JULY 18, 2026

 “The difference between an admirer and a follower still remains, no matter where you are. The admirer never makes any true sacrifices. He always plays it safe. Though in words, phrases, songs, he is inexhaustible about how highly he prizes Christ, he renounces nothing, gives up nothing, will not reconstruct his life, will not be what he admires, and will not let his life express what it is he supposedly admires.” 

― Søren Kierkegaard, Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Kierkegaard

PSALM 25-27

13I remain confident of this:

I will see the goodness of the Lord

in the land of the living.

14Wait for the Lord;

be strong and take heart

and wait for the Lord.(27:13-14)

ACTS 20:17-38

32“Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. 34You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. 35In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

JOURNAL 

For much of my life I have approached obedience to God with hidden expectations. I wanted to obey, but I also wanted obedience to produce the life I imagined. My hopes, dreams, goals, and plans quietly became the lens through which I interpreted God's will. If circumstances moved me toward those outcomes, I felt confident. If they moved me away, I questioned God or myself. What I am beginning to see is that true surrender starts long before the decisions of the day. It begins the moment I wake up.

Every morning I have a choice. I can begin the day carrying my own agenda, or I can place it on the altar before God. That means honestly acknowledging my desires, ambitions, fears, disappointments, and expectations without pretending they are not there. Then comes the difficult part. I must surrender them. I must release every outcome I have already written in my mind and become willing for God either to affirm those desires or completely redirect them. Only then am I truly available to hear His voice instead of merely asking Him to bless mine.

To many people, and honestly to much of my own heart, this sounds extreme. Modern life teaches us that our hopes and dreams should become our marching orders. We are told to chase them relentlessly and build our lives around them. The thought of laying those dreams on the altar every single morning almost seems irresponsible. Yet I am becoming convinced this is exactly what Jesus calls His followers to do. It is not because dreams are bad, but because anything that cannot be surrendered has quietly become our master.

In many ways, this daily surrender clears the clutter from my heart. It makes room for God's Spirit. Before I think about work, coaching, finances, success, or even ministry, I must first remember that life itself is already a gift. Breath, strength, a sound mind, another day with my family, and another opportunity to love and serve are gifts I did not earn. Gratitude loosens my grip on outcomes because it reminds me that I have already received far more than I deserve.

Only after that posture is established am I ready to open God's Word and ask for my marching orders. Then my family, my friends, my students, my players, and my community are no longer simply part of my plans. They become the people God has entrusted to me today. My objectives are no longer driven by what I hope to accomplish but by what He places before me in obedience.

Paul lived this way. He was compelled by the Spirit, not by guarantees. He walked toward Jerusalem fully aware that hardship awaited him because faithfulness mattered more than comfort or success. His confidence rested not in achieving a preferred outcome but in finishing the task God had given him. That kind of freedom is difficult for me because my flesh still longs for comfort, recognition, and certainty. Yet those things are not evil until they become the reason I live.

Kierkegaard's words expose the difference between admiration and discipleship. An admirer celebrates Christ without changing his life. A follower continually places his life on the altar. I want to become that kind of follower. Every morning I want to surrender my dreams, ambitions, and expectations, trusting that whatever God returns to me can be pursued with confidence, and whatever He removes was never meant to be my master. Ironically, by surrendering outcomes, I do not lose my life. I finally become free to live it, confident that I "will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living," not because life unfolds according to my plans, but because His presence is enough wherever obedience leads.

22“And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

ACTS 20:22-24

JULY 17, 2026

  “Every man gives his life for what he believes. Every woman gives her life for what she believes. Sometimes people believe in little or nothing, and so they give their lives to little or nothing. One life is all we have, and we live it as we believe in living it…and then it’s gone. But to surrender who you are and to live without belief is more terrible than dying...” 

― Jeanne d'Arc

PSALM 22-24

1The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

2He makes me lie down in green pastures,

he leads me beside quiet waters,

3he refreshes my soul.

He guides me along the right paths

for his name’s sake.

4Even though I walk

through the darkest valley,^a

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

5You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

6Surely your goodness and love will follow me

all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord

forever.(23)

ACTS 20:1-16

7On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. 8There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting. 9Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. 10Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “He’s alive!” 11Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left. 12The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.

JOURNAL 

The first line of the 23rd Psalm says it all..."The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing." Seeking anything else in order to complete me is foolish. We have all that we need for this life when we recognize God as God. When we recognize that we serve him and his purposes. Then anything and everything else is simply icing on the cake. It is lagniappe...as referred to in Louisiana. 

This means that I can take comfort and confidence in God and God alone. I can trust that I have everything I need to fulfill my purpose in life...a life of greatness. That greatness means living a life of action and love in obedience to God. Whatever happens, happens and my obedience will be justified and honored either in this life or the next. I simply must trust that God will honor it as he promises. 

He says he will set a table before me in the presence of my enemies. To me this means that God will give me comfort and all that I need no matter my circumstances. No matter who opposes me or why...God will strengthen me and give me all that I need. 

32Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. 33Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. 35So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 

HEBREWS 10:32-35

JULY 16, 2026

     “Work as if everything depended on you. Pray as if everything depended on God.” 

― Ignatius of Loyola

PSALM 19-21

7The law of the Lord is perfect,

refreshing the soul.

The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,

making wise the simple.

8The precepts of the Lord are right,

giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the Lord are radiant,

giving light to the eyes.

9The fear of the Lord is pure,

enduring forever.

The decrees of the Lord are firm,

and all of them are righteous.(19:7-9)

ACTS 19:21-41

23About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. 24A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there. 25He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: “You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business. 26And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. 27There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.”

JOURNAL 

The more I reflect on obedience, the more I realize how often I viewed it as the pathway to the life I wanted. I believed that if I faithfully followed God, He would help me achieve my hopes and dreams. While that sounds spiritual, it subtly made my dreams the destination and God the means of getting there. Yet God is not a tool to accomplish my plans. He is the destination Himself. Even good dreams can become idols when they begin shaping my decisions more than God's voice. When that happens, I start measuring obedience by outcomes, questioning my faithfulness whenever life doesn't unfold as I expected, and becoming tempted to compromise because the goal has become more important than the One who called me.

The story of Demetrius in Acts reminds me that idols are rarely just statues. More often they are the futures we refuse to surrender. Demetrius wasn't protecting truth; he was protecting the life he had built. I can see the same temptation in myself whenever a desired outcome begins to dictate my choices. Paul, on the other hand, was remarkably free because his purpose was never success, comfort, influence, or recognition. His one ambition was faithfulness to Christ. Whether he was preaching to thousands or sitting in prison, his responsibility never changed. The results belonged to God.

One of my favorite scenes in City Slickers comes when Curly holds up one finger and tells Mitch the secret to life is "one thing." For Paul, that one thing was obedience to Christ. The more I think about it, the more I realize that simplicity is what gave him such incredible courage. He didn't have to constantly evaluate whether life was working out according to plan because his purpose never changed with his circumstances.

At the same time, surrendering outcomes is not the same as surrendering ambition. God never calls us to passive resignation or mediocre effort. Paul's life was marked by extraordinary discipline, relentless work, careful planning, and unwavering perseverance. The difference was not that he worked less hard, but that he worked for a different reason. I am still called to dream, to build, to teach, to coach, to lead, and to pursue excellence with everything I have. The difference is that I no longer pursue those things to secure a particular future. I pursue them because obedience deserves my very best. I work as hard as I can, develop every gift God has entrusted to me, and strive for excellence in every task, but I leave the outcome entirely in His hands.

Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when He called His disciples to take up their cross daily. Every day I surrender not only my sin but also my insistence that faithfulness must produce the future I have imagined. My responsibility is not to manufacture tomorrow. It is to be fully obedient today. I can dream without worshiping my dreams, strive without being enslaved by success, and work tirelessly without carrying the burden of controlling the results. My one thing is no longer achieving the life I envisioned. My one thing is faithfully following Christ wherever He leads, trusting that His plans are always greater than my own.

23Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 

LUKE 9:23-24

JULY 15, 2026

  “The deeper we grow in the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the poorer we become - the more we realize that everything in life is a gift. The tenor of our lives becomes one of humble and joyful thanksgiving. Awareness of our poverty and ineptitude causes us to rejoice in the gift of being called out of darkness into wondrous light and translated into the kingdom of God's beloved Son.”

― Brennan Manning,

PSALM 17-18

1I love you, Lord, my strength.

2The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;

my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,

my shield^b and the horn^c of my salvation, my stronghold.(18:1-2)

ACTS 19:1-20

8Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.

JOURNAL 

Brennan Manning writes that the deeper we grow in the Spirit of Christ, the poorer we become, because we begin to realize that everything is a gift. That is not the poverty of loss, but the freedom that comes from no longer believing we own or control our lives. Gratitude replaces entitlement because we finally understand that every breath, every relationship, every opportunity, and every moment of joy has been given to us by God.

David understood this when he declared, "The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer." A fortress is only necessary when there is danger. A refuge is only sought when life becomes uncertain. David's confidence was not rooted in favorable circumstances or guaranteed outcomes. It was rooted in the character of God. He trusted the One who held tomorrow rather than demanding certainty about tomorrow itself.

I continue to realize that one of the greatest idols in my own life is not comfort, money, or success. It is outcomes. I want things to work. I want the plan to succeed. I want the relationship restored. I want the team to win. I want the business opportunity to produce results. None of those desires are wrong in themselves. The danger comes when the outcome becomes more important than obedience. When that happens, I quietly replace God with the thing I hope He will give me.

That is the subtle temptation found throughout Scripture. We begin by trusting God, but somewhere along the journey we start trusting the destination more than the Guide. We convince ourselves that if the outcome is good enough, then perhaps a little compromise is justified. We become willing to manipulate, worry, control, exaggerate, fear, or even ignore God's leading because the desired result seems so important. In that moment, the outcome has become our god.

Surrender is not simply giving up possessions or sinful habits. The deeper surrender is releasing my claim on results. It is saying, "God, I will obey You whether this works out the way I hope or not." That kind of surrender is terrifying to the flesh because it admits what has always been true: I was never in control to begin with.

Ironically, that surrender is where freedom begins. When outcomes no longer define me, anxiety begins to lose its grip. I no longer have to force tomorrow into existence because tomorrow belongs to God. My responsibility is today. Today's obedience. Today's kindness. Today's integrity. Today's faithfulness. God has not asked me to carry the weight of tomorrow's results. He has simply asked me to walk with Him today.

Paul modeled this beautifully in Acts. For two years he faithfully taught in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. He did not control who believed or who rejected the message. Some became obstinate while others embraced the gospel. Paul surrendered the outcome while remaining relentlessly faithful to the calling. His peace came from obedience, not from universal acceptance.

Jesus ultimately defined this surrendered life with two commands: love God completely and love your neighbor as yourself. Love cannot be manipulated into existence through outcomes. Love is an act of daily obedience. It is choosing faithfulness over control. It is trusting that God is writing a story far greater than the one I could ever force into existence.

Perhaps this is what becoming an outpost of heaven truly means. Heaven breaks into earth wherever a person lays down the desperate need to control outcomes and instead trusts the goodness of God. Peace is no longer postponed until everything works out. Joy is no longer dependent upon success. Hope is no longer fragile because it rests on the unchanging character of God rather than changing circumstances.

The greatest miracle may not be that God changes my circumstances. The greatest miracle is that He changes my heart so that I can walk through any circumstance with peace. When I surrender outcomes, I finally become free to live today, love today, obey today, and trust that tomorrow already rests securely in the hands of my Rock, my Fortress, and my Deliverer.

34And when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they themselves gathered together. 35One of them, an expert in the law, tested Him with a question: 36“Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?”

37Jesus declared, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’e 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’f 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

MATTHEW 22:34-40

JULY 14, 2026

 “If you trust in yourself. . .and believe in your dreams. . .and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.” 

― Terry Pratchett, The Wee Free Men

PSALM 13-16

 1Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain?2The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart;3whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others; 4who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the Lord; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; 5who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does these things will never be shaken.(15)

ACTS 18

1After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, 3and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. 4Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.

JOURNAL 

Dreams are a wonderful gift. They awaken hope, stir imagination, and pull us toward becoming more than we are today. There is nothing wrong with dreaming about the future. In fact, I think God often uses dreams to call us forward. But I've begun to realize that the dream itself was never meant to satisfy me. It was meant to get me moving. The real joy is found in the pursuit.

Paul dreamed of seeing people come to know Christ, yet when he arrived in Corinth, he made tents. Before he preached in the synagogue, he worked with his hands alongside Aquila and Priscilla. That detail could almost seem insignificant, but Scripture intentionally includes it. The Kingdom of God wasn't built only through Paul's sermons. It was also built through his willingness to faithfully do ordinary work.

Psalm 15 paints a similar picture. The person who dwells with God is not necessarily the one who accomplishes extraordinary things. It is the one who walks with integrity, speaks truth, keeps promises even when it hurts, and quietly does what is right day after day. God seems far more interested in who I am becoming than in what I eventually accomplish.

I've spent much of my life chasing outcomes, believing that fulfillment was waiting on the other side of some future achievement. But more and more I believe the dream is simply God's way of inviting me into today's work. The destination gives direction, but the transformation happens on the road. Maybe that's why Jesus tells me not to worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow isn't where life is found. Life is found in this conversation, this workout, this lesson, this practice, this meeting, this meal, this act of kindness. Today is where God is shaping me.

I've also realized that hard work isn't the opposite of faith. It is often one of faith's greatest expressions. Paul worked so he wouldn't burden others. He embraced the ordinary because he understood that ordinary faithfulness is sacred. There is dignity in labor. There is worship in showing up. The older I get, the more I see that the magic was never in reaching the dream. The magic was that the dream inspired me to become someone capable of pursuing it. Every early morning, every setback, every lesson learned, every relationship built, every act of discipline was quietly transforming me into a different person.

So today I don't want to idolize the dream. I want to embrace the pursuit. I want to trust God enough to believe that if the dream changes, is delayed, or never fully comes to pass, nothing has been lost. If I have learned to love, to work, to trust, and to become more like Christ along the way, then I have already received the greater gift. The dream may have gotten me started. But the pursuit is where I found God.

6In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching^a you received from us. 7For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate.

2 THESSALONIANS 3:6-9