April 12, 2029

Leviticus 22: 20 (NIV)

“Do not bring anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf.”

God’s great promises deserve our best effort!*

Some of the “benefactors” of our church’s former food pantry clearly had never heard of the concept of giving God your best. From expired food to products that were unidentifiable because their packaging was in a foreign language, to bags that included roaches along with the food, many items went straight to the trash can. Frequently, the shelves included borscht (what is it, anyway?), sauerkraut, and pickled beets; and always, after the holiday season, there was a nice supply of canned pumpkin pie filling and cranberry sauce – not necessarily bad things but not one’s first choice for feeding a hungry family.

When God required his people to offer their best, it was a sacrifice in more than one way. I can imagine the temptation to bring their defective animals to the temple instead. What difference could it make if the deformed or the diseased animals were culled from the herd to be burned on the altar? It wasn’t as if God was going to eat the meat – it was all merely symbolic, wasn’t it?

Well, yes, the sacrifices and the rituals were symbolic but they were instituted to remind God’s people of his place in their lives.* And apparently, we need to be reminded that God deserves our best. Whether it’s in how we use our time or talents, or how generously we give to the poor, we demonstrate our level of appreciation to the one who has given us everything we have.

God gives liberally; man divides it badly.*

April 11, 2026

Micah 3: 11 (NIV)

Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they lean upon the Lord and say, “Is not the Lord among us? No disaster will come upon us.”

God does not respond to the occasional seeker.*

I have friends who “sort of” believe in God. Some call him The Man Upstairs. Most don’t think about him until something bad happens – then they want me to pray for them. I guess it’s good that my faith is so obvious to them, but I often feel like the middle-man in some shady deal: “Hey, could you put in a good word for me?”

The situation that Micah describes is even worse. The religious elite have sold out for financial gain while they regard God as some sort of good luck charm. If the leaders are judging for a bribe, there is no hope for justice. If priests teach for a price, no one will be taught the truth. If prophets tell fortunes for money, who can know what the future holds? Can they really believe that God is among them and that he will protect them from disaster? What kind of religion is it if they proclaim reliance on God just in case?

How far removed are you from a real relationship with God? Is he like a celebrity that you read about in People? Sure he’s real; sure you’ve read a lot about him; yes, you know someone who knows someone who saw him in a crowd once; but you don’t know him - and you don’t know what you’re missing. He promises that if we seek him we will find him. Crack open his diary (the Bible) and get to know him. He wants to be your friend – not your rabbit’s foot.

Some who have ridiculed faith all their lives will express a faint hope that there is something beyond the grave. What they may sneer at in the routine of everyday life, they long for when the life of someone close to them ends. It’s as though they just can’t resist having a hint of hope to soothe their sadness.*

April 10, 2026

John 19: 38, 39 (NIV)

Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. . . . He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night.

All of God’s giants have been weak people.*

This story is included in all four gospels, each writer giving it his own twist. Matthew gives us “just the facts.” Mark includes a helpful adverb, informing us that Joseph went boldly to Pilate to ask for Jesus’ body. Luke adds some information the others don’t include: Joseph was a member of the Council but he had not consented to their decision and action concerning Jesus. But it is John who gives us the most intriguing version of the event.

It is from John that we learn that Joseph was a secret but fearful disciple of Jesus; and that his partner in his new bold adventure is none other than Nicodemus, he who had once requested a clandestine audience with Jesus and went away sad. It was a gracious and brave gesture to provide a proper funeral for Jesus – and to fulfill prophecy – but Jesus is dead and apparently his cause along with him* - why come forward now? None of the disciples who had been faithful to Jesus in life seemed to understand that his death was not the end; are we to believe that these two covert followers did?

Church history paints Joseph and Nicodemus as heroes. We don’t know the consequences of their kindness and it is possible that they paid a high price for their actions. But . . . call me cynical, but I think Jesus’ enemies just shrugged and looked the other way. They thought they had won. As for our heroes’ sudden bravery – well, a dead revolutionary can’t ask any more of you, so they were free to go back to their rich and powerful lives. This version of their story reminds me of those people who neglect their loved ones in life but show up at the funeral to mourn.

Here is what I learn from Joseph and Nicodemus: Give people a break! These men may have been slow in showing their faith in Jesus. They may or may not have had pure motives for their actions. But they finally did the right thing. As one commentator observes, “The heroism of faith is usually kindled by desperate circumstances.”* We should not condemn others just because they are in a different place in their Christian walk than we are. I look at these two heroes and ask myself, “Did they love Jesus?” and realize that whether his spiritual progress is great or small, a person who loves Jesus is on the right path.

Instead of being fishers of the lost, we become critics of the saved.*

April 9, 2026

Matthew 26: 69-75 (NIV)

Then Peter remembered the words Jesus had spoken . . . And he went outside and wept bitterly.

Matthew 27: 1-5   (NIV)

So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

(Read the complete passage in your Bible)

No failure is beyond the reach of God’s grace.*

Matthew has made it easy for us to compare/contrast the stories of Peter and Judas, two men who betrayed their Lord, by placing the accounts one after the other in his gospel.

Compare: 

• Jesus had predicted their treachery (Matthew 26: 21, Judas, and 26: 34, Peter.) 
• Both men regretted their actions (see featured passages above). 

Contrast: 

• Peter spent the rest of his life as a loyal follower of his Lord. 
• Judas ended any chance to make amends.

I wonder: Was Judas’ act of betrayal worse than Peter’s? Did he feel worse about it than Peter did? What made one of Jesus’ followers choose to repent from the awful thing he did while the other refused to face the consequences? With equal exposure to Jesus’ life and teaching, both men should have known that Jesus would forgive them.

For whatever reason, God allows us to choose him or to reject him. We could blame Satan for preying on our weaknesses but his power is limited to deceit and whatever we allow. When we deny Christ – and we are all guilty – we should follow Peter’s example of godly sorrow. His repentance testifies to his faith in the Father’s willingness and power to forgive while also denying Satan another victory.

As someone has observed, Peter “had to face himself as he had never been willing to see himself before.”* Take a good look at yourself. Will you weep bitterly for your betrayal or will you try to run from it? Which choice leads to life?

The nature of your eternity will be decided at the Cross. It is not the number or the heinousness of your sins that will condemn to hell, nor the beauty or strictness of your morality that will bring to heaven. Eternity will be decided by your relation to a crucified Jesus.*

April 8, 2026

Acts 2: 38 (NIV)

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

The kind of commitment expected from a disciple is expressed in the command to baptize. A person is totally immersed in water, and total commitment is the goal for a disciple.*

Peter has just preached a gospel sermon and his audience understands that now a response is required of them. “Brothers, what shall we do?” they want to know. Peter doesn’t need to tell them to believe because they already do. But believing is not enough. He moves on to the next steps: repentance and baptism. To repent, one must turn around and go the other way. It is more than being sorry for your sins. And you can’t repent (and don’t need to!) if you’ve never sinned. To be baptized, one must be immersed. The Greek word that Peter used here has never been interchangeable with dip, pour, or sprinkle. Your baptism must be in the name of Jesus Christ or else you will just come up wet. The Holy Spirit is the gift you receive along with forgiveness – not  payment for a job well-done.

Let's say you live in Central Florida and you have an advertisement from Walt Disney World saying the cost of tickets has gone up to $400 per person.  When out-of-town relatives come to visit, of course they want to go to Disney World.  You show them the flyer saying how much the tickets cost and they say, “Oh, surely not! The Disney people are too nice to charge that much. That’s just the ‘suggested’ price of a ticket.” So off they go to Disney World with only enough money for what they believe is the cost of tickets. When they arrive at the gates to the Magic Kingdom, the cast members are all very nice and perky but they won’t let the family go into the park.

Here's the thing:

• showing up at the gates of WDW with a ticket from Universal Studios will not gain you access to the Happiest Place on Earth;
• if you don't bring enough money, the nice people at WDW will not let you in the park;
• a free pass as the guest of a Disney cast member requires some action on your part - you have to meet the employee at the gate. Just because you had to do something doesn't mean it's not free!

If you don’t want to be stuck outside the gates of heaven, you need to familiarize yourself with the entrance requirements and come prepared. It turns out that you can’t buy your own ticket -  Jesus has already paid for it with his blood. To receive your free ticket to heaven, you have to do what 3,000 people did on the day of Pentecost: repent and be baptized (Acts 2: 41).

Salvation does not course through human bloodlines . . . but is granted by God through the blood of Jesus.*

April 7, 2026

Psalm 142: 4 (NIV)

Look to my right and see; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life.

You can keep complaining or you can take God’s hand and step into the new life he has for you.*

In the heading of this Psalm, we are told that this is a prayer of David – when he was “in the cave.” In the scriptural accounts of David’s experiences in a cave, we never read that he was alone or friendless. In I Samuel 22, we read about David’s escape to the cave of Abdullam where his family joined him to show their support; he attracted a following of those who were on the fringes of society; and he had about 400 men there with him.  On another occasion, David and his men were hiding in the back of a cave and witnessed King Saul in what the king thought was a private moment.

So perhaps David was not referring to an actual cave but to a figurative "pit of despair." In his honest expression of self-pity, we can see ourselves. Sometimes we just feel lonely and powerless and we need a moment to wallow in it. We can’t look at David's circumstances and think that he had nothing to feel depressed about. He was being hunted down like a game animal. Saul, the king who used to be soothed by David's music, wanted him dead. David has been anointed as the next king but he is not living like a king.

But after he has his “moment,” David’s despair begins to fade. He has freely admitted his feelings to God. His next step is to ask God to deliver him: “Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name.” (Verse 7a) And already he is able to find the hope in his situation: “Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me.” (Verse 7b)

We can follow David’s example when our lives are looking bleak and hopeless. Don’t be afraid to tell God how you feel. Pour out to him. He won’t belittle you for your pettiness, short-sightedness, or faithlessness. Then ask God to deliver you – not just from your circumstances but from your pettiness, short-sightedness, and faithlessness. Then he will show you how you can find hope in the midst of troubles.

Jesus’ followers aren’t immune to arthritis and Alzheimer’s, colds and cancer, depression and death – but we face them with hope. We encounter the same stressful challenges common to the rest of humanity. We suffer, but not alone.*

April 6, 2026

Genesis 2: 18-22 (NIV)

The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Now the Lord God had formed . . . all the beasts . . . and the birds . . . He brought them to the man to see what he would name them . . . But for Adam no suitable helper was found. . . . Then the Lord God made a woman . . . and he brought her to the man.

Adam . . . was confined to one wife; and, if he had put her away, there was no other for him to marry, which plainly intimated that the bond of marriage was not to be dissolved at pleasure.*

Adam was a busy, productive, single guy with lots of pets. We don’t read of Adam’s having any complaints about his bachelor lifestyle but . . . ignorance is bliss. God knew that Adam would never learn how to pick up after himself if he didn’t have a “suitable helper” so he created one for him. Once again, no complaints recorded from Adam.

But what happened after the honeymoon phase was over? It turns out that the woman wasn’t so perfect – she gave in to Satan’s temptation and broke the only law in their world, then she enticed Adam into breaking the law as well. What was Adam to do? He couldn’t move back in with his parents – for obvious reasons – and he couldn’t send her home to live with her mother, either. He couldn’t very well replace her with a younger, more pliable model. Their only choice was to work it out.

Perhaps more marriages would be saved today if couples determined that their only choice is to work it out. If it doesn’t work out, we can get a divorce, is an attitude of failure. So is, Even if it doesn’t work out, we can’t get a divorce. Neither option fosters a willingness to do whatever it takes to keep your vows. And maybe fewer marriages would arrive at this malfunction junction if they entered into it with God as the matchmaker. God found a “suitable helper” for Adam – why can’t we trust him to do it for us instead of depending on our emotions and hormones to lead us down the aisle?

Divorce . . . is nothing more than public acknowledgement that someone has broken his or her vows.*