Light of the World

John 8

12 Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”

“Light of the world, You stepped down into darkness, opened my eyes let me see...” Yeah, I am about to bust out into song. “Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down, here I am to say that You’re my God. You’re altogether lovely, altogether worthy, altogether wonderful to me!” Jesus is the LIGHT of the world. Jesus is my Lord and Savior, and I will worship Him always. Thank You Jesus for being with my Dad and with me over these past couple of days through his surgery. Strengthen his body so he may come home soon. I love You Jesus. Thanks for navigating me through the darkness of this life on planet earth.

Filled With the Living Water

John 7

37 On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! 38 Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” 39 (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)

How blessed I am to live in the times when the Living Water has been freely given to those of us who love and follow the teachings of Jesus! What a peace that envelops me today even in the midst of Dad’s surgery (taking place as I type these words). Thank You, Lord Jesus, for providing the Comforter, the Living Water, to fill me so that the peace that passes understanding will indeed be strong within me on this day.

Praising God Today

Psalm 108

1 My heart is confident in you, O God;

no wonder I can sing your praises with all my heart!

2 Wake up, lyre and harp!

I will wake the dawn with my song.

3 I will thank you, Lord, among all the people.

I will sing your praises among the nations.

4 For your unfailing love is higher than the heavens.

Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

5 Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens.

May your glory shine over all the earth.

What an eventful overnight/early morning as Dad’s prep for his colonoscopy got more exciting than either of us wanted. Long story short, in spite of being ill prepared and having to consider a desperate middle-of-the-night run for colostomy supplies, God had the one and only wafer & bag that Dad had with him work! Once it comes loose, it never is able to reattach, but God is with us and all is well. As I write this, Dad is undergoing his colonoscopy. Immediately after being released from the surgery center, we head to the hospital where he will be admitted in preparation for his hernia repair surgery in the morning. Thank You, God for being with us during this difficult time, I will praise You for Your unfailing love, and Your presence with me in the midst of really tough times!

No Matter What

John 6

60 Many of his disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?”

61 Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again? 63 The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But some of you do not believe me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and he knew who would betray him.) 65 Then he said, “That is why I said that people can’t come to me unless the Father gives them to me.”

66 At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. 67 Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?”

68 Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. 69 We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.”

When the teaching gets tough, those who are true followers fall away. Those who are true followers know that there is no place else to go except where Jesus leads. It really is as simple as that. Lord, help me to be a true follower of Christ every day, no matter where that leads, no matter how difficult the teaching, no matter what anyone else is doing, no matter what!

We're not like them

1 Samuel 8

19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel’s warning. “Even so, we still want a king,” they said. 20 “We want to be like the nations around us. Our king will judge us and lead us into battle.”

What a sad day indeed when God’s people choose to be like the peoples around them, imitating the culture of the pagans, instead of relying on God. Christians in America have done a great job of blending in with the culture, and as a result, it is difficult to discern between the pagans and those who give lip service to Jesus. Those of us who try our best to follow Him daily stand out like a sore thumb. We are called radicals (so was Jesus), we are made fun of (so was Jesus), and in many nations around the world we are killed for our faith (so was Jesus). May we never succumb to satan’s ploy to get us to behave like the pagans around us. May we never settle to be like the peoples around us. May we never have a king other than Jesus! Lord, help me to stay faithful and strong as I do my best to obey You daily.

Testing, one, two, three

John 6

6 He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do.

The “He” here is Jesus, and this is found in the midst of the passage about Jesus feeding the 5,000. It makes me wonder, am I ready to pass the test that Jesus has for me? There are several things going on right now that lead me to believe that a test is going on in my life right now. Strange, and never-before type things happening. Lord, my desire is to obey You. May my life bring You glory, honor, and praise, and may Your Will be my heart’s desire always. I pray that I pass the test, and I freely admit that You already know what You are going to do in this testing time of my life. Whenever You are ready to reveal it to me, I am ready.

His Love Endures Forever

Psalm 106

1 Praise the Lord!

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!


His faithful love endures forever.

Now, before I break out into an old Chris Tomlin song, let me just say that with everything going on these days and the surgery awaiting my Dad this week, God is worthy of all glory and honor and praise! May I truly find the peace that passes understanding as we approach Thursday. I know that God is with us, that He wants what is best for us, and that He won’t put more on us than we can bear. I praise You, O LORD, for You are good. Your love endures forever!