June 17, 2026

Ephesians 5: 28,29  (NIV)

In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church.

True Christian love involves the submission of one’s desires and even one’s needs for the good of the person loved.*

Throughout history (and in many cultures today), couples didn’t meet, then fall in love, and then get married. When Paul says that husbands must love their wives, he doesn’t make exceptions for those who didn’t get to choose the women they married, so there is no loophole either for those who claim they just don’t love each other anymore.

In our culture, we can’t imagine wanting to marry someone we aren’t “in love with.” We forget that marriage is a legal contract between two parties. I suppose that we could make feelings part of the vows, therefore making “falling out of love” grounds for dissolution, but Christian marriages are held to a higher standard. Earlier in this chapter, wives are instructed to submit to their husbands as if to the Lord (a whole 'nother topic of discussion!) but here, Paul makes it clear what Christ’s definition of love is and that husbands are required to love their wives like that – no matter how they feel about it.

I am not proposing that love as defined by Christ will save all marriages. As in any legal agreement, there are terms and conditions that are binding on both parties. One person’s failure to comply can nullify the contract. But in any relationship between Christians, a third party is involved: Christ.* Love like his puts self last and transforms our expectations and priorities. And such love is required of all of us, not just husbands and wives.

In Christ, our relationship with each other is suddenly more intimate than any human relationship has ever been!*

June 16, 2026

John 2: 1-11 (NIV)

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. . . . and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine . . . This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee . . . [Read the entire passage]

Yahweh is constantly overseeing human affairs.*

Many – make that most – times, my prayers are shallow and selfish. I am aware of BIG needs in the world – lost souls, persecuted Christians, dying children, man’s inhumanity to man – but my world is small. Even when I pray for other people, they are usually the people in my world. As I grow in Christ and learn to delight in him, the desires of my heart become less frivolous and more in harmony with his will. But as my relationship with the Lord becomes more intimate, the more aware I am that he cares about what I care about – even in my small world.

Jesus demonstrates that he is interested in more than just the big picture by performing, as his first miracle, a favor for his mother. As Max Lucado writes, he “used his premiere miracle on a social miscue.”* Was there any eternal significance to saving his host from embarrassment? John says it was the first of his miraculous signs, that through it he revealed his glory, and that his disciples put their faith in him. As to his purpose in performing this particular miracle at this particular venue, we aren’t told; the facts in evidence, however, tell us two important things about Jesus:

• He chose to act on his own schedule for his own reasons.
• His interest in human affairs is not limited to weighty matters, but his involvement has eternal significance.

Invite Jesus into your life. I can’t promise that he will be the life of the party but he promises to give you life to the full (John 10: 10). Let him handle the details and the heavy lifting.

While he chided the religious elite of his day, he listened deeply and intently to the cries and the pleas of the common folk. They mattered to him. Their personal suffering provided the context for the gospel.*

June 15, 2026

Luke 5: 4-6 (NIV)

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.

Trust always begins with one side taking a risk.*

I don’t know how long Peter (Simon) had been a fisherman but it was probably long enough that he could have resented Jesus’ recommendation. “I’m a professional,” he might have thought. “I know how to fish.” Was he just humoring Jesus when he agreed to try something different? Or did he give Jesus’ word higher authority than his own experience, as John Maxwell suggests?*

As humans, we may become experts in many areas, but as Christians we often have to set aside what we know from experience, training, and intuition, and do something illogical - because Jesus asked us to. If we are Spirit-filled and Spirit-led, we will find ourselves making choices that defy reason. Faith and common sense do not go hand-in-hand.

Being asked to fish in deeper water may not be as risky as taking your seven children to live in a middle-eastern country to minister to refugees (as my friends have done) but Jesus does not always require us to follow him into danger – only to trust him with every step we take.

The Christian may find himself in situations in which it appears impossible for God to keep His word. Satan would have us trust our senses. He assures us that faith is contrary to right reasoning.*

June 14, 2026

Psalm 71: 18 (NIV)

Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your might to all who are to come.

God never gives us back our youth.*

I had a friend who was always the one that people called when they needed something – a meal, a ride, a hospital visit – but she was a widow and, in her 90s, she began to need others to take care of her. She once confided that she missed the sense of purpose she once had. 

Does the psalmist fear that God will forsake him just because he has grown too old to be useful? I suspect his concern involves his awareness that there is so much to do and so little time. Some senior Christians may need to be reminded that their works don’t save them, but most have spent their lives in service because they are saved, not as their hope of obtaining salvation. It is their spiritual act of worship - and now they are faced with learning a new way to worship. 

What words of comfort can we offer to aging saints whose days of productive service are dwindling away? We might remind them that they, as older people, have had “a peculiar privilege: the chance to see God’s faithfulness over a lifetime.”* Their lifetime of faithfulness can be a testimony to God’s faithfulness, a legacy to pass on to the next generation. A senior saint could also recall how blessed she was when she was being a blessing to others, and that now she becomes the vehicle of blessing by allowing others to serve her. This is truly the circle of life! 

A final reminder for every stage of life: God loves us because we are his, not for what we do and not for how we feel. Busyness – even in Kingdom work – distracts us from developing our relationship with the Lord. Feelings - of guilt, inadequacy, purposelessness, self-pity, unworthiness - hinder our spiritual growth. As we age and weaken physically, we should rejoice that, spiritually, we are now in the growing season.

Bringing enjoyment to God . . . is the first purpose of your life. When you fully understand this truth, you will never again have a problem with feeling insignificant. . . . If you are that important to God, and he considers you valuable enough to keep you with him for eternity, what greater significance could you have?*

June 13, 2026

Psalm 63: 6 (NIV)

On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.

We should develop . . . a spiritual instinct, causing us to immediately turn to God when a concern keeps us awake at night.*

Sometimes sleeplessness is just the result of something physical: overeating; too much caffeine; illness; a crying baby. Trying really, really hard to fall asleep seldom ever works. 

I read some good advice for the sleep-deprived: “If insomnia visits you, don’t just waste it – invest it.”* In this verse in Psalms, David reveals the best way to invest your sleeplessness. Instead of lying in bed counting sheep (does that ever work?), take advantage of the quietness of the night and spend some time with God. I read a Facebook post that said, “When you can’t sleep at night, have you ever thought maybe it’s God saying, ‘We need to talk and you now have time.’” 

Don’t know what to talk about? Try journaling. Start by writing, “God, I don’t know what to talk about but here I am.” Or start by listing the things you are thankful for or the things you worry about. Or, begin with the words, “Be still,” and then do it - be still for a few moments, allowing God to make his presence known. Then write, “You are God,” followed by a list of God’s attributes or whatever thoughts God reveals to you. You will find that thinking of God through the “watches of the night” is as refreshing as a good night’s sleep.

To be kept in . . . perfect peace, our mind must be stayed on the LORD.*

June 12, 2026

Joshua 6: 16 (NIV)

The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the people, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city!”

The Lord builds a bridge . . . directly under the feet of a . . . traveler. He never builds the bridge a few steps ahead.*

My husband and I liked to hike. When we started out on a trail, we would check on its length, but sometimes the posted signage wasn’t clear as to whether the distance was one way or round trip or if the trail looped. Occasionally the trail seemed to be much longer than indicated and we had to decide how much further we should go before giving up and turning around. If only we could have known how close we were to our goal! 

God announced to Joshua that he had delivered Jericho into his hands – but first he and the people had to march around the walls of the city every day for six days. So they did. And nothing happened. How many days would you have kept walking before giving up? On the seventh day, they got up at dawn to circle the city seven times. Everything was the same as on the last 12 circuits until the seventh one on the seventh day when Joshua ordered them to shout and blow the trumpets. What were their expectations this time? When the walls came down, did they remember that God had proclaimed that the victory was already theirs, before they had even started walking in circles? 

We don’t know how much further we have to go to reach our goal but every step we take brings us closer to the final circuit. As Max Lucado writes: “Keep walking . . . this may be the day the Jericho walls come down. You may be one step away from victory.”*

Trust God; for you cannot KNOW!*

June 11, 2026

II Corinthians 8: 3 (NIV)

For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability.

If you’re generous, you don’t give till it hurts, you give until it feels good.*

We hear about athletes who give 110 percent but we know it’s not possible to give more than 100 percent - don’t we?

Paul had appealed to other churches to provide financial assistance for their brothers at Jerusalem who were in dire need. In his petition to the affluent church at Corinth, he is not-so-subtle in his attempt to shame them by sharing the example of the churches in Macedonia. They, while poverty-stricken and persecuted themselves, were able to joyfully and generously share a gift for their suffering brothers in Jerusalem. Not only did they give as much as they could – which others might claim that they, too, had done – but, he reports, they managed to give beyond their ability. How is that possible?

In verse 5, Paul gives the magic formula by which the Macedonians were able to defy the laws of nature. First, “they gave themselves to the Lord.” Full surrender to God enabled them to accomplish the miraculous. Second, “they gave themselves to others in keeping with God’s will.” They loved others more than they loved themselves and they sought God’s guidance in determining how to demonstrate that love.

Do you want to do more for the Lord than you are doing now? Do you dare step out in faith and say, “I am yours, Lord. What do you want me to do?” Are you able to “excel in this grace of giving” (verse 7) like the Macedonians? Are you prepared for the overflowing joy that will be your reward for giving 110 percent?

I give what He asks and enjoy what He promises.*