APRIL 9, 2026

  “Those who have a 'why' to live, can bear with almost any 'how'.”

― Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning

1 SAMUEL 1-3

6“The Lord brings death and makes alive;

he brings down to the grave and raises up.

7The Lord sends poverty and wealth;

he humbles and he exalts.

8He raises the poor from the dust

and lifts the needy from the ash heap;

he seats them with princes

and has them inherit a throne of honor.

“For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s;

on them he has set the world.

9He will guard the feet of his faithful servants,

but the wicked will be silenced in the place of darkness.

“It is not by strength that one prevails;

10those who oppose the Lord will be broken.

The Most High will thunder from heaven;

the Lord will judge the ends of the earth.(2:6-10)

LUKE 12:1-34

Do Not Worry

22Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.24Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 25Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life^b ?26Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

27“Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! 29And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

32“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

JOURNAL 

Today feels different. Not because anything around me has changed, but because I am more aware that this day was never guaranteed. Today is my birthday, and that alone is enough to stop and recognize what an unbelievable gift it is simply to be alive. Another year was not owed to me, and yet here I am, breathing, thinking, feeling, remembering. Out of the thousands who did not wake up today, I did. 

What overwhelms me even more is realizing that I did not arrive at this day on my own. My life is the result of countless people who have carried me, loved me, protected me, corrected me, encouraged me, and at times pushed me when I would not have moved forward on my own. Family who sacrificed. Friends who showed up. Coaches, mentors, teachers, even strangers who crossed my path at just the right moment. There were people who spoke truth into me when I was drifting, people who believed in me when I doubted myself, and people who challenged me when I needed it most. Every one of them is part of the reason I am here today.

And over all of it, I can see the hand of God. In the highs and the lows, in the moments of clarity and the seasons of confusion, He was present. The same God who raises up and humbles, who gives and takes away, who guards and guides. When I look back, I see protection I did not notice at the time, redirection I did not understand, and provision I certainly did not earn. It is humbling to realize how much has been held together for me.

Jesus’ words about not worrying land differently today. Life really is more than all the things I tend to chase or stress over. If God feeds the birds and clothes the fields, then how much more has He already taken care of me. I can see it now, not just in theory, but in the evidence of my own life. Every year, every season, every breath has been sustained by something far greater than my own strength.

There is also a deeper weight to this birthday. Not pressure, but purpose. If today is a gift, then it is not meant to be wasted. It is meant to be lived fully, honestly, and courageously. I have been given everything I need. The same Spirit that empowered men throughout Scripture lives in me. That means I am not lacking. I am not waiting on something else to begin. Today is the day I already have.

So today is not just about looking back with gratitude, though there is plenty of that. It is also about stepping forward with intention. To live in a way that honors the people who poured into me. To live in a way that reflects the God who sustained me. To love better, to give more freely, to act with courage, and to stop holding back out of fear or comfort.

I am grateful for every year, every lesson, every joy and every hardship that shaped me. All of it mattered. All of it was used. And somehow, by grace, I get another day.

Today, I do not want to hide the light I have been given. I want to live it openly. Not perfectly, but fully. Not for myself alone, but in a way that brings something good into the lives of others. Thank you, God, for this day. Thank you for my life. Thank you for every person who has been part of it. And thank you that the story is not finished yet.

33“No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light." 

LUKE 11:33

APRIL 8, 2026

  “To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest.” 

― Mahatma Gandhi

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

― Marianne Williamson

RUTH 1-4

16But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” 18When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.(1:16-18)

LUKE 11:29-54

37When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. 38But the Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal.

39Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? 41But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.

42“Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.

43“Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces.

44“Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it.”

45One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.”

46Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.

JOURNAL 

In a world where saying the right thing has become easier than living it and where winning is often treated as the ultimate goal, integrity is constantly under pressure. When winning becomes the priority above all else, truth becomes negotiable and convictions begin to shift based on what produces the desired outcome. It becomes easy to justify small compromises, telling ourselves they are necessary, until eventually those compromises shape who we are. The tension is not just hypocrisy but fear. Fear that if we live fully aligned with truth and refuse to bend, we might lose something that feels important. Because of that fear, it is tempting to perform, to posture, or to say what sounds right while living differently behind the scenes.

Ruth offers a completely different picture. She had every reason to walk away and no one would have blamed her, yet she chose commitment over convenience and faithfulness over advantage. Her decision was not based on what she could gain but on what was right. In the same way, Jesus confronts those who had learned how to appear righteous while avoiding true obedience. They looked the part and were respected, but their lives did not reflect what they claimed to believe. He exposes the danger of living for appearance while neglecting the heart.

The real question comes down to what I am serving in moments of choice. God has given me the ability to think, choose, and act, and those decisions reveal what truly drives me. If my actions are rooted in a need to win, protect my image, or avoid discomfort, they will slowly pull me away from truth. If they are rooted in love and obedience to God, they will require courage and faith, and they may not always look like winning in the moment.

Looking back, I can see how often I chose the easier path because it felt safer. I avoided situations that required risk or exposure and allowed fear and doubt to influence my decisions. In those moments, I was not trusting God but placing my trust in outcomes. Scripture repeatedly shows people who chose faithfulness over comfort. David stepped forward in faith, Noah obeyed despite ridicule, Abraham left what was familiar, Joseph held onto his calling through hardship, Moses returned to face his past, Daniel stood firm under pressure, and Paul endured suffering to remain obedient. None of them were focused on winning in the world’s sense. They were focused on being faithful.

That is the tension I have to live in. I can pursue outcomes and risk compromising who I am, or I can pursue obedience and trust God with the results. Choosing to shrink back, stay silent, or take the convenient path is not humility. It is fear. If God has placed truth and conviction within me, then living it out fully is not optional. It is the very thing I am called to do.

33“No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. ”

LUKE 11:33

APRIL 7, 2026

   “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” 

― Calvin Coolidge

JUDGES 20-21

25In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.(21:25)

LUKE 11:1-28

9“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

11“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for^f a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

JOURNAL 

Judges is hard to read because it is chaotic, disturbing, and deeply unsettling. The violence and the decisions people make all point back to one simple truth that everyone did as they saw fit. When there is no anchor, no authority, no higher alignment, things unravel quickly. That is not just Israel’s story, it is mine too when I lose my center.

In Luke, Jesus says ask and it will be given, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened. It is a beautiful promise, but one that has often been misunderstood. When I tie that promise too tightly to specific outcomes, to answers happening on my timeline or looking the way I expect, I begin to distort it. I start measuring God’s faithfulness by whether things go my way, and that is where everything begins to break down.

When the outcome becomes everything, persistence starts to fade. If results do not come fast enough or do not look the way I hoped, discouragement creeps in. Faith begins to crack. I start questioning, doubting, and even resenting. Eventually I am tempted to quit and trade long term purpose for immediate relief. I cash in on something easier, something quicker, something that numbs the disappointment rather than walking through it.

But the promise was never about controlling the outcome. The real gift is the Holy Spirit, God’s presence within me, sustaining me regardless of the result. That changes everything because now persistence is not fueled by outcomes, it is fueled by presence. Faith is no longer dependent on circumstances but rooted in relationship. The goal is not simply to get through difficulty but to walk through it with endurance, trust, and a steady confidence that God is still at work even when nothing looks like it is changing.

Joseph’s story reminds me of this truth. He was betrayed, falsely accused, and thrown into prison, and every external outcome pointed to failure. Yet the Lord was with him. That was the constant. Not success as the world defines it, but presence. Over time that presence produced something deeper than immediate results ever could, including character, resilience, and ultimately redemption.

I see in my own life how easy it is to become outcome driven. It is easy to feel discouraged when things do not go as planned and to interpret delay as denial. But when I step back and really consider my life, I see how much I have been given and how often God’s grace has shown up in ways I did not recognize at the time. If I let outcomes dictate my faith, I will always be unstable and I will quit too early. But if I anchor myself in His presence and trust that what He is doing in me matters more than what is happening around me, then I can persist. I can keep showing up and pressing on, not because I know how things will turn out, but because I know who walks with me through it, and that is something no outcome can take away.

19When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is how your slave treated me,” he burned with anger. 20Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined.

But while Joseph was there in the prison, 21the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 23The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.

GENESIS 39:19-23

APRIL 6, 2026

  “God's definition of what matters is pretty straightforward. He measures our lives by how we love.” 

― Francis Chan, Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God

JUDGES 18-19

1In those days Israel had no king.

And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking a place of their own where they might settle, because they had not yet come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. 2So the Danites sent five of their leading men from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out the land and explore it. These men represented all the Danites. They told them, “Go, explore the land.”(18:1-2)

LUKE 10:25-42

25On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

26“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

27He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’^c ; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^d ”

28“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

29But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.33But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35The next day he took out two denarii^eand gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

36“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

37The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

JOURNAL 

Some of the stories in Judges are really strange. I often wonder why they are in the Bible...yet it is in these moments that I realize that one of the reasons is that they are true. The story of the Levite traveling with his concubine and then cutting her up into 12 pieces after she has been raped is rough. It shows the reality that people without God and direction can be brutal. Truth often is messy and doesn't fit neatly into my preconceived notions of how life should go. As a result it is sometimes difficult to see and accept the truth of my own life. Just as it is difficult to accept the truth and reality of someone else's life. 

This is the beauty of the story of the good Samaritan that Jesus tells to the "expert in the law". He described a scenario that socially was taboo but yet framed it in a way that made the point that all humanity and everyone who is hurting and in need is our "neighbor". Our lives are to be lived in service and sacrifice and often that will mean clashing with socially accepted norms. It also requires us to get out of our own head and our own self-absorption in order to see the hurt and the opportunity for love and grace that are all around us.

7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

1 JOHN 4:7-12

APRIL 5, 2026

  “Self-discipline is a form of freedom. Freedom from laziness and lethargy, freedom from expectations and demands of others, freedom from weakness and fear -- and doubt.” 

― H.A. Dorfman

JUDGES 15-17

15Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you won’t confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.” 16With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it.

17So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”

18When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. 19After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him.^c And his strength left him.(16:15-19)

LUKE 10:1-24

1After this the Lord appointed seventy-two^a others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.3Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.

5“When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ 6If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. 7Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.

JOURNAL 

Samson grows weary and capitulates to Delilah...revealing the source of his strength. Jesus sends out seventy-two disciples ahead of him to help prepare the people for his visit.  They are the first missionaries of the kingdom. Going out into hostile territory. They are to work for what they get as evidenced by the phrase "for the worker deserves his wages". I wonder exactly what they were sent to do? No matter the details...they were sent and were definitely accompanied by the spirit of God, for upon their return they state that "even the demons submit to us in your name".

Thinking about this juxtaposed with the story of Samson gives a very clear picture of life with and without the spirit, Samson lost focus, lost discipline and as a result lost his power. In 2 Timothy Paul describes the effect of the spirit in a human life. He says it is not timid but is of Power, Love and Self-Discipline. So it can be reasoned that operating outside of God's spirit will be plagued by weakness, hate and self-indulgence. The more I read the Bible, the more I live life...the more I see the truth in these words. 

Love is God and everything that he is, perfect complete love. Power is our ability as humans, to act, make decisions, function in complex ways. Self-Discipline is our ability to choose, make decisions and choose God's ways of love rather than alternate actions of hate and destruction.


2 Timothy 1:7 has been one of my favorite verses but reading further it is even more powerful in considering verses 6-14...

6For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 8So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. 9He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.

13What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

2 TIMOTHY 1:6-14