Walk in the Light

August 26, 2025

August 26th, 2025

Tuesday – Pentateuch

Reading – Exodus 5-6

Highlight verse:

““Is that so?” retorted Pharaoh. “And who is the Lord? Why should I listen to him and let Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.””
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭5‬:‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

According to the latest Pew Research study (2023/24), The percentage of people in the United States who claim to be Atheist is only 5%. Even if you include all those who identify as anything other than Christian, it is still a minority of 38%.

So why do the words of Pharaoh sound so familiar today?

The majority of those who have managed our system of education seem to think that the separation of church and state means that we have to deny any public mention of God.

I don’t wish to sound political, but this is just wrong.

While I would not draw a direct parallel with Pharaoh and the plagues that followed his refusal to recognize God, I will say that the institutional denial of the existence of God can only lead to terrible consequences.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying we should have a state church or advocate one religion over another in schools and public functions.

But in trying to keep religion out of public life, we have institutionalized the religion of atheism.

Instead, we should allow the open honest discussion of religion in public, including schools.

If we are honest and not judgmental, people can judge for themselves.

I believe that the mercy and grace of Jesus would win the day when the truth is presented honestly.

Sorry for the departure from normal expository study of the Bible but I felt it had to be said before we end up like Pharaoh. I’ll step down from my soap box now.

Have you been able to share the Gospel in ways that have been accepted in public?
What can we do to foster the honest discussion of faith in public?
August 25, 2025

August 25th, 2025

Monday – Gospels

Reading – Matthew 6

Highlight Verse:

“And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭30‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I am reading a novel series now that has the underlying message of “you’d better get ready for the hard times to come.”

It doesn’t sit well with me.

I mean, there’s nothing wrong with being prepared. We have a fairly full pantry and should probably stock up more on some staples.

But when you expend a significant amount of time and energy and resources worrying about the future,

you lose part of today.

I have been in that place when my resources were overwhelmed by my needs.

God provided every single time.

Sometimes He sent others to step up and help.

Sometimes He showed me that I didn’t need what I thought I needed.

Every time I made it through, and God provided all my needs and then some.

Even though our budget is a little on the tight side, we are still blessed with more than we need.

Rather than worry about our finances, I pray that I may be able to prepare to help others. My hope is to be that answer to the prayers of those who find themselves in a place of having to depend on God for provision.

You may find yourself in a place of total dependence on God. Trust and pray and He will provide.

Or you may find yourself in a place of abundance.

Pray that God would open your eyes to where you can be God’s answer to desperate prayers.

How has God provided when you were in desperate need?
How has God used you to be His provision for others?
August 24, 2025

August 24th, 2025

Sunday – Poetry

Reading – Psalms 103-104

Highlight Verse:

“You send rain on the mountains from your heavenly home, and you fill the earth with the fruit of your labor.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭104‬:‭13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

There’s a term I like that describes the Earth perfectly.

The Goldilocks Principle.

Simply put, the Earth is “just right.”

If the Earth’s orbit, or tilt, or atmospheric composition were only slightly different, life as we know it could not exist here.

It’s almost as if some brilliant mind designed it for us.

I believe that God was the best architect and engineer possible when it comes to creating a planet for humans to thrive.

Beyond that, He made the Earth a work of art with beauty that defies description.

To say that this all just happened by chance requires far more faith than I could ever muster.

So rather than agreeing with a scientific community that insists that belief in a Creator is foolish,

I’ll trust the greatest architect, engineer, and artist ever known.

I will place my faith in God.

What is the most amazing scientific fact you have heard about?
What do you think is the most beautiful sight in all of creation?
August 23, 2025

August 23rd, 2025

Saturday – Open Topic

Reading – Proverbs 22

Highlight Verse:

“Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭22‬:‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

While I cannot claim to have been a perfect parent, I can say that my parenting style was positively influenced by the work of a man who also influence hundreds of millions of people around the world.

That man, Dr. James C Dobson passed from this world 2 days ago at the age of 89.

His advice through Focus on the Family and other ministries has helped me to improve my abilities to lead my children and keep my values based on the Bible.

While he has been vilified by the woke movement, he was a man who loved God and his family deeply and strived to bring as many as possible into the freedom that the Gospel offers.

His efforts have resulted countless salvations, very high adoption rates in the states he influenced, and hundreds of thousands of children being born who otherwise would have been aborted.

Like me, many millions of parents have been positively influenced by his advice.

While I know that my influence will never reach those levels,

I pray that I leave this world a little better for having occupied it.

And when I move on to heaven, I’ll be sure to thank Dr. Dobson for the positive influence that he has had on my life.

Who has influenced you to be a better person?
What are you doing to influence others?
August 22, 2025

August 22nd, 2025

Friday – Prophets

Reading – Jeremiah 34-36

Highlight Verse:

“Therefore, this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Jehonadab son of Recab will always have descendants who serve me.’””
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭35‬:‭19‬ ‭NLT‬‬

If you have read this for very long, you know how dead set I am against legalism.

That does not mean that I am against obedience.

Obeying rules will never get you into heaven. That comes from the mercy of God through the sacrifice of Jesus alone.

That said, obedience will be honored.

Just like God honored the sons of Recab for their obedience, faithfulness to God’s call will have good results in our lives.

Respect is earned.

The more faithful a person has been, the more they will positively affect those around them.

While our goal should never be to bring ourselves notoriety, there is great satisfaction in having a positive effect on those around you.

One of my highest goals is to bring more people to Jesus and more Jesus to people.

How has your faithfulness affected those around you?
What can you do from this day forward to be obedient to God’s call on your life?
August 21, 2025

August 21st, 2025

Thursday – Letters

Reading – Galatians 5-6

Highlight Verse:

“For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I lived in the South for a total of 12 years. I might go back there for more after I retire.

Why?

Because there’s a lot of people there who know how to live out the second part of this verse.

Oh, they have as many quarrels and differences as any where else, but when someone is hurting, they put aside those differences and help each other without a second thought.

In today’s reading, Paul shifts from telling the Galatians to not be legalistic to what they should be doing instead.

They, and we, should serve one another in love.

That’s not just for those in your same denomination or political party.

Verse 15 makes it sound like the Galatians didn’t get along with each other well at all.

Despite that, or maybe because of that, Paul commands them to serve each other in love.

While he lists 15 results of sinful nature, more than half of those are about getting along with each other. (5:19-21)

He calls us to be free from all sin, not just the classic naughty sins but from anything that would keep us from expressing God’s love to one another.

What ways have you found to serve your neighbor in love?
Does that service to your neighbor have an effect on your heart toward them?
August 20, 2025

August 20th, 2025

Wednesday – History

Reading – 1 Samuel 27-28

Highlight Verse:

“One day David said to Achish, “If it is all right with you, we would rather live in one of the country towns instead of here in the royal city.””
‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭27‬:‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I want to point to this and say,

“See, David was a good ol’ country boy.”

But, let’s face it, at this stage in his life,

he became the dread pirate David.

He left the royal city so he could deceive Achish into thinking they were on the same team.

This wasn’t the best chapter in David’s life.

Discouragement from being constantly pursued by King Saul had worn him out

to the point of running to the Philistines and resorting to raiding enemy villages while he lived there.

He raided villages to the south of Israel so, when he came back, he could make it look like he had been raiding Israelite villages, strengthening his bond with Achish.

That was a bond that he should never have had in the first place.

He wasn’t making wise decisions.

And this is where I draw my thoughts from today.

When we are discouraged, we are vulnerable.

We might not go raiding enemy villages, but we may turn to the wrong people and try to keep them happy.

That didn’t work so well for David.

How do we deal with that discouragement?

We can surround ourselves with encouragers

– people who radiate wise advice while encouraging us to stay faithful.

Has discouragement ever led you to follow the wrong people?
How did you get through it?
August 19, 2025

August 19th, 2025

Tuesday – Pentateuch

Reading – Exodus 3-4

Highlight Verses:

“One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up.”
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Moses, the man who was miraculously saved by the daughter of the Pharaoh, was just doing his job.

As far as we can tell, it was a normal workday for Moses.

It was hard work because pastureland was very sparse. Moses had to keep moving.

And then, in the middle of what was probably a very boring day,

God spoke.

I’ve never seen a burning bush that was not consumed by the flames. For that matter, I’ve never heard God speaking from any kind of bush.

But there have been times when God interrupted my workday.

Sometimes it was to teach me a lesson. Someone’s words or even an inspiration poster would capture my attention and redirect my thoughts to God’s plans for that moment.

Sometimes it was to use me in someone else’s life. A customer or coworker would open up to me about something that I could bring the Word of God to shed light on their situation.

No matter how mundane your situation may be, God can work in your day-to-day life.

The tough part is to pay attention so you can see or hear when God wants to speak to you or through you.

When have you seen God move in your day-to-day life?
How did you recognize that it was from God? (Or did you?)
August 18, 2025

August 18th, 2025

Monday – Gospels

Reading – Matthew 5

Highlight Verse:

““You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Have you ever had a meal with no salt or other spices?

Not very tasty.

Have you ever been to a church that was devoid of excitement or passion?

Not much fun.

I’m not saying that church should be entertainment. Far from it.

I am saying that we as believers should be excited to praise God together. We should be passionate about worship and compassionate with each other.

We should not base our faith on feelings, but if our faith doesn’t trigger emotions, how deep is it?

Consider this, Jesus underwent torture and crucifixion out of love for us.

That fact alone should move us to deep gratitude.

Throw in healing and fellowship and we should be beside ourselves with joy.

I do realize that some people are more emotional than others. But faith should inspire joy and gratitude.

Are you moved to emotion when you worship or pray?
What about your faith are you most passionate about?
August 17, 2025

August 17th, 2025

Sunday – Poetry

Reading – Psalms 99-102

Highlight Verse:

“For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭100‬:‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I’ve been noticing several posts in social media claiming that Gen-Z is coming back to God in droves.

I checked the research to see if that was true.

According to Google, most research shows that the decline in number of Christians in America has stalled.

As the research is normally out of date by the time it is published, it is quite possible that the downward trend has reversed.

Having been in next generation ministry for a long time, I can tell you the recent trends in our area.

There was a great decrease in church attendance among youth during and just after the pandemic.

Now that trend has reversed.

Our last big student event had record breaking attendance.

More importantly, most of our students are serious about learning more about Jesus, salvation, and how to live the best life.

Why?

Honestly, I see much of the interest lately being driven by celebrities who have turned to Jesus. People like Jelly Roll, Justin Bieber, Kanye West, and Chris Pratt being bold with their faith have inspired many.

Add to that the fact that a large number of Christian influencers have become very popular on Tik Tok and other social media outlets.

Young people want to know what this Jesus is all about.

As in today’s highlight verse, God is continuing His faithfulness to this generation and they are responding!

Now is an amazing time to reach out to the next generation with the Gospel.

I firmly believe we need to take every advantage of this time to share the Gospel.

What first drew you to Jesus?
What are you doing to make that happen for the next generation?

So why do the words of Pharaoh sound so familiar today?

I don’t wish to sound political, but this is just wrong.

I believe that the mercy and grace of Jesus would win the day when the truth is presented honestly.

you lose part of today.

Every time I made it through, and God provided all my needs and then some.

Pray that God would open your eyes to where you can be God’s answer to desperate prayers.

Simply put, the Earth is “just right.”

It’s almost as if some brilliant mind designed it for us.

I’ll trust the greatest architect, engineer, and artist ever known.

I will place my faith in God.

That man, Dr. James C Dobson passed from this world 2 days ago at the age of 89.

Like me, many millions of parents have been positively influenced by his advice.

I pray that I leave this world a little better for having occupied it.

That does not mean that I am against obedience.

That said, obedience will be honored.

The more faithful a person has been, the more they will positively affect those around them.

Because there’s a lot of people there who know how to live out the second part of this verse.

They, and we, should serve one another in love.

While he lists 15 results of sinful nature, more than half of those are about getting along with each other. (5:19-21)

“See, David was a good ol’ country boy.”

he became the dread pirate David.

Discouragement from being constantly pursued by King Saul had worn him out

When we are discouraged, we are vulnerable.

We can surround ourselves with encouragers

As far as we can tell, it was a normal workday for Moses.

God spoke.

No matter how mundane your situation may be, God can work in your day-to-day life.

Not very tasty.

Not much fun.

That fact alone should move us to deep gratitude.

Now that trend has reversed.

Young people want to know what this Jesus is all about.

Now is an amazing time to reach out to the next generation with the Gospel.