April 15, 2026

James 2: 19 (NIV)
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that – and shudder.

Belief in the one God does not mean salvation.*

Recently, someone told me that she believes in God but she doesn’t believe in Jesus. She is one of those “we’re all going to the same place just taking different paths” people. Wouldn’t it be nice if believing in God was all we had to do to be saved? Well, maybe not so nice for heaven because that means the devil and his minions will be there. And not so nice for Jesus because that would mean that he suffered and died for nothing.

James’ little display of sarcasm is directed at his readers who believed that faith alone meets the requirements for salvation. In this passage and the verses surrounding it, he makes two points: we aren’t saved by faith and we aren’t saved by works. If faith was enough, we would be sharing heaven with those shuddering demons. If good deeds could save us, any altruistic, hardworking heathen has a chance at eternal life.

But the equation still doesn’t add up. Faith plus good works doesn’t equal salvation. We are saved by the grace of God. We can’t work our way to heaven; no amount of faith merits eternal life. It is only through the sacrifice of God’s Son that we are saved from hell. Obedience to God’s plan is how we receive grace, not how we earn it.

Salvation was free to us, but expensive to God.*

April 14, 2026

Romans 15: 1, 2 (NIV)

We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.

Whenever two people are together, one is influencing the other.*

Which one are you? Are you the strong one or are you the weak one? I think I agree with this assessment: “I have never heard anyone say he or she was the weak person! We always hear the text and identify with the strong (or the right) person!”*

The truth is, as Christians, each of is both the strong one and the weak one. That’s why we need each other. I may be able to prop you up on one side but look over and you will see someone else supporting my weak side. But here’s the thing: we can’t always know another’s weaknesses. Maybe we aren’t even aware of our own. Paul offers us the solution to this dilemma. “Each of us,” he says, “should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.”

In your community of faith, someone is looking to you for clues as to how you manage your Christian walk. You, in turn, are looking at others to be your example. If we seek to “emulate Christ who did not please himself,”* we will be bearing with the failings of the weak whether we know it or not.

Relationships give us a safe place to watch how someone further down the road navigates through life.*

April 13, 2026

II Chronicles 20: 12 (NIV)

“O our God . . . We do not know what to do but our eyes are on you.”

While it is important that we keep our eyes on what God says in the Word, it is also important that we keep our eyes on what God does in His world.*

If you have ever sung in a choir or played in a band, you know how important it is to keep your eyes on the director. No matter how many hours you have practiced the song, it is still the director’s discretion to change things up a bit. He doesn’t ask us to play different notes; he only rearranges the timing of the piece. If you aren’t paying attention, yours may be the lone voice who holds that note too long. The only way to prevent such an awkward faux pas is to keep your eyes on the director.

In our walk of faith, God is our Director. That moment of uncertainty is his clear signal to pause until he indicates our next move - but a prolonged rest is not a sign that we should consult another piece of music! He communicates through various means – a sermon; wise words from a friend; a timely entry in a daily devotional; a still, small voice - but his directions will never lead us to play or sing a different song.

Practice daily; attend all the rehearsals; know the right notes. His directions are true to his word and if we keep our eyes on him, our timing will be impeccable!

If we know the God of the Word, through faith in Jesus Christ, then we can know the Word of God and understand what it is that God wants us to do.*

April 12, 2026

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.*