Pray Anyway

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Genesis 22-24

The man prayed. And before he said “Amen,” the answer to his prayer was right in front of him. Now, you might say Rebekah went to the well every night at that time. Must be a coincidence, right?

Not at all. To prove this was more than a happy accident, God gave Rebekah the exact words the man prayed.

This was a direct answer to prayer.

I talked to my sister this morning before I read these chapters in Genesis. I love God’s timing. She told me that she and her daughter had taken two cross necklaces to a jeweler. They needed a chain for one of the crosses, and the chain for the other one repaired. The owner of the store explained that their business was struggling so they no longer did repairs, and they didn’t have what they were looking for. So my sister picked up the boxes from the counter and returned to their car.

My niece said she would take the necklaces to another jeweler at a later time, so they headed back home. My sister sat in the passenger seat, holding the two boxes. When they pulled into my niece’s garage, her mom handed her the boxes, got into her own car and headed home. At least that what my sister remembered happening.

Later, my niece asked her mom if she had the necklaces. My sister reminded her that she had given the boxes to her. I think both mom and daughter doubted the memory of the other at this point. And neither was 100% sure their own memory was correct.

My niece and her husband have a security camera in their garage, so she looked at the video and watched her mom hand her the boxes, watched herself take those boxes into the house. Mystery solved. Well, kind of. Now she knew they got into the house. But where were they now?

She started looking everywhere. Then, when she didn’t find them, she looked again. When her husband got home, he looked. For two days they searched. I’m pretty sure there isn’t an inch in the whole house that wasn’t uncovered. Still, no jewelry boxes.

My sister, seeing how upset her daughter was after days of frantic search, prayed. “God, please help her find those boxes.”

About that time, my niece wondered if she had somehow put them in the trash. But the trash was at the street ready for pick-up. She hurried to the curb and pulled out three bags. She figured the top two bags had been filled after the jewelry went missing. So she opened the third bag and there – on the top – were the missing boxes!

An answer to prayer, or a coincidence?

Sometimes we seem to think there are some things we should just handle on our own. It’s such a little problem, we don’t want to bother God. He’s a busy guy. So we try this, then that, we search here, then there. And finally, we pray.

Friend, let me encourage you to pray. Not as a last resort, but may prayer be our first line of defense. The man’s answered prayer in the chapters we read today in Genesis, and my sister’s testimony today ought to remind us that God answers prayer. God delights in answering our prayers. We have not because we ask not.

These two examples aren’t necessarily about getting a wife for Isaac or finding two valuable pieces of jewelry. Both these examples point to a God who is intimately involved in the lives of his children. This is about a God who answers prayer. Yes, I know not all prayers are answered in this same way. Some prayers are answered with a “No,” or a “Wait.”

Pray anyway. Then trust the Lord to answer your prayer in exactly the way He knows is best. And when you get an answer to prayer… shout it from the rooftops. Or tell it to a sister who might put it in a blog and into cyberspace.

And may God be glorified when we pray.

Should I Make My Child Go To Church?

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Genesis 19-21

Lot didn’t leave Sodom willingly. He hesitated, so the angels took him by the hand and led him, his wife, and daughters out of the city about to be destroyed by God. Why the hesitation? Did they doubt the seriousness of the angels’ message? Did they doubt these men were really even angels? Were they so intrenched in this sinful lifestyle of Sodom they didn’t want to let go of it? Or maybe they thought, “it can’t be that bad. I can handle whatever comes?”

Whatever the reason for the hesitation, it’s evident that Lot and his family took their sin with them when they were forced to leave Sodom. They’d heard the truth. They knew judgment was coming. They left, albeit reluctantly. But they didn’t repent. They changed their address, but they didn’t change their hearts.

I think there are some parents who might feel like those angels every Sunday morning when they have to take their hesitant (or even rebellious) children by the hand and drag them to church. Sometimes they might wonder if it’s worth it.

It’s worth it.

First let me say good for you for fighting that battle every week. Don’t give in. Don’t let your kids “decide” for themselves. Be the parent. No one said it was going to be easy. Keep battling. Their eternal souls are worth it. It’s your responsibility to train them up in the way they should go.

But I must warn you, even though you probably already know the truth of it. Simply getting your children to church doesn’t guarantee their salvation. Along with attending church, you’ve got to pray that God would break through their resistance until they humble themselves and believe, until they turn from their sin and follow Jesus willingly themselves.

I pray that you are modeling what it means to be a Christian, and not just on Sundays. I pray your children recognize the Fruit of the Spirit in you – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. I pray they see you reading your Bible, hear you talking about it, and watching how you choose holiness.

I pray that when you fail, when you sin, they’ll see what it means to humble yourself, repent, ask for forgiveness, and/or forgive another.

So if your question is “should I make my kid go to church?” I would say the answer is, “yes.” (Ok. Not just any church. A Bible believing, truth teaching fellowship of faith. Please be careful). And only if you go to church with them.

Dear One, there is more to raising Christian children than getting them to church. Let’s learn from Lot’s experience and take it a step or two further than getting them through the doors (or out of the “city”). Be the Christian you want your children to be.

I’m praying for you.

___________________________

Ok, so yesterday after posting this I was scrolling through Instagram and heard a young preacher talking about this exact topic. They, of course, take their children to church every Sunday. But he and his wife take it a step further. They want their children not only learn about going to church, they want their children to learn to BE THE CHURCH.

Which reminded me a family with three boys who are members of our church. Our church has a Wednesday night family dinner before Bible Study and youth activities. Every Wednesday we get together and enjoy a meal together. Sometimes 50, sometimes 80 family members strong. It really is a special church family time.

But here’s what made me think about this family. The parents prompted the boys to go around to those who are finished with their meals and offer to take their empty plates to the trash. These boys all under 10 years old, clear the tables of the trash, put silverware in the tray for cleaning. These boys are learning to be servants and I will tell you they do it with smiles on their faces.

So yes, take your children to church on Sunday. But I would encourage you to not leave it there. Show them what it means to be the Church. I think that is one way you can teach them in the way they should go, to make going to church more than a habit, so that when they are older they will not depart from it. They are the future Church!

Choose Light

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Genesis 4-7

I love that when God inspired the written Word He brought receipts. Here listed are names of real people who lived on earth in real time. Here are the details of a world-wide flood the fact of which is still being discovered by scientists today. Here is revealed the heart of God who loves and blesses His creation, but who will not let the guilty go unpunished. Here is the God who will have the last word.

And here is the God who promised the Savior, who provides the ark, who shelters His children, and defeats death.

We don’t like to talk about absolutes these days, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. There is good and there is evil. There is blessing and there is judgment. There is life and there is death. There is black and there is white.

Some people don’t want to believe in the Biblical account of the flood. They say things like it’s a parable, fiction, a nice story to teach a moral lesson. Others of us believe every word to be true, down to the smallest detail, that Noah was a real man with real sons who built a real ark that saved them from a really BIG flood.

I’ve heard it said that atheists believe Christianity is a fable made up by people who are afraid of the dark. Christians know that atheism is a fable made up by people afraid of the light.

There is dark and there is light.

I’m going to be reading through the Bible again this year. Our church is going cover to cover together, and I hope you’ll join us. Let’s read every word, learn every lesson, grow in grace and knowledge as we look at this precious Book every single day of 2026.

Whether or not you are a believer, I challenge you to open up a Bible and let God reveal the light. Then, I pray we will all…

choose the light!

The “Why?”

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Luke 1-24

Since the beginning of December I’ve been reading one of the twenty-four chapters in Luke’s Gospel each day. Yesterday I read about the empty tomb, the proof of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, and the fact He visibly went back to heaven. I’ve loved being reminded that, although His birth is something to celebrate, Jesus didn’t stay in that manger. He grew up and lived a very real – and extraordinary – life with purpose. All of it from the manger to the cross happened so Jesus could take care of our sin problem.

And we’ve all got a sin problem. The bottom line is your sin and mine separate us from a God who loves us and longs to have us near Him. We can’t declare ourselves sin-less, and death is the just payment for sin. If we die in our sin, we are separated from God forever. It took God becoming a man and dying in our place.

Debt paid.

So this year, as you look at the Baby in the manger, as you say, “Merry CHRISTmas,” and sing “Silent Night,” I hope you’ll see past the presents and lights and laughter and family dinners, and stop and consider the ‘why” of it all.

Friend, YOU are the “Why.”

I hope you receive many gifts today from people you love, gifts that will warm your heart and bring you joy. But if you haven’t received the gift of God’s grace, the full payment for your sin, please do it today.

Jesus, in John 3:16 tells us God loved you so much He sent Jesus so that if you believe, you will have eternal life with God – the gift Jesus died to give you. If you pray, “God I believe that Jesus was born, lived a perfect life so He could be the perfect payment for my sin when He died on the cross, and that He rose from the dead”…you will be saved. Take your sin, lay them at the foot of the cross, let God exchange your sin for His righteousness, and I promise you will receive the most extraordinary gift of your lifetime.

Yes, dear one. YOU are the “Why” of Christmas.

I’d Do Anything…

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Luke 22

This is why Jesus put on humanity. The baby we celebrate this week wasn’t born only for love. He was born because God hates the sin that separates us from Him.

All of us have lost loved ones, either through death, difficult circumstances, or by someone’s choice to walk away. Have you ever thought, “I’d give anything to have him or her back?” God feels your pain!

God gave everything to have us back. We are the loved ones lost because of our sin. We are the loved ones He put on flesh and died for. Had He not become a human, born that day in Bethlehem, had he not lived a perfect life, and died a more horrible death than our minds can comprehend, we would have no hope of ever being with Holy God. No hope. We would die separated from God, and live forever separated from Him. You don’t want to go there!

When you sinned, and God watched you walk further and further away from His Holy Presence, He thought, “I’d do anything to get her back.”

And He did.

Protecting Integrity

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Luke 19

Jesus protected the integrity of the Temple. And He did it forcefully. There wasn’t the need to understand where the merchants were coming from, or an attempt to come to a compromise so both sides felt heard. What the merchants were DOING was wrong. Their actions condemned them. So Jesus showed them the door.

To take that kind of stand today would be considered “legalistic,” “traditional,” “judgmental,” “bigoted,” “unloving,” perhaps “homophobic” or any such label the world uses to make Christians cowards.

It’s not just non-believers who throw those names around, either. Christians are eating their own.

Why? I believe it’s because for decades we haven’t protected the integrity of the Church. AW Tozer said, “Each generation of Christians is the seed of the next, and degenerate seed is sure to produce degenerate harvest – not a little better than, but worse than the seed from which it sprang. Then the direction will be down until vigorous, effective means are taken to improve the seed.”

What are the vigorous, effective means we need to take? We pray for revival but we don’t really want revival. We want non-believers to find Jesus. That’s not reviving anything, it’s dying and being born again. Yet the vigorous, effective means we need to take IS revival of lazy, ineffective believers. We are the ones who need to be revived.

The Church is to be a house of the holy. Yes – holy!

I think back to Daniel 12:7 when the man in Daniel’s vision asked when the end will come. He was told, “when the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed.”

We balk at the thought of being holy. We’re only human, right? Yet God commanded we be holy as He is holy, so we ought to obey. Not by our own power, but by the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. His holiness ought to be seen in and through each of us. Holiness is not an option if the Holy Spirit has taken up residence through the blood of Jesus.

So going back to the idea of protecting the integrity of the Church. We must demand holiness of ourselves and other Christians because God demands it. But I’m afraid the Church (that’s you and me) doesn’t even want to be holy. We want to be popular. We want to fill our chairs. We want to a be coddled and loved, seen and heard. We want to feel excited and joyful, and lulled into a sense of acceptance. I don’t think being holy is on our radar.

That degenerate seed will bear degenerate fruit which will eventually break the power of the holy people who lived before us.

Christian, let’s pray for revival first in ourselves, then our believing family and friends, our local church, and in the worldwide Church. Let’s protect, and ignite the integrity of our hearts and our churches. Let’s expel the money-changers who make the church a den of thieves.

Revive Thy Church, O Lord! Begin with me.

Practicing Worship?

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Luke 14-15

I don’t claim to know exactly what heaven will be like except to say everyone who tries to describe it always falls short. John did his best to describe what he saw, but I don’t believe his revelation is a photograph. He had a vision of heaven.

I read a devotional of readings by AW Tozer every morning. (Mornings with Tozer; Moody Publishers; 2008; for December 15) I am challenged, enlightened, and blessed most days by the wisdom God gave the man. Today I have to say I think Pastor Tozer blew it.

He seems to have thought people who don’t worship with joy and excitement today will have to learn how to worship in heaven. “If worship and adoration of God are tedious now, they will be tedious also after the hour of death.” He said death won’t transform that person into an enthusiast.

But I believe with all my heart that the moment we look into the eyes of Jesus, true worship will naturally and fully pour forth. I do believe the hour of death will turn all believers into enthusiasts.

No one worships perfectly now no matter how much excitement we try to express. Right now we worship the One we cannot see. Put Jesus’ face in front of us and the most beautiful, intimate, joyful, and perfect worship will occur as naturally as breathing is today. (If Tozer is allowed to have an opinion, I hope you don’t mind if I express mine).

Here’s the thing. When we get to heaven JESUS WILL BE THERE! Our Bridegroom will embrace us, Our King will gather us around His throne and we will never get tired of worshiping Him. You won’t worship Him better because you waved your hands during the songs on Sunday mornings in this life and I kept mine to my sides. You won’t feel more comfortable with heaven’s worship than I because you smiled at the song leader and I sang with my head bowed and eyes closed as I focused on Jesus. Neither of us have experienced the level of worship we will experience at the hour of death. But I don’t believe there will be a learning curve.

JESUS WILL BE THERE! Period.

I read these two chapters in Luke today and found myself longing to meet the Man who spoke the words written there. That same Jesus will welcome me home one day, and no one will have to teach me how to worship Him!

It’s Not What I Expected

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Luke 2

There is so much about the birth of Jesus that amazes me. For one, the number of prophecies fulfilled that day and the days surrounding that glorious event. Mary and Joseph understood the significance, of course – at least in part. The angels certainly got it. The shepherds and wisemen had special revelation and they worshiped the infant Christ.

But today, Luke’s account of Simeon and Anna concerning the eight-day-old Jesus spoke to me. They took one look at this tiny baby and recognized Him as the Messiah. They’d been waiting for the Savior their whole lives. But so had every other Jew at the time.

So why did these two old folks see Him when everyone else seems to have only seen the baby of a financially strapped couple? Why didn’t the whole temple erupt in praise to God for the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, God’s Son?

I think it was because Simeon and Anna had surrendered their own expectations and focused on God. It may have seemed strange to them that the Messiah didn’t just appear from heaven in battle armor, trained in the intricacies of war, ready to lead an army against Rome. That was most likely the common belief of the day. But those who held on to that belief missed the most incredible occurrence in history.

Simeon and Anna were ready for the unexpected blessing because they hadn’t put God in a box of what made sense, or what their short-sighted vision expected.

God will not be put in a box. He will not limit Himself to do only what we can imagine. God moves in unexpected, creative, and supernatural ways. How many times do we miss unexpected blessings because we are only looking at the situation and at the solution we want? How many times do we miss unexpected blessings because it’s not what we expected?

Don’t miss the hand of God today. It will move in ways you cannot imagine. Keep your eyes focused on Him, surrender your expectations, and then pay attention. The hand of God moving in your life will knock your socks off!

Expect it.

Are You Talking To Me?

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1 Timothy 6:20-21

Paul ends this letter to Timothy with a warning I think too many Christians don’t think applies to them. And I believe the Church is seeing a negative effect as a result.

Paul says to guard your heart because if you don’t, you are in danger of walking away from the faith. He doesn’t say guard your heart because if you don’t, that means you were never really saved in the first place. He doesn’t say guard your heart because if you don’t, you won’t have an effective testimony.

Some translations say Paul begins verse 20 with the words, “Oh, Timothy.” Don’t you get loving Father vibes from that? Isn’t this the voice of someone who dearly loves and is pleading with his loved one to hang on, make good choices, be careful because the one who loves sees danger ahead? Even if verse 20 in your translations simply says, “Timothy” you can hear Paul’s love for and concern for young Timothy throughout the letter.

Here’s the thing. If Timothy was in no danger of wandering or walking away from the faith, there would be no reason for Paul to say anything. There is clearly a warning concerning a very real danger. For Paul to end his letter this way tells me this is urgent

I say the Church is seeing the negative effect of Christians not heeding this warning because of the false teaching that has infiltrated our ranks and is being accepted as truth. Too many Christians seem to think that because they are saved, God won’t let them go no matter what they do, or believe. So they accept the “godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge” and don’t consider the consequences. They not only do not guard their hearts, they freely give their hearts to the lies.

We Christians, you and I, need to guard our hearts. How? Read the Bible. Do a word search and find all the verses that use the word you choose. Faith? Truth? Repentance? Sin? Hell? Money? Tolerance? Do you know for yourself what the Bible says about these things?

Find a Bible believing church and hold your pastor and teachers accountable for what they say. Ask questions. Research for yourself. Guard your heart.

Turn off the religious channels on your TV. I can confidently say there is more false teaching than truth there. Guard your heart.

Stop spending more time reading about the Bible than you do opening the pages of God’s Word and devouring it for yourself. It’s not up to an author to guard your heart. Guard your own heart.

Quit thinking God forgives all your sin because one day years ago you accepted Jesus as your Savior. Friend, it is true God forgives your sin… if you confess. You ought to be confessing and repenting every time God brings to mind a sin you are committing in the present. Don’t assume He turns a blind eye to any sin. Guard your heart.

I will say this: if Timothy, the young preacher entrusted with overseeing the Church, the spiritual son of Paul needed to guard his heart, I most certainly need to guard mine. I ought to be reading these verses and ask God, “Are you talking to me?”

Do you honestly think He would reply, “No. You’re the exception?”

All the Riches of God

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1 Timothy 6:17-19

I read a devotional by AW Tozer every morning, and today he reminded me I have a right to claim all the riches of the God-head, “in mercy given.” Jesus spoke about riches. Paul warns us about riches. Their message is clear: we have got to stop equating God’s riches with things that moths and rust destroy, and things that can be lost or stolen. (Matthew 6:19-20). God’s riches are NOT financial or material in any way. They are so much more!

Jesus said in Matthew 6:21 “Where your treasure is, there your heart is also.”

This time of year the phrase, “what do you want for Christmas?” is the theme of the day. Sometimes you don’t even have to ask a person what they want. Wives buy what they want and slap their husband’s name on it. Kids don’t have to be asked. They WANT you to know. Some people have ongoing wish lists on Amazon so you get them exactly what they want.

And some people approach God with the same bravado. I want. I want. I deserve.

Dear one, we have a treasure more precious, more intimate, more personal than any beautifully wrapped gift under the Christmas tree. And sadly, it’s the gift most ignored.

Recently a house in our area sold for $30 million. One house. $30,000,000.00! What if the guy bought it with the intention of giving it to his wife for Christmas this year? We’d say that would be an extravagant gesture of love. But hear me when I say, that generous gift would be worthless when the owner steps from this life into eternity, no matter how much love was attached to it.

Worthless.

Listen to Tozer describe a gift much more generous, a truly extravagant gesture of love:

“What a blessed thought – that an infinite God can give all of Himself to each of His children! He does not distribute Himself that each may have a part, but to each one He gives ALL of Himself as fully as if there were no others.” (emphasis mine)

Can you imagine? God gives ALL of Himself to anyone who receives Him. The God of the Universe, Holy God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills and the wealth in every mine, the One who punished Himself without mercy so that I, so that you, can be forgiven. I have 100% of His love and attention 100% of the time. And so do you if you believe. I can’t explain how. But I know it’s true.

And that’s the gift that’s worth everything. That’s the only gift I will take with me when my life on earth is ended. That’s the gift that will usher me into heaven and a glorious union with God forever.

If you’ve never surrendered to God and received this incredible gift, do it. God wants to give you Himself, all the riches of the God-head wrapped up in the baby in the manger and in the perfect sacrifice on the cross for your salvation. He is the gift of light in this dark world, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and He is yours for the taking. All of Him!

Don’t let another day go buy with that unopened gift at your fingertips. Receive it. It will change your life in ways you can only imagine.

And if you are already a child of God through the blood of Jesus, check your heart. Even we can get distracted, especially this time of year. Remember where your treasure is, that’s where you heart is.

Thank you, God for the extravagant gift of Yourself! My mind can’t fathom the richness of it, but my heart accepts it with all the love I can give back to you.