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1 Thesalonians 5

I pretty much slept through high-school.  As soon as I took my seat at my desk, opened the book and tried to listen, I got tired. It’s not because I was overworked or even overstressed. No, this was a different sort of tired. It’s marked by boredom and disinterest. This was true of most subjects but math and world history stand out to me. Funny thing is I knew that both were useful information. I actually enjoyed math, I even liked the drama of world history, even so, I couldn’t keep my eyes open.

I wonder if that’s what Paul is talking about in 1 Thessalonians 5. He warns us about two ways we go through our Christian lives sleepy, and drunk.  Sleepiness is what happens when I slowly stop paying attention to God. Drunkenness is what happens when I intentionally look somewhere else to satisfy or numb my soul. One is drift; the other is escape. Both leave me unprepared for the life God has called me to live. Sometimes, my Christian life is just like that world history class, unmotivated, disinterested, and disconnected.

The remedy, as Paul puts it, is to put on our armor. The breastplate of faith and love and the helmet of the hope of salvation.  Remember your armor?  The faith that God is for you and a love that dies for you.  But don’t forget hope.  Remember the promise that he is coming?  A day is coming where sin, darkness and deception are gone.  These are not just our protection but also our motivation. 

Faith trusts God today.

Love serves others today.

Hope keeps our eyes on tomorrow.

2 Corinthians 4

Paul’s Letters

God gave us all a new way, a new opportunity, and there is no room for quitters.  We are not messing around with sneaky, manipulative tactics.  No spin or deceit, just the straight truth and everyone else can judge us off that.  If others still cannot see it, it is because the enemy has their blinders on from seeing how amazing Jesus really is.  We weren’t put on this earth to promote ourselves.  Jesus is King.  The same God who flipped a switch and said “let there be light” also made it so the light shines in our hearts so that we could know the glory of God, and that is through Jesus.

If we are not willing to recognize the sin in our lives, we refuse to see the truth and cannot accept the gift of forgiveness that God offers us through a relationship with Jesus.  As we reflect honestly on our lives, God will help us see where we need to change.  Then we can confess our sin and trust Jesus to forgive us to make the needed changes.

Here is the catch…. We are of the most fragile of any living thing to exist.  We are breakable. We don’t see it, but we are all wrapped in “Handle With Care” tape.  But that is also the point.  When something this powerful comes though people this weak, it is obvious the power isn’t coming from us, it is coming from God.  We are pulled in every direction.  We get knocked down but never knocked out.  As others see God’s work in our lives, they may hopefully gain the courage to face and conquer their own sins and areas of weakness with God’s help.

Well, we are not quitting!  Sure, our bodies on the outside tend to dwindle as the years go by, but on the inside we are being renewed every single day.  This hard stuff we go through??  It is actually producing something – a weight of eternal glory so massive it makes the suffering look tiny by comparison.  The key is keeping your eyes on what you can’t see.  Everything you can see is just temporary.  Everything you can’t see is forever.

We may have to wait awhile for God’s eternal blessings, but if we trust Him to help us in this life of decay, we can be sure of his blessing in the future.

My prayer:

Father, when I feel squeezed, confused, and knocked down – remind me that I am not crushed, abandoned, or destroyed.  You are renewing me from the inside out, even when I cannot feel it.

Philippians 4

Philippians 4:7, NKJV says,

“and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4 reminds me that contentment is not found in perfect circumstances, but in the presence of Christ. Paul writes about rejoicing, praying instead of worrying, thinking on what is good, and learning to be content in every season. That kind of contentment does not come naturally. It is learned through surrender.

As I reflect on Father’s Day, I am grateful for the blessings God has placed in my life: my marriage, my children, and the sacred responsibility of being a husband and father. These are not roles I want to take for granted. They are gifts from God. My marriage has taught me the beauty of covenant love, patience, forgiveness, and daily faithfulness. Fatherhood has taught me that love is often expressed through sacrifice, steady presence, correction, encouragement, and prayer.

Yet I also recognize my weaknesses. I can become anxious, impatient, distracted, or focused on what still needs to be fixed instead of what God has already given. Philippians 4 calls me back to gratitude. It reminds me to bring every concern to God with prayer and thanksgiving, trusting that His peace will guard my heart and mind.

God’s strength is perfected in weakness when I stop pretending I can lead my family well on my own. His strength meets me when I admit I need more patience, more wisdom, more humility, and more grace. My weakness becomes the place where God teaches me dependence.

Today, I offer Him my weakness of trying to control outcomes and carry burdens alone. I ask Him to replace that with contentment, gratitude, and peace. Lord, help me love my wife well, lead my family faithfully, and rest in the truth that Your strength is enough.

Luke 22

Our passage starts on a Thursday when the Passover meal would be eaten. We see some interesting things happen within the vicinity of this day. First, Judas is possessed by Satan. He is one of two people in the bible that is possessed by Satan himself. The other person is the future Antichrist. The next thing we see is a plot starts to form to kill Jesus. While all of this is happening, Jesus sends Peter and John to go make preparations for the Passover meal, which Jesus fervently desired to share with His friends.

During this weeklong feast of Unleavened Bread, the mood should be remembering and celebrating the great things God did bringing His people out of Egypt. This is not so for Jesus. In these last few days, Jesus would deal with betrayal, isolation, and denial.

Let’s start with betrayal. There is not much more pain that can be felt from a friend than being stabbed in the back. When we look at Matthew’s gospel, Judas not only plotted to have Jesus killed, but he did it for 30 shekels of silver. His greed was greater than his love for his friend and teacher of at least three years.

Not only was Judas leading the chief priests, captains, and elders to Jesus, but the other eleven were sleeping in Jesus’ greatest need of prayer. When we compare the Gospel of Matthew, this was not just one occurrence, this happened three times on Jesus’ last night with His friends. He asked them to pray but they slept instead. They isolated Jesus in his last night of prayer and then scattered after He was arrested.

Lastly, Jesus was denied by one of His closest disciples, Peter. Betrayal hurts, but so does denial. Imagine pouring so much into a friendship that you spend three straight years together through thick and thin. These men were bonded by hardship, sleepless nights, and impact moments (essentially miracles upon miracles). The pain Jesus must have felt to know one of His closest disciples would not just deny being an acquaintance but would deny even knowing Him. Peter denied the friendship, the closeness, and the bond that they experienced. Don’t think that Peter is such a bad guy, you and I would do the same thing if we were in that situation.

Jesus wasn’t just plagued by physical suffering in His last days, but was also dealing with the pain of betrayal, isolation, and denial from his closest friends. Let’s look at the strength of Jesus’ prayer in the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus prays, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” His prayer shows strength in time of suffering. Jesus recognizes the pain, but His love for you was of more importance in the garden. He submitted to the Father’s will so that He could have relationship with you. He was obedient where we are not. Put your trust in Him today.

Today’s Reading: Matthew 11 

Every day we are asked to be someone different. We are asked to be a parent. We are asked to be a sibling. We are asked to be a child. We are asked to be a spouse. We’re asked to be a friend. We are asked to be a coworker. We are asked to be a person.

In all these asking, we sometimes can forget or need a reminder of who we actually are. We are a child of God through Christ. That’s the one thing that we have to remember. When we lose sight of that, then we can try to play all the roles that society has put on us.

 But when we forget that we are our child of God, then we are confused and disillusioned. Even in this text of this passage, Christ and John the Baptist are seen differently through the lens of society.

As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.””

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭11‬:‭7‬-‭9‬, ‭18‬-‭19‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Many times we place so much effort on what the world and others think of us that…

We become depressed.

 We become anxious.

We become distraught. 

We become insecure.

 But through Christ, we are able to become more than our wildest thoughts.

 We have become strong … compassionate…  loving … fearless … beautiful individuals.

Let us look at ourselves this week as God sees us. Let us look at ourselves, as beautiful creations. Let us deafen the noise of the world and embrace our beauty in Christ.

Be  blessed

Psalm 73

Asaph’s writing in Psalm 73 is something probably we all experience at least a little bit as part of our daily lives.  He shares with us how he nearly walked away from God because he was constantly seeing arrogant, corrupt people living their best lives.  These people were healthy, wealthy, no problems, no consequences.  Meanwhile, he was doing everything right and still getting beat up by life.  Sound familiar?  “Why do good things happen to bad people” type behavior.  He felt like following God was pointless.

But right before he was about to go public, or go post on social media in today’s way, he held off.  Instead, he went to the sanctuary, he felt a shift.  He got perspective.  Not new information, but perspective.

He realized the wicked aren’t winning, they are standing on thin ice.  Their prosperity is temporary.  The end of it all is always inevitable.  He even looks back on it and calls himself thoughtless for even envying them in the first place.  Like a big, dumb animal that could never understand the bigger picture.

Here we are in 2026 and Asaph’s testimony rings even truer today than ever.  Back then it was either first-hand experience or word of mouth.  It still is that plus tv, cell phones and social media all at our fingertips.  All the celebrities and billionaires you can fathom.  Even the wealthiest of people sometimes in our communities.

Asaph’s story is black and white.  What seems like perfection vs. what is simply imperfection.  From my experience, I certainly never compare myself to Elon, Bezos or the likes of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.  Good for those guys.  I wish them the best and hope and pray they do have a relationship with Jesus and are generous to the world with their fame and fortune.  I will never truly get to know them on a deeper level.  I can only speak of the people I actually do rub shoulders with, those I do business with or even my ‘friends’ on social media.  The ones who talk about or post all the time about ‘having it all’.

In today’s reality it is sometimes that feeling you get scrolling through Instagram  or Facebook watching people make up stories and cut corners to make it look like it is all hunky dory.  Meanwhile you are grinding and barely keeping it altogether.

It is then that I find myself going to the sanctuary.  For me that is church on Sundays or those few minutes talking with God before I call it a night.  It is then I am reminded than a ‘perfect life’ doesn’t exist and what matters most is the person who I fold my hands together for and bow my head to.  It really makes me think how miserable my life would truly be had I never have known Him.  Simply put, I would just be another fool like the rest of them.  But fortunately, like Asaph said, ‘How good it is to be near God!’

My prayer is that we never, ever forget how good God is, and that we never stop realizing that He loves us and only ever wants the best for us.

Psalm 27 is a declaration of confidence in God when life feels uncertain, threatening, or delayed. David does not pretend there are no enemies, fears, or troubles. He names them plainly. Yet his focus is not on the size of the threat but on the strength of the Lord: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?”

Joy appears in David’s deepest desire: to dwell with the Lord and behold His beauty. His joy is not rooted in easy circumstances but in God’s presence. Hope appears as David waits for the Lord, believing that he “would have lost heart” unless he expected to see God’s goodness. Endurance appears in the final command: “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage.” This is not passive waiting. It is courageous trust while the answer is still unfolding.

Psalm 27 reminds me that strength is not always loud, fast, or forceful. Sometimes strength looks like worshiping while afraid, praying while confused, and waiting without giving up. God’s presence gives joy. God’s character gives hope. God’s faithfulness gives endurance.

How does joy, hope, or endurance appear as strength in this passage?
They appear as a steady confidence that God is greater than fear, delay, opposition, and uncertainty.

How will I practice it?
I will practice it by turning fear into prayer, choosing worship before worry, and waiting on the Lord with courage instead of trying to control every outcome.