June 10, 2026

Acts 9: 1-5 (NIV)

Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. . . . As he neared Damascus . . . suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

But looking at men like this – not as they are, but as they will be – I could also see in our persecutors a Saul of Tarsus – a future apostle Paul.*

It may seem that Saul/Paul had an unfair advantage with his conversion experience. If a bright light flashed and the voice of Jesus spoke to you, wouldn’t you be converted? I think that Paul received special treatment for (at least) two reasons: 1) he was being called for a very special ministry; 2) the Christians were afraid of him so who was brave enough to preach the gospel to him?

Paul’s conversion was unique and special but God does not ignore others as they are traveling on their Damascus roads. The testimonies of a couple of my friends come to mind. One friend repeatedly turned down her neighbor’s invitations to attend church with her – until finally she said yes. Due to that neighbor’s persistence, my friend eventually accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior. Now she, her husband, and their children and grandchildren are the legacy of the neighbor who never gave up.

Another friend remembers the woman who eventually led her to Christ but she looks back on her life and recalls other people that God put in her life to help turn her to the right path. Their influence wasn’t so compelling individually but each one was building on the efforts of the ones before as their planting and watering prepared the soil so that the last person in the chain could witness the harvest.

Yes, Paul’s conversion story may be the most dramatic in history but in my friends’ experience, the light still flashed and the voice of Jesus spoke and the results are spectacular. As Christians, we need to be reminded: never give up on your lost loved ones; and never underestimate the value of your prep work in the garden of souls.

Most people come to a saving faith in Jesus through an intentional relationship.*

June 9, 2026

Philippians 1: 18 (NIV)

But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. . .

There are times I believe I should be something special in order to be a preacher of God’s Word.*

There’s no such thing as bad publicity. Do you think that’s true? I tend to disagree with the philosophy but in this verse, it seems Paul might go along with it. Word has come to him that there are people who are preaching the gospel with less than honorable motives – envy, ambition, and a desire to stir up trouble for Paul – but Paul is just happy that the word is getting out. 

I find Paul’s outlook a little surprising because I thought that doing the right thing for the wrong reason was a bad thing. But here is Paul, contradicting my long-held belief. Paul doesn’t care about motives – he cares about truth. Motives take second place to preaching the true gospel. 

But what about the lifestyle of the preacher? What if he is well-known for his dishonesty or he is openly gay? He beats his wife and gambles away his paycheck? Shouldn’t the messenger match the message? 

If a man rescues your child from a burning building just to get a reward, should we object to his not having the right motives? What if your child also needed medical attention but his rescuer was not an EMT? Would you rather he left your child in the fire? A hero who is not a trained professional, his motives are not pure, and his rescue is incomplete because he only knows basic first-aid. Your child’s life may still be at risk but at least he is safe from the fire. Now that he is no longer in imminent danger, you can be concerned about proper follow-up.

Can we better understand Paul’s attitude now? I think he would say that desperate times call for emergency procedures. He was in prison and so his freedom to preach was limited. But jail and wrong motives will not hinder the gospel. “God’s work was still getting done, and that was cause for rejoicing.”*

That gospel has lost none of its power.*

June 8, 2026

James 4: 4 (NIV)

You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

A thing does not have to be evil itself to lead us down the path to destruction.*

Several years ago, there was a new television show that I really liked and watched faithfully every week. I knew it was a little “rough” but I overlooked the bad stuff because I liked so much about it. Later, I bought the DVDs of the first two seasons. When I sat down to do some binge-watching, I was appalled that I had actually allowed such trash into my mind. When I was watching with a week in between, it didn’t seem so bad but seeing a few episodes back-to-back was revealing. Is that not how we become desensitized to the culture of the world? We welcome it into our lives in little pieces over the course of time, convinced all the while that we have kept ourselves pure. 

While human friendships are not exclusive - that is, we can have many friends and many types of friends - God says we can’t be friends with him and with the world at the same time. We must choose God or be guilty of spiritual adultery and become God’s enemies. As someone else has asked, “Who wants to be God’s enemy?”* 

How can you tell if you have crossed over that line into enemy territory? Think about how you spend your money and your time. Consider how you talk and dress and who your closest associates are. Before attending an activity or watching a television show, picture inviting your preacher to join you. Ask random friends and acquaintances if they know that you are a Christian. 

These steps can quickly reveal your outward condition but purity is more than skin-deep. How wholesome is your thought-life? How healthy is your prayer-life? Do you spend quantity and quality time in the word? Are you Spirit-filled? Are you God’s friend or his enemy?

The world is waiting and watching to see if what we believe makes any difference in the way we live. If we live like the world, how will the world ever see the true life-changing power of Jesus Christ?*

June 7, 2026

John 17: 3 (NIV)

“Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

His company makes Heaven.*

What’s so great about eternal life? The first thoughts that come to my mind are: 

· the alternative is eternal suffering

· eternally dead wouldn’t be so bad but it makes life on earth  pointless 

· being in God’s presence is a neverending worship service 

· I have no idea 

Someone has suggested that we might get a better understanding of eternal life by looking at its opposite (eternal death),* but we have already determined that being dead forever wouldn’t be the worst fate. We might think that Jesus is telling us in this verse that we have to know him and God in order to attain eternal life. While it is true that we can’t have eternal life without such knowledge, that’s not what he said.

Jesus gives a really big hint as to the answer to my original question: what’s so great about eternal life? He says eternal life is for us to know him and God. We already know him, don’t we? Yes, we have met him. We can spend our lifetime getting to know him better. But eternity is not enough time to know all about him. Eternity is this: increasing our knowledge of God. 

So what’s so great about eternal life? Nothing - if you don’t crave to know the Father as intimately as possible. If you aren’t seeking a closer walk with him daily, you are missing out on the richest earthly life available. If you are satisfied with your relationship with him now, you might be disappointed in eternity.

Eternal life . . . is not mere conscious and unending existence, but a life of acquaintance with God in Christ.*

June 6, 2026

II Corinthians 3: 2, 3 (NIV)

You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

The Bible tells us God’s truth is written on the hearts of humans.*

Friends and former employees sometimes give my name as a reference on their résumés. When friends use me as a personal reference, my response is easy because I can speak to their good character and other qualities; however, it is uncomfortable to be asked, “Would you rehire this person?” if the job-seeker is someone that I fired. It is gratifying, then, when I get to say of someone, “If she thinks she can do the job, she can do the job.” 

Paul gave the Corinthian church a good reference, and they in turn provided a testimonial to the effectiveness and authority of Paul’s ministry. What did Paul and the Corinthians do to qualify for their glowing recommendations from each other? For his part, Paul did his job as an apostle which the church at Corinth could verify. The church, in turn, was an example of changed lives – “living epistles”* – providing the credentials to prove Paul’s authenticity.

A hard-copy of a document may be more binding than an email, and when we say that something is written in stone we mean that it is permanent and binding. A letter that is engraved on a human heart may not stand up in court but it is personal and reliable. It is the character reference we would hope for. It is the equivalent of being told, “Keep your paper . . . and show us the changed lives from your ministry.”* Those are our true credentials.

Christian people owe a testimony to Christ. His name has been pronounced over them and all who look at them ought to see His nature.*

June 5, 2026

Mark 9: 24 (NIV)

“I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

. . .that strange mix of vulnerability, courage and hope the Bible calls faith.*

We can relate to the anguished cry of this father whose son is possessed by an evil spirit. He wants to believe that Jesus can deliver the boy from his affliction but what hope is there? Even if he could believe that Jesus was able to help him, why should he expect him that he would? Whose faith is as strong as it ought to be? We all have doubts and weaknesses. Jesus told the man that everything is possible for him who believes. Do we really believe that? 

Maybe we should ask ourselves what we don’t believe. First, let’s eliminate the silly and frivolous – Jesus is not a genie in a lamp to grant our wishes for riches, and nothing in his life or words indicates that we should expect him to be – so of course we don’t believe in a fairytale version of Jesus. So what are some real-life expectations that we think Jesus might not live up to? 

· Physical healing for ourselves or a loved one. 

· Forgiveness of some heinous sin in our past. 

· Finding our soulmate. 

· Delivering a loved one from a destructive lifestyle. 

· Peace on earth. 

As we look at this list again, let’s ask ourselves: Do we really believe that Jesus can’t do these things – or that he won’t? When I cry out to God to help me overcome my unbelief, I am not asking him to prove what he is able to do; I am asking for the strength to be obedient and remain faithful even when he denies my requests. While that is not the comforting thought we might be hoping for, the comfort comes when we have learned to walk in faith and obedience even when our wishes don’t come true.

Life has many unanswered questions, but God’s ability to save needn’t be one of them. Be settled about God’s faithfulness.*

June 4, 2026

Isaiah 57: 15 (NIV)

For this is what the high and lofty One says – he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.”

The central truth for the comfort of God’s people is that the infinitely Great One cares even for the infinitely little.*

I was in an airplane more than 30,000 feet above the earth when the thought struck me: I am no closer to God here than I am in my house. Where ever heaven is, God is there, but he is also where I am. God transcends space (high and holy place), time (lives forever), and character (whose name is holy), and yet he dwells within the souls of humble and repentant people.* 

While it is an honor to approach him freely, it is clear that we must also come before him humbly. The powerful God in heaven becomes the approachable God in the hearts of those who humble themselves before him. We find comfort in these words from God, delivered by Isaiah, but they were addressed to a specific audience in a particular situation. The message for us today comes from Jesus, who said that no one can come to the Father except through him (John 14: 6). A humble and contrite heart is still necessary but Jesus is our escort into the throne-room of God. It is through his blood that our hearts are purified and made fit to be the dwelling place of the lofty one. 

When we confess our sins and admit our unworthiness; when we crush our pride and hit rock-bottom, we receive the joyful message that God shared through Isaiah and Jesus: He dwells in us, not just to take up space, but to revive the spirit and the heart.

Through His blood we may draw near with boldness, and have access with confidence into God's presence.*