Tag: wisdom

May 24, 2025

May 24th, 2025

Saturday – Open Topic

Reading – Psalm 119:101-109

Highlight Verse:

“Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭119‬:‭105‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Airmail service began about a hundred years ago.

At first, pilots sat in open cockpits with nothing to guide them but the landscape and the earliest of the country’s highways, which did not run very straight.

To guide them, the federal government built a network of beacons and arrows (many of which can still be found) to point them along a system of airways.

That was fine in good weather, but when it rained, snowed or got foggy, pilots had to pay very close attention and be sure they followed the exact direction of the arrows.

To stray just a little could have dire consequences farther along.

God’s Word can be like that system of beacons and arrows.

His Word is there to guide us. Following it keeps us from wandering too far off course.

Just as those early pilots were thankful for the guidance provided for them, so we also should be thankful for the guidance God provides in His Word.

In what ways has God’s Word guided you?
What difficulties have you experienced in trying to follow His Word?
May 20, 2025

May 20th, 2025

Tuesday – Pentateuch

Reading – Genesis 33-34

Highlight Verse:

“Hamor and his son Shechem agreed to their proposal.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭34‬:‭18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I’ll give you a minute to go read the rest of this chapter.

Did you read it?

Pretty messed up, huh?

Rape, political maneuvering, deceit, genocide, looting.

It’s almost like one sin led to another.

Oh wait! It’s exactly like one sin led to another.

The sins in this chapter were heinous but the same principle applies to all sin.

Sin unchecked always leads to more sin.

Very often, sin compounds into greater sin with worse effects.

Eventually, it can break down faith and lead to the rejection of Jesus.

Instead of compounding sin, what if we confessed to each other and to God; sought accountability; and prioritized fellowship with each other and the Holy Spirit?

In other words, what if we got involved in a good local church?

If you haven’t already, I suggest you give it a try.

What does your local church do to help you escape from the grasp of sin?
How do you help others do the same?
May 15, 2025

May 15th, 2025

Thursday – Letters

Reading – 1 Corinthians 7-8

Highlight Verses:

“Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much. But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭8‬:‭2‬-‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I tend to be a “know it all” or at least act like one.

I like trivia.

I’m an information geek, addicted to YouTube for car shows and history and travel documentaries.

And I love the Bible.

I can’t always quote chapter and verse, but I can usually get you close.

I like to say that I have a photographic memory – but I sometimes run out of film (storage memory for you young folks).

But no matter how much I can stuff into this brain and recall at will, it all means nothing!

What really matters is love.

Love God! (v. 3)
Love people! (v.13)

It can be said that knowing the Bible helps you love people by leading them to Jesus.

That’s true, but we have to guard against knowledge replacing love as the goal.

How do you balance loving God and people with learning more about God?
Does learning about other things help you to love God and people?
I would say it can. Prove me right or wrong.
May 9, 2025

May 9th, 2025

Friday – Prophets

Reading – Isaiah 55-57

Highlight Verse:

““My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭55‬:‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I’d like to think that I’ve gotten close enough to God to understand His thoughts.

But then, when I first read this chapter, my thoughts went something like, “Ooh, free food and drink.”

My perspective is so tied to this physical life that I often totally miss God’s perspective.

My limited perspective makes completely understanding God impossible.

My best bet is to follow the advice of verse 3 and listen with my ears wide open to what God would want me to hear.

Have you been able to get glimpses of God’s perspective?
How did it differ from your perspective?
May 8, 2025

May 8th, 2025

Thursday – Letters

Reading – 1 Corinthians 5-6

Highlight Verse:

“It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭5‬:‭12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I glance at this verse and wonder if it gives me license to start preaching “hell-fire and brimstone” to those in the church acting sinfully.

Tempting, but I honestly don’t think that’s the point here.

Knowing the heart of God in the context of the New Testament and Paul and the church he is writing to, I see the Father using every means possible to guide His children to the best life possible.

I also see His heart wanting to save people from hell.

It should also be noted that the first readers of this letter would be the leaders of the church. It urges them to lead.

The leaders of the church at Corinth were doing a terrible job of guiding people away from sin. For the sake of those people, the leaders needed to recognize sin and warn them of it.

While the people’s sin would not cause them to directly lose their salvation, when they wander too far down the path of sin, they were in real danger of losing their trust in God, thereby losing salvation.

Quite often people that far off the path pull others down that path with them, prompting Paul’s warning not to associate with them.

The point is, stay as far away as possible from the path that leads to losing faith and encourage other to stay of the path of faith.

Have you seen people pull others with them down a path away from faith? (I have, multiple times).
Have you ever started down that path yourself? What brought you back?
May 7, 2025

May 7th, 2025

Wednesday – History

Reading – Ruth 1-2

Highlight Verse:

“May the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully for what you have done.””
‭‭Ruth‬ ‭2‬:‭12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

We are saved by grace alone, not by works.

The idea of karma and “What goes around comes around” is misleading.

But let’s be honest, the good things we do often have good results.

Thankfulness to and love for God are far better reasons to do good.

But I don’t think it’s harmful to believe that when we are faithful, generous, and diligent, we are likely to reap some reward for that here on earth.

The reward may only be the satisfaction of knowing you did well.

Then again, sometimes we see a more tangible reward. Promotions, raises, respect, and even gifts are often rewarded to those who are faithful, generous, and diligent.

Ruth is a prime example of blessings received from faithfulness.

Those blessings should not be expected but they can be appreciated and gracefully accepted like in Ruth’s story.

Have you seen blessings as a result of faithfulness, generosity, or diligence?
How did you handle it?
May 3, 2025

May 3rd, 2025

Saturday – Open Topic

Reading – Proverbs 11:23-31

Highlight Verse:

“The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭11‬:‭25‬ ‭NLT‬‬

One of my daughters is helping a friend who is going through a difficult time. The help is actually costing quite a bit of money.

That sparked the conversation between her and another friend (I was there but stayed out of it) about when help turns the corner to enabling.

That is a tough question without a clear answer.

I have had help from friends in the past that could be considered quite costly. In my case, it brought me through difficult times rather than encouraging bad habits in my life. I’ve been able to pay it forward to others since then.

I have seen rare occasions when people have ended up stuck in a vicious cycle of dependence. In those cases, breaking that cycle became very painful, but they got through it.

In the vast majority of cases I’ve seen, generosity was more helpful than hurtful.

Scripture backs that up with numerous verses about generosity – and a handful cautioning against encouraging foolish behavior.

In my opinion, it is best to err on the side of generosity.

Do you have stories about how people have helped you?
Have you seen generosity have negative results? Did those negative results get reversed? How?
May 2, 2025

May 2nd, 2025

Friday – Prophets

Reading – Isaiah 52-54

Highlight Verse:

““Enlarge your house; build an addition. Spread out your home, and spare no expense!”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭54‬:‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

On more than one occasion, I have heard this verse taken completely out of context.

Usually, it was in conjunction with a church building fund.

But context is important.

This prophecy was given to the people of Israel at the end of the exile.

They had been oppressed for many years at this point and were finally coming back to faith.

God was ready to bless them for that faith.

If you’ve been through the ringer through a time of unbelief and are coming back too a revived faith, then I would say this verse applies to you.

If not, maybe we should just rejoice in the restoration of Israel which laid the groundwork for the coming of Jesus.

And maybe find a more appropriate verse to encourage us to give – there are plenty.

What verses have you heard taken out of context often?
What verse do you tend to take out of context? (For me, it is 2 Corinthians 5:13)
April 24, 2025

April 24th, 2025

Thursday – Letters

Reading – 1 Corinthians 1-2

Highlight Verse:

“The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I can teach a clear, eloquent lesson on the Gospel and have it completely misunderstood.

I can have a deep, emotional conversation about the Gospel and still be thought a fool for believing.

For some, there is a brick wall that no amount of convincing argument can even chip.

Is there no hope?

There’s always hope.

It may not be visible but the Holy Spirit is always at work. Sometimes He works through His people, sometimes directly.

For each wall I’ve seen stand hard against the Gospel, I’ve seen another knocked down through the power of the Holy Spirit at work through His people.

1st Corinthians is a great study on working in cooperation with the Holy Spirit. I’m looking forward to the lessons ahead for us.

In the meantime, I continue to pray for those whose wall I desperately want to see come down.

Are there people in your life who need the Holy Spirit to break down the wall separating them from the Good News of Jesus?
Did you have a wall separating you from understanding the Gospel? What was it like when that wall came down?
April 23, 2025

April 22nd, 2025

Wednesday – History

Reading – Judges 17-19

Highlight Verse:

“so they stopped there to spend the night. They rested in the town square, but no one took them in for the night. That evening an old man came home from his work in the fields. He was from the hill country of Ephraim, but he was living in Gibeah, where the people were from the tribe of Benjamin.”
‭‭Judges‬ ‭19‬:‭15‬-‭16‬ ‭NLT‬‬

If you read this whole chapter, you know it’s messed up in so many ways.

It starts with a Levite in an unofficial marriage.

When the concubine gets mad at the Levite and goes home, he doesn’t go after her for 4 months.

When he does bring her back, he stops for the night at an Israelite town in Benjamin’s territory.

You’d think that would be a smart move but not this town. As we see in the highlight verses, the only person to help them is an older field laborer from Ephraim, which happens to be where the Levite is from.

The people of Gibeah are so bad, I won’t dare repeat what they did here.

Why did they act like that?

They lived in a time when there was no good leadership in Israel.

Without proper guidance, the people of Gibeah gave into their basest desires to the expense of everyone who wasn’t one of them.

I am certain there were people there who could have made good leaders. They just did not step up to lead.

As a result, sin was allowed to thrive, and God was dishonored. Ultimately, Benjamin was nearly wiped out as a result.

Has God called you to be a leader or an encourager to leaders?
What are you doing about it?

Tag: wisdom

To stray just a little could have dire consequences farther along.

God’s Word can be like that system of beacons and arrows.

Just as those early pilots were thankful for the guidance provided for them, so we also should be thankful for the guidance God provides in His Word.

Pretty messed up, huh?

Sin unchecked always leads to more sin.

In other words, what if we got involved in a good local church?

I tend to be a “know it all” or at least act like one.

And I love the Bible.

Love God! (v. 3)Love people! (v.13)

But then, when I first read this chapter, my thoughts went something like, “Ooh, free food and drink.”

My best bet is to follow the advice of verse 3 and listen with my ears wide open to what God would want me to hear.

Tempting, but I honestly don’t think that’s the point here.

The leaders of the church at Corinth were doing a terrible job of guiding people away from sin. For the sake of those people, the leaders needed to recognize sin and warn them of it.

The point is, stay as far away as possible from the path that leads to losing faith and encourage other to stay of the path of faith.

But let’s be honest, the good things we do often have good results.

Thankfulness to and love for God are far better reasons to do good.

Those blessings should not be expected but they can be appreciated and gracefully accepted like in Ruth’s story.

That sparked the conversation between her and another friend (I was there but stayed out of it) about when help turns the corner to enabling.

In the vast majority of cases I’ve seen, generosity was more helpful than hurtful.

In my opinion, it is best to err on the side of generosity.

But context is important.

If you’ve been through the ringer through a time of unbelief and are coming back too a revived faith, then I would say this verse applies to you.

And maybe find a more appropriate verse to encourage us to give – there are plenty.

For some, there is a brick wall that no amount of convincing argument can even chip.

There’s always hope.

1st Corinthians is a great study on working in cooperation with the Holy Spirit. I’m looking forward to the lessons ahead for us.

If you read this whole chapter, you know it’s messed up in so many ways.

The people of Gibeah are so bad, I won’t dare repeat what they did here.

I am certain there were people there who could have made good leaders. They just did not step up to lead.

Love God! (v. 3)
Love people! (v.13)