August 14, 2025

Psalm 39: 4 “Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is.” (NIV)

In God’s plan every life is long enough and every death is timely.*

Have you ever wondered what you would do if you knew you only had a few days left to live? Perhaps you picture yourself desperately trying to wring the maximum amount of pleasure out of the life you have left. Maybe you imagine that you would seek to make amends for the wrongs you’ve committed against others. Hopefully, you would spend time contemplating your relationship with the Lord.

While I have never asked God to show me my life’s end as David does in this Psalm, I have recently received first-hand experience in the fleeting nature of life. My husband was diagnosed with inoperable, incurable pancreatic cancer. Chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and a second round of chemo bought him a year more than the one year the doctors had predicted.

What my husband and I found during this time is what I believe David was asking for in this passage: perspective. Armed with the knowledge of just how short life on earth is, we become more aware of what is really important. What is lasting. We spent as much time as possible with our family. We got our affairs in order, trying to prepare me for life on my own. But most of all, my husband determined that he would magnify God as he faced his last days on earth and looked forward to the eternity he had been living for.

Life is short. Prepare for eternity and at least it won’t be a meaningless life, no matter the number of days.

Give God your death. Imagine your last breath; envision your final minutes, and offer them to him.*

August 13, 2025

Psalm 37: 5, 6 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. (NIV)

God’s ways are deeper, fuller, and greater than mine.*

There are many people in this world who claim to believe in God – and some of them really do. Among the numbers of those whose claims are true, there is a large percentage who live uncommitted lives. Since none of us can do enough to earn our salvation, I don’t know where God will draw the line in the uncommitted/committed continuum. But in these verses, David isn’t writing about how to be saved. He is revealing the secret to victorious living now.

Usually, we trust a person because of his reliability in the past, but occasionally, we have to trust someone with whom we have no history. If you have put your trust in God once, you know you can trust him again. But if you have never stepped out in faith before, accept David’s challenge – and reap the benefits. He doesn’t promise that God will grant your wishes. Instead, we are offered so much more than we could wish for.

Try it. Just once. Commit your way – that choice you are facing – to the Lord. Trust him to make your righteousness shine like the dawn and the justice of your cause to shine bright as the noonday sun. Isn’t that a more robust result than merely having your wishes come true? Trust big!

If you will give God your right to yourself, He will make a holy experiment out of you.*

August 12, 2025

I Corinthians 15: 33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”*

Consider who Jesus spent his time with while on earth. He spent time with, worked with, and changed the lives of those who were broken and lost.*

With a few exceptions (monks, agoraphobics, prisoners in solitary, people who work from home), it is impossible to live in the world and avoid “bad company.” In fact, we shouldn’t. Jesus set an example by his associations with sinners of all kinds. And, he commanded us to go out into the world. How can we avoid bad company if we are to be witnesses in the world?

In this verse, Paul issues a warning: Bad company corrupts good character. I define bad company as anyone who is influential enough to lead me astray. When you start to blend in with the world, you have probably been hanging around with the wrong crowd. If you are not making an impact on their lives, they may have impacted yours. As Christians, we are faced with the twin dangers of becoming like the world and isolating ourselves from it.* How do we balance our call to be in the world with our need to be protected from its influences?

Before heading out to the beach, wise Floridians know to slap on some sunscreen. Before exposure to the world, wise Christians know to protect themselves with the SPF (“sin protection factor”) of the Holy Spirit. Proper preparation is key. Do not go out there before you cover yourself with prayer to safeguard against the effects of the UV (“ultra-vile”) rays of the world. Never think that you are immune to the damage of over-exposure. Even people who “tan easily” can get sunburned!

If we want to be like him, then we must do everything we can to maximize the time we spend outside our church buildings.*

August 11, 2025

Acts 13: 22 “. . . he made David their king. He testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’” (NIV)

David was a sinner, but he didn’t allow himself to be defined by sin but by faithfulness.*

I can’t think of anything sweeter than to hear God call me a woman after his own heart. And why wouldn’t he? Sure, David was a good king, but when it comes to sin . . . well, I’m no worse than he was at any rate.

We might question God’s endorsement of David: Well, David may have done everything God wanted him to, but he also did some things God didn’t want him to. It may be a true statement but is it the point? Isn’t it just a distraction from the truth? David was a man after God’s own heart. God said it, and since no one else could see David’s heart, how can we question it? As humans, we can only see David’s actions. And it is human nature to judge others as harshly as possible, giving more weight to their bad deeds than the good ones.

Before forming a judgment of another person, we should remind ourselves that only God knows their heart. Their very human heart. A heart that often allows lust and greed and hatred to infiltrate it, but a heart that recognizes God’s love. I might look pretty good up against David’s sins, but can God testify that I have a heart like his? Only God knows for sure.

We have a tendency to judge others by their actions and ourselves by our intentions.*

August 10, 2025

Acts 8: 30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. (NIV)

Before we share the gospel story, we would do well to listen to the people we would reach.*

Someone has said that we have made the witnessing experience unnecessarily complicated.* I tend to agree – but it is such an important enterprise that we shouldn't take it lightly, either. Of course, our lives are a testimony but sometimes we actually have to say something. And we feel totally unprepared, no matter how prepared we are. 

What are we to do? Not everyone responds in the same way to the same strategy. I wouldn’t like to be approached by a stranger asking me if I’m saved, but there are super-extroverted folks out there who are thrilled to talk to anyone about anything. In fact, there are probably as many successful witnessing methods as there are lost souls. Before you are overwhelmed by that thought, here are two reminders: 

• Jesus said to go, disciple, baptize, teach. That may be a very bare-bones outline but it’s a command, not a suggestion. 
• It is the Holy Spirit who convicts, not our brilliance and winning ways. 

Here, Philip shows us one very practical three-step approach to witnessing:

1. He was Spirit-led. I doubt if any witnessing strategy would be successful without the Holy Spirit’s intervention. 
2. He checked to see if the man was interested in hearing more. 
3. He listened to the man’s answer before jumping in with a sermon. What Philip heard told him where to start. 

For most of us, witnessing is always going to be a daunting prospect. Whatever else you do to prepare for it, you must always know Bible facts, be led by the Holy Spirit, and be ready to share what Jesus means to you personally. Remember: the Holy Spirit is in charge of the opportunity and the outcome. Notice that Philip didn’t ask the Ethiopian to wait while he went and found someone smarter.* He began where the man was and “told him the good news about Jesus.” (verse 35)

Most people make talking about Christ harder than it really is. Just start where the person is.*

August 9, 2025

John 6: 43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. (NIV)

With all the resources in the world, I can’t Google what God thinks.*

Sometimes Jesus had to interrupt his important and urgent message to deliver a sermon on common sense. In this instance, he had just declared that he was the bread of life and that he had come down from heaven. His audience, not surprisingly, didn’t understand what he was talking about. But what did they do about it? They asked each other, “What’s he talking about?” And Jesus very subtly makes a point: if you want to know something, don’t ask someone else who doesn’t know what you don’t know. Stop grumbling among yourselves in ignorance, he implies. Just ask me.

If we want to know Jesus – and about Jesus – we have to go directly to the source. It is often helpful to use another believer as a resource, but people let us down. We can’t rely on another person’s knowledge, experience, or insight to be our infallible guide. Only by getting into God’s word for yourself can you know what his will is for your life. Open your Bible prayerfully, seeking the Holy Spirit’s counsel. If you want to know something, just ask. Everything you need to know will be revealed to you.

Is there any kind of need in which God is not superior to any alternate source we could seek out to provide help?*

August 8, 2025

Mark 4: 2-14 He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching, said, “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed.” . . . “The farmer sows the word.” (NIV)

Our job isn’t to judge the soil. Our job is to spread the seed.*

When I was growing up in Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, and church camp, I was taught that parables were illustrations that were simple enough for even a child to understand. This troubled me because as a reasonably intelligent little girl I didn’t always understand parables. I have learned a few things since those days, two of which are: 

1. Parables were deliberately obscure. 

2. If the gospel writers didn’t include Jesus’ explanation of the meaning, we can’t be sure of it ourselves. 

In their recounting of the parable of the sower (read the entire passage in your Bible), Matthew, Mark, and Luke each records Jesus telling us exactly what he meant by it. It is a chilling account of how the lost can stay lost even after exposure to the gospel. 

But what does Jesus say about the farmer? Does he criticize him for scattering his seeds along the path where the birds could eat them? Does he accuse him of carelessness because some of the seeds landed on rocky, shallow soil? Does he chastise the farmer for allowing precious seed to fall among thorns? No. In verse 14, he simply states: “The farmer sows the word.” 

In verse 11, Jesus tells the Twelve, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you.” As his followers, we hold that secret as well. We are farmers whose sole responsibility is to sow those seeds we’ve been entrusted with. We scatter them as we go along in a life that includes both good soil and bad. But Jesus doesn’t charge us with the responsibility of determining the readiness of the dirt. 

Do you see the urgency Jesus was trying to convey to his disciples? It was such an important message that he reemphasized it in his last words on earth: “Go and make disciples . . . teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you . . .” (Matthew 28: 19, 20) No final instructions about preparations or methods or strategy. Yes, plants grow better in a properly plowed garden but we have allowed our lack of readiness to blind us to the urgency. Don’t make excuses. Go.

Jesus didn’t say, “Calculate the probabilities and then go with the better odds." He said, “Go.”*