Thorns

 Thorns

April 8, 2026

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 - A Thorn in the Flesh

7 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan totorment me—to keep me from exalting myself! 8 Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. 9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

When it comes to dedicating our whole lives to the Lord, we have to consider both our strengths and our weaknesses. When young people are starting out to become disciples, they need to discover their gifts and talents to discern the type of work they need to do for the Lord. When we get older that is less of a concern, but our weaknesses become more apparent.When  we are young, we can usually get by with youthful enthusiasm and bluster, but as we age we lose some of that energy and have to rely on the Lord more, just out of necessity. 

Some of our thorns may also be exposed as we lose our emotional filters that keep us from saying everything that is on our minds. When we get to be a crotchety old man, it takes too much energy to restrain ourselves and we just say whatever comes to mind! Everyone has ‘that uncle” that you resist inviting to Thanksgiving dinner because you are afraid of what he might say. It is the true saints of God that become sweeter and more compassionate when they age. I remember my mother-in-law who gradually lost her mind to dementia, but never failed to be polite and concerned about other people as long as she was still able to talk.

So the question is, can you say, like Paul, that the power of Christ dwells in you? Is His power perfected in your weakness? Can we agree with Paul that we are content with our weaknesses? That is the acid test of our faith, that we can rely on the Lord more and more our weaknesses and infirmities are exposed. Growing old and continuing to walk in the Holy Spirit is not for the faint of heart! Most of us will never encounter the type of insults, distresses and persecutions that Paul experienced, but nevertheless, we need to be able to say that we are content with our weakness for when we are weak we are strong in the Lord.

Search Me

 Search Me

April 2,  2026

Psalms 139:23-24

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;

Try me and know my anxious thoughts;

24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me,

And lead me in the everlasting way.

We’ve been talking about trust, love and not worrying, so then the next step is a checkup. Medicare mandates that we go to the doctor once a year, even if we feel ok, just to get a checkup to make sure everything is working fine. If that is reasonable to do for the body, then surely you should do a checkup of your spirit at least once a year. Nowadays, the doctors have all sorts of instruments and scanners to examine every part of your body from the inside out. How much more effective then is a scan by the Holy Spirit who created your body, soul and spirit.  

When He examines your heart He can look deep, even to those things that we have hidden from ourselves. But fear not, the Holy Spirit is also gentle and will only reveal those things to us that are ready to be healed. We just need to be willing to let Him examine our heart and clean out the anxious thoughts and hurtful ways. Then we can walk in the Spirit and be guided into the everlasting way. It’s like taking a bath in a cleansing stream to wash away all those things that hinder us from walking with the Lord. So invite the Lord to search you and examine your heart.

Do Not Worry

 Do Not Worry

April 1, 2026

Matthew 6:25 (NKJV) 

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

Matthew 6:33-34 (NKJV) 

33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day [is] its own trouble.

The corollary to trusting in the Lord and loving Him with your whole heart is not worrying. That’s easier said than done. My mother was la first class worrier, so I come by it naturally. But really trusting in the Lord means that we REALLY trust in Him for everything! When He is truly and completely in charge of your life, there is nothing left to worry about. So make Him king and seek first His kingdom, and all else will fall into place.

Love the Lord

 Love the Lord

March 31, 2026

Mark 12:28-31

28 One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answeredthem well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; 30 AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’ 31 The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Yesterday we talked about trusting the Lord. You cannot trust without love. When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, he quickly quoted the command to love the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind. When we love the Lord totally, it is easy to trust. The second part is more difficult. We can love the Lord because we know He loves us back, but what about our neighbor? He can be difficult and contentious but we are to love anyway. 

The golden rule states that we are to do to others what we would wish to be done to ourselves. It is said that only Judaism and Christianity have this rule. All other religions, at best, only command to love your brother, but to hate your enemy. Certainly Islam falls into this category as they decree charity be done to fellow Muslims, but they teach that all infidels deserve slavery or  death. Certainly Jesus taught a better way! 

So our job today is to love the Lord with all of our being and to love our neighbor as ourself. “There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Trust in God

 Trust in God

March 30,2026

Proverbs 3:5-10 (NKJV) 

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In allyour ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil. 8 It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones. 9 Honor the LORD with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; 10 So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine.

We are in the midst of an extended Bible study at church, and one of the key lessons is to trust in God. Proverbs 3 is a key verse for that point. You cannot state the blessings of trusting in the Lord any more plainly than is expressed in this proverb. Guidance, wisdom, health, honor and prosperity, are among those blessings, but all rely on trusting in the Lord with your whole heart and not on your own understanding. That is harder to do than it sounds since we are conditioned from youth to think logically, solve problems, and trust in reason and logic. But the way of peace is contrary to that. Not that we are not to reason logically, but we are to put our final trust in the Lord, even when it seems to go against good sense. The Lord knows better than we do all that will transpire and what unforeseen consequences might occur if we rely on reason alone. So know that the Lord is Good, He loves you, and has a plan and purpose for your life, and knows better than you the exact steps you should take. So let Him direct your paths and do not be wise in your own eyes.

Measure My Days

 Measure My Days

March 28, 2026

Psalm 39:4-7 (NKJV) 

4 “LORD, make me to know my end, And what [is] the measure of my days, [That] Imay know how frail I [am.] 5 Indeed, You have made my days [as] handbreadths, And my age [is] as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state [is] but vapor. 

Selah

 6 Surely every man walks about like a shadow; Surely they busy themselves in vain; He heaps up [riches,] And does not know who will gather them. 7 “And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope [is] in You.

When we are young, we think we are going to live forever. But when we get to the Biblical four score and ten and approach eighty, we begin to contemplate the end and take a measure of our days.

Psalm 90:10 (NKJV) 

The days of our lives [are] seventy years; And if by reason of strength [they are] eightyyears, Yet their boast [is] only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

They say that growing old is not for the faint of heart. Things slow down and aches and pains appear out of nowhere. What once was but a second thought now requires some effort and planning. Even wrapping presents on the floor requires a plan on how you’re going to get up again! So what is our attitude to be as we contemplate our days?

As the psalmist says, “My hope is in You.” The Lord has a plan for our days. When we look back, we see the many marvelous things He has done. So we have faith that there is a purpose and a plan for our remaining days. It would be good to end our days like Moses. When the Lord told him that he was done, he sang a song  (Dt 32-33), blessed the people, and went up on the mountain and died. It would be good to go out with a song on my lips, May it be so. And if you have read this far, may you be blessed with the knowledge of the plan and purpose that the Lord has for your life. For all of your days, even the ones in the closing chapter.

God is at Work

 God is at Work

March 24, 2026

Philippians 2:13

13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure

Do you ever look at all that is going on around you and wonder whether God is at work or not? The world can get crazy and sometimes it’s hard to cope. It was no different in the first century. The Apostle Paul goes on to say how we should act in difficult times.

Philippians 2:14-16

14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing; 15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.

“Without grumbling or disputing”, now there is the rub!  We love to grumble and complain about all the injustice that we perceive in our world. “It’s not fair!” Is a common refrain, and advertising is always promising something better because “you deserve it”. But the Word says that this is a “crooked and perverse generation”, and 2000 years has not improved on that assessment. 

So how do we act? Paul says to recognize that God is at work and that his will for us is good. Walking is such a way as to demonstrate His love and faithfulness will show His light to the world. So hold fast to the word of life and do all to the glory of God for He is at work in you.