May 3, 2026

Matthew 9: 28-30 (NIV)

He asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith will it be done to you”; and their sight was restored.

God has a fixed time and an ordained purpose, and He who controls the limits of our lives also determines the time of our deliverance.*

Faith. We walk by it. We are saved by it. Without it, it is impossible to please God. I have faith – I believe that my faith is very strong, in fact – but I still have questions about faith. If I had been one of these blind men and Jesus asked me if I believed he was able to heal me, I would have confidently said, “Yes, I do.” But Jesus would have known that there was more to my answer than that. I would have had faith in his ability to heal me but not so much in whether he would actually do it. Is that wrong? Is that a sign that my faith is weak?

Follow Jesus’ ministry and you will see that he “restored sight to many blind people but not to every blind person he encountered. He healed many lepers but not every leper in Israel. He did his Father’s will.”* That pretty much sums up my philosophy on faith. My faith is not made stronger by believing that Jesus can heal, but by trusting that his failure to heal is his Father’s will and that it serves his purpose; and that his failure to heal does not mean that he has left the building. In Hebrews 13: 5, we are reminded of God’s promise to the Israelites, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” I believe that we can claim that promise, too.

Perhaps your desire to receive what you want is stronger than your desire for the will of God to be fulfilled.*

May 2, 2026

Daniel 4: 8 (NIV)

“Finally, Daniel came into my presence and I told him the dream. (He is called Belteshazzar, after the name of my god, and the spirit of the holy gods is in him.)”

As Christians in the Middle East and Africa face hideous violence, American Christians shouldn’t feel overwhelmed in the face of relatively minimal persecution.*

I think I speak for all Christians in the USA when I say that I feel like a stranger in my homeland. I don’t think the world is any worse than it ever has been but this country has never been so far from God. What is our battle plan? Perhaps we could learn a few things from Daniel.

Daniel was among a group of young Israelite men of noble or royal birth who were selected to be immersed in Babylonian culture, and trained for three years before entering service to the king. In this verse, we learn that King Nebuchadnezzar, the ruler of Babylon and conqueror of Judah, has renamed Daniel in honor of one of the king’s gods. Read Daniel’s story though and you will find a man who stood firm under the tempting influences of a pagan culture. He was separated from his own religious heritage but he did his best to worship God in accordance with the Law. 

Our current circumstances are not so different from Daniel’s - surrounded by an alien culture and unable to avoid every aspect of it.* In many ways, Daniel’s pursuit of religious purity was just a matter of inconvenience and making an extra effort . . . until the law of the land didn’t just make it hard to worship God - under a new administration, it became illegal to worship anyone or anything other than the king. Now Daniel must defy the law in order to honor God. No matter what the penalty. 

Jesus predicted that we would be hated because of him and it is a fact that we are. Will we be prepared to hold on to our faith when inconvenience turns to persecution? As Paul reminds us in Philippians 3: 20, our citizenship is in heaven, and that is where our Savior comes from. We should get used to being aliens in the world.

The current American political climate tempts Christians to be more interested in being right than in being righteous.*

May 1, 2026

Psalm 102: 25, 26 (NIV)

In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded.

Responsible consumption is integral to the very design of creation itself.*

When I was in college, I took special care of my favorite jeans – washed them in cold water, allowed them to air dry (never put them in the dryer!), ironed them to get the crease in nice and straight – but they still eventually wore out. (And went out of style!)

Environmentalists worry that we are going to use up the earth’s resources – and maybe they’re right. According to this psalm, the foundations of the earth and the heavens, too, are going to wear out like your favorite pair of jeans. Should we then just trash the earth since decay is inevitable?

I believe the precedent for responsible stewardship of our environment can be found in Genesis 2: 15: “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” But nothing is more important than fulfilling our duty to something that will not decay – human souls. We should never get so caught up in a “good cause” that we fail to obey our Lord’s final orders: Go, disciple, baptize, teach. Seeking and saving the lost is our number one priority. Everything else is going to wear out and be discarded.

Social action is not to be equated with evangelism, nor is it a constituent part of evangelism, nor is it primarily a means to evangelism.*

April 30, 2026

Acts 19: 13-15 (NIV)

Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. . . . One day, the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”

The most dangerous counterfeit bills are those that most closely resemble the authentic ones.*

Who would ever think that being recognized by an evil spirit is a good thing?

In Matthew chapter seven, Jesus warns us to watch out for false prophets. There will be many who claim to prophesy in Jesus’ name, to drive out demons and perform miracles in his name, but he will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”

In the Stephen King story, Salem’s Lot, one of the characters is horrified to learn that - contrary to legend - waving a cross in the face of a vampire does not protect him. The vampire advises him that the cross wields no power unless you believe in the true power of the cross – “Without faith, the cross is only wood . . .” It’s sadly ironic that demons (and vampires!) are better-equipped to distinguish between genuine and counterfeit than we are.

How can we tell if someone is claiming the name of Jesus falsely? Jesus said, “By their fruit you will recognize them.” (Matthew 7: 20) A tree may appear to be good and healthy until it bears fruit. In the same way, a false prophet may seem to be doing good things – preaching, healing, charitable works – but watch for his fruit. Is he true to the gospel or does he dilute it to make it easier to swallow? Does he claim Jesus as the only Son of God and the only way to salvation?  Who gets the glory? Does his personal life reflect a relationship with Jesus? How does he treat other people? How does he hold up under pressure?

As someone has stated, “The presentation of that which is genuine is the only antidote to the counterfeit.”* Know the truth so you can recognize the fakes.

Zeal and sincerity cannot substitute for truth.*

April 29, 2026

John 9: 31 (NIV)

“We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will.” 

Surprisingly, seeing supernatural miracles didn’t lead people to repent and follow Jesus’ teaching.*

Rather than rejoicing with the man who was healed from a lifetime of blindness, the Pharisees dragged him out as a witness against Jesus. He didn’t help their cause because, instead, he testified on Jesus’ behalf. He tried to get them to understand that Jesus was a good man (if nothing else), otherwise God would not have listened to his prayers to heal the man’s blindness. The Pharisees, who didn’t deny that Jesus had performed a miracle, went ballistic and "threw him out."

But was the man right? Is it true that God does not listen to sinners? Aren’t we all sinners? One Bible commentary states that “God does not listen to any but those who call upon him with truth and sincerity.”* Another offers that “God is under no obligation to hear sinners.”* A third disagrees, saying that the man’s statement implies that “God never answers the prayers of men.”* So, what does the Bible say?

God doesn’t hear us if we: 

· Cherish sin in our hearts (Psalm 66: 18) 

· Have blood on our hands (Isaiah 1: 15) 

· Follow other gods (Jeremiah 11: 9-11) 

· Do evil (Micah 3: 4) 

· Don’t listen to him (Zechariah 7: 13) 

· Have a rebellious heart (I Samuel 8)

Who does God listen to?

· He hears the cry of the righteous (Psalm 34: 15) 

· If we ask in his name, he will do what we ask (John 14: 13) 

· If we ask according to his will, he hears us (I John 4: 14) 

· If we have faith in God, we will receive what we ask for (Mark 11: 22-25)

Hebrews 5: 7, says, “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.” It doesn’t say that Jesus’ prayers were answered because of his sincerity and great emotion. We also know that he didn’t receive exactly what he asked for because he wasn’t saved from death. But we know that his prayers were heard because of his reverent submission. If that’s what it takes for the Son of God to be heard, it ought to work for us.

Imitating Jesus requires giving attention to the things he gave attention to, caring about the things he cared about, and doing them the way he did them to the best of our ability.*

April 28, 2026

John 17: 1 (NIV)

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed.

Prayer is relevant in every situation.*

If you knew you had only one year left to live, what would you do? How would you fill your time if you were down to only one day? I have no idea what I would do – just pondering the question causes me to feel anxious so I’m thinking that if I really had to face the decision I would succumb to a full-blown panic attack.

Perhaps, after I took a deep breath, I might consider what Jesus did. He knew all along that his days were numbered so it’s certain that he used every moment wisely. But when the clock ticked down to the final twelve hours, what did Jesus do? I like what John Maxwell says about Jesus’ last moments of freedom: “He didn’t start big campaigns. He didn’t try to change laws. He didn’t even do any more public ministry. He spent the time praying.”*

Admit it. You secretly think that there had to be something more dramatic that he could have been doing. Admit it. You say you believe in the power of prayer but you still think of it as a last resort. It’s what you do when you can’t think of anything else to do. How did this happen? When did we start thinking that we are smarter than God? How can we believe that we can face troubles or make decisions without seeking God’s face?

We often hear that we should live every day as if it’s our last one. I suggest we live every day as Jesus lived his last one: make prayer our priority.

We may speak about the importance of prayer, but it seldom becomes our actual practice.*

April 27, 2026

Ephesians 6: 13-17 (NIV)

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

The Bible is replete with weapons through which we can defeat our common enemy.*

This passage reminds me of my husband’s ritual as he prepared to go play hockey. He taped his ankles, donned padded pants, elbow pads, and a helmet, all to protect himself from injury. Just like the armor of God, all his equipment was for defensive purposes – until he picked up his stick.  Like that hockey stick, the sword of the Spirit is the only offensive device in our arsenal.

As Christians, we are constantly under attack. We stand our ground, armed with truth, righteousness, readiness, faith, and salvation. When it comes time to attack we wield the sword of the Spirit. This is a magical sword because it is empowered by the Spirit of God. We must train with it, just as the ancient soldiers prepared for battle with rigorous practice in the proper use of the weapon. It is important for us to be insulated from Satan’s attacks but we must be ready to fight back. Know the word of God, know the God of the word, and let the Spirit of God guide your sword.

If you want to motivate Christians to learn to use their weapons of warfare, put them on the front lines.*