July 22, 2026

Matthew 15: 12 (NIV)

Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

Jesus did not soften his words in the face of danger.*

Those disciples! You gotta love ‘em. What did they think Jesus was going to do when he heard that he had offended the Pharisees? Apologize? Make a run for it? Water down his message? Or were they trying to stir things up a bit? Maybe they thought Jesus would confront those self-righteous Pharisees. Wouldn’t that have been fun to watch? 

When we offend someone, most times apologizing is the right thing to do. In extreme cases, running away may be necessary. But diluting the gospel message is never the correct response. I don’t believe that Jesus deliberately set out to offend anyone, but he knew it would happen. He knew he would be in danger, but he didn’t run - he had a mission to fulfill. Proactively confronting the Pharisees wasn’t necessary – he knew they would be coming to him. “Leave them,” he tells the disciples in verse 14. Pick your battles. 

Upon learning that we have offended someone, we may be faced with the same choices Jesus faced: 

• Apologize – if we have done something wrong, or if the offense was unintentional but regrettable;
• Run away – if they are the dangerous sort;
• Confront – if we have an issue to settle.

But we should never let fear of offense prevent us from speaking the truth. Jesus models speaking the truth with love and discretion but he never advocates speaking less than the truth. We must stand with the Apostle Paul who said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel.” (Romans 1: 16.)

In the heat of battle, we find ourselves too vocal about thimble-sized issues and we drag others into the dark abyss of our narrow-mindedness. We would be wise to choose our battles . . . with greater care.*

July 21, 2026

Matthew 13: 57 (NIV)

And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor.”

Rejection is never fun, unless you’re being considered for jury duty.*

It’s hard to get respect from the people who have known you since you were a child. The son of the preacher who baptized me when I was eight years old is now a retired army colonel. I am sure he has earned the respect of many but to me he will always be that kid who went screaming through his house when my mom showed up at his door in a scary Halloween costume. My cousin has made a few appearances on Fox News – they seem to respect his insight on economic issues. I was proud of how confident and knowledgeable he sounded during his interview but still . . . how can I forget that he was the only person to ever be bitten by our normally mild-mannered beagle?

Jesus experienced a similar type of reaction from his hometown. The people he grew up with were not taking him seriously. Matthew says they took offense at him – perhaps, knowing his humble origins, they felt he was being presumptuous. He seemed to understand it as common human behavior. He didn’t allow it to stop him from doing his job – until he did. Verse 58 relates the sad news that he didn’t do many miracles there because of their lack of faith. He knew when to move on. “It is truly remarkable,” someone has observed, “that Jesus was, in some manner, limited by their unbelief.”*

I have friends who regularly request prayer for their family members who aren’t Christians. They try to witness to their loved ones, but at best they aren’t taken seriously; at worst, they are outcasts. When it comes to family, moving on, as Jesus did, may not be an option, but we still may need to step back and allow someone else to take over. Our lives will continue to speak and be a witness but the job of messenger will fall to others.

I urge you, if you have experienced similar rejection, don’t give up on your loved ones. Continue to pray for them; continue to be available to them; and never stop living for Jesus yourself.

We must trust God to do what only God can do in a person’s life.*

July 20, 2026

James 3: 1 (NIV)

Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

While God’s Word is absolutely authoritative, my particular interpretation of it is not.*

As a writer and a teacher, I take James’ warning seriously. I ask God to speak through me and that my words will be his words. I caution my readers and my listeners to see for yourselves what the Word says. I beg you never to just accept my word for what the scripture says. Open your Bible and let the Spirit speak to you.

And perhaps I haven’t even applied this verse quite properly. Have I made its meaning too narrow by thinking it’s only my words that will be judged? As a teacher, is it not my responsibility to practice what I preach? If I am not consistent and authentic in my walk, how will others trust my talk? I have allowed myself to be placed in a position of influence and I will be judged more strictly if my words or actions cause another to stumble.

If you are one who leads others in opening the Word of God, join me in praying for wisdom and humility in the lessons we prepare and deliver, and in the path we walk. Let us be used by God to bless others and to glorify him. And please, don’t take my word for it!

 
A life that is not consistent with the lesson taught can undo everything.*

July 19, 2026

Hebrews 13: 5 (NIV)

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

When I have money, I get rid of it quickly, lest it find a way into my heart.*

“Money talks. But it don’t sing and dance and it don’t walk.”* It’s a catchy line from an old song but actually, money doesn’t really talk, either. Every action we attribute to money is carried out by human force. We put our trust in wealth but it can’t promise never to leave us or forsake us – and if it could make such a promise, it would be lying.

I won’t lie to you: I have been happier with money than I was without it. But the writer of Hebrews is not revealing the secret to happiness. Keep yourself free from the love of money and be content with what you have, he says.

Remember the Ten Commandments? What is the tenth one? “Don’t covet.” Rich or poor, we all face the struggle with the discontent that arises from covetousness - wanting more than we have. But we have a powerful weapon in our arsenal: trust in God. Just as with any weapon, the more you use it, the more proficiently you handle it. If you put your trust in God today, you will trust him more tomorrow. He will never leave you or forsake you, even if your money walks out the door.

Have we come to the place where God can withdraw His blessings and it does not affect our trust in Him?*

July 18, 2026

Hebrews 12: 15 (NIV)

See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

The life of grace is cultivated, nurtured, and grown over the span of a lifetime.*

I see you. Looking around, searching out that bitter root before it can grow up to cause trouble and defile many. Very vigilant of you. But perhaps you are looking in the wrong place. Can you really see the budding bitter root in someone else? Perhaps you should look inward and see what is growing there.

The writer of Hebrews urges us to see that no one misses the grace of God. How are we going to be effective in sharing God’s grace if we have a crop of bitterness growing inside ourselves? Dig up that nastiness in yourself and replace it with God’s grace in your own life. Maybe you can see the fruits of that bitter root in another person, but you can only be an influence for grace in their life – you can’t make them change. It is only in your own life that you can actively prevent the growth of those troublesome roots. Don’t let anyone miss out on the grace of God because you have failed to uproot a source of contamination - within yourself.

If you are not sure of your own heart, you can test yourself by Scripture. If you are not sure of the person next to you in the pew, that’s not your problem anyway. God is the judge.*

July 17, 2026

Ephesians 4: 4-6 (NIV)

There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to one hope when you were called – one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

If all ideas are equally valid . . . then no idea is really worth our allegiance, nothing is worth living or dying for – or even arguing about.*

The life of a Christian is both liberating and restrictive. We are free from the penalty of sin, we are free from guilt, we are free to choose. But we are limited to one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. It is not true that we’re all going to the same place – we’re just taking different paths.

I heard a comedian suggest that if you believe that it doesn’t matter how you get there, next time you plan a trip, just go to the airport and get on any plane. See how that works for you. The only way you will ever reach your destination is to finally get on a plane that is going there.

If you want to go to heaven, you can’t decide which of the “ones” you like and discard the rest. You can’t map out your own little detour and hope that you will eventually get there. Jesus didn’t tell us that he is the best way. He said he is The Way. (John 14: 6)

As long as Jesus is one of many options, he is no option.*

July 16, 2026

Colossians 1: 15 (NIV)

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

Only those that can see the invisible can do the impossible.*

In Exodus 33: 20, God tells Moses that he (Moses) can’t see his (God’s) face because “no one may see me and live.” In verse 11 of the same chapter, we are told that the Lord spoke to Moses face to face; but in light of verse 20, we have to assume that Moses wasn’t actually able to pick up on God’s body language or read his lips. Besides the fact that a human just isn’t capable of beholding spirit, God was very clear in not wanting us to manufacture images to worship – even images of himself. If we don’t know what he looks like, we can’t make a representation of him.

Then along comes Jesus, the Son of God, who is human and the image of God. Through him, we know what God looks like – and yet, we still don’t have a physical description of Jesus. With all that has been recorded about his words and deeds, all that we know about his appearance is what Isaiah prophesied in chapter 53, verse 2: “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.” Jesus was memorable but not because of his looks.

If we are going to see the image of God through his Son, we must know the Son - what he said, what he did, how he loved, and what he is going to do next. Today's verse in Colossians also reminds us that Jesus is the “firstborn over all creation.” The firstborn is the one who inherits the title and all the property. In Romans 8: 16 and 17, we are assured that the Spirit testifies that we are also God’s children and that means that we are co-heirs with Christ. We must be prepared to share in his suffering but we are promised that we will share in his glory.

He takes his children to higher levels of fellowship so they may hear him speaking “face to face.”*