February 1, 2024

Matthew 16:18

18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

This incredibly interesting verse brings together some of the most bold and solid imagery in Scripture. Jesus has declared His followers to be rocks that will become a like a living building. His Church will be a growing, living, stronghold of God’s presence on Earth, but it won’t be a building like we often use the word church to mean. No, His believers become these living stones.

Then we can see the mighty way He will fulfill the second part of the verse. It seems like a mixed metaphor to describe a building attacking a city gate. But Jesus means us, His people like living rocks, will expand to cover this world. When the enemy’s strong hold stands in the way of our advance even the gate, the most secure point, will crumble before God’s magnificent new creation. Put your eyes on God’s victorious march and stand firm today!

Prayer prompt: Lord, when my sin or circumstances keep me from fighting for Your Kingdom, remind me of the victory Christ promised.

January 31, 2024

1 Corinthians 8:9

9 But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.

When people think of Christianity, they may associate it with a list of rules and outlawed pleasures. We would argue hard against such a view as God only outlaws things that will turn to pleasure into bitterness if used sinfully. Idols, sexual immorality, funny things that really are just grumbling hearts all have their appeal but don’t actually please. There are so many pleasures in the Christian life that the verse above actually warns us to give some up so that we might better serve those around us.

If that concept makes you mad, take a deep look at those around you. They aren’t just immature and in need of your help they are brothers and sisters for whom Christ died. If you have to reduce some of the things you wanted to do to serve them better, shockingly, they actually become the ones serving you. If there’s something you wouldn’t willingly set down for the love of a brother or sister in Jesus you may in fact be holding an idol. Thanks be to God for a little sibling who will knock it out of your hand!

Prayer Prompt: Lord, teach me to trust You to use even inconveniences to lead me away from sin and to true Pleasure!

January 30, 2024

James 1:18

18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

James says here that God is bringing us forth as a kind of firstfruits. If that means what it seems to mean, God is creating us again. There are already creatures, we are already creatures, and yet we are being brought forth by the word of truth. Brought forth brings you back to Genesis when God commands the earth to bring forth the animals and out they come. In the Magician’s Nephew, CS Lewis imagines a creation where elephants come forth by poking their heads out of the ground like groundhogs! 

In the same way, God is bringing out a new life, a new creation, through this word of truth in us. That means we were dead and by His will He has made us alive. I’m astounded by the promise of resurrection, but I’ve not paid close enough attention to the wild miracle of regeneration. Spend time today giving thanks for new life!

Prayer prompt: Lord, thank You for making me new.

January 29, 2024

1 Thessalonians 5:18

“give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Thankfulness is way more powerful than we think. It is not just the clearest road to actually feeling satisfaction, it is a road that leads all the way to God. G K Chesterton in Orthodoxy, his famous book on his own journey to Christ, said, “We thank people for birthday presents of cigars and slippers. Can I thank no one for the birthday present of birth?”

If I say “thank you”, there must be a You to thank. If you give me a present, compliment, or grant me forgiveness for a wrong, it’s just right to say thank you. To whom can we go when the whole of our life, our body and senses, and everything those senses have ever sensed is like a gift? Fill your life with thankfulness to God and you also fill it with worship, satisfaction, and with God Himself.

Prayer Prompt: Father, thank You. Please fill my day with thankfulness as I see all the gifts you’ve given.

January 27, 2024

Psalm 92:1

1 It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; 2 to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night, 3 to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. 4 For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.

Have you heard people look down on a hobby or pastime as escapism? It doesn’t seem like a compliment. It sounds more like the accusation some have against a Christian worldview. Some say the secular person is embracing the reality of a world without God while the Christian escapes to our fantasy of something more. Are we like dads binging the NFL or teens with PS5s or moms with … chores? Or is there a deeper rest and worship involved?

The subtitle for Psalm 92 says it is a Song for the Sabbath. It models how we are to rest by giving thanks for, singing about, and declaring God’s steadfast love and the works of His hands. The Psalmist wants God’s people to rest in a deeper reality than the one we see everyday. We don’t escape when we praise God, we remember what is more true than the violence, waywardness, and injustice of our world. We look up to the love of God that will never let us go. Make sure to rest in the Lord today.

Prayer Prompt: Lord, Your steadfast love means I can slow down for a day and trust that You are in control.

January 26, 2024

James 1:14

14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

A salesman once told me he went into meetings with the goal of figuring out what the customer really wanted. He said it this way, “What do you want to hear? Because I’m about to say it.” The product he sold wasn’t his focus, but the desires of his customer. If he knew the desire, he could tailor his presentation to show why the customer really should buy from him. 

Now we have to think about our actions and growth in godliness differently. I don’t just need to try and change my actions or become more obedient through sheer will power. I need to look at my desires. What am I looking to satisfy by this reaction or overreaction? How amazing that God will lead us around by the promise of satisfaction rather than just the threat of punishment.

Prayer prompt: Lord, help me to see the desires that lead to my sin. Please teach me how I can always and only be truly satisfied in You. 

January 25, 2023

James 1:5-8

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Every time I’ve read these verses, I was challenged to ask God for wisdom with more certainty. He will definitely tell me who I should marry, or where we should live, or when to have kids if I just ask without doubting. But each of those questions break the one rule of the passage. Don’t go to God to get what wisdom should never be used to find. 

Wisdom, followed all the way out, will always lead to God. When I come to God to receive wisdom in order to marry the right person or find a job that I will be successful in, I’m abusing wisdom. It’s like using a Lamborghini as a table in your garage. Sure, you can set stuff on it, but that’s not what it’s for. God gives you wisdom to bring about all the joy of knowing Him. Are you pursuing Him?

Prayer prompt: Lord, please forgive me for trying to abuse wisdom. Please lead my heart to most desire You.

January 24, 2024

Proverbs 3:19

19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens;

There is a way things work. Amazon’s warehouses overflow with books on the best way to do anything you can think of doing. Writing those books isn’t just for the money. There is an intense thrill in finding the way the universe works. Scientists know part of that thrill. God’s people know it better. 

Wisdom isn’t just how the world works. Wisdom, if followed, will always lead you up and down. She (wisdom is personified as a lady in the Proverbs) will lead you all the way down into your heart and up into Heaven. Wisdom is the answer to every question, even the most important. Get wisdom, and you will know how to have true Joy. 

Prayer prompt: Lord, lead me to wisdom so that I can see You.

January 23, 2024

1 Corinthians 6:12

12 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.

Simple pride hates to be dominated by anything. Our world makes it so easy to pretend, even if just to yourself, that you rule your world: picking up and casting aside shows from an unlimited list, moving in your car anywhere you like, deciding dinner from every possible genre of food. This verse above makes me wonder if the pace of life and seeming freedom we have isn’t a cover for forces that do influence and even control us.

As soon as we take up the idea that we rule all and can choose whatever we like, we open ourselves up to the lie that such things can’t rule us and can’t harm us. If you let sexual immorality in the door, even just extra glances or minimal scenes in shows you enjoy, you begin to be controlled by the desires such lust sets alight in your heart. Chesterton said we have to rest when we want sickness to go away, but if we need sin to go away we have to be incredibly active. Are you looking out for sins that may enslave your heart?

Prayer Prompt: Lord, please teach me to fear the things you call wicked that I might submit to You and no other lord.

January 22, 2024

Psalm 103:2-3

2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, 3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,

It doesn’t seem possible that we could forget the overwhelming number and quality of good things God has done for us. That is, until you think about why we might be motivated to forget. If I’m in awe of His goodness to me, it is more difficult to go after pleasures He has forbidden. Easier to forget. If I’m humbled by the sheer magnitude of God’s kindness to a sinner who deserves only wrath, it is difficult to feel proud of myself. Easier to hide. 

How wise is the Psalmist though. We bless Him and remember first that He does forgive our iniquity. We remember Him who heals even the diseases of pride and a haughty spirit. God is so good, He even heals us up enough to receive His goodness! Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Prayer prompt: Lord, I bless You with everything that is within me.

January 20, 2024

James 1:1

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.

What would it be like to be the brother of Jesus? It is easy to think of some negatives. How do you compete with Jesus? You’re not going to get better grades or be more attentive at Synagogue. James, the writer of the book of James, was Jesus’ brother. Once Jesus was resurrected and proven to be who He said He was, I’m sure their sibling dynamic changed. Suddenly James had an inside track with God Himself.

Yet when we find James in the New Testament, he doesn’t call himself Jesus’ brother. Here, he calls himself Jesus’ servant. He had come to know Jesus as He truly is. Instead of competing or trying to curry favor, James fell at the feet of his Lord Jesus Christ. If you’ve grown up with the name of Jesus, have you ever really seen Him for who He is? Have you fallen at His feet?

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me to approach You with the reverence You deserve.

January 19, 2024

Acts 20:35

35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Have you heard those words before as a kid? I’m not sure if there is an example of any prominent wisdom saying that I believed less. I gave my parents little Christmas gifts we glued together in kids ministry, but the joy in handing off those cotton ball snowmen was nothing like the pleasure in tearing into Christmas gifts. How can it be true?

I hope as you age, you find it to be true. Certainly, watching my loved ones enjoy something is infinitely greater than the pleasure of a new tie or headphones. Love is greater than things. If we can really learn that lesson today and begin to prioritize love over small pleasures then we will begin to really activate as God’s people.

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me that Love is a greater blessing than anything else!

January 18, 2024

Galatians 4:7

7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

I went to college with a guy who drove a nice Audi. I asked a friend how he could drive a car like that in college and was told the guy was heir to a big chicken salad empire. Must be nice. My family never even attempted to build a chicken salad empire. But we are happy never the less.

Money and the luxury that comes along with it aren’t the main point of a family. In family we get identity, love, security, friendship, guidance, and a million other things available to the poorest families in the world. Being heirs with Christ, you can look to the heavenly equivalent of an Audi, but it would be far wiser to begin enjoying now all these other benefits. You are God’s child and He is your Father.

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me to look to the true value of being Your son and heir with Jesus.

January 17, 2024

Psalm 84:3

3 Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God.

Ever feel like you don’t belong, like you got in by mistake? I’m sure medical students want awed patients to call them Dr., but I bet they also feel a little inadequate to answer difficult, life-or-death questions. I know people dream of having children, but most parents are sure they don’t know what they’re doing. Imposter syndrome can hurt the Christian too. How can we say we, with all our sin, are God’s children? That we, made dirty by disobedience and rebellion, belong in His House?

The verse above describes the heart of God as the perfect host. Even the little swallow or sparrow has a special designated place for even the delicate task of raising young. That little swallow is provided for by the LORD of hosts, or Yahweh, the self-existent Lord of Angelic Armies. In other words, though God is so high above us, He is able to make a place for you right next to Himself. Jesus, who died to make you clean, has gone to prepare that place. Let yourself praise God for His perfectly tailored care of your eternal life with Him!

Prayer Prompt: Lord, my soul longs to be with You forever. Please preach the gospel to me so I will desire You and trust Your ability to declare me clean!

January 16, 2024

Matthew 7:12

12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Okay, but how do you want to be treated? In any given situation, this Golden Rule works perfectly because you have an answer to that question. But if you zoom out a bit and ask about your whole life, how would you like to be treated? I don’t think in a million years we would have come up with how God treats us in Christ.

He invades our rebellion and dazzles us with His perfect life of love and holiness before dying with the words, “Father forgive them, they know not what they do,” on His lips. As eternity-altering as that is, it also sets the Golden Rule in a whole new light. If that love is possible, we will certainly choose to be treated in exactly that way. So that is how we must treat others. We show them lives of increasing obedience to God, covered, smothered and chuck full of love for God and them, then we sacrifice boldly to bring them back to God.

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me to remember the way You saved me so I will work to save others.

January 15, 2024

1 Corinthians 6:15-17

15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

It’s crucial to understand how Paul argues against our acting out in sexual immorality. I really don’t want my dog getting around the neighborhood and finding lady dogs. We neutered the poor guy, but even so a promiscuous dog causes problems. A promiscuous spouse causes significantly bigger ones.

God consistently portrays us in Scripture not as His dog but as His spouse. Because He’s united Himself to us, when we give our favors to idols or practice physical sexual immorality we separate ourselves from Him. Take a hard look at your life today. Where do you need to walk away from things that anger your Holy God? What does it mean for Him to love you not like a favorite tool but as His very own spouse?

Prayer Prompt: Lord, teach me to look away from what will destroy me and look to the love You have for me!

January 13, 2024

James 1:27


27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

It’s not hard to imagine the sad life of the orphan. We need a place to go to for love, safety, and to know who we are. God gave parents as a primary means for that basic level of support. It’s enough to make your heart break when you think about a little child forced to find those things for him or herself.

The Scripture makes another clear argument for why we should care for the orphan: you are one too. You and I have been cut off from God as our source of security, identity, and love. The miracle of Jesus is that God didn’t leave us as orphans. He came to find us and reconcile so we could be together forever. Spend time this morning in reflection and gratitude so that you are ready to care for orphans like you.

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me to remember the way you saved me so I will trust that you still love me.

January 12, 2024

2 Thessalonians 2:8

8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.

There’s a common thought in human history that fancy people call dualism. It’s the idea that evil and good both exist and fight; sort of think light and dark side in Star Wars. It’s easy to imagine where we get it. We think of a knight battling a dragon or a soldier fighting for his homeland. Evil has a weight to it, even bone and flesh. But Scripture illuminates that dark idea.

Evil isn’t a thing so much as a twisting. A lie isn’t something in the way a truth is. A lie is a mirror, even a fun-house mirror, of the truth. In just such a way, this lying one of lawlessness who will set himself against God will melt when confronted with the true. We don’t see an epic lightsaber battle here, just Jesus speaking truth and causing the lie to disappear. Join me in longing for that day and seeking truth in our own lives.

Prayer prompt: Lord, wake me up from the enemy’s lies so that I can behold You and marvel.

January 11, 2024

John 2:18-21


18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body.


The word temple isn’t one we are used to or comfortable with, but the Jews Jesus spoke with in these verses were very familiar. It was the meeting place of God and men. It was like McDonald’s for old men or the coffee shop for young men. It was were we could gather with God. 


Jesus, then, is making a radical statement: He claims to be the Temple. He is the place where we gather with God. In another place in John, He calls Himself the way. If you want to know the Almighty who is the source of every good and perfect thing, you go to Jesus. Spend time with Him in the gospels today.

Prayer prompt: Lord, lead me to Jesus so I can know You.

January 10, 2024

1 John 4:10

10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

If you wanted a lot of stability in your life, what would be a better job than running a liquor store? Things are bad, business is good. Things are good, business is still good! Christians can enjoy Valentine’s a little like that. You have someone and the day feels special, but for the believer, even if you don’t have someone this year, it’s still pretty good.

God loves you. Not in the commiserating way your mom assures you she still loves you after you’ve been dumped. In a way that outshines all the love of all the sappy couples crowding the restaurants tonight. He is the true Groom, the true Reward. If you’re lonely today or head over heels, look to the Lord of Love and see the real reason to celebrate today!

Prayer Prompt: Lord, give me sight to see the love you have for me that outshines human love like the Sun outshines a candle.