Monthly Archives: June 2026

One More Day

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Psalm 73

I’m old. Just typing those words are a shock to my system because I don’t always FEEL old. Except when I wake up in the morning with an aching back, or when I can’t come up with a simple word I want to say. My hips hurt. I take naps. Not to mention that wrinkled old woman who stares back at me in the mirror. Just this week two friends my age died.

I guess I am old.

But I am also so blessed. I am healthy. I play pickle ball. I live alone with no problem. I’m still a good driver who doesn’t mind traveling the 800 miles to visit family. I teach children and women about Jesus. I study and learn and grow. My body might be old, but my heart and soul haven’t gotten that message yet.

Asaph said it like this:

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, my portion forever. (vs 26)

Then in verse 28 he says:

But as for me, God’s presence is my good.

Yes He is! So I am going to go dry my hair and put on a little makeup. I’m going to get this day started and see what God has planned for us to do together.

This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. (Ps 118:24)

Not in spite of my age. But for the privilege of walking with Him one more day this side of heaven!

Quit Trying

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Psalm 49

What is a person’s eternal soul worth? We know God thought it was worth dying for. But I can’t die for my own sins. If I die a sinner, I can’t come back clean. If I die a sinner, I will spend eternity as a sinner, separated from God.

Some people try so hard to be good enough. Friend, I hate to break it to you, but there aren’t enough good works in the world to ransom one lost soul, “to redeem him is too costly.” (vv 7-8) I love the psalmist’s conclusion also found in those two verses: “One should forever stop trying.”

Quit trying to be good enough to earn a spot in heaven. Quit trying to go to church enough, or say enough prayers, or give enough. The cost of your redemption is beyond what you can pay.

So stop trying so that (you) may live forever and not see the Pit. (vs 9)

Are you so arrogant to think you can equal what Jesus did on the cross? Paul said this:

I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.” (Galatians 2:21)

If you can earn your way into heaven, then Jesus’ horrible death was a waste of time.

Have you ever tried to accomplish a daunting task? You try and try and try, but with each attempt you are met with failure. No matter what you do, it’s just not good enough. You’re frustrated, defeated, hopeless.

But then you rush to a parent, a spouse, or dear friend, and melt into their embrace. No words need to be spoken. Yet as you feel the warmth of their loving presence you begin to relax, the frustration is calmed, you can breathe.

That’s kind of what it’s like to stop trying to be good enough to go to heaven. It’s like how it feels to receive what Jesus died to give you. You feel the warmth of His presence and you begin to relax. The strain of all the “trying” is released and you can breathe.

Have you ever been asked the question, “If you were to die today and stand before God, how would you answer His question: “Why should I let you into My heaven?'” The saddest answer begins with “I.”

I went to church
I gave to the poor.
I was a good person.
I hope I did enough.

Let me put your mind at ease. You can’t do enough. Period. Dear one, that is really, REALLY good news.

If you are depending on you, you are in for a world of hurt. So quit trying.

Surrender. Rush to Jesus and melt into His embrace. Admit you are a sinner in need of saving. Confess your inability to save yourself, and accept the free gift of total forgiveness bought and paid for by the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

You can’t do enough, but Jesus did.

You can’t do enough, so quit trying.

It’s The Same, But Different

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Psalm 21-25

God’s goodness, his compassion, love, and mercy have always existed, even before Creation, because God has always existed. He IS compassion, love, and mercy. Nature itself, all humanity are recipients of those blessings every minute of every day. Like it or not, believe it or not, we are all blessed because God IS.

That being said, there is a special level of those blessings for God’s own children. There is a special relationship between the Shepherd and His sheep. It’s a different level of blessing for those who are His through the blood of Jesus.

I’m going to use an example that some of you will object to. Let’s try to set politics aside and see the comparison for what it is, just a comparison. Here goes:

We Americans are the recipients of the blessings afforded us by Donald Trump’s presidency, his generosity, patriotism, common sense, and the ability he has to negotiate for the benefit of America first. Like it or not, believe it or not, we are experiencing the benefits of his leadership.

But there is a special level of blessing reserved for his children. They receive all the blessings from his presidency, just like the rest of us. But sit around the dinner table, snuggle up to Grandpa on the couch, and there is a precious connection that we outside his family cannot know. He is Dad or Grandpa to those few, and not to the rest of us.

That’s what David understood about God. God is good all the time. Believe it or not, like it or not, the world is blessed because God is God. We are all blessed exactly the same by Creator God.

But snuggle up next to Him through His Word. Receive the blessings reserved for His children. He is Father to those of us who know Him through His Son Jesus, and not to the rest of humanity.

We are all blessed the same by God who is over all. But it’s a different level of blessing to those of us who know Him, who call Him Father and LORD.

It might be the same, but it’s also very, very different.

I’m a Tree

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Psalm 1-8

It wasn’t until I was about halfway through my life that I developed an appreciation for the Psalms, even though for 30 plus years I had heard people say how meaningful they were to them, and how blessed they were by them. I used to think I couldn’t relate to the psalms because, unlike David and some of the other writers, I didn’t have an enemy with an army trying to kill me. I didn’t want to see anyone pulverized because they hurt me. Plus, I’m just not into poetry.

That is until a pastor of mine reminded me I do have an enemy with armies that are continually attacking, continually attempting to kill my soul. “Read those psalms with Satan in mind,” he said.

Oh right. Now I get it. And over the years I have grown to love the psalms, to be blessed and challenged by them. I’ve seen my enemy, and rejoice with the psalmists over my Lord’s defeat over Satan on my behalf.

These are God’s words. What’s not to love?

That’s why I love about the Bible and why I look forward to reading it every day. I relate to what the writer of Psalm 1 says. The Word of God plants my soul by the water that refreshes me, nourishes me, strengthens me to produce fruit for His pleasure. It’s my lifeline between me and God.

I agree with David’s words in 4:6 because I can look at our fallen world and see only violence, hatred, lies, immorality, war, and an uncertain future and say:

Who can show us anything good?

And, honestly if I look at the news, I don’t think there is anything good to see.

Then I look up. I open my Bible and see God in all His glory. I see the God who is love, who died to take on the punishment for all the evil I see in our world, and in me. The revelation of the seriousness of sin, and also its cure, is found in these precious pages. David goes on in verse 6 and prays:

Let the light of your face shine on us, LORD.

That light is revealed in the words God inspired to be written in the book we call the Bible.

I’m looking forward to the next month or so as I dig into the psalms, meditating on them, praying them back to God, singing them, and allowing God to speak to me through them. I want to be that tree in Psalm 1, drinking in the flowing stream of comfort and Truth, and God Himself!

LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the world.

LORD, my Lord, how majestic is your name in my heart.

Who Do You Think You Are?

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Job 38-42

Here’s the thing. When we come face to face with God, when we take a good look, a sincere look at who He is – Creator God – we will have the same response as Job had:

I had heard reports about you, but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I reject my words and am sorry for them. I am dust and ashes. (42:5-6)

I hope you’ll read these chapters today as though God was talking to you. Get ready to be humbled. Can you honestly stand next to God and dare to tout your own accomplishments? Can you declare your goodness, or intellect, or righteousness equal to His?

Who do you think you are? The correct answer is dust and ashes.

Then take a good look at Creator God, all powerful, all knowing, righteous and holy, and know He sees you. He loves you. He gave His life to save yours.

If you’ve never humbled yourself and accepted the grace of God through Jesus’ blood, do it today. Get to know Him through His Word, and receive what He died to give you.

If you are already His child by way of the cross, let this challenge you to take a good look at Him today. Stop and consider the truth of who He is. Check your heart against His. Is there is a hint of pride, or self-satisfaction, or a suggestion of a skewed opinion of Him shaped by the world? Then repent immediately. Don’t let Satan get a foothold.

When you take an honest look at God, you will be humbled. You will feel like dust and ashes in comparison. As you should. The question is not so much, “who do you think you are?” as it is “who does God think you are?

According to Scripture He thinks you are worth dying for. That lump of dust and ashes that is you, is precious to Him, someone He wants a relationship with. Can you grasp the wonder of that truth?

“Who do you think you are?” I pray you can answer that with, “A child of God, a sinner saved by grace!”