and eating grain on the Sabbath, and his healing of a man’s shriveled hand on that same day. If your sheep falls in a ditch on the Sabbath, he says, you’re not going to just leave it there. And if you feel that strongly about rescuing your livestock on the Sabbath, why do you object to feeding the hungry and healing the injured? Aren’t people more valuable than animals?

With abortion being legal and acceptable in our society, Jesus might hesitate to ask this question today because the answer just might not make the same point that it did then. Eagle eggs, baby seals, and puppies are regarded more highly than human life. Now that people are convinced that an unborn baby isn’t human yet, the next step in our devolution is to dehumanize lives that are no longer valuable to society.

Sadly, I see Christians buying into this philosophy. I’m not talking about how they view abortion or euthanasia; I’m talking about how they see themselves when they have less to offer the Kingdom than they used to. One friend, once an active and vital servant in our church, has an illness that has sidelined him permanently. He thinks he no longer has any value. Another friend, a widow, used to be the go-to gal when the other older ladies needed a ride to the doctor or a day out. Now that she has had to give up her car, she misses her sense of purpose.

We may outlive our usefulness to society and the local church, but our value to God is never determined by how much we do or how well we do it. In Galatians 5: 6, Paul writes that the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. I can’t think of a stronger expression of faith than to accept God’s assessment of your value to him just as you are.

Your life counts because you are valued by God. Achievements and failures don’t alter your value in his eyes.*