O Foolish Galatians

 O Foolish Galatians

March 12,2026

Galatians 3:1-3 (NKJV) 

1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, beforewhose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? 2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?

If the Apostle Paul were to visit one of our contemporary churches in America, what do you think he would say? Would he say, “O foolish Americans”? The Galatians were struggling with disputes over the law and grace, which arose from difference between the Greek and Jewish believers. Paul called them foolish for wanting to return to old ways of doing things. What do we Americans do and believe that Paul would call foolish? I hesitate to start a list for fear that it would be a very long document! 

Paul’s answer was to return to the simple truth that he had taught them and to listen to the Holy Spirit. I think that advice still holds today. We need to return to the simple truths in the Bible and in our American founding documents. The words of Jesus and the apostles are still available to us in the Bible. It’s only our foolishness that leads us to think that we have progressed to a better way of living. The human spirit is still full of foolishness, just as in Paul’s day, but the Spirit of God is available to lead us into all truth, if we but listen.

Hear, O Israel

 Hear, O Israel

March 7, 2026

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (NKJV) 

4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD [is] one! 5 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 “And thesewords which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

When I was in graduate school, I lived in the Jewish neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Every house there had a little box on the door post, a mezuzah, which contained a tiny scroll with this verse on it. They literally wrote this verse on the doorposts of their houses. Also, the more Orthodox Jews would strap a box to their forehead as well; phylacteries, containing Hebrew Scriptures. So even modern Jews take this verse literally to remember the Lord every time they pass through their doorway.

Jesus also affirmed that this is the most important commandment.

Mark 12:29-32 (NKJV)

29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments [is], Hear, O Israel;The Lord our God is one Lord: 30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment. 31 And the second [is] like, [namely] this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. 32 And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:

So, even though we as Christians don’t have mezuzahs and phylacteries, we should still remember the Lord our God and love Him with all of our heart, should and mind. And love our neighbor as ourself.

Purim

 Purim

March 2, 2026

The Jewish feast of Purim starts at sundown today. This is a celebration of the story of Queen Esther, whose courage resulted in deliverance from the evil plot of Haman, a high official in the Media Persian empire, to wipe out the Jews. How interesting that in this same season we are in conflict with a ruler in Persia who has vowed to not only wipe out the Jews, but also the Americans. Let us take a lesson from the courage of Esther to stand up to evil.

Esther 4:13-14

13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not imagine that you in the king’spalace can escape any more than all the Jews. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”

‘For such a time as this”. May we also rise in our own time to oppose evil and protect our own people. War is never a desired outcome, but is sometimes necessary to protect our country. So remember Purim, and the courage of Queen Esther, and the faithfulness of God to raise up a deliverer to protect His people. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem and protection of the people and soldiers of the USA.

Esther 9:23-28

23 Thus the Jews undertook what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had writtento them. 24 For Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the adversary of all the Jews, had schemed against the Jews to destroy them and had cast Pur, that is the lot, to disturb them and destroy them. 25 But when it came to the king’s attention, he commanded by letter that his wicked scheme which he had devised against the Jews, should return on his own head and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. 26 Therefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. And because of the instructions in this letter, both what they had seen in this regard and what had happened to them, 27 the Jews established and made a custom for themselves and for their descendants and for all those who allied themselves with them, so that they would not fail to celebrate these two days according to their regulation and according to their appointed time annually. 28 So these days were to be remembered and celebrated throughout every generation, every family, every province and every city; and these days of Purim were not to fail from among the Jews, or their memory fade from their descendants.

Balamm’s Ass

 Balaam’s Ass

February 27, 2026

Numbers 22:22-24 (NKJV) 

22 Then God’s anger was aroused because he went, and the Angel of the LORD took His stand in the way as an adversary against him. And he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants [were] with him. 23 Now the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand, and the donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field. So Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back onto the road. 24 Then the Angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, [with] a wall on this side and a wall on that side.…

Today’s reading from Numbers includes the story of Balaam, his donkey and an angel. This was always a favorite Sunday School amongst us boys as it gave us an excuse to say “ass” in church! Anyway, this story illustrates several points about human nature. The first is that Balaam was so determined to go his own way and so angry with his donkey, that he didn’t even seem surprised that the donkey spoke. Now wouldn’t you think that would be the most remarkable thing in this story, but Balaam kept on beating the donkey and arguing with her and didn’t seem surprised that she spoke. Now that’s a lot of anger and self absorption that you don’t even notice a talking donkey! There once was a movie about a talking Army mule and a TV series about Mr. Ed, the talking horse, and the main subject was the fact that the animal could talk. But Balaam, even though he was a prophet, couldn’t see the obvious fact that his donkey was talking to him, and of course also couldn’t see the more important fact that an angel was about to cut his head off if he continued on his way! That’s a lot of self absorbed anger!

The other point is that God can use anyone. He sent an angel, and made the donkey speak, and eventually got his message through to Balaam that he was to reject the bribe to curse Israel and instead go bless them. If God can use a donkey, he can use anyone. So as they say, “don’t be a horse’s ass”, but listen to the Lord and his angels the first time and do what they say! As the prophet Samuel said, “to obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Sam 15:22). It’s really not that complicated, as my mother used to say, “just do what you’re told”.

Now in the end, the story turns out ok for Balaam. He eventually heard the message and blessed Israel even though it earned the ire of King Balak. I suppose a talking donkey and a giant angel with a drawn sword would tend to get your attention! But far better for him if he had heard and obeyed the message in the first place. So don’t be like Balaam but listen to the Lord before he has to send a talking ass and an angel to block your way.

Supplication and Rejoicing

 Supplication and Rejoicing

February 26, 2026

Psalm 28:1 (NKJV) [A Psalm] of David. 

To You I will cry, O LORD my Rock: Do not be silent to me, Lest, if You [are] silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit.

Psalm 28:6-7 (NKJV) 

6 Blessed [be] the LORD, Because He has heard the voice of my supplications! 7 The LORD [is] my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him.

2 Corinthians 7:9 (NKJV) 

Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing.

 All throughout scripture, we are urged to rejoice. But an aspect of rejoicing that we may overlook is its connection to repentance. Godly sorrow leads to repentance and that leads to joy. In Psalm 28, the first half is a cry to God to rescue him and help him. It is only after raising his voice with supplications to the Lord that he comes to a place of rejoicing and singing. King David was a demonstrative kind of guy, so I think that all those around him could tell when he was crying out to the Lord and when he was singing and rejoicing. I, on the other hand, am a pretty quiet and reserved fellow, so you might not be able to tell just by looking at me how I am feeling. I need to be reminded to show my feelings of rejoicing. Our worship leader puts it like this, “If there is the joy of the Lord in your heart, let your face know it.” And that is true, not only on the worship platform, but in daily life as well. So my prayer for myself is, “Lord, let me rejoice in your mercy and grace, and let it show to those around me.” 

But back to the initial point about supplication. In the verse in second Corinthians, Paul was rejoicing that that the people were sorrowful. But not just sad, but sorrowful over their sins so that they came to a place of repentance. True joy then is when you confess your sins and experience the grace of God to forgive. Supplication, or crying out in sorrow to the Lord, leads to a cleansing and a lifting of the darkness so that you can rejoice and sing to the Lord. So let this day be a day of rejoicing and a day of experiencing the mercy and grace of the Lord who is mighty to save and merciful to forgive.

Psalm 23

 Psalm 23

February 20, 2026

The scripture of the day in my reading plan is Psalm 23.

Psalm 23:1-6 (NKJV) 1 A Psalm of David. 

The LORD [is] my shepherd; I shall not want. 

2 He makes me to lie down in greenpastures; He leads me beside the still waters. 

3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. 

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You [are] with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. 

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.

This Psalm is familiar to all of us, but it’s sometimes good to go back and review the familiar things. We need to remember that the Lord is our shepherd and that we shall not want. We tend to forget and worry about daily needs, but when we remember that the Lord is in charge, He restores our soul and leads us in the paths of righteousness. So today, even if you are walking through the valley of the shadow of death, take heart and fear no evil, for He is with us. He comforts us like a shepherd with his rod and staff to guide and protect us. Surely our cup runs over and goodness and mercy follows us all the days of our lives. His peace comes from dwelling in His house forever. So love and peace and rest in green pastures this day.

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=eIuLtOKD9ns&si=Zvh5XxfKDHOEbhk1

Teach Me Your Paths

 Teach Me Your Paths

February 18, 2026

Psalm 25:4-5 (NKJV) 

4Show me Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths. 5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You [are] the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day.

There seems to be a lot of darkness and confusion in the news this week. It can be depressing to see the evil and darkness exposed, but it is also a good thing, as the evil cannot be uprooted until it is exposed. But in the process, there are some who appeared to be good guys who are exposed as conspiring with the evil doers, and others that seemed nefarious who turn out to be working undercover to expose the darkness. So how do you know who to trust and who to believe?

As Christians, our only answer is to look to the Lord. As the psalmist puts it, “teach me your paths, lead me in your truth and teach me.” Only the light of the Holy Spirit can show us the true way and lead us in the right path. Many will try to confuse us and lead us onto another path, but there is a true way if we only wait on the Lord and ask Him to lead and guide us. Jesus himself warned us about us about guarding against this deception in the last days:

Matthew 24:4

4And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you.

Matthew 24:10-14

10At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. 11 Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. 12 Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. 14 This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

When we see the worlds lawlessness exposed and their love turn into hate, we know that the end is coming and that the Lord is coming back. So wait on the Lord all the day and endure to the end. 

Revelation 22:20-21

20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. 21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.