December 24, 2024

1 Thessalonians 5:18

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.

December 23, 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 customers. If he knew what they really wanted, he could customize his presentation to fit those desires. The enemy works in a similar way.

He is luring us away by focusing on our desires. To grow in godliness, I need to look at what it is I desire most. I don’t just need to try and change my actions or become more obedient. I need to love the Lord, to desire Him rather than the things He forbids. 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.

December 21, 2024

James 1:5-7

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;

These verses challenge us to ask God for wisdom. 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, right? But each of those questions break the one rule of the passage.

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.

Prayer prompt: Lord, please lead my heart to most desire You.

December 20, 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. The authors who wrote those books didn’t just do it for the money. There is an intense thrill in finding the way the universe works and telling others about it. The writer of the Proverbs didn’t just describe how the world works, or even how it was made. He pointed up and up to the Maker Himself.

Wisdom isn’t just about learning how the world works. Wisdom, if followed, will always lead you up and down. Wisdom will lead you all the way down into your heart and all the way 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 because true wisdom will always lead you to the Lord. Study God’s word and God’s world to learn more about the smiling God behind it all.

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

December 19, 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 unless 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 the forbidden pleasures I desire. I want to forget. If the sheer magnitude of God’s kindness to a sinner who deserves only wrath is humbling, it is harder to feel proud of myself. If I’m proud, I would want to hide.

How wise is the Psalmist though? We bless God 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 and forgives so we can receive His goodness! Bless the Lord, O my soul!

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

December 18, 2024

James 1:1

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

James, the writer of the book of James, was Jesus’ actual brother, another child of Joseph and Mary. What would it be like to be the brother of Jesus? It is easy to think of some negatives. You’re not going to get better grades or be more attentive at Synagogue. 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.

December 17, 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 of handing off a cotton ball snowman was nothing like the pleasure in tearing into Christmas gifts. How can Jesus be right?

I hope as you age, you find more value in love than things. Certainly, watching my loved ones enjoy something is way better 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 bigger pleasures like love over smaller pleasures then we will begin to really work hard as God’s people.

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

December 16, 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 nevertheless.

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.

December 14, 2025

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.

The Golden Rule works perfectly because you know how you’d like to be treated in any given situation. But if you zoom out a bit, do you really know what is best for you? I don’t think in a million years we would have come up with the kindness God shows us in Christ. Jesus invades our rebellion and dazzles us with His perfect life of love before dying with forgiveness on His lips.

As eternity-altering as that is, it also sets the Golden Rule in a whole new light. If Jesus’ love is the standard of what’s possible, we now have a new standard to hold ourselves to. That is how we must treat others. We should show them lives of obedience to God, show them lives shining with love for God and for them. Then, when necessary, we sacrifice our time, money, or even life to lead them to God.

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

December 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, or were, 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 adopt us 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.

December 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 like the 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 is a mirror, even a fun-house mirror, of the truth. In just such a way, this lawless one will melt when confronted with the true King. 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.

December 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.

Christians don’t talk about temples much because we don’t have them. For the Jews in Jesus’ time, the temple was where you went to meet with God. It was the crucial place where Heaven and earth came together. It seems weird then that Christians wouldn’t still have a temple. Yet this passage is exactly why.

Jesus claims to be 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. It’s why we don’t have temples today. If you want to be with God, go to Jesus.

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

December 10, 2024

2 Thessalonians 2:1-2

1 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.

How many times have you been fooled by fake emails? We live in a world that requires a skeptics eye, double verification, and rotating passwords of increasing complexity. Lies and deception are as common in this world as roaches and flies. We need something verifiable to flush out the falsehoods.

Paul lived in that same world. The Enemy who is behind all the deception now was just as hard at work back then. Paul had to warn against spirits, words, even forged letters. Yet through it all, he reminded the people of the truth which shone through all the darkness. When Jesus comes back, He won’t be easy to miss. When the real thing comes, the false disappears.

Prayer prompt: Father, teach me to know and trust Your word.

December 9, 2024

1 Thessalonians 5:11

11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

In 1 Thessalonians, Paul focuses on the Lord’s return and the end of the world. That can be a difficult thing to tell someone you’re trying to encourage. There is a lot wrong with the world, but it is the only world we know. We need to know about what’s next in order to feel warm and happy when an older Christian confidently reminds us, “This will all end soon.”

The Bible does exactly that. God tells us that Jesus will call up those who have fallen asleep to be with Him in a resurrection like His. We who are going about His work will be brought into His presence and go to live with Him in the place He has prepared for us. And most encouraging of all, we will always be with Him. Even when the mountains are thrown into the sea and the sky is ripped open like paper, we will be with Him forever.

Prayer prompt: Lord, remind me of Your gospel so I am always excited to be with You forever.

December 7, 2024

Acts 9:3-4

3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. 4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”

It has to be unbelievably hard to be persecuted. We’ve all felt the pain of being an outsider; some of us may have even been beat up or physically bullied. But if we become followers of Jesus, persecution will come. Stories like this one from the Bible prepare us for those horrible occasions.

Saul had been persecuting the Christians, having just overseen the first killing of one of Christ’s followers. Then Jesus meets him on the road and says, “why are you persecuting me?” Saul killed Stephen, not Jesus. But Jesus is so closely united to His church that He feels our pain as His own. He sees your tears, understands your fears and has promised to make all things right. Continue despite persecution knowing who stands with you.

Prayer prompt: Lord, give me courage as I think about how You stand with me.

December 6, 2024

Matthew 24:36

36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.

Intellectual pride is a scary thing. When we reflect on the crazy breakthroughs and gadgets that constantly flow out of universities and companies around the world we start to get a little overconfident. We get in trouble when we start to think humans can understand anything. Then we believe the silly lie that we will soon understand everything.

That’s why a verse like this one from Matthew is such a great correction. Jesus tells us the Father knows the day and hour and we have to just wait. We won’t figure it out. It requires the humility of a child to trust that God will handle all the important stuff that we can’t handle. But don’t lose sight of the joy of the child who can play and work without a care because Dad’s in charge.

Prayer prompt: Lord, I trust You. Help me to enjoy the humble and care-free life of a beloved child.

December 5, 2024

Matthew 4:10

10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,  “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”

Everyone knows how it feels to be tempted. We are all too familiar with knowing the right thing while feeling the hypnotic attraction of what is certainly wrong. The right way seems hard and cold, the wrong so warm and comfortable. It’s like falling asleep before a crackling fire even though you know by experience that it’s more like putting the fire in your lap.

How do we stop giving into temptation and stop getting burned? Jesus actually experienced temptation and He showed us the way out. He looked straight at the right thing, the way He was supposed to act, and quoted Scripture in the face of the Enemy. He did what was right and told the tempter to disappear. Stand up to your temptation by calling out what’s right and telling the enemy to be gone! And when you fail, remember the forgiving Lord who obeyed on your behalf.

Prayer prompt: Lord, I desire holiness. Help me to remember what’s right and to send the enemy away!

December 4, 2024

1 Thessalonians 4:7-8

7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. 8 Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

Have you ever thought about the word desecration? It’s a hard word to use when few things are thought of as holy. But it’s a strong word. The word goes beyond mere vandalism or the destruction of property. It is taking something high and holy and exposing it to something common or even dirty. It would take a twisted soul to attempt, how much more to enjoy, that kind of ruining. 

But that’s part of the accusation against us when we sin. Sin isn’t just a bad decision, it’s a desecration. You have the Holy Spirit inside you, so you, even sinful you, are now holy. That high honor comes with a grave responsibility. Open your eyes further to the glory and the fear of being truly His.

Prayer prompt: Lord, help me to see the honor of being Yours. Help me to cringe at even the possibility of sinning against You.

December 3, 2024

Matthew 6:7-8 

7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

If God knows what we need before we ask Him, then why do we need to ask? If heaping up empty phrases is silly because God knows it all already, they why hazard one phrase? The Bible says at one point that the Holy Spirit fixes our prayers before they get to God. If we can’t call His attention to something He doesn’t already know, and what attempts we make are so broken they need to be cleaned up, why go through prayer at all? 

The act of praying, of going to God to ask Him for action in the world, has a great effect on us. How it affects God is beyond our understanding, because God is beyond our understanding. We do know that it also affects us. The action changes the way we think, and the way we feel about the world. What does your prayer life look like? Does it show a dependence on God and a desire to be in His presence? 

Prayer prompt: Lord, in my praying, teach my heart to desire and depend on You.

December 2, 2024

1 Thessalonians 4:3

3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;

We all want to know God’s will for our lives. We usually assume that He would tell us the perfect person for us to marry so that we would have the perfect marriage. We would hope He would let us in on the perfect vocation for us to feel perfectly fulfilled and successful.  We could live anywhere in the world, but where are we supposed to live? The Bible is so long already, why not add a page more with God’s will for our life?

Yet, this verse presents His will for us on a silver platter. I think you may have missed it on other readings of this part of the Bible because it is such a let down from our expectation! His will is our sanctification. His will is our growth in holiness. From that perspective, a bad marriage with a difficult job in a less-than-ideal city may best teach us to rely on Him and to act in selfless love. How can you pursue sanctification today?

Prayer prompt: Lord, help keep me focused on Your will for my life, that I would grow in holiness.