Walk in the Light

July 8, 2026

July 8th, 2026

Wednesday – History

Reading – 2 Chronicles 13-15

Highlight Verse:

“Meanwhile, Abijah of Judah grew more and more powerful. He married fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.”
‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭13‬:‭21‬ ‭NLT‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

This verse seems to contradict verse 2.

That or he was awfully busy for the 3 years that he reigned (after which, he died).

The obvious answer is that he was building his family long before he became King of Judah.

In many ways it seems like he was a good king.

In his speech to the army of Israel, he spoke of the importance of following God.

Granted, that was more of a taunt than a sermon.

Oddly, this account of Abijah does not give the “he did good” or “he did evil” appraisal like the chronicler did with the other kings.

I almost expect a “he almost did good” in there.

In the end he did one thing very well.

He raised his son Asa to be a very good king.

So, what do we learn from the life of Abijah?

We could say that it is good to try.

We could also say that a more dedicated, all-consuming faith could have had better results.

Here’s my takeaway from Abijah – Never underestimate the importance of raising children.

What do you see as the most important lesson to learn from the life of Abijah?
If you were a King of Judah, what would the chronicler say about you – (He/she did _ in the eyes of the Lord.)?
July 7, 2026

July 7th, 2026

Tuesday – Pentateuch

Reading – Numbers 19-20

Highlight Verses:

“Then he and Aaron summoned the people to come and gather at the rock. “Listen, you rebels!” he shouted. “Must we bring you water from this rock?” Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with the staff, and water gushed out. So the entire community and their livestock drank their fill.”
‭‭Numbers‬ ‭20‬:‭10‬-‭11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Moses was ticked off.

His sister had just died and the people were rebelling – again.

He did what God had told him to do to tap into God’s water resources…

And then some.

He lost it in front of the people as he was following God’s instructions.

He yelled.

He whacked the heck out of that rock – twice.

If I were God, I might be thinking, “Maybe it would be better if Joshua and Caleb lead the people into the promised land.”

I mean, I know He knew that was going to happen anyway, but He announced it to Moses right after he lost his cool.

To Moses’ credit, he accepted it.

Of course, he had already led a long full life.

Now, I don’t fear God taking the privilege of leading His people into the promised land away from me. That was never my destiny.

But I sure don’t want to damage my influence on people by losing my cool.

Sure, everyone gets angry from time to time. The key is managing that anger in a godly way.

When we lash out uncontrollably, we lose respect.

When we handle our anger properly, we gain respect that will tend to make people listen to us.

When our passion goes to promoting the positive, especially the Gospel, through the Holy Spirit, people will listen.

What do you do to keep your anger in check?
Where do you draw the line between selfish anger and righteous indignation?
July 6, 2026

July 6th, 2026

Monday – Gospels and Acts

Reading – Acts 3

Highlight Verse:

“But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!””
‭‭Acts of the Apostles‬ ‭3‬:‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Most days I work in downtown Denver.

Despite recent improvements, Denver has one of the worst homeless problems in America.

There are days when my walk from the parking garage to the building I work out of mean walking past people sleeping on the sidewalk.

Many, if not most days, at least one person asks me for cash.

I don’t normally carry any.

Most homeless experts urge people not to give cash to the homeless as many are battling addiction issues. The cash just enables their addictions.

Today’s verse shows us the timelessness of the problem.

Peter operated from the gift of healing with confidence and brought life change to the crippled beggar.

To be honest, I’ve never had God work that way through me, though I have prayed for healing for many.

So, what can we do?

There have been rare occasions when I have bought a meal for someone and had a conversation and prayer with them. I don’t usually have the time (or money) to do that during the workday.

In my haste, I usually offer a brief kind word, though that probably falls short when it is not accompanied by aid.

Probably the most effective way I’ve helped is by giving to the Denver Rescue Mission.

They are focused on helping people escape homelessness, offering temporary shelter and food while providing rehab, training, and housing placement assistance.

There are many such services throughout the country and world. Most get by on very limited budgets.

Giving to them is probably the most effective way to help the homeless in your area.

And, if God moves you, by all means stop and help someone who needs it.

How do you react to homeless people when you encounter them?
What are some good ideas to help them?
How can we help prevent homelessness?
July 5, 2026

July 5th, 2026

Sunday – Poetry

Reading – Ecclesiastes 11-12

Highlight Verse:

“Young people, it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do.”
‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭11‬:‭9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

That’s good advice.

Our four children are all young adults now.

I want them to enjoy life and get the most out of it while they can.

What this verse points out is that you can enjoy life while staying true to God.

Freedom is not the ability to engage in whatever sinful behavior catches your attention.

Quite the opposite is true. Sin will throw chains of bondage to drag people as far from God as possible.

God is the Creator and source of life.

The greatest experiences of this life are found in His presence.

I’m not young anymore. But I’m not so old that I can’t enjoy life.

I still love exploring our country.

I enjoy the beauty of the mountains and experiencing the sunset over the ocean.

I still love hiking, though I move more slowly over shorter distances.

I love spending time with family and friends.

I enjoy food (last night’s smoked tri-tip was delicious) though I have to use more moderation than before.

And I love entering God’s presence in worship.

So, whether you are young or old, or somewhere in between, enjoy life to its fullest knowing that

enjoyment was made possible by God and is made greater in His presence following His principles

What brings you the most joy in this life?
If you are older, what suggestions do you have for younger people?
July 4, 2026

July 4th, 2026

Saturday – Open Topic

Reading – 2 Chronicles 7:11-22

Highlight Verse:

“Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”
‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭7‬:‭14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Do you remember how, on June 24th, I purposely avoided this verse?

I saved it for today.

I don’t feel the need to dive deep into this verse.

Today I am thinking of the people of the United States of America as we celebrate 250 years as a nation.

We will have grander fireworks and bigger celebrations than ever before!

In the midst of that, we should not forget this call to prayer.

Throughout our history, there have been those who have held the nation up to God in prayer.

Today is no different.

Many churches across the nation have called for people to come together for prayer this morning.

For our church, we plan on coming together at 9am Mountain DST today to pray for our nation. If you read this in time for that, we’d love to have you join in prayer at the same time.

It is a good time to lift up our leaders and our people to God. Pray for God’s direction, the cooperation of our diverse peoples and for revival for our nation.

If I’m honest, I might say a word for our World Cup team for Monday’s game.

For those who read this from other countries, I would love to have you join us in prayer for the United States. Those who read this on the webpage (WITLBible.com), while I cannot see who visits, I can see the countries represented by the visitors (China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Serbia, France, and Romania this week). I assure you that I will pray for each of your countries and for you as individuals.

This verse tells us to humble ourselves and pray.

Will you join me in prayer today?
July 3, 2026

July 3rd, 2026

Friday – Prophets

Reading – Amos 5-6

Highlight Verse:

“It is the Lord who created the stars, the Pleiades and Orion. He turns darkness into morning and day into night. He draws up water from the oceans and pours it down as rain on the land. The Lord is his name!”
‭‭Amos‬ ‭5‬:‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

When was the last time you looked up at the night sky?

In modern times, light and air pollution have made stargazing more challenging.

Here in Colorado, wildfires to the west of us have made it very difficult.

But once the fires are gone, I can drive an hour to the west to Loveland Pass, and the sky opens up to nearly the splendor that the Israelites would have seen.

It is magnificent!

The Pleiades (“Kimah” in Hebrew) were a group of bright stars said to be seven sisters constantly chased by the hunter Orion (“Kesil” in Hebrew).

It is thought that the Hebrew astronomers realized there were many more stars. The Hebrew word Kimah implies they thought the cluster contained 100 stars.

We now know there are over 1,000 bright burning stars in the cluster about 440 lights years away.

The constellation Orion is not a cluster at all, ranging from 244 to 1344 light years away and consisting of a variety of celestial objects including blue giants, blue supergiants, a red supergiant and even a nebula.

Photo is of the Orion Nebula, licensed under “CC BY-NC”

Given how little they knew about astronomy, the stars must have been fascinating.

Given what we know now, they should be even more fascinating.

We now know the mind boggling distances and sizes of the stars.

Through powerful telescopes, we have images of the stunning beauty of the various celestial bodies.

Knowing that God created them with His words should cause utter awe and worship for how powerful and creative God is.

My challenge to you today is to find a time soon to get away from the city lights and admire the amazing work of God that is the night sky.

Let that increase your worship.

Have you ever spent time stargazing away from city lights?
What do you remember most about that?
July 2, 2026

July 2nd, 2026

Thursday – Letters

Reading – 1 John 5

Highlight Verse:

“I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭5‬:‭13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This is another one of those chapters that has so many gems of truth, it would be tough to pick what to write about.

But as I prayerfully read through it, verse 13 jumped out at me.

There are some of you who really need to hear this today.

Many people struggle with their faith to the point that they are not sure if they are going to heaven.

As a young man, I struggled with this for years.

I never doubted that God was real, but I struggled with knowing if my faith was strong enough to for me to be saved.

Having taught young people for many years, I know I am not the only one who has struggled with that.

If you have struggled with that question, this is for you.

The bottom line according to John is, if you put your faith in Jesus, you are saved – eternally.

That’s it.

No acts of penance required.

No rituals.

No perfect life.

There’s nothing wrong with those things as long as you realize that doing things does not buy your way into heaven.

Jesus already did that on the cross.

Enough said.

Have you struggled with knowing whether or not you will go to heaven?
What would it take for you to be assured that what Jesus did on the cross was enough?
July 1, 2026

July 1st, 2026

Wednesday – History

Reading – 2 Chronicles 10-12

Highlight Verse:

“But when Rehoboam was firmly established and strong, he abandoned the Law of the Lord, and all Israel followed him in this sin.”
‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭12‬:‭1‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Yesterday was a primary Election Day here in Colorado.

I do my best to stay away from politics here, but this verse illustrates one important Biblical principal regarding politics.

People tend to follow leaders.

I know that most of you will retain the same beliefs and values regardless of who the political leaders are.

But there are those who are swayed by the tone of the current administration.

In today’s passage, the tone set by the king led the country away from God.

Other times we see the king sway people toward godliness.

So, while I may be a day late here in Colorado, please try to find out who the more godly of the candidates are that our laws and the tone of the country will be more godly.

How do you go about finding out how godly a candidate is?
How can you influence candidates to be more godly?
June 30, 2026

June 30th, 2026

Tuesday – Pentateuch

Reading – Numbers 17-18

Highlight Verse:

“And the Lord said to Aaron, “You priests will receive no allotment of land or share of property among the people of Israel. I am your share and your allotment.”
‭‭Numbers‬ ‭18‬:‭20‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This passage still affects us today.

Many churches have parsonages.

The idea was that Pastors were like the Priests who did not own land but lived off the tithes and offerings of the people.

While parsonages are less common than they used to be, most states allow pastors to get a sizable portion of their income as non-taxed housing allowance.

In fact, many pastors have nicer or larger houses than someone else of their income level simply because tax laws make it possible.

I don’t think that’s a bad thing, but I think it can distract people from the Gospel.

Pastors generally deserve all the income they receive and then some.

But to a few, it can be a distraction.

The few whose greed is put on display tend to distract people from the Gospel either by encouraging greed in their followers or becoming a stumbling block to non-believers who see them as fake.

Fortunately, none of the pastors I know are that greedy.

One thing we should learn from this passage is that God is the allotment of the priests.

And everyone who has a direct relationship with God is now a priest and benefits from the abundance of God.

But don’t try to get the tax break unless you are a licensed minister employed by a church.

What do you think it means that, as priests, God is our allotment?
What else stood out to you in today’s reading?
June 29, 2026

June 29th, 2026

Monday – Gospels and Acts

Reading – Acts 2

Highlight Verses:

“Here we are—Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the areas of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans, and Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!””
‭‭Acts of the Apostles‬ ‭2‬:‭9‬-‭11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

There is so much I could say about this chapter.

As one who believes that the Holy Spirit is still alive and active today, I could go on about Pentecostal theology.

But two other things stood out in this chapter to me today.

I’ve always believed God’s timing has been perfect.

To have Jesus arrive at a time when Rome had united much of the world was brilliant.

As seen by the wide variety of cultures present that day, pathways for the spreading of the Gospel were present like never before.

It was the exact point in history that the Gospel could spread the widest. Any earlier and those cultures would not have come together to that extent. Any later and the breakdown of the Roman Empire would have inhibited the spread. If He had come today, 100 generations of people would have missed out on the Gospel.

The second thing I noticed was the message that came through the gift of tongues.

They spoke of the wonderful things God had done.

They weren’t prophecies warning people to repent.

They weren’t legalistic lectures on following the law.

They were words of praise for God.

Messages of warning have their place.

But the fact that God chose praise to spread the Gospel by highlighting the goodness of God and all that He does should give us a clue in how to best spread the Gospel.

The most effective method I have seen for spreading the Good News is people telling people the awesome things that God has done for them.

What do you tell people about what God has done for you?
Have you thought through how to tell your story to those who are curious about how God has changed you?

That or he was awfully busy for the 3 years that he reigned (after which, he died).

In the end he did one thing very well.

Here’s my takeaway from Abijah – Never underestimate the importance of raising children.

Moses was ticked off.

If I were God, I might be thinking, “Maybe it would be better if Joshua and Caleb lead the people into the promised land.”

When we handle our anger properly, we gain respect that will tend to make people listen to us.

Despite recent improvements, Denver has one of the worst homeless problems in America.

So, what can we do?

Probably the most effective way I’ve helped is by giving to the Denver Rescue Mission.

What this verse points out is that you can enjoy life while staying true to God.

The greatest experiences of this life are found in His presence.

enjoyment was made possible by God and is made greater in His presence following His principles

Today I am thinking of the people of the United States of America as we celebrate 250 years as a nation.

In the midst of that, we should not forget this call to prayer.

Will you join me in prayer today?

When was the last time you looked up at the night sky?

Given what we know now, they should be even more fascinating.

My challenge to you today is to find a time soon to get away from the city lights and admire the amazing work of God that is the night sky.

There are some of you who really need to hear this today.

The bottom line according to John is, if you put your faith in Jesus, you are saved – eternally.

Jesus already did that on the cross.

People tend to follow leaders.

In today’s passage, the tone set by the king led the country away from God.

So, while I may be a day late here in Colorado, please try to find out who the more godly of the candidates are that our laws and the tone of the country will be more godly.

This passage still affects us today.

I don’t think that’s a bad thing, but I think it can distract people from the Gospel.

I’ve always believed God’s timing has been perfect.

The second thing I noticed was the message that came through the gift of tongues.