Walk in the Light

September 3, 2024

September 3rd, 2024

Tuesday – Pentateuch

Reading – Deuteronomy 1-2

Highlight Verse:

““Then you confessed, ‘We have sinned against the Lord! We will go into the land and fight for it, as the Lord our God has commanded us.’ So your men strapped on their weapons, thinking it would be easy to attack the hill country.”
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭1‬:‭41‬ ‭NLT‬‬

A few years ago (okay, almost 30 years ago), I was driving down a freeway in a rainstorm. I rounded a curve at well below the speed limit, but water was running across the pavement so the back end of my little pickup broke loose.

A good driver would have steered into the skid just enough to maintain control.

I steered too far.

The overreaction caused me to lose control long enough to hit the guardrail. Once I had lost control, the opportunity to stay safely on the road was gone.

Israel’s overreaction caused them to be soundly defeated by the Amorites.

That was because they refused to listen to the Lord. (Verse 43)

There are times in our lives when we realize that we are in error. It’s easy to think we can correct that error by going back and doing what we were supposed to do in the first place.

Sometimes that’s the right thing to do.

Sometimes it isn’t.

Instead of jumping right back into a missed opportunity, we need to be sure that opportunity is still there.

Otherwise, we may be jumping right into a face plant (or a guardrail).

Have you ever missed an opportunity only to try to get it back and fail?
What do you do to listen to God’s guidance when you know you’ve missed and opportunity?
September 2, 2024

September 2nd, 2024

Monday – Gospels and Acts

Reading – Acts 12

Highlight Verse –

“Meanwhile, the word of God continued to spread, and there were many new believers.”
‭‭Acts of the Apostles‬ ‭12‬:‭24‬ ‭NLT‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

The Church was in the middle of serious persecution.

One would expect them to run and hide.

Maybe some did.

But God didn’t.

The Holy Spirit could not be stopped.

The Holy Spirit cannot be stopped today.

If you welcome Him, God will work in and through you no matter the situation around you.

Do you have stories of how God worked in your impossible situations? Share them.
Are you discouraged by your situation? Let God work on, in, and through you.
September 1, 2024

September 1st, 2024

Sunday – Poetry

Reading – Job 9-10

Highlight Verse:

“If only there were a mediator between us, someone who could bring us together.”
‭‭Job‬ ‭9‬:‭33‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“If only…”

Oh wait.

There is a mediator now.

His name is Jesus.

Was Job’s speech prophetic?
Did God respond to this message by sending Jesus?
August 31, 2024

August 31st, 2024

Saturday – Open Topic

Reading – Matthew 20:1-16

Highlight Verse:

“Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?’”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭20‬:‭15‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This parable highlights the fact that heaven and all its benefits is available to every believer whether they repented earlier in life or minutes before passing away.

What it also shows is compassion of an employer toward his workers. He made sure the workers would not go hungry when they couldn’t find work for the day.

In compassion, the employer pays them all the same.

Labor Day celebrates and honors physical laborers.

President Grover Cleveland signed the day into law to help alleviate tensions after the violent Pullman Strike of 1894.

The shift away from an agricultural economy to an industrial economy saw some greedy factory owners creating harsh and unfair working conditions.

In short, they didn’t not consider compassion in their employment practices. As a result, workers revolted.

Those revolts resulted in much better conditions today (for the most part).

I can’t help but think that it would have been much better if those conditions could have been created out of compassion for workers rather than revolt.

As we enjoy our barbecue and time with family, we would do well to lift up those whose physical labor built this country.

We would do even better if we let the compassion of Christ rule the way we treat others.
August 30, 2024

August 30th, 2024

Friday – Prophets

Reading – Micah 5-6

Highlight Verse:

“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf.”
‭‭Micah‬ ‭5‬:‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I grew up in California suburbs. Only about a fifth of my life has been spent in small towns or in the country.

But I’m a small-town boy at heart.

For that reason, I love the fact that God chose to use a small town in which to make His entrance into the world.

God seems to make a habit of using seemingly insignificant places and people to make a big impact.

• He used Bethlehem as the setting for Jesus’ birth.
• He used Nazareth as the place where Jesus was raised.
• He chose people like Gideon, Ruth, Rahab, and that young shepherd David to hinge history around.

That means He can use me, and He can use you.

Have you ever felt so insignificant that you couldn’t possibly make a difference?
Do you trust God enough to let Him use you to make an impact on those around you?
August 29, 2024

August 29th, 2024

Thursday – Letters

Reading – Revelation 5

Highlight Verse:

“And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang: “Blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever.””
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭5‬:‭13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I once worshiped with 35,000 other men at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

It was amazing.

If the sound of 35,000 sweaty dehydrated men in the North Carolina heat could sound amazing, what will it be like when every single creature on this planet worships God?

I’ll admit that Revelation has some pretty scary stuff going on,

but moments like this will outshine everything.

So, here’s my plan – I’ll live out my life in such a way that the heavenly choir is as big as possible and has plenty to celebrate.

What’s your plan?
Are you looking forward to the end times?
August 28, 2024

August 28th, 2024

Wednesday – History

Reading – 2 Chronicles 34-36

Highlight Verse:

“During the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, Josiah began to seek the God of his ancestor David. Then in the twelfth year he began to purify Judah and Jerusalem, destroying all the pagan shrines, the Asherah poles, and the carved idols and cast images.”
‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭34‬:‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Josiah was 8 when his reign began.

He was 16 when when he began to seek God.

When he was 20, He began to live out his faith.

He started strong and he started young.

He showed us a good example of living out faith.

While it is too late for me to start young, I am in a good position to make a positive change in the lives of young people today, helping them to start young.

Where has God called you to make a positive change?
Have you started yet?
August 27, 2024

August 27th, 2024

Tuesday – Pentateuch

Reading – Numbers 35-36

Highlight Verse:

“designate cities of refuge to which people can flee if they have killed someone accidentally.”
‭‭Numbers‬ ‭35‬:‭11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Imagine a city to which anyone who claims they are innocent of murder (despite killing someone) could take refuge in.

I can just imagine the outcry from the NIMBY (Not In My BackYard) crowd.

Sounds crazy to us today, but during a time when justice was handed out without any judicial process,

this was an unprecedented show of fairness.

In fact, this system forms some of the earliest roots for our modern justice system.

What provisions for justice did today’s reading point out to you?
How would you feel if you accidentally killed someone in this system?
What if you were the next of kin to a victim?
August 26, 2024

August 26th, 2024

Monday – Gospels and Acts

Reading – Acts 11

Highlight Verse:

“When the others heard this, they stopped objecting and began praising God. They said, “We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.””
‭‭Acts of the Apostles‬ ‭11‬:‭18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I’m old enough to remember much worse racial tension. Despite growing up in California, there was enough prejudice against Hispanics that my dad, a full-blooded Mexican, refused to use Spanish at home.

By the time I was in college, the trend had reversed, and I could have gotten extra financial aide by claiming my Hispanic heritage. Since I appeared white, it didn’t seem right to me.

Times changed.

Just as they did in New Testament times.

The early Christians realized that God loved all races, and the Gospel was for the whole world.

That was a radical concept back then.

We do well to remember it now.

We in America have a tendency to think that our brand of Christianity is the only way or at least the best way.

The truth is there are churches overseas who send missionaries to the United States because they are concerned that we are too wrapped up in ourselves to see the Gospel.

Politics are important and may have eternal effects when it comes to the ability to spread the Gospel.

But the effects of the Gospel itself are always eternal.

While I am all in favor of patriotism, community pride, and civic responsibility, we should never let that get in the way of the eternal value of the good news of forgiveness and new life that comes through Jesus to the whole world.

We should always remember that we are citizens of heaven first.

Which do you spend more time trying to advance, your political agenda or the Gospel?
What civic responsibilities do you think a citizen of heaven should have?
August 25, 2024

August 25th, 2024

Sunday – Poetry

Reading – Job 7-8

Highlight Verse:

“Why won’t you leave me alone, at least long enough for me to swallow!”
‭‭Job‬ ‭7‬:‭19‬ ‭NLT‬‬

When I read this complaint of Job to God, I want to shout to Job, “What are you thinking? Find your hope in God. He didn’t do this to you.”

But, in the middle of his suffering, he has lost all hope.

In his frustration, he cries out in hopelessness to God to let the suffering be over.

God not only allowed Job to complain, but he allowed Job’s words to be immortalized in the Bible.

We will see later how Job reacted when God spoke back to him and his friends.

For today, just realize that God allows us to voice our complaints to Him.

He doesn’t want us to stay in that hopeless place, but he allows us the healing that comes through speaking out of our pain.

Have you ever voiced bitter complaints to God?
How did that turn out in the end?

That was because they refused to listen to the Lord. (Verse 43)

Instead of jumping right back into a missed opportunity, we need to be sure that opportunity is still there.

But God didn’t.

The Holy Spirit could not be stopped.

The Holy Spirit cannot be stopped today.

“If only…”

His name is Jesus.

Labor Day celebrates and honors physical laborers.

I can’t help but think that it would have been much better if those conditions could have been created out of compassion for workers rather than revolt.

But I’m a small-town boy at heart.

God seems to make a habit of using seemingly insignificant places and people to make a big impact.

That means He can use me, and He can use you.

It was amazing.

but moments like this will outshine everything.

So, here’s my plan – I’ll live out my life in such a way that the heavenly choir is as big as possible and has plenty to celebrate.

He started strong and he started young.

Imagine a city to which anyone who claims they are innocent of murder (despite killing someone) could take refuge in.

this was an unprecedented show of fairness.

Times changed.

But the effects of the Gospel itself are always eternal.

We should always remember that we are citizens of heaven first.

In his frustration, he cries out in hopelessness to God to let the suffering be over.

For today, just realize that God allows us to voice our complaints to Him.

He doesn’t want us to stay in that hopeless place, but he allows us the healing that comes through speaking out of our pain.